I use poly aftertouch quite often. My Deepmind synth doesn’t have poly aftertouch keybed, but it can be controlled from my Novation keyboard. DM is really great with poly aftertouch as a modulation source, but I am not that good at using it effectively while trying to play. I end up with a really messy aftertouch modulation clip that I will finish and click manually with the mouse in the end. And it would be more effective to click it right from the get-go in the first place.
Yeah that’s exactly where I am at - it’s very expressive but while I can do it my skills aren’t up to fully taking advantage of it and I can edit that in easier later.
Same would be true of full MPE on a traditional keyboard (i.e. Osmose). Something like the Linnstrument might be different though.
@wellbi btw you’ll be proud of me, I just bought F.'em (JRRShop has it for $29 right now) 
Also Fors Pivot. I decided I wanted a gentle gateway in to it too.
Phase Plant does FM just fine but I wanted a couple dedicated instruments to focus on it. Considered OpSix native too but outside of Korg sales it’s pricey.
Pretty cool, just like the Ampeg Plugin Suite
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Pricey, but I picked it up anyway. Really nice, clean UI. Importantly, at least for me, is that it includes a standalone version, so you don’t need to load a DAW or plugin host like Gig Performer to use it. The price in the EU is 129 €. After the intro period, I expect it to go up to 199 € like the Ampeg suite did (which I also grabbed for $100 when it was released).
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Wow PB, thanks for the offer! Only $300 for your $30 synth deal!
At least it’s exclusive. Of me, apparently
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A couple oldies but goodies in the bundle. I’m not getting it but it’s not a bad deal 
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I would like to know and love a plugin that makes a fingerstyle tone sound more like a pick tone. If possible: cheap and/or free.
I’m working on a track with “my” ADHS park punk chicks, and it already sounds very cool. But it’s still much too soft. It needs more attack, I guess!?
@Howard to the rescue … you surely know a solution?
PS No, I am not going to learn playing with a pick now, also cause we don’t have enough time until the end of production…
You want a transient shaper. It will still be imperfect and won’t sound the same though. Kilohearts has a good free one.
What you really want is to learn how to play with a pick.
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Grow your fingernails a bit longer and make sure they hit the strings when plucking!
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No time - see above! I will prerecord a bass line to be used for a live gig (as a fall back), in case the bass chick will not make it. ADHS makes it hard to focus, apparently, and she didn’t even get to pick up my bass. So no practice = a recipe for a catastrophe 
And no, I will not play live: first of all I am still to shy (every time I play in front of people I play really really bad) … and I don’t want to be the grandpa that plays bass on stage with this beautiful young & sexy rap/singing girl. That feels just … wrong!
Never! I always had them very short, but for playing my usual old f@rt stuff I need short fingernails.
Like the Kilohearts one? Or is there something cheap/free and better?
Can you point me to the settings, so I have a head start?
Yeah it’s a good one. Honestly I would just play with it, the controls are simple and self explanatory. You’ll want to up the speed to make it sharp, turn up the Attack and Dump and play with them until it sounds good.
If you’re boosting the attack you’re effectively applying negative compression. You’re not increasing the actual dynamic range but you are effectively taking up more of it. So you’ll probably have to gain stage it down a little after that or you’ll clip.
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Cool! Thanks!!!
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not technically a plugin. but i have already noticed that a ton of emphasis is simply getting a drum sample you like (and then mangling the hell out of it if you want). and one would think how hard is it to get a snare i like, turns out it’s sometimes harder than you think. so I saw this on YouTube and this video is amazing by the way. like a lot of these things, it wasn’t too expensive so I just got all three - kick, snare, and hat.
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That’s one way to do drums, yes. Ableton in particular kind of leans in to it, Bitwig too.
However another great way is to use drum synthesizer plugins, especially for electronic drums. My current favorites:
Drum synths:
SonicCharge Microtonic - an older plugin but still one of the best sounding general purpose drum synths
d16 Drumazon 2 - Outstanding emulation of the Roland TR-909
d16 Nepheton 2 - same thing except with the TR-808
d16 Nithonat 2 - same, Roland TR-606
GForce Oberheim DMX - great sounding DMX emulation to get your Blue Monday on with
Sample-based Drum Kits:
Steven Slate Drums 5 - just outstanding drum samples, generally regarded as some of the best
Logic’s Drummer kit builtins - these are quite good
Bitwig’s builtins and expansion kits - also fine
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for sure, it seems to be a rule that software can do almost anything that hardware or samples can do. there is a learning curve associated with it though and i literally cannot take on anything new right now. wav files may be costlier and not as powerful but they are a lazy way to just click on something.
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Cool. Usually drum samples are used in two main ways:
Drum samples are loaded into a sampler instrument in the DAW (usually as premade kits but you can also load individually) and these are then programmed with MIDI either onthe piano roll or via a drum pattern sequencer
Drum loops are longer pre-canned pattern samples dragged right into the clip or arrangement views.
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The only things I have from d16 are the Lush synth and the free Frontier limiter, both excellent. I’ll have to check out their drum synths. At 119 € each, I’ll have to wait for Black Friday. A B.F. bundle sale would be even better!
NI’s Battery is getting old. Studio One’s Impact is OK. But…Bitwig has been growing their drum machine lineup. They were good and are getting better. I also quite like DMX.
My new Xjam MIDI controller finally gives me pads for playing my drum machines instead of just using MIDI clips.
Lush 2 is my favorite SH-101-like, its layers are just great. And Frontier is still my main limiter
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