Does anyone here use Manda Audio Power Drum Kit?

[garrettendi]

Does anyone here use Manda Audio Power Drum Kit? Is it safe from malware? How good is it? Would anyone recommend it?

[garrettendi]

I do get one search result on Google claiming the website had virus alerts. For now I think I'll be sticking to SampleTank

EDIT: One bad search result among many more good ones. Maybe I shouldn't jump the gun with this

[OneWorld]

I have been using it for a year or so, it is perfectly safe, no malware etc. I think the developer just gave up on it, seeing as he was up against the big companies like NI with Studio Drummer and others like ezDrummer, BFD etc

It is quite limited, but very very easy to use. I have the divil of a job trying to get separate outputs working in Studio Drummer, in Manda it is so easy, but there's only one kick, one snare etc it does however have quite a few grooves and fills included, if you want to throw a quick drum track together, using a VST that consumes hardly any resources, Manda is the best I have encountered.

Had it been sold in a more comprehensive kit and the price was competitively priced, I would have bought it. But when I say 'more comprehensive' not quite so comprehensive as for example Groove Agent 4, which I bought because I couldn't get along with Studio Drummer. All I needed is say 6 kits, jazz, funk, rock, percussion, pop but Groove Agent has zillions of them - R&B, Dance'n'Trance, Grime & Filth etc etc etc

[garrettendi]

Ah right. Maybe I'll give it a go after all...

Whenever I see "freeware" on the internet my first though is always... "too good to be true?"

Doing more Googling suggests that the overwhelming majority of people say it is safe and very good.

[OneWorld]

Ah right. Maybe I'll give it a go after all...

Whenever I see "freeware" on the internet my first though is always... "too good to be true?"

Doing more Googling suggests that the overwhelming majority of people say it is safe and very good.

Yes I am equally wary when I see 'freeware' which for the main part is an anagram for 'trouble and strifeware' or "please come and dump some krap on my computer ware"

[Forum Admin]

I've used it for approximately 2 years now. No malware. OneWorld sums it up nicely, but it's strength, for me, is in offering the essence of SD, EZD, BFD etc in a freeware package. It's so quick and easy to use to string some MIDI drum parts together, then replace the sounds later. I use it for noodling, when I'm developing a song on guitar usually, when I want more than a 4-bar or 8-bar repetition.

It's one 'kit' is rock-focused, but it's easy enough to map the MIDI part to an alternative set of sounds in your DAW.

It's free - try it?

[James Perrett]

I've used it on a couple of projects and it works well. While it may only have one set of sounds, they're very workable sounds and the included rhythms work well if you are working in a suitable genre. I've also tried Melda's MTDrummer Small which may also be worth trying if you need a wider range of genres (although I didn't find it as easy to use as Power Drum Kit).

[Drew Stephenson]

Another user here, in fact that was one of my overdue donations-to-freeware-suppliers at the weekend so I'm feeling a bit happier about using it as well.

[garrettendi]

Does it have a multiple output thing? So could I have separate tracks, one for kick, one for snare, etc etc?

[Drew Stephenson]

I'd need to have a play and see. That's not how I've used it to date. I've just played an ekit in to one midi track and added this as the VSTi. It has it's own built in mixed in the interface but I'd need to check about splitting it all out onto different tracks.

[garrettendi]

A quick Google suggests that in Reaper you can tell it to output to 8 tracks

I’m using Mixbus but I hope it’s the same

[Forum Admin]

Does it have a multiple output thing? So could I have separate tracks, one for kick, one for snare, etc etc?

You can set each sound in the Mixer to a different output... but I'm not in my studio so cannot check at the moment.

The video explains most things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsmA1cFH5YQ

I just dump it onto a MIDI track and 'explode pitches' to split the sounds/tracks and assign other samples to the pitches if required. Lots of ways to use it.

It's free - just download and try it, and using it will answer all your questions.

[garrettendi]

Yup! Just downloaded it today and will try it tonight!

[Forum Admin]

If you use it, and continue to, don't forget to donate something to the developer.

[garrettendi]

If you use it, and continue to, don't forget to donate something to the developer.

Will do hopefully! It's as little as €9!

How does it work before I donate? I know there is the screen that you can skip, but is there any delay before it starts working or any limitations?

[Forum Admin]

It works as soon as you download it and install. It's a VST or AU Unit plug-in, so just instantiate it on a track -- then play!

You can come back to donate later.

[garrettendi]

Looking forward to giving it a bash tonight!

[OneWorld]

Does it have a multiple output thing? So could I have separate tracks, one for kick, one for snare, etc etc?

Yes you can have 8 separate outputs and these are easily selected from the mixer page, once they've been activated in the VST Instruments page.

I'm another one of those that forgot to donate! Need to sort that now, it genuinely is one of those freeware gems and developers of such apps should be rewarded for their graft.

[James Perrett]

How does it work before I donate? I know there is the screen that you can skip, but is there any delay before it starts working or any limitations?

You just click on the plug-in display each time you open a session that uses it. If you don't click on the display you get no sound from the plug-in.

[garrettendi]

You just click on the plug-in display each time you open a session that uses it. If you don't click on the display you get no sound from the plug-in.

Thanks! Hopefully I'll donate sometime soon to get rid of that.

[garrettendi]

I tried it out last night and it works almost perfectly. I can output to multiple tracks in two ways in Mixbus, one being busses and two being actual audio tracks that enable me to print the audio. I'm using the audio printing method as I feel it's better, even if it's more complicated to set up.

The only thing that isn't perfect is that the kick drum on my Alesis Forge seems to also sometimes trigger a quiet snare hit. No idea why as I didn't notice this problem in the AVL Drum kits that ship with Mixbus. However this should be very easy to fix in post-production, so I'm not concerned about it.

As for sounds, I'd say the MT Power Kit is miles better than my Alesis Forge's module, but not quite as realistic as the AVL Drum plugins. However it does give me more options. It also sounds a HELL of a lot better than MDrummer, which I'm sorry to say I'm no longer as enthusiastic about. The MT's grooves library probably means it will do everything MDrummer did but more realistically, more easily, and with more options than MDrummer Small.

Hopefully depending on these grooves, I won't be buying MDrummer Large, and will use some of that money for donating to MT with money left over for that MXL V67G mic!



5 out of 5 thumbs up!

[Forum Admin]

Glad it's worked out for you.

[Whatim]

I just play around with it.