Corry BanksMackenzie a.k.a. m56p87, one if the fellas over MPC-Forums.com, put together this really cool free set of drums and synth stabs / hits. The kit is called SIMU1200 because Mackenzie purposefully approached the design of the sounds to emulate the “awesome artifacts & warm sound the Emu SP series provides.” That’s the whole idea behind the kit.
Mackenzie further explains his process, “I started making some simple effect chains to see if I could get that sound, particularly the ring modulation sound you get from I believe doing the pitch up and pitch down trick and the artifacts you get on things like hi-hats etc… ”
Mackenzie initially figured he dig in for a few minutes to try to emulate the SP 1200 sound but as he says “a 15 minute experiment on my iPad turned into a 6 hour track-fest involving a ton of subtle processing to get the best approximation” After effectively emulating the SP 1200 sound on his chosen samples Mackenzie went a step further “dumped the samples to analog tape to create my own ideal lofi sound.”
Here is the process used to create these sounds.
step1 – slight low threshold compression with instant attack & release
step2 – multiband ring modulation (tapers below 500hz)
step3 – multiband bit crusher (tapers belows 900hz)
step4 – bit depth & sample rate reduction (reduced to 16bits @ 24khz)
step5 – slightly overdriven onto 1/4 inch reel to reel tape @ 3.75 ips (0 to 5+ db)
step5 – recorded onto dps12 through A/D converters (16bit @ 44.1khz)
final ish – dumped onto my computer, chopped in recycle and noise gated.
I’ve peeped the sounds and believe me this is a steal of a set for free. Download it while its still available. If you dig it be sure to reply to this post or join the conversation over at the MPC-fourms.com. Maybe we will get a part 2 to this cool kit at some point.
As time permits I will post a few audio examples of original beats made with SIMU1200. Should be fun. Holla.