2

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a com-
mitment on the part of Accusonus SA. The software described by this document is subject to a License
Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced
or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Accusonus SA,
hereinafter referred to as Accusonus. All product and company names are trademarks or registered trade-
marks of their respective owners.

Manual version: 1.0.0, October 2014

Accusonus SA
Votsi 2
Patras, 26221
Greece

info@accusonus.com
CONTENTS 3

Contents
1 Introduction 4
1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Supported Plugin Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Supported Sample Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Quickstart 5

3 Drumatom Player UI and Controls 7

3.1 Track List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Waveform Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 Main Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3.1 Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3.2 Fine Tune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3.3 Bypass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3.4 Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3.5 A/B Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3.6 Suppression Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3.7 Track Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.3.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Automation 12

5 Tips, Techniques and Workarounds 13

6 FAQ 14
6.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

7 Contact Accusonus 15
1 INTRODUCTION 4

1 Introduction
Drumatom is a novel drum processing tool that offers a fresh perspective on leakage suppression. At its
heart lies an advanced patent-pending algorithm that will scan your drum tracks, detect bleed and help you
dial in as little (or as much) as you want.
The user has two separate software tools at his/her disposal: drumatom (the standalone application)
and drumatom player (the plugin). The standalone application is the functional core, performing all neces-
sary analysis of audio information and file handling. The plugin can open sessions saved by the standalone
application, allowing for easy DAW integration. It should be noted that the plugin will not analyze drum
tracks (its currently simply impossible in real-time) and will load already analyzed groups instead. In short,
using the standalone application is necessary to make any meaningful use of the plugin.

1.1 Overview
Drumatom player expands on the standalone applications functionality, by allowing you to tweak the sup-
pression controls in the context of a mix. The most important thing to remember is that drumatom player
works as a companion to the drumatom application. Use the latter to load and analyze your recorded
drums. For more information on using the standalone application, please refer to the drumatom application
Manual. After saving the session as a .dls file, youre ready to open your DAW of choice and start using the
plugin.

1.2 System Requirements

Drumatom player will only work with a 64-bit host. Minimum OS specs are as follows:

Windows: 7, 8

OSX: v10.6 and upwards

4GBs of RAM are the absolute minimum for operation. 8GBs or more are highly recommended.

1.3 Supported Plugin Formats

Drumatom player supports VST, AU and AAX. You will find it in the instruments category.

1.4 Supported Sample Rates

Bitrates: 16,24,32 bits

Sampling rates: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 192 kHz

ATTENTION Please keep in mind that drumatom player WILL NOT resample your files to match the DAW
projects sample rate. You should perform any over- or downsampling in an external editor before using it.

1.5 Installation
Like all Plugin Alliance software products, drumatom player is quite straightforward to setup and activate.
Please refer to the included activation manual for detailed information.
2 QUICKSTART 5

2 Quickstart
Here are the basic steps to get started with the plugin. It is assumed that the user is already familiar with
the standalone application and has a saved Drumatom session in his hard disk (for more info, please check
out the Application Quickstart guide).

Figure 1: Open the drumatom plugin from your hosts linstruments list. Then load your .dls session by
pressing the LOAD GROUP button.

Figure 2: Group is loaded and ready.

2 QUICKSTART 6

Figure 3: Select preferred virtual output for each track. By default, each track is already routed to a different
output bus. Route drumatoms outputs to your hosts mixer. Refer to your DAW manual on how to do that,
or check our website for quick guides.

Figure 4: You are now ready to mix your session. Remember to use FOCUS and FINE TUNE knobs to
adjust leakage for each track.
3 DRUMATOM PLAYER UI AND CONTROLS 7

3 Drumatom Player UI and Controls

The drumatom player UI consists of four areas:

The track list.

The top bar displaying a waveform of the current processed audio file.

The main control section.

Drumatom Player works by loading saved sessions (.dls files) from the standalone application and
allowing you to control the amount of leakage present within the context of a full mix. The loaded tracks are
played back in sync with the DAW playback head.
Lets see all the GUI elements one by one. Well start with the track list, since its the first area youll be
using when setting up a project.

3.1 Track List

When opening drumatom player for the first time in a new project, youll be greeted with an empty user
interface (Figure 1).
Your first step is to load up a multitrack session. Press the LOAD GROUP button and select your
preferred .dls session.

Figure 5: Drumatom player

Once the group is loaded, the next step is to assign each track to its output. Please note that drumatom
player is multi-output by default and supports a maximum number of 16 outputs. The output selector is
a drop down menu on the track bar, replacing the standalone applications drum type selector. You might
need to set up the multiple outputs in your DAWs mixer first. Please refer to your chosen sequencers
manual on how to do that.
3 DRUMATOM PLAYER UI AND CONTROLS 8

Each track also has a dedicated solo button, to assist you in monitoring. Please note that the solo function
is applied on a per-track basis and NOT per-output (i.e. soloing a track that is routed through output 2, will
not solo the output). Drumatom player supports loading of a single group at a time, containing up to 40
tracks. If you choose to load many tracks, keep an eye on that CPU/disk meter!

Figure 6: Choosing track output

WARNING For simplicitys sake, drumatom player does not share the standalone applications function-
ality in handling tracks. Make sure you have copied, renamed, removed or duplicated any tracks prior to
loading the session on the plugin.

3.2 Waveform Display

Drumatom player features a waveform display. Since all transport controls are left to the DAW, you cannot
select portions, loop or move the cursor. You can however visualize the current position of the playback
head, allowing for convenient mixing.

Figure 7: Waveform display

3 DRUMATOM PLAYER UI AND CONTROLS 9

3.3 Main Section

Much like the standalone application, the main section is the heart of operations. In fact, the plugins
controls are virtually identical to the applications, helping you feel right at home.

3.3.1 Focus

The FOCUS knob is the single most important control in both drumatom and drumatom player. When the
FOCUS knob is at its minimum value, no processing is taking place. By turning it clockwise, you can reduce
the selected tracks leakage and let the original sound shine through. By turning it fully clockwise, you get
the maximum possible leakage suppression.

Figure 8: The main controls

3.3.2 Fine Tune

The FINE TUNE knob works alongside FOCUS, giving you the freedom to do detailed adjustments. FINE
TUNE works in a reverse fashion. By turning it clockwise, some of the dry signal is added back (to be
more precise, the signal added is the difference between the original and the current FOCUS output). In
essence, its something akin to a Dry/Wet implementation. You may ask: why not just push back FOCUS a
little bit? Well, you wont get the same result. FINE TUNE has a finer range of values. The two controls are
designed to interact with each other and produce an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

TIP Hold down Cmd/Ctrl to do finer adjustments. Double click on a knob to manually type a value.
3 DRUMATOM PLAYER UI AND CONTROLS 10

3.3.3 Bypass

Use this button to do quick comparisons between the original and the processed audio signal.

3.3.4 Link

The LINK modifier will help you edit multiple controls with a single mouse sweep. When LINK is active,
each tracks controls are linked to the corresponding controls of all other tracks. In other words, applying
FOCUS on a track while LINK is on, will apply the same amount of FOCUS on all other tracks. This can be
handy when you want to make quick global adjustments. The linked controls are highlighted blue: FOCUS,
FINE TUNE, BYPASS and output gain.

Figure 9: Link function activated

3.3.5 A/B Switch

You can compare different FOCUS and FINE TUNE settings, by using the A/B switch. Please note that the
switch position is saved along with the session.

3.3.6 Suppression Meter

The suppression meter is an extremely helpful tool that lets you visualize the extent to which processing
happens. Think of it as the equivalent to a compressors GR meter. Its designed to mimic traditional LED
metering tools and give you a precise indication of how many dBs of suppression are applied.
3 DRUMATOM PLAYER UI AND CONTROLS 11

3.3.7 Track Volume

The TRACK VOLUME slider can help in attenuating (or amplifying) the signal before it hits the DAWs mixer.

3.3.8 Summary

Lets take a minute to summarize this section, provide a more in-depth look into the workflow and discuss
the results you should expect when using drumatom.
When processing your drum channels, the FOCUS knob is your starting point. By turning it fully clock-
wise, youll achieve the maximum possible suppression. Depending on the situation at hand and the nature
of the recorded files, the MAX setting will usually completely remove leakage. In some cases (especially if
the leakage is too prominent), resorting to extreme settings might also make your drums sound unnatural.
This is currently unavoidable. When your drum recording contains excessive amounts of leakage, or when
your recorded track contains a very small number of drum hits (as typically happens for example in the case
of toms), its practically impossible to perfectly identify the main sound. If you want to make an analogy,
think about a de-noise tool: the performance of the tool depends on the type and level of noise.
The best way to use FOCUS is to start from the MIN setting. Slowly and carefully work from there. A
lot of times, a few dB of suppression will work wonders. Toggle BYPASS to do a comparison between the
original and the processed version. Keep an eye on the suppression meter and the waveform view to get a
picture of whats happening.
If youre not completely satisfied with what you hear, you might find that finer adjustments are needed.
Thats what the FINE TUNE knob is there for. Start turning that knob clockwise and listen: some of that
bleed will come back, albeit in a delicate and discreet fashion. Experimenting with different settings of
FOCUS and FINE TUNE is the heart of Drumatoms operation. These two controls are designed to work in
tandem. Take your time to explore the interactions and listen to the effect. Youll soon feel quite familiar!
4 AUTOMATION 12

4 Automation
The available automation parameters per track are:

FOCUS

FINE TUNE

OUTPUT GAIN

BYPASS

The plugin supports a maximum number of 40 tracks per group, giving a total of up to 160 automatable
parameters.

Figure 10: Automation in Logic Pro X

For details on how to enable automation, please refer to your DAWs manual.
5 TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND WORKAROUNDS 13

5 Tips, Techniques and Workarounds

The drumatom plugin is quite straightforward to use. That said, here are some things to keep in mind.

Dealing with performance issues Drumatom player is extremely light on CPU, since all processor-
intensive tasks take place in the standalone application. However, it IS demanding in terms of hard disk
data streaming. A fast disk will help you get the most out of it and avoid playback issues.

Take advantage of the multi-out configuration In most mixing cases, multi-out is the way to go when
using drum tools. Drumatom player has an output configuration menu right on the GUI and not tucked away
in any kind of cryptic advanced options tab! Make sure to use it.

Prepare your session before using drumatom player Make sure to do any file-related operations be-
fore using the plugin. Be smart: delete any tracks you wont use to shorten dls size (overhead mics, room
mics and any tracks labelled other would probably fall into that category). Have you analyzed various
combinations of the same group? You might want to gather the preferred results into a single dls file. You
can do that in the standalone application, either by dragging and dropping tracks between groups, or with
the help of a new, very useful feature: as of v2.0, drumatom has an option to import a track from a saved
group (Import > Import Track(s) from DLS).

Synchronization and timing Keep in mind that drumatom players output is slaved to the DAW playback
head. As such, selecting audio portions in the waveform view, or looping is not possible via drumatom
player. Youll have to use the DAW for that. The plugins waveform view is meant to be a visual guideline.

Resampling Keep in mind that drumatom player WILL NOT automatically resample your tracks to match
the projects sample rate. You should perform all necessary resampling tasks before opening the group.

Find the sweet spot The FOCUS and FINE TUNE knobs need slow, careful handling. The sweet spot
will vary from track to track. Just turning FOCUS clockwise will usually not be enough to get the sound you
want, so remember to use FINE TUNE as well. Keep in mind also, that FINE TUNE behaves in relation to
the current position of FOCUS.

Use the FINE TUNE control The FINE TUNE control is very important. What does it do? It adds back
the difference between the processed and the original signal. Think of it as a dry/wet control, specifically
tailored to the intricacies of drumatom. Apart from helping you shape your sound in detail, FINE TUNE
means that you dont have to set up a dry/wet signal chain in your DAW.

Combining drumatom with other tools It is highly recommended that your drum tracks are not pro-
cessed before analyzing with the drumatom standalone application. After importing the analyzed session
in the plugin, you can start building your mixing chain. Any type of time-domain tool will benefit greatly after
a track has been processed by drumatom. Dynamic tools such as gates and compressors will respond
more naturally, while spatial effects like reverb, will sit better in the mix.
6 FAQ 14

6 FAQ
6.1 General
What are the benefits of using drumatom player? The most obvious and important one: youll be able
to control the amount of leakage reduction in real-time within your DAW. You can also automate the controls
to better suit the dynamics of the audio material.

Is drumatom player phase-accurate? Yes. Drumatom player will not introduce any phase inconsisten-
cies.

Can I mix the drumatom player outputs with my original drum recordings? Since the plugin is phase-
accurate, yes. Its not necessary though. The FINE TUNE control will produce a similar result and youll
avoid unnecessary clutter in your workspace.

How many instances of drumatom player can I open? There is no theoretical limit in drumatom player
instances. Be careful though! Each plugin streams the tracks as well as the analysis data from the session
file. If you encounter clicks, pops or dropouts, theres a good chance your hard disk is reaching the limits of
its transfer rate.
7 CONTACT ACCUSONUS 15

7 Contact Accusonus
Have any questions? Suggestions maybe? Still wrapping your head around drumatom? Drop us a line
here: info@accusonus.com