Stylus RMX

[Ronnie Wibbley]

I'm years out of date on all of this so bear with me.

Is Stylus RMX still relevant as a quick way of getting a ton of loops into a project or are there better/newer/cheaper drum loop packages out there?

[muzines]

Do you already have RMX, or are you thinking of buying it?

[The Elf]

Personally I've not found anything better than Stylus, and I still use it for those little percussion parts that I can't be bothered recording. Maybe there's a deal on?

[Ronnie Wibbley]

I don't own it, but the reason I'm interested is that the Xpanded edition includes some very old loops from previous products which feature on some old recordings which I'm interested in releasing for the first time. In other words by buying the product I'd be licensing the loops.

Financially it makes no sense to pay for the package just for that, but if it's still a format which is supported and which I could make use of in new recordings then it would be worth it for me. Are third party loops still produced in this format, for example?

[muzines]

I don't own it, but the reason I'm interested is that the Xpanded edition includes some very old loops from previous products which feature on some old recordings which I'm interested in releasing for the first time. In other words by buying the product I'd be licensing the loops.

Financially it makes no sense to pay for the package just for that, but if it's still a format which is supported and which I could make use of in new recordings then it would be worth it for me. Are third party loops still produced in this format, for example?

Not so much new third party stuff these days, mostly I think because RMX's (visible) development has been stagnant for a decade or more (they've concentrated on Omnisphere & Keyscape), and as such it's design is fairly old now. The perception is that it is outdated - despite obviously containing very useful content and still being completely valid and musically useful. You can of course load in your own samples and loops and use that content too.

Spectrasonics are (presumably) working on a new version, but it's radio silence from them, so bear in mind that a new version of RMX could drop any day (or never appear at all) - although they do in general offer upgrade discounts for existing owners.

If you're good with the value proposition, and want to use the content now, then yes, it's worthwhile. I've been using it this week for the one synth challenge entry, in fact...

[ManFromGlass]

I still love it, especially with the chaos improviser thingy turned on.

[BJG145]

Yeah, I kind of feel bad using it because it's more than 6 months old, but you can still get some cool rhythms going with it fast.

[ManFromGlass]

Chuckle of the day award
Thanks!

[muzines]

Yeah, I kind of feel bad using it because it's more than 6 months old, but you can still get some cool rhythms going with it fast.

It's really that it was designed a long time ago, and systems, and plugins, (and Spectrasonics' development abilities) have come a long way since then, and yet RMX hasn't really had any benefits to 15 years of development.

In particular, there is a lot of depth that people miss because there is little visual feedback, particularly as each slice in a loop in a part in a multi can have it's own complete synthesizer engine, and people miss various other modes like Kit mode, meaning that a lot of the time it ends up just being used as a canned loop player (not that that's bad as such, the content is great, but still...).

Plus, the actual musical/loop content is all old and there is not much from more modern tastes (not that it bothers me too much ) I'd like to see the Specs put out some more modern content, rather than the 15 year old stuff that's in there...

[ManFromGlass]

Yes a lot of hidden power and deep, cool features if one spends some time with the program. I learned a lot from YouTube’s and in spite of the depth quite easy to learn.
I’ve never checked but you would think a guy like Skippy Lemkuhl (sp?) would have created more contemporary sound packs for Stylus.

[The Elf]

It was a while before I realised I could get at all those useful separated percussion, tambourine and shaker patterns. For that alone stylus has been a really good companion to me. As soon as I see the word 'groove', or 'beat' I'm headed in the opposite direction...

[ManFromGlass]

Sometimes a slice or two of a groove or a beat is an interesting texture, if appropriate for the music.

[kinglouis]

As with all things, it depends on what you're after. The RMX interface is frustratingly outdated and a lot of their built in drum loops are tricky to fit in many more modern settings, except as the Elf says, the percussion. For the ease of dropping in shakers, tambourines etc at almost any bpm, RMX is worth the ticket price just for this. There are lots of companies offering third party loops you can drop into RMX, these can be great but again you're limited by the interface.

If its for realistic kit sounds for a track, you're better off with products like Superior Drummer or the Abbey Road series in NI Komplete. These come with great sounding kits, lots of pre programmed rhythms that you then have multiple points of control over, from customising the drum patterns, changing velocities, moving any individual drum hits etc.

[Ronnie Wibbley]

I'll give it a go - at the very least it'll mean the old tracks will be clear for release and with luck I'll find something to spark inspiration for some new recordings.

Thanks for all your comments.