features
- step sequenced drum sample player
- 8 sample slots output to 8 stereo channels (multi-out)
- single-out version also available
- plays 16 & 24 bit mono & stereo wavs
- multiple steps/time sigs (12/16/18/20/22/24/28/32 steps in 4/4, 3/4, 5/4, 7/4, 9/2 & 11/2) [new]
- adjustable tempo, either a ratio of the host tempo (eg x1, x2) or user defined [new]
- velocity, hit probability and velocity randomness per step
- pitch and swing randomised per sample
- velocity sensitive low pass filter per sample
- global randomised swing
- samples 6,7 & 8 can be cut by any other sample or themselves
- play samples through step sequencer and/or midi notes
- option of two trigger methods (GUI or midi) to switch erratic on/off or play partial patterns
- midi CC support for step/midi triggers, with midi learn [new]
- save/load individual step sequencer patterns
- midi note reference pop-up [new]
- audition samples from the GUI
- 112 drum samples included covering acoustic, electronic, tribal, glitch & rock [8 new]
- 71 presets [13 new]
download erratic (6.9 MB)
single-out version (6.9 MB) This version is not multi-out, it is less flexible for mixing, but simpler to set up in some hosts.
mp3 demo (0.6 MB) The first 8 bars are randomised, the second 8 bars are played 'straight' with no randmomising
Important points see below or the included readme for details
- for the presets to work, you must extract the .dll and folder from the .rar into the same folder (your VST directory)
- you need to set your host to see erratic as a multi-out instrument
- erratic is triggered on/off by a choice of two different trigger methods (GUI or midi)
summary
erratic is a drum sample player with some added 'randomising' features to give variation on every cycle. The randomising is adjustable for each sample and can be switched off if desired. You can independantly adjust the randomisation of;
- hit probability for each of the steps in the sequencer for each sample
- hit velocity spread for each of the steps in the sequencer for each sample
- pitch variation for each sample
- swing (hit timing variation) for each sample
- swing on a global level (in addition to the per sample swing)
In addition, you can adjust
- hit velocity for each of the steps in the sequencer for each sample
- volume, panning and pitch for each sample
- minimum value for velocity sensitive lp filter cutoff
- global tightness (reduces the per sample swing)
- number of steps per bar (measure) 12/16/24/32/18/20/22/28
The samples are triggered in a step sequencer but can also be triggered by midi notes as per the GM standard for drums (see further down) or a mixture of both methods to get a balance of consistency and randomisation (eg the randomised beat in the step sequencer and fills programmed in midi piano roll)
individual step sequencer patterns can be saved and loaded for easy copying of patterns from one sequencer to another, or re-using common patterns
erratic is a multi-out VST, this means each sample can output to a different mixer channel. You need to set your host to see erratic as multi-out and set up the routing so that each output goes to a different mixer channel
Installation
Extract all the contents of erratic.rar to your VST directory
The erratic_1_3.dll file and the 'erratic_1_3' folder should be in the same subfolder of your VST directory
erratic has demo presets which use the samples in this folder and needs to be on this path to work. You can of course install the samples wherever you wish, but then you will need to manually load the samples for the presets to work
You can of course load your own samples from any folder. You do not need to install any other samples in the VST directory, only the preset samples
You will need to set your host to see erratic as a multi-out VST (please consult your host manual for details)
Latency
erratic v1.3 has no latency (unlike v1.0)
Controls
Basics
Tempo - by default is locked to the host tempo (x1)
click the 'metronome' icon to select a ratio of the host tempo (x1,2,3,4 /2,3,4) or 'user' to set your own bpm. A host ratio will be maintained in erratic, even if the tempo changes through the project, where a user defined tempo will remain constant, independant of the host tempo. Use /2 for example to set erratic at half the tempo of the host, which will then allow you to use a 32 step sequencer to create 2 measures of 16 steps
Steps / Time signature - click the 'steps' icon to select from 12/16/18/20/22/24/28/32 steps in the sequencer. This is a global setting across all samples and automatically maintains one bar pattern length if the tempo is the same as the host.
16 & 32 steps work on 4/4 time
12 & 24 steps work on 3/4 time
18 steps is 9/2 time
20 steps is 5/4 time
22 steps is 11/2 time
28 steps is 7/4 time
WARNING - To avoid potential crashes, the step selector will be 'greyed out' when the transport play button is pressed in your host and you will not be able to change the setting until you press stop. However, if you change preset to one with a different number of steps, this may cause your host/pc to crash
Triggers
either/both step trigger and midi trigger can be used to turn erratic on or off through your track
the step trigger is best used if you prefer to turn sound on/off using automation of a VST parameter (named 'step trigger') or a MIDI CC control (user defined from 0-127) and if you are only triggering notes from the step sequencer. erratic is on when this button is lit.
the midi trigger is best used if you prefer to turn sound on/off using the piano roll and if you are using midi to trigger notes as well as the step sequencer. This trigger method is activated when the button is lit BUT erratic will not be triggered until midi note 24 is held (midi note 24 is C0 in cubase/live and C2 in FL Studio/sonar - you will need to check in your host, but it will be one of the C notes). Hold the note to trigger on, release to trigger off. This can be programmed in a piano roll or by midi controller
You can use a combination of both triggers if you want to turn on/off the step sequenced beats but leave the midi triggered beats playing
Press the 'learn' button to assign a midi controller to either trigger
- Press the 'learn' button, the led next to the button should light
- Press the step trigger or midi trigger on the GUI
- Tweak the knob/slider/button on your midi controller
- The led should go out and the controller will now switch the trigger on/off
Sample Window
Hit the buttons labelled 1 to 8 to select the step sequencer and controls for that sample (you can also use the left/right arrows to scroll through the list)
Hit the file button to load a sample into that slot. The filename will appear in the slot
Toggle the mute button to turn that slot on/off (and save a small amount of CPU)
Hitting the triangle 'play' button will audition the sample (this works even with the step trigger off, but not with the midi trigger enabled)
Samples 6,7 & 8 can be cut by other samples (they will go to zero velocity when the other sample is triggered) or each other. click the 'X' button to select which sample it will be cut by. '-' means it will not be cut by any sample
erratic will play 16 & 24 bit mono and stereo wav files
press the 'note' icon to bring up a reference table of the midi notes* that trigger each sample
Step Sequencer
Each sample can be triggered and randomised across the steps in it's own sequencer. Select the sample you want to sequence using the buttons 1 to 8
velocity
0 = no hit
50% = half velocity
100% = full velocity
probability
0 = ain't gonna happen
50% = will hit on 50% of cycles at random
100% = will hit every cycle
randomness
0 = velocity will be constant at the velocity level set in the first step sequencer
25% = velocity will randomly vary between the velocity level and 75% of this value
50% = velocity will randomly vary between the velocity level and 50% of this value
90% = velocity will randomly vary between the velocity level and 10% of this value
100% = velocity will randomly vary between the velocity level and zero (maximum range)
load/save patterns
you can save the step sequencer pattern as a .txt file for later retrieval or transfer to another sequencer. The files are saved into the 'erratic_x_x' folder in your VST directory
- hit 'save' - it will toggle to blue and a save dialogue will appear below
- type the name of the text file, including the .txt suffix (eg filename.txt)
- hit 'save as'- it will briefly highlight blue - your file is saved
- hit 'save' again - it will go back to grey and the dialogue will disappear
you can load any previously saved pattern files by hitting 'load' and using the windows file dialogue that appears
Per sampler controls
all controls are per sample for maximum flexibility
all controls can be adjusted by turning the knobs or typing a value in directly
randomising controls
pitch rnd - the sample pitch will vary randomly for each hit up to the limit set
0 = off
max = +/- 6 semitones
swing - each note timing will be randomly 'late' from the rigid 16 steps by up to the limit set.
0 = off
10 = max swing (25% of the interval between steps - compensated for bpm & number of steps)
lp cut (0-16kHz) - this is the minimum cutoff setting for the velocity sensitive lp filter. At maximum velocity, the filter will be fully open, allowing the full range of the sample to play. At lower velocities, you can cut the higher frequencies above the cut off value to get a less sharp sound. This value is the cutoff at minimum velocity and the value increases linearly as velocity increases to allow more of the upper frequencies through.
constants
vol - set the volume level for that sample (to adjust relative volume of each sample)
pan - set the pan for that sample (balance for stereo wavs)
pitch - set the pitch shift for that sample from the default (+/- 24 semitones)
global controls
g swing (global swing) - as per sample swing, but works across all samples in addition to the per sample swing
tightness - as you increase this control, the per sample swing will be reduced.
Note: the global swing is not reduced by the tightness control.
0 tightness = full swing value
30% tightness = 70% swing value
100% tightness = 0 swing
This can be automated to vary the tightness or can be used to remove all per sample swing so that all samples are on the global swing.
midi controls
The samples can also be triggered by standard midi notes from a keyboard or piano roll. Obviously these will play at the midi note timing and velocity and will not be randomised for probability/velocity randomness/swing. The midi triggered notes will still be subject to the pitch rnd knob and the vol/pan/pitch/cutoff controls.
Using a mixture of notes triggered in the step sequencer and by midi, you can have the hits you want consistent for the song programmed in midi and the randomised notes through the step sequencer
slot 1 - midi note 36 - C3*
slot 2 - midi note 38 - D3
slot 3 - midi note 42 - Gb3
slot 4 - midi note 56 - Ab4
slot 5 - midi note 39 - Eb3
slot 6 - midi note 49 - Db4
slot 7 - midi note 54 - Gb4
slot 8 - midi note 51 - Eb4
* This assumes a scale of C0-C10 with C5 as middle C, as per FL Studio or Sonar. Some hosts use a different scale, eg Ableton Live and Cubase use C-2 to C8 with C3 as middle C, in which case you would need to drop all note references by 2 octaves. ie C1 would play slot 1, C0 would be the midi trigger. In any case the midi note is always standard.
press the 'note' icon above the sample numbers to bring up a reference table of the midi notes that trigger each sample
credits
original idea by heskin radiophonic workshop
the excellent samples kindly supplied by sink, WhiskeyPriest and audiofudge
beta testing by too many people to mention, but special thanks to the Priest
presets by dlM, WhiskeyPriest, audiofudge & resonator
Thanks for the 3rd party modules from Dave Haupt, Kelly Lynch and Lance Putnam
update history
v1.3 adds 18/20/22/28 steps, 5/4,7/4,9/2,11/2 time sigs, adjustable tempo, midi CC control of triggers, midi note references, rock drum samples and new presets
v1.2 adds choke group, save/load patterns, midi/GUI trigger options, sample audition, new samples and presets and simpler install for samples
v1.1 removes latency and switches midi trigger to GUI trigger
v1.0 released
FAQs
I can't get any sound out of erratic
- check to be sure you have the samples installed in the right place. The erratic_x_x.dll file and the 'erratic_x_x' folder from the .rar file should be in the same subfolder of your VST directory
- If you have the midi trigger enabled, you will need to be sure that midi note 24 is held for erratic to work. (midi note 24 is often C0 or C2 but varies from host to host). deselect the midi trigger to see if you get sound
- You must have the step trigger enabled to hear any sound from the step sequenced notes
I can only hear one sample being played
- you need to set your host to see erratic as a multi-out instrument. It has 8 stereo outputs that you need to route to 8 mixer channels to hear all samples, otherwise you may only hear the first sample channel. Consult your host manual for details
Otherwise download the single-out version This version is not multi-out, it is less flexible for mixing, but simpler to set up in some hosts.
I can get presets to work, but not samples from FL Studio
- erratic plays wav files, but cannot play ogg encoded wavs. you will need to re-render the samples as wav files from your host or an audio editor
