Drumforge Manual

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 Table of Contents
Foreword
Product Information
Features (All Versions)
Features (Kontakt Instruments)
Includes
System Requirements
Installation
USB Flash Drive
Digital Download
Warranty
Replacement USB Drive
Returns and Refunds
Folder Structure and File Location
Methodology of Capture and Processing
Kick Drums
Snare Drums
Tom Drums
Cymbals
Articulations and Velocity
Gear used to create Drumforge
Kick Microphones
Snares Microphones
Toms Microphones
Cymbals Microphones
Processing
Instruments Sampled
Software Information
Drumagog
Trigger
Kontakt
Output Routing
Midi-Listen Feature
Default Midi Mapping
Make a four or more Tom set
Automation
Credits
Legal

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Foreword
Thank you for your purchase of Drumforge! Drumforge is not only a collection of drum
sample instruments made from a variety of rare and interesting drums, but it is a flexible and
creative tool for constructing unique drum tones in your productions. To make this collection,
we sampled an eclectic collection of vintage drums from the 1940s through the 1970s with all
original hardware as well as some modern day classics. Our collection contains both processed
and unprocessed instruments with features such as the multi-mic fader system, midi-listen
mapping, and sustain control to help you create a diverse palette of sound. The goal of
Drumforge was to make a versatile set of samples that anyone with any skill set could use to
create music easily and to provide users with a new innovative way to forge drum sounds. As
you get into using this pack more and become familiar with the drums, you will discover just
how useful and important Drumforge can be to your music making process.

From all of the Drumforge developers, thanks for joining us in our journey to forging
the drum sounds of tomorrow!

Joey Sturgis
Joel Wanasek
Joe Wohlitz

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Product Information
Features (All Versions)
● Samples of classic and modern high end drums from the collection of Adam Cargin /
Williamson Street Drumworks in Madison, WI
● Recorded at The Blast House in Madison Wisconsin on world class gear
● Processed through high end outboard compressors, eqs, and converters such as
Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor, Manley Massive Passive Equalizer, and Burl
Mothership Converters
● Discover unique drum sounds by mixing and blending processed microphones
together
● Create your own drum sound from scratch by using the provided raw unmixed
instruments

Features (Kontakt Instruments)

● Fully automatable multi-mic fader system for blending and crafting unique drum
sounds
● Automate mic faders to change your drum sound dynamically throughout your song
● Switch between x/y and spaced pair mic setups at the click of a button
● Control the decay of each microphone with the sustain control
● Use the midi-listen feature to easily set your midi map for triggering articulations
● Drum kit presets are provided for getting started quickly

Includes
● Unprocessed and processed versions of each drum
● Wav files of all multi-samples and velocity layers from each microphone
● Trigger, Drumagog, and Kontakt instrument formats
● Fully detailed and highly informative manual

System Requirements
● A computer with Intel or AMD compatible processor, Windows or Mac OSX operating
system, and a capable DAW software installed
● Winrar (Windows) or StuffIt Expander (Mac) to extract archives
● Trigger 1 or 2, Drumagog 5, or Kontakt 4.22 or higher (full version) is required for use
of the TCI, GOG, or NKI file formats respectively
● Recommended: This product is best experienced with Kontakt 4.22 or higher (full
version)
● Kontakt 4.22 or higher (full version) is required to use the cymbals properly (due to
scripted inter-sample interactions)
● Kontakt Player users: This product only works in Demo mode for Kontakt Player.

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Installation
You will need a utility to unzip Drumforge onto your computer. Most Windows or Mac
operating systems include a compression utility but if yours does not, you will need either
Winrar (windows) or StuffIt Expander (Mac).

You can get Winrar here: http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

You can get StuffIt Expander here: http://www.stuffit.com/downloads/index.html

USB Flash Drive

Follow these steps to install Drumforge I onto your PC or Mac:

1. Plug in the USB drive to your computer

a. It is possible to insert the USB drive upside down, so be sure you have inserted
it correctly into your USB port
2. Wait for your computer to recognize the USB drive
a. On Windows, you will see it appear in My Computer
b. On Mac, you will see it appear on your Desktop or in Finder
c. If your drive is not recognized, contact Leef Tech Support
i. https://www.2leef.com/wng/ to make a warranty claim
ii. https://www.2leef.com/contact to contact support
3. Open the USB drive using Windows Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac)
4. Use Winrar or StuffIt Expander to open and extract the file named ”Drumforge
I.part1.rar”. The utility should recognize that this compressed archive is a three part
split archive and will extract the Drumforge I folder and all of its files into one location.
5. The fully extracted contents of the files will be approximately 25 GB so make sure the
location you choose to extract to will have enough free space.
6. If you need additional help:
a. Stuffit Expander: http://www.stuffit.com/support/faqs.html
b. Winrar: http://www.win-rar.com/faq.html

Digital Download

Follow these steps to install your digital download onto your PC or Mac:

1. Extract the archive to a place you can locate easily

2. The archive will extract a folder named “Drumforge I” into the location you choose
3. Each additional download you get from Drumforge should be extracted to the location
that contains the “Drumforge I” folder with the “Overwrite” option. Each product will
be continually added to the “Drumforge I” folder as you purchase drums from
Drumforge.

Please read System Requirements for additional information on compatibility.

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Warranty
Drumforge does not directly support the warranty of the USB Drive itself, however the
USB Drives come with a warranty from the manufacturer. For more information or to make a
warranty claim, you may visit: http://2leef.com/wng/. Drumforge will gladly assist you in your
warranty case, just contact us at thedrumforge@gmail.com.

Replacement USB Drive

If you accidentally erase your USB drive, the drive becomes damaged during shipping,
or experience a loss of data without any way of recovering Drumforge I files, you may pay a
small fee to have a new drive delivered to you if you can ship us your failed or broken USB
Drive.

1. Locate your Order Number which was emailed to you when you purchased
Drumforge. If you can’t find it, please contact support:
http://www.thedrumforge.com/contact
2. Send an email to thedrumforge@gmail.com with the Subject: Replacement USB Drive
and include your mailing address in the Body
3. A customer support representative will give you additional instructions on how to
send us the broken drive and payment instructions for the replacement drive &
shipping costs.
4. The cost for the replacement drive and shipping is:
a. USA - $20.00 USD
b. International - $25.00 USD

Returns and Refunds

Please note that because every shipment has signature confirmation and insurance,
we will not be able to refund you for any broken shipments. If you receive a broken shipment,
please contact thedrumforge@gmail.com with the Subject: Broken Shipment and we will
assist you right away in getting a working drive to you by using the insurance provided by the
shipping company. Be sure to have your Tracking ID and shipping address information
included in the body of your email.

All purchases of Drumforge are final and there will be no refunds under any
circumstances. You agreed to these terms and conditions when you clicked the “Agree &
Checkout” button on the order page. If you have any questions, please refer to our:

Purchase Policy - http://www.thedrumforge.com/purchase-policy

License Agreement - http://www.thedrumforge.com/license-agreement

If you are unhappy with your purchase of Drumforge, please contact customer support at
http://www.thedrumforge.com/contact.

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Folder Structure and File Location
Drumforge has a folder structure that is easy to navigate

❖ Drumforge I - This is the master folder that will contain everything!

➢ Kontakt - This contains all things related to Kontakt instruments. This is also
where the wav files can be located
➢ Drumagog - This contains all Drumagog files
➢ Trigger - This contains all of the Trigger files

In the Drumforge I folder you’ll also find a “Read Me.txt” and this manual “Drumforge -
Manual.pdf”.

To find the wav files, browse to:

“Drumforge I\Kontakt\[drum type]\[drum name]\[drum name] Samples”

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Methodology of Capture and Processing
Drumforge was crafted with versatility in mind. The goal was to make a collection of
drum samples that would sound great in all productions by transcending all genres. We
wanted to offer solutions that would work in the extreme ends of the spectrum such as indie
rock versus death metal and everything in between. This was achieved by capturing the drums
with a range of microphones and preamps and then processing those with a variety of
outboard gear to achieve an excellent blend of tone and texture options with each
instrument. We also combined vintage and modern drum miking techniques to provide you
with a powerful array of sources to work from.

The first step to getting a great drum sound aside from the actual drum itself is
microphone placement and the interaction of the drum sound with the room. We began by
walking around the room and striking a floor tom to find the best areas of resonance where
the response was most flattering to the sound of the drum. Those spots were then marked.
Then we built the kit around the best sounding spot. Next, we placed our collection of
microphones strategically using both vintage and modern techniques. Those microphones
went through extensive listening tests and were chosen based on the strengths they played
to the drum and how we wanted to use them in processing.

Next, we took a rope and marked a line from the center of the kick and snare far out
into the room as a guide for microphone placement. The idea was to lower the amount of
panning skew by getting as close to perfect center as possible in our microphone setup. Many
modern engineers base the center of their microphone setup in relation to the kick drum, but
this can skew the snare hard in one direction in the room and overhead microphones. We took
an old school approach and based the center of our microphone setup on the center of the
kick and snare as if it were a vintage two or three microphone setup. This gives you a high
degree of image integrity and allows you to pan your drums however you want later.

For close distance mic-setup configurations, we provided a Recorderman (one mic

above the snare and the other behind the head of the drummer) with large diaphragm tube
condenser microphones and an ORTF behind the drummer’s head with small diaphragm
condensers for some versatile tone and imaging. We then set up a more traditional placement
of direct microphones, spaced pair overheads, a Blumlein setup (commonly referred to as XY),
and some mono and stereo room microphones. These placements allow us to provide a lot of
tone blending options that work in a variety of situations. This enables you to creatively mix
and match these techniques to forge interesting drum tones!

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 When processing these drums, we wanted to avoid over processing them to a point of
“fake” or “plastic” sound. We have processed them just enough to make them sound mix-
ready but allow you some room to further process them to your liking. If you’re into a metal
drum sound, you may want to add a slight high shelf, a transient designer, and a clipper to
achieve something more aggressive. For the clipper, we recommend the JST Clip available for
both Mac and PC in all major plugin formats: http://www.jstclip.com/. If you want more of an
indie sounding snare, then just grab one band of EQ and add 1 - 4 dB between 250 hz and 500
hz for a much more natural warm sound, or use a high shelf EQ to remove 1 or 2 dB of top
end. This can also be applied towards the Kicks and Toms. Do not be afraid to process these
drums further, we designed them to take it and they hold up when pushed to extremes!

In terms of sonic processing level, we’ve put things in the rock and country area. This
means they can be pushed in a more extreme direction like metal, or less extreme like indie.
However, we recognize the fact that not everyone will like our processing and thus we have
also provided you with the raw unprocessed samples of every instrument except for cymbals.
Cymbals have been processed only for frequency balance, and are completely open to your
own processing. We recommend some light compression over your cymbal bus to provide
more “glue” and sustain with the cymbal performance.

Drumforge Stock Processing

|
|
v
<-- Indie Rock <-- Rock | Country --> Heavy Metal -->

The default panning perspective of all samples are from the drummer’s perspective.
This means you can expect to find the hi hat panned towards the left and the floor tom
panned towards the right. A swap control is available on the toms and cymbals, and a panner
knob is available on direct microphones. There is additional control for this in the Kontakt
routing if you’re using the Kontakt instrument. You could also control this additionally at the
DAW level if you needed.

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Kick Drums

The kicks proved to be some of the most challenging to process. Kick drum tones vary
more often than any other drum in productions from genre to genre. We approached this
unique challenge by using three different direct microphones (Audix D6, AKG D112, and
Electro Voice RE20), two mono room microphones (Stellar CM6 and Royer R-121), one set of
overhead microphones (Mercenary Audio KM69), and one set of stereo room microphones
(Curtis Technology AL-2).

The direct microphones featured one microphone inside the kick drum itself to get
more click, and two microphones outside the shell of the kick close mic-setup to get a
different tone of attack. We used a D6 inside the kick and the RE20 & D112 outside the kick.
These options provide you with a wide range of kick tone options. Simply changing out the
direct mic drastically changes the type of attack you can get and where it is placed in the
frequency spectrum. With this, one kick can end up sounding like three to four different kicks!

Colorful tones start to emerge when you begin to utilize the two mono room options.
Most engineers will not process mono room microphones as extensively as we did. They are a
very important part of a fully bodied kick drum sound. We used a Royer R-121 three feet in
front of the kit, placed specifically for the tone of the kick drum. In processing, we bombed
this to hell and back with compression to get a really roomy tone. It sounds like you’re
standing right in the room where the kick was, three feet away from the drum which gives you
a nice sense of “natural kick drum” in the sound. This is great for indie and alt-rock type
genres but also should not be dismissed for heavier style music. Experiment with blending
these microphones into your sound.

The other mono room mic was the Recorderman technique over the snare drum.
Instead of using this as a stereo room, we felt it sounded very cool as a mono kick drum mic.
Once we started turning equalizer knobs, we realized the role of this microphone: give your
kick a nice tight sub punch with a hard thwack at the top end. This microphone has a very
unique tone and is a favorite of ours to blend with.

Between the direct and mono room microphones, you can paint an immense sonic
palette of kick drum tones. Do not be afraid to turn up the mono rooms in your blend. A lot of
successful mixing engineers are using kick sounds built with stereo and mono rooms to give
the drum more body and tone overall.

The stereo room microphone setup we included is the ORTF pair as overheads and the
Curtis tube microphones in the standard room position (far from the drum). The standard
rooms were compression bombed for size and ambience. The ORTF pair (a set of KM69s) was
used for tone and spread. Through the blending of these two sounds you gain control of the
overall ambience of the kick room and width.

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Snare Drums

For snare processing, we chose to provide two different direct microphones (the Shure
SM57 and the Audix i5), one set of overheads (Mercenary Audio KM69) and two sets of stereo
room microphones (Stellar CM6 and Curtis Technology AL-2). We didn’t feel that the mono
rooms offered anything worth adding to the collection. The stereo rooms have been
processed to offer you some great choices to blend with for stereo width and tone.

The two direct options are the SM57 and the i5 which have a similar frequency
response but with a different midrange curve. The bottom microphone is another SM57 with
polarity reversed.

The stereo microphone placement consists of a Recorderman setup using two Stellar
CM6 microphones with one microphone placed over the drummer’s head and the other placed
above the head pointed down at the snare. We also have a pair of Curtis Technology AL-2
microphones spaced far apart towards the back of the room, one on each side of the room
facing towards the snare and a pair of Mercenary KM69 microphones in the ORTF
configuration labeled as “OH” placed directly behind the drummer’s head pointed at the
drums. The Curtis room microphones were smashed to hell and back intended to add size and
room ambience to your blend. You could consider this your reverb control. The Recorderman
configuration is compressed to offer a different type of room tone in contrast to the Curtis
rooms. These have more of a splat to them and they tend to blend nicely with the Curtis
rooms but can also be used alone. Lastly, the ORTF pair playing the role of overheads are
processed to be very punchy and add some spread to the direct sample. We love the crack and
depth this gives to the snare and we use it quite loud in our own mixes. The pair has some
ambience to it but also sounds tight and punchy and will help your snare to cut through in a
dense mix.

If you want more ambient room sound, we recommend adding a bit of hall or plate
reverb to the direct and room samples. Simply sending all of your snare mics to a reverb fx
send can accomplish this task quite easily.

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Tom Drums

We recorded a great collection of vintage drums from the 1940’s through 1970’s with
all original hardware. Having more than three toms was rare for that time period so
Drumforge features both two tom and three tom sets. Each tom we recorded was selected
for its own unique tone and we wanted to focus on quality over quantity. If you’d like to have
a four tom kit or more, you can simply pitch shift some of the toms to fill out your desired set!

The tom sets got a very unique treatment in processing. We wanted to capture the
tone of the toms with a lot of detail and retain the punch & body of the drum. Most modern
setups feature a direct microphone such as a Sennheiser 421 in combination with some
overheads and rooms. Having the direct microphone in the mix with those pairs is how a lot of
drums are recorded. In a sampling project such as Drumforge, you are able to get away with
some techniques that would not normally work in a typical drum recording situation. With
this, we set up a Stellar Audio CM5 microphone (which is a C12 clone) three feet above the
tom and used it like a direct microphone. It was time aligned to the direct microphone so it
can be blended like one without transient flamming. This really gives you a great option for
body and tone with some depth in comparison to the closest microphone. It can also be used
as the only “direct microphone” despite its distance. Both of these options are very punchy
and can be used alone or blended together for unique tones!

When processing began for the toms, we experimented with a lot of combinations.
After all of that experimentation, we concluded the best microphones to use would be the
two directs and two sets of overhead and rooms as mentioned above. The 421 and the CM5
were best out of all directs we had tried. We then took the ORTF and the Curtis rooms and
processed them for contrasting tones. The CM5 and the ORTF (labeled as “OH”) combined
together produce a nice punchy tone with deep body with a great sense of realism. You can
really hear the beauty of the room in these mics. The 421 mates very well with the standard
tube Curtis microphones. These rooms were equalized and compressed to be very
thunderous. Switching between just these two sets of microphones can yield very different
results. Its like having more sets of tom in just one set. When you begin to blend them you will
achieve many shades of sonic color. Each set is unique and some will work better for some
genres than others. For example, Tom set 2 feels very vintage where Tom set 6 is a lot more
modern. You might want to try Tom set 2 on something indie or jazz or Tom set 6 on
something hard rock and metal. You can always mix and match the toms, pitch shift them, and
add additional processing to achieve your desired results!

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Cymbals

Like the shells, the cymbals were recorded with maximum tonal flexibility in mind.
Instead of close miking the cymbals, we decided that it would be better and more realistic to
record the cymbals more similar to how an actual drum session would be setup. The default
kit perspective is from the drummer’s perspective (hi hats left, floor tom on the right). The
Kontakt instrument also provides a flip button for any drum that would be commonly panned
in a mix. All cymbals have a swap button to switch to audience perspective. The hi hats, ride,
and splash cymbals include a spot microphone so that you can manipulate the placement in
the stereo spectrum and blend in more direct sound with your tone. You may want your hi
hats panned at 50% left on a verse but 100% left on a chorus, so we’ve given you the ability to
do this by including optional direct microphones. The hi hats also offer more than one direct
microphone for two contrasting tones.

We captured the overhead microphones using a Blumlein configuration (more

commonly known as X/Y) and a spaced pair. For simplicity, we have labeled the Blumlein pair
an “XY” pair. We used a stereo ribbon microphone for the Blumlein configuration resulting in
a darker cymbal sound and then a pair of small diaphragm condensers for the spaced pair to
ensure wide imaging and brighter cymbal sound. This provides you with two distinct tones
that contrast against each other, but can also be used in a production to compliment each
other by playing to strengths in song sections. You may want to have the imaging of the
Blumlein pair in your verse for a tighter sound, and then switch to the spaced pair option in
the chorus to widen things up. This switch is automatable along with any of the other controls
in the Kontakt instrument.

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Articulations and Velocity
Drumforge is best experienced using our custom scripted Kontakt instruments with
the Kontakt Sampler and it is important to note how we’ve setup the velocity and the
articulation mapping. In general, the hardest possible hits on any drum is mapped to velocity
value of 127 (Trigger and Kontakt). Only the most powerful kick, snare, tom, and cymbal hits
are located on this “velocity layer”. A snare hit at this velocity layer is actually a rimshot. With
years of experience and extensive testing of all types of drum sampling products as well as
our own, we concluded that it would be best to have only the hardest hitting samples at this
single velocity layer. If you are programming drums with our product, you’ll be able to more
accurately replicate proper drum playing with this information. If you’re using it for
replacement, be mindful that all crack or rimshot hits should be hitting at the highest possible
velocity level in order to get desired results.

If you are triggering from a live performance, one way to set up a more accurate
trigger scenario is to separate your hardest hits and your dynamic hits. If 90% of the drum
track should be rimshot snares, and the rest are short drum fills or ghost notes, then you
simple have a track for all those hardest hits, and then a second track with the other notes cut
out from the hardest track. The first track can be set to trigger only the hardest velocity layer,
and the second one can trigger the full range of velocity layers. On the hardest velocity layer,
you can crank the input volume of the trigger plugin so that all hits are considered the same,
and then the dynamics track can be left as-is. This should help you achieve more consistent
results when using live performances to trigger Drumforge.

The kick and tom drums only have one articulation, and that is the “hit” articulation.
This is a strike in the center of the drum head. We’ve recorded the drum being struck with
different levels of power and force and automatically assigned those to different velocity
layers. The snare technically has 3 articulations. The first being the Rimshot which is triggered
by playing a “hit” articulation at 127 velocity. The second being a regular hit, at different
levels of hardness, triggered by the “hit” articulation between 1 and 126. Finally, the third is
what we call the “Drag” articulation which is the sound of the drummer letting his stick
bounce on the drum head at a low velocity. The cymbals have various articulations which are
available to see in detail in the Kontakt instrument GUI by clicking on the “Advanced Options”
element. On the left hand side, you will see a list of all the articulations that are available with
that specific cymbal.

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Gear used to create Drumforge
Kick Microphones
● Audix D6
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed inside the kick drum
○ Scooped sound with extra click
● AKG D112
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed outside the front head of the kick drum
○ Tight thump sound
● Electro Voice RE20
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed outside the front head of the kick drum
○ Boomy punch sound
● Stellar CM6
○ Mono Recorderman Overhead Microphone
○ Placed over the snare pointed downward
○ Adds tight sub and high frequency punch
● Royer R-121
○ Mono Room Microphone
○ Placed three feet in front of the kick drum
○ Adds a splatty & gooey sound
● Mercenary Audio KM69
○ Stereo ORTF Overhead Setup
○ Placed directly behind the drummer’s head pointed at the drum kit
○ Adds tone and realism with some spread to the sound
● Curtis Technology AL-2
○ Stereo Spaced Pair Room Setup
○ Placed in the back of the room with one on each side facing the drum kit
○ Adds size and ambience to the sound

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Snares Microphones
● Shure SM57
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed on the top and bottom of the snare drum
○ Tight punchy sound
○ Brightness and actual “snare” sound is added with the bottom
● Audix i5
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Alternative to the SM57 with similar qualities
● Stellar CM6
○ Stereo Recorderman Microphone Setup
○ One microphone placed over the drummer’s head and the other placed above
the head pointed down at the snare drum
● Mercenary Audio KM69
○ Stereo ORTF Overhead Setup
○ Placed directly behind the drummer’s head pointed at the drum kit
○ Adds punch and spread to the sound
● Curtis Technology AL-2
○ Stereo Spaced Pair Room Setup
○ Placed in the back of the room with one on each side facing the drum kit
○ Adds size and ambience to the sound

Toms Microphones
● Sennheiser MD421
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed on top of the tom drum
○ Scooped with strong attack
● Stellar CM5
○ Mono Direct Microphone
○ Placed three feet above the toms
○ Smack with air for the sound (Highly recommended!)
● Mercenary Audio KM69
○ Stereo ORTF Overhead Setup
○ Placed directly behind the drummer’s head pointed at the drum kit
● Curtis Technology AL-2
○ Stereo Spaced Pair Room Setup
○ Placed in the back of the room with one of each side facing the drum kit
○ Adds a nice boomy thunderous tone to the toms with some extra ambience

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Cymbals Microphones
● Mercenary Audio KM69
○ Stereo Spaced Pair Overhead Setup
○ Placed above the cymbals, spaced apart, centered between the cymbals
○ Bright, open, and wide tone
● Stellar CM6
○ Stereo Spaced Pair Room Setup
○ Placed in the back of the room with one on each side facing the drum kit
○ Adds ambience and stereo width to the sound
● Royer SF-12
○ Stereo Blumlein Overhead Setup (Titled “X/Y” for short)
○ Placed above the cymbals centered with the drum kit
○ Dark, tight, and warm tone
● Shure SM7b
○ Mono Direct Microphone (For Hi Hat)
○ Placed above the Hi Hat
○ Tight and dark sound
● Shure KSM141
○ Mono Direct Microphone (For Hi Hat, Splash, and Ride)
○ Placed above the cymbal
○ Tight and bright sound

Processing
● Burl Mothership Converters
● Microphone Preamps
○ BAE 1023
○ BAE 312
○ Trident A Range
○ Rupert Neve Designs Portico
○ Universal Audio 610
○ Chandler TG Channel
○ Aurora Audio GTQ2
● Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor All Class A Ltd. Ed. (1 of 50 made)
● Empirical Labs Distressor
● Hairball Audio 1176 Rev A “Blue Stripe” Compressor (with custom part modifications)
● Roll Music RMS 775 Stereo Bus Compressor
● Slate Pro Audio Dragon 1176 Compressor
● Universal Audio LA-3A Compressor
● Chandler TG Channel EQ
● Manley Massive Passive Tube EQ
● Kush Audio Clariphonic EQ
● BAE 1023 EQ

17
Instruments Sampled

18
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20
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Software Information
Drumagog

Drumagog 5 has some strong limitations with its format which has made it difficult to
make Drumforge compatible with it. We strongly recommend using either Trigger or Kontakt
for the best experience possible with Drumforge. However, if you are using Drumforge with
Drumagog, we’ve figured out a way to make our multi-mic system work despite Drumagog’s
limitations. In order to keep the samples as phase accurate as possible, we had to stack them
into a single Gog, but each Gog can only contain a limited number of stacks. Due to this, some
instruments are multiple Gogs. In order to use it properly and have access to all microphones
for blending, you will need to create an audio track for each Gog file to trigger into. Here we
will list how the Gogs are laid out. Each entity in the parenthesis is a gog file.

Kicks - (Direct Microphones), (Mono Rooms), (Overheads and Stereo Rooms)

Direct = Default microphone is D112
Mono Rooms = Default microphone is the Rman
Stereo Rooms = Default microphone is the Overhead ORTF pair
Snares - (Direct Microphones), (Rooms)
Direct = Default microphone is SM57 Top
Stereo Rooms = Default microphone is the Overhead ORTF pair
Toms - (Direct Microphones), (Rooms)
Direct = Default microphone is the 421 Top
Stereo Rooms = Default microphone is the Overhead ORTF pair

Known problem: The direct microphone will always reset to 100% every time you open a
new instance of Drumagog, even if you save a new preset.

Trigger

Trigger is very straight forward. There is one TCI file per microphone. Drag and drop
desired microphones each onto a blank fader and start blending.

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Kontakt

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 1. Multi-mic Fader System - Each fader is the volume level of a microphone as labeled
on top of the fader. Red text indicates a Direct Microphone, Blue indicates a alternate
mic, Black indicates a microphone distanced away from the source.
2. Polarity Flip Button - This button can change the polarity of the microphone. The
default polarity was chosen carefully but it is impossible to know what combinations
you will end up with and to have them all be phase coherent with each other (e.g.
having to choose between a 50 hz or a 100 hz bump in the kick, for example).
Experiment with the phase of each microphone as you blend.
3. Advanced Options - This brings up the Advanced Options page which gives you access
to additional controls for the instrument.
4. Logo Button - This opens the credits page.
5. Output Routing - This drop down control will allow you choose which channel the
microphone is routed to in the Kontakt outputs.
6. Sustain Control - This knob will control the sustain and decay of the microphone.
Leaving the knob in the default “long” position actually disables the sustain control
completely, allowing the full original recording of the sample to play.
7. Swap R/L Button - This allows you to flip the stereo image so that the left channel is
swapped with the right channel. All drums are drummer’s perspective by default, so
pressing this button will make it audience perspective.
8. Microphone Selection - This allows you to choose which direct mic you are using as a
spot. These microphones were not intended to be blended together and thus you
must choose one or the other.
9. Midi-Listen Buttons - This feature allows you to set up your own midi mapping for the
articulations of the instruments. Explained in more detail below.

Output Routing
The routing box allows you to use dedicated outputs you can assign in Kontakt to send
each channel to in your DAW. See the Kontakt manual for instructions on how to do this. Use
the Output Routing selector to choose which Kontakt Output Channel the microphone will be
routed to.

Midi-Listen Feature
In Drumforge, you can use the default midi mapping or use the Midi-Listen feature to
create your own articulation mapping. Our midi mapping is as close as we could get to General
Midi Mapping while each instrument’s articulations are grouped close together for ease of
playing and programming. To change the mapping of any articulation, go to the Advanced
Options page on the instrument. Click the “Listen” button next to the articulation in which
you want to set the midi note for. Now the instrument is in “Listening” mode, waiting for you
to send it a midi signal. The next midi note you send to Kontakt will cause this articulation to
be triggered by that note. If you’d like to reset this back to default, press the “Reset” button.
Be careful not to map two articulations between any of the Drumforge instruments to the
same note, or a single note will trigger more than one articulation / instrument at the same
time.

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Default Midi Mapping

Instrument Note Articulation

Misc. A0 Drum Stick Click (In air over drummer’s head)

A#0 Snare drum rim tick with sticks
B0 Side Stick

Kick C1 Kick

Snare D1 Snare
D#1 Snare drag

Toms E1 High Tom

F1 Middle Tom
G1 Low Tom

Hats E2 Full open

F2 Half open
G2 Loose shaft
G#2 Loose tip
A2 Tight shaft
A#2 Tight tip
F#2 Pedal

Crash Rides F3 Crash

F#3 Choke
G3 Ride tip
G#3 Shoulder
A3 Bell Shaft
A#3 Bell tip

Bell Ride C4 Ride tip

C#4 Shoulder
D4 Bell shaft
D#4 Bell tip

Crash C3 Left crash

C#3 Left crash choke
D3 Right crash
D#3 Right crash choke

China F4 Crash
F#4 Choke

Splash G4 Crash
G#4 Choke

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Make a four or more Tom set
In the Processing Toms section, we briefly mentioned making a Tom set of four or
more toms. Due to the time period of the drums we captured, sets like these were rare. If
you’d like to make four or more Tom set, first open the desired Tom set in Kontakt. Next,
choose a Tom to duplicate to produce your additional tom and add it again. If you want a
lower tom, add the lowest tom again, if you want a higher tom, add the highest tom again, or
just experiment with any of the toms from the set! After you’ve added the tom again, select it
and change the “pitch” or “tune” setting to raise or lower the pitch of the instrument, overall.
Finally, go into the Advanced Options page and change the articulation mapping so that
triggering the duplicated tom does not play the original tom at the same time.

Automation

Every function of the Drumforge interface is fully automatable in Kontakt! The way
Kontakt Automation works is if you can interact with it using your mouse, it can be automated
in your DAW. In order to automate a fader, button, or knob just follows these instructions:

1. Open the instrument

2. Click the “Auto” tab which is located at the top of the “Browser” tab
3. Click and drag an unassigned list item on to the control you wish to automate and drop
it, causing the list item to change its name
4. In your DAW, open your list of automatable parameters for Kontakt
5. You’ll notice that the name has changed to the name of the control you dropped the
list item on to
6. Engage Read / Write enable
7. Write automation data as you’d like!
8. Make sure your Automation is in Read mode to hear back your automation!

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Credits
Drumforge is a product of The Drumforge, JTW Drums, and Joey Sturgis Drums

● Joel Wanasek - Concept, Engineering, and Mixing

● Joe Wohlitz - Concept, Engineering, and Editing
● Joey Sturgis - Executive Producer, Design, Marketing, and Engineering
● Morgan Hendricks - Graphics and User Interface
● Aaron Pace - Kontakt Programming
● John Russell - Director of Photography, Camera Operator, Video Editor, and
Photographer
● Michael Pelaez - Additional Video Footage and Camera Operator
● Aaron Isaacson - Assistant Engineering, Testing, and Editing
● Chris Galvez - Assistant Engineering, and Editing
● Dustin Sisson - Assistant Engineering
● Daniel Szafranek - Editing
● Adam Cargin - Drum Instrument Provider, Drum Tech
● Nick Cesarz - Drum Performance
● Steve Zywicka - Cymbal Performance

Special thanks to Adam Cargin of Williamson Street Drumworks for providing a stellar
collection of drums!

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Legal
Purchase Policy - http://www.thedrumforge.com/purchase-policy
License Agreement - http://www.thedrumforge.com/license-agreement

All trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, product names and logos
appearing in this manual and any product images are the property of their respective owners.
Use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement by those respective owners.
Drumforge logo is property of The Drumforge. JSD logo is property of Joey Sturgis Drums.
JTW Drums logo is property of JTW Music LLC.

Copyright © 2014 The Drumforge. All rights reserved.

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