MiniSpillage 2 was one of the most anticipated plugins of 2011. Since the release schedule has now spilled over into 2012 it’s time take a fresh look at what our new drum machine has to offer and why it will be worth the wait in the end.

MS2 takes the core drum synthesis technology from our freeware MiniSpillage plugin and fuses it with a high quality sample playback engine and integrated on-board drum sequencer.

Sampling

MS2 supports dragging and dropping of sample files directly from your host’s file browser onto the drum pads. Furthermore, drop eight samples onto pad 1 and they will be instantly mapped across all eight available pads. The sample playback engine features high quality oversampling and interpolation that greatly reduces aliasing noise and distortion when pitching samples around but is still light on CPU load.

Samples may be transposed over 5 octaves and pitch modulated via one of the internal LFOs and/or the pitch envelope. Edit sample start frame and loop points in real-time via the graphical overview editor. An alternate forward/backward looping mode (as found on the vintage Roland S series of samplers) is also available. WAV, AIFF and CAF (CoreAudio) files are supported in 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit depths at any sampling rate (44.1KHz, 96KHz etc).

Synthesis

As you’d expect from an AudioSpillage plugin MS2 excels at producing synthetic modelled drum sounds. MiniSpillage 2 is equipped with 4 drum synthesis models: BassDrum, WoodDrum, HiHat and Snare. The Snare model is new to MS2 whilst the remaining models have been meticulously retuned, recalibrated and improved upon those available in the original MiniSpillage. The drum synths are 100% algorithmic and utilise high quality DSP code.

Each pad in MS2 offers 1 sample slot and 1 synth slot allowing you to easily layer samples and synthetic sounds all inside a single plugin. For example: add bass end weight to a sample by layering it with a synthetic kick drum or add extra snap to a synth snare by mixing in an acoustic sample. Apply custom envelopes and cross fade between the two sounds in realtime.

Sequencer

MS2 is the first of our plugins to feature a built in drum sequencer. The sequencer itself offers 8 tracks (1 per pad), 24 patterns, MPC modelled groove quantize, MIDI triggering of patterns and full copy/paste facilities.

Track length (number of steps in each track) can be set independently for each track. This allows for the creation of interesting rhythmic patterns and variations. In the image above the lower four tracks are all configured with custom track lengths. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘poly rhythmic’ sequencer.

In MS2 sequencer patterns are resolution independent. Most step sequencers will simply double the tempo when switching from 16th to 32nd notes. In MS2 the sequencer will zoom into the pattern allowing you to add 32nd notes to a 16th note programmed sequence. The sequencer also offers an expanded track view (not shown) allowing you to control velocity and two additional parameters graphically for each track.

Key Features List

• High quality oversampling and interpolation reduces aliasing noise and distortion.
• 1 sample slot and 1 synth slot available per pad simultaneously.
• LFOs, envelopes, oscillators and noise generators are of better quality than the original MiniSpillage.
• ‘Poly-rhythmic’ sequencer allows for custom track lengths within a pattern.
• Resolution independent sequencer.
• Sequencer patterns playable via MIDI with looping and one-shot mode available.
• New shaper/distortion algorithms licensed from http://www.sinevibes.com/
• Choke groups, multiple outputs, LFO tempo sync and note-on sync.
• Real-time sample normalize.
• MPC modelled groove quantize.

Pre-ordering

You can pre-order MiniSpillage 2 from our online shop at a special 25% discounted price. Pre-order customers will also receive the plugin before general release.

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