Electronic Musician
September 2002
By Erik Hawkins and Marty Cutler

Vamtech.  Vamtech's Drumtrax presents a virtual world of drum and percussion stylings from an unusually wide variety of generes including funk, alternative, jazz, and world music.  Each MIDI file contains a full song-form arrangement and includes multiple variations.  All variations are delineated with part markers for easy arranging.

 You get a choice of Type 1 SMFs with each MIDI track harboring a drum-kit element: Type 1 with a track each for drum kit and percussion; and two variations of Type 0 files, with one offering everything on one track and the second offering one track for drums and one for percussion.  For tweaking and reassigning individual drum elements, the split Type 1 files are preferable.  They are also useful when you want to commit tracks to a recording but your sound source doesn't have individual outputs or the signal-processing resources to treat different kit elements individually.  Split MIDI tracks let you solo and record a track at a time.

The included Drumtrax Librarian software is useful for finding just the right tracks; the main screen shows the file name, the style, the meter, a short description, and user comments .  The librarian can sort files using any of those parameters as a searchable field, and it can hide sequences that don't meet your qualifications.  If your clients include nitpicky types who insist on a quarter note ride cymbal on bars 4 through 6, you're in luck; clicking on the Marker button engages a pop-up window with a list of just those elements.  For example, the marker will indicate that a section offers four bars with quarter-note ride bells with tom fills.  The Preferences menu lets you set up a link that causes any any sequence you launch to open up in the sequencer of your choice.  You also get a table of drum and percussion note assignments.

Nearly all of the Drumtrax sequences offer strong grooves, although some of the R&B sequences are a tad heavy handed at times.  Otherwise, the grooves are supple with delicately phrased ghost notes and slammed dynamics when needed.