TAL Software TAL-Drum Gimmick-Free Drum Sampler Plugin User Manual

: June 5, 2024
: TAL Software

TAL Software TAL-Drum Gimmick-Free Drum Sampler Plugin

Introduction

TAL-Drum is a sampler especially for drums and short samples inspired by the 80’s drum samplers.

It’s tested and works within the most common audio hosts like Ableton Live, Cubase, Logic Pro, Garage Band, Reaper, and DSP-Quattro. No standalone version is available. Try the unregistered demo version to be sure that the plugin works in your environment.

Please use it at your own risk. We take no responsibility for any damage caused by our VST and AU (Audio Unit) plug-ins.

Installation

Windows

Requirements:

Windows 7 64bit or higher.
A VST 2.4, VST3 or AAX compatible host.

Installation:

Download the windows installer from the product page.
ascUse the installer to install the VST3 or AAX plug-in. You need to copy the VST2.4 manually to your host’s VST directory. You can also install the VST3 and AAX manually. Our installers only copy the plug-ins without any additional actions.

In hosts like Cubase, the plugin will show up after a restart. Some hosts need a plugin rescan. If you use Ableton Live and the plugin does not show up after a VST plugin rescan, try to disable and re-enable VST plugin support.

Uninstall:
Just delete the plugin to uninstall it or use the windows uninstaller.

macOS

Requirements:

OSX 10.9 or higher.
Intel or M1 ARM Processor (native M1 support).
A host that supports AU (Audio Unit), VST, or AAX plugins.

Installation:

Download the TAL-Drum-installer.pkg, unpack it and run the installer. The installer copies the plugin to the right directory. It installs all available versions for macOS.
You may need to restart macOS to make the plug-in show up in your AU host.

You may need to restart macOS to make the Audio Unit show up in your DAW. Some hosts need a plugin rescan. If you use Ableton Live and the plugin does not show up after a VST plugin rescan, try to disable and re-
enable VST plugin support.

Uninstall:
Just delete the plugin. Its located in the following directories:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/
/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/

Registration

In demo mode, the plug-in fades in white noise from time to time. This will go away as soon as you register. You may need to restart your DAW after that to make sure all TAL-Drum instances are registered.
Please paste the whole serial number including the header into the serial field and press OK to register it.

Download Factory Presets and Samples

A click on the settings icon on the top opens the settings dialog. Click on Download Factory Presets to download the presets.
In demo mode only a small part of the presets is available.

Global Settings

A click on the settings icon on the top opens the settings dialog.

You can set the Middle C here. This is just for the note naming and does not change the behavior of the plugin in any way.

This path is important if you switch between different users or operating systems. The plug-in will save all samples paths relative to this path as a fallback and uses this relative path to load the samples when loading with the absolute path fails.

You have to make sure that you have the same sample folder structure relative to this path on all your systems to make this work.

On the top of the plug-in, you will find the preset name. It’s possible to switch the preset if there is more than one preset in the folder.
A click on the preset name opens the menu with the following options:

Load Init Preset
This resets the whole preset to the default state.

Set Default Preset
This saves the current preset as the default preset. This preset will be loaded when you create a new instance of the plug-in. Make sure it does not contain huge samples. Otherwise, new instances may load slow.

Load Default Preset
Loads the default preset if you already have one.

Reload Samples
Tries to reload all samples. This is useful if you changed a sample in the background or if you fixed a missing sample issue.

Move Samples to Preset Directory
This feature is available if the current loaded preset is connected to a preset file. This is the case when you save the preset or if you load a preset by a preset file. Using this feature copies all samples to the preset folder.

Move Samples to Directory
This opens a dialog that lets the user choose a folder. It copies the samples to that folder and updates all sample paths in the current kit to point to this folder.

Kits and Sample Browser

The sample browser can be used to load samples and TALDrum presets. You can drag & drop samples to a pad or mapping. It’s also possible to double-click a SAMPLE or a KIT to load it. In this case, it loads the sample to the currently selected mapping or pad. It replaces the first mapping/sample if you load a sample in the pad view. A KIT always replaces all pads.

All folders show a star on the right. They will be added to the favorites if you click on the star and show up above the current path. It’s possible to assign a color with the palette icon if you have selected a favorite folder. A right mouse click deletes a favorite entry.

Sample Not Found Dialog

You will see this dialog if TAL-Drum does not find one or more samples. It’s possible to find samples if you use Find samples in the directory…. The plug-in will then scan that folder and all subfolders for the samples. It only takes the file name for matching. Also, it is not recommended to select folders that have GB of data or a lot of files. You need to be careful when using this method.

It’s also possible to drag & drop the sample from the browser on the left or from finder or windows explorer to the sample that is missing and replace / fix it this way.

Pad View

This is the default view when you open the plugin. It shows the browser on the left and the pads on the right. The pads show by default the sample name loaded in the first mapping inside the pad. It’s also possible to rename the pad with a click at the name on the bottom left above the pad name “PAD XX”:

A right-click on the pad opens a color dialog and lets you assign a pad color. It’s possible to switch pads with drag & drop. Holding CTRL while dragging a pad copies the pad mappings and the color to another pad.

The pad settings like the output, voice group and the MIDI KEY stay the same when moving or copying pads.
You can also copy/paste pads from one instance to another using the copy/paste icons on the bottom of the pad. The pad also shows information like the voice group, and the assigned MIDI note. You can mute and solo pads with the M and S buttons. A click on the pad triggers the pad. The I/II button on the top switches between the first 16 pads and the second pad page that contains the pads 17-32. You can also switch to the 32 pad mode where all 32 pads are visible at once.

Bottom View

This view contains the most important parameters for the mapping. It shows the pad number and it’s possible to step through the pads with the arrow buttons or you can also select a pad with MIDI when MIDI SELECT is enabled. Enable the S button for solo mode and mute all other pads.

OUTPUT: The channel where you want to output the pad. The plugin has 8 stereo outs. You may need to configure your DAW to use the outputs.

MIDI KEY: The MIDI note that is assigned to this pad. User LEARN to assign the key by your MIDI device.

VOICE GROUP: You can select a voice group for the pad and set a sample fade-out time for the voice stealing. The fade out time will introduce a delay for the next sound when voice stealing happens (the delay is exact the fade- out time). You may set this value to zero for most sounds. It’s helpful to increase this value to avoid clicks for bass or kick samples when you don’t want that they overlap and play always only one voice. The blue combo box values show the voice group settings (number of voices and the mode).

ONE-SHOT: When enabled, always the whole sample will be played.

PAN: The panorama for this pad.

VELOCITY: This defines the velocity scaling. Use this to calibrate it with your velocity-sensitive MIDI controller.

Pad Editor

A click on the icon on the top right of the pad opens the pad editor of the currently selected pad. The X button on the top right closes the editor and changes back to the pad view.

Main Settings

The top panel contains the main settings for the mapping and the pad.

VOLUME: Volume for current mapping/sample. PHASE: Phase switch.

STEREO SWITCH: Switch the stereo channels. MONO: Enable mono mode.

PAN: Sample panorama. DELAY: Sample delay up to 1000 ms.

TAL Software GmbH

TUNE / FINE: Sample pitch.

VELOCITY: Controls the amount of volume velocity sensitivity for the currently loaded mapping.

ANALOG: Pitch stability of the whole pad.

TIMING: Timing jitter for the whole pad.

AHDSR: Amplitude envelope settings for the currently loaded and selected mapping.

FILTER: 12 dB resonance SVF multi-filter with diode clipper in the feedback path (LP, BP, HP)

HP: 12 dB SVF high pass filter.

Wave View

Shows the waveform of the currently selected mapping. This allows to adjust the sample start and end, and also loop points when LOOP is enabled.

It’s possible to zoom in with the mouse wheel and move the sample position with the mouse. You can drag and drop or use the arrows on the top left to change the sample. OPEN opens the folder that contains the sample in finder or explorer. The arrow button (<–) shows the sample in the plug-in’s sample browser. A click inside the sample view triggers a NoteOn event for the pad. The vertical mouse position defines the velocity.

Mapping View

The mapping view shows the different layered mappings(samples). The ADD button adds a mapping. You can have up to four mappings. REMOVE removed the currently selected mapping. The mappings velocity range can be adjusted with the mouse. The sample will only play if the velocity is in this range. You can auto split the velocity ranges with a right mouse button click at the velocity range.
It’s possible to reorder mappings with drag and drop. The play button plays the mapping for a preview and the S button enables solo mode for the mapping. You will find the following sample options on the right-hand side of the mapping:

STRETCH: Enables time stretch for the currently selected mapping.

FIX: Let you choose a ratio for the time stretch instead of BPM.

BPM: Here you can set the BPM of your sample. The plug-in then calculates the required stretch factor to match the DAW’s BPM when you enable stretch. Also, the grid in the waveform view shows the quarter notes according to this value.

FMT: Preserves the formants if you set a PITCH value.

PITCH: The pitch in semitones without changing the sample length. Not available with the AK4I stretch mode.

GRAIN: The grain size used for stretching. Only available for the AK4I stretch-mode.

MODE: This lets you choose the stretch mode. Smooth, Crisp, and AK4I. Where AK4I is a vintage cycle stretcher. You can also choose the grain size when enabled AK4I to tune the result.

REVERSE: Plays the sample reverse, starting from the END marker.

NORMALISE: Normalises the volume of the current loaded sample. This does not change the original sample file and only happens in memory.

LOOP: Enables the loop mode. You can adjust the LOOP in the waveform view.

FADE: Fade size in percent to make smooth loops possible.

MODE: The playing mode for the layered mappings in the currently selected pad.
ALWAYS: All mappings play always.
ROUND ROBIN: Only one sample plays. They play in the mapping order.
ROUND ROBIN RANDOM: Plays the mappings in random order.

LFO View

Shows the LFO settings for the mapping.

WAVEFORM: Choose between different LFO waveforms (sine, triangle, rectangle, saw, sample & hold, noise).

SYNC: Enables sync mode. Sync’s the LFO rate to the DAW’s BPM.

RATE: Set the LFO rate in Herz.

TRIG: Re-triggers the LFO on every note on event.

PHASE: The phase of the LFO. DELAY: The delay time before the LFO fades in.

ENV View

Shows the two modulation envelopes for the mapping. A preview shows the envelope curve.

MOD-ENV View

Shows the spline envelope modulation envelopes for the mapping. ADD POINT or a right mouse click adds a new point to the envelope. A double or right-click on a point will remove it. You can move points around and change spline when moving the two control points. CLEAR deletes all points (except the start and endpoint).

MATRIX View

The LFO, two envelopes, and the mod-envelope don’t have any effect without an assigned routing in the mod matrix. The matrix allows assigning a modulation source with a modulation destination with a defined amount. The amount can be positive or negative. You can have up to six matrix routings for every mapping.

Modulation sources and destinations:

FX View

The LO-FI view shows the vintager LO-FI settings. These settings affect all mappings inside the current pad.

SR: Changes the processing sample rate when enabled. The plugin downsamples to this sample rate and transposes in this sample rate. After that, the audio will be sampled down to the host sampling rate.

BITS: Reduces the bits when enabled. A dithering algorithm tries to suppress static frequencies introduced by the bit reduction.

COMPAND: Mu-Law commanding for nonlinear audio compression. Only active when BITS is enabled.

JITTER: Emulates sample-reader jitter.

HISS: Boosts the noise at high frequencies > 10’000 Hz.

HARD CLIP: Emulates a sample that was recorded too hot.

SAT: Adds even and odd saturation to the signal.

DYNAMIC: This is a compressor with common settings. You will see an approximated compression curve in the sample view when the compressor is enabled.
The curve does not respect other layered samples, the sample volume, or other settings and modulations that may affect the pad volume. It’s just a visible helper to find the right compressor settings. The final tuning has to be done by ear.

SLICE View

This view offers a few tools to slice samples and apply slices to different pads. There are auto slice functions to slice the samples automatically or you can slice manually.
This will always replace the first sample if you assign the slice to a pad.
It’s possible to delete a slice with a right mouse click. A left click on the slice plays the slice and a right click opens a popup menu that lets you assign the slice to a pad.

ADD SLICE: Add a slice manually with a mouse click. You can move or delete the slice afterward. You can also hod CTRL and click to add new slices without enabling this option.

1/4, 1/8, 1/16: Make sure you set the sample BPM for the mapping. After that you can slice the sample automatically.

CLEAR: Deletes all slices.

APPLY TO PADS: Applies all slices to the pads starting with pad 1.

THRESH: Enables and sets the threshold for auto slicing.

SIZE: Sets the size of the window for auto slicing.

SLICE: Create slices from the auto-detected onsets.

REC View

It’s possible to record your samples here. The plug-in has a stereo side chain channel that can be used to record samples. It depends on the DAW how you can route the audio to the side chain input. It also accepts the main input as recording source.

The meter on the right of the SAVE button shows you if there is an input signal. Make sure you don’t record too hot, otherwise the plugin will hard clip the audio. You can set the recording threshold with the marker that is on the meter. The recording will start when the audio signal hits the threshold. The plugin will record a bit earlier to make sure that whole attack is recorded.

Only the audio between the S (start) and E (end) markers will be saved. You can zoom in with the mouse wheel to set the markers.

The sample will be directly assigned to the current mapping after saving it.

REC: Record the incoming signal. PLAY: Plays the selected audio region.

SAVE: Opens a file save dialog. It opens the dialog in the current active samples folder that is selected in the browser. It saves the selected audio and assigned the sample to the currently selected mapping.

NORMALIZE: Use this to normalize the audi o before you save it.

Cubase and VST are trademarks of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH

License

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR TAL-U-NO_LX IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS PROGRAM INSTALL: TAL Software GmbH End-User License Agreement (“EULA”) is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and TAL Software GmbH. for the TAL Software GmbH software product(s) identified above which may include associated software components, media, printed materials, and “online” or electronic documentation (“SOFTWARE PRODUCT”). By installing, copying, or otherwise using the SOFTWARE PRODUCT, you agree to be bound by the terms of this EULA. This license agreement represents the entire agreement concerning the program between you and TAL Software GmbH, (referred to as “licenser”), and it supersedes any prior proposal, representation, or understanding between the parties. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, do not install or use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is licensed, not sold.

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The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is licensed as follows:
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TAL Software GmbH grants you the right to install and use copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT on your computer running a validly licensed copy of the operating system for which the SOFTWARE PRODUCT was designed.
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TAL Software GmbH may provide you with support services related to the SOFTWARE PRODUCT (“Support Services”). Any supplemental software code provided to you as part of the Support Services shall be considered part of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT and subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA.
(f) Compliance with Applicable Laws.
You must comply with all applicable laws regarding use of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT.
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