It’s no secret that Microtonic is still after all these years one of our favorite software drum machines (back in 2007 when we started ANR we even featured the developer, Magnus Lidström, in one of our first interviews).
There aren’t many virtual instruments from that era that can still manage to sound and look fresh, and Microtonic (first released in 2003!!!), and to me, this is a fantastic achievement.
A couple of years ago, Teenage Engineering paid tribute to Magnus’ creation embedding its sound engine in the popular PO-32 in their Pocket Operator series, while just a few days ago SonicCharge announced a nice Christmas gift for its users. It’s called Vintage Tonic and it is a collection of Microtonic patches that recreates the sounds of ten famous vintage drum machines.
MicroTonic meets AI
Vintage Tonic is a patch package for Microtonic created from recordings of the following classic drum machines:
- Maestro Rhythm King (1960)
- Keio / Korg Minipops 7 (1966)
- Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm (1978)
- Korg KR-55 (1979)
- Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer (1980)
- Oberheim DMX (1981)
- Linn Drum (1982)
- Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer (1984)
- Roland TR-707 Rhythm Composer (1984)
- Roland TR-505 Rhythm Composer (1986)
According to the developer , to make these patches sound as close to the originals as possible, SonicCharge took help from a new machine-learning algorithm that they have been working on in the past few years.
As Magnus points out, Vintage Tonic “includes both analog and digital drum machines. Naturally, the digital drum machines are much harder to reproduce using Microtonic’s synthesizer engine, but even imperfect results are fun, and I find the sounds quite useful”.
Also, a nice bonus: as we know, the older drum machines were mainly preset pattern players. With Vintage Tonic, the developer tried to reproduce not only their sounds but also all of their original patterns, and… you also get a vintage custom skin!
How do these patches sound? Pretty awesome if you ask me. I’m a sucker for the sound of early drum machines and I think Vintage Tonic really captures their vibe. Plus you get all the benefits of MicroTonic’s smart workflow (and a standalone version, for when you don’t want to fire up your DAW!).
Check out the short video below:
How To Get Vintage Tonic
Vintage Tonic is a free download for registered MicroTonic users. To learn more and get Vintage Tonic, please visit the SonicCharge dedicated page.
If you’re not a MicroTonic user yet, you can get your copy here. MicroTonic costs approx. $99/£89.
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