The advantages of using Guru over Battery

[Killah_Trakz]

What are the pro's and con's?

[cynic one]

My biggest win for guru over battery is the built-in sequencer. I hate programming drums from cubase or logic. The sequencer in guru is the shit for drums. You can control basically anything, then change patterns with midi notes.

After that, it does slicing, has sick built in effects, and you can automate the hell out of it.

All that together makes it better than battery in my opinion...

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by cynic

My biggest win for guru over battery is the built-in sequencer. I hate programming drums from cubase or logic. The sequencer in guru is the shit for drums. You can control basically anything, then change patterns with midi notes.

After that, it does slicing, has sick built in effects, and you can automate the hell out of it.

All that together makes it better than battery in my opinion...

For real hey..... I'm a Battery user, but I might just have to look into what guru is saying for myself, the built in sequencer sounds interesting. I'd go out and buy that tomorrow if its as good as you are explaining it to be...

[swisha31]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

For real hey..... I'm a Battery user, but I might just have to look into what guru is saying for myself, the built in sequencer sounds interesting. I'd go out and buy that tomorrow if its as good as you are explaining it to be...

yeah i just got finished using Guru not even 5 mins ago puttin drums down real quick on a track just to play around with it and it is crazy easy. just throw sounds on which pads u want them to be on and then sequence. the good thing is that it has like 16 different patterns you can make sequences with so its a pretty nifty app. i like contact and battery though but Guru is just convenient

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by swisha31

yeah i just got finished using Guru not even 5 mins ago puttin drums down real quick on a track just to play around with it and it is crazy easy. just throw sounds on which pads u want them to be on and then sequence. the good thing is that it has like 16 different patterns you can make sequences with so its a pretty nifty app. i like contact and battery though but Guru is just convenient

That sounds like something I really gotta check out for sure. One of my producer friends mentioned something about Guru to me before, but I never thought to look into it.

How good is the quality of the built in effects? and how good is the quality for manipulating the drum sounds?

[Patrick']

ehhh gave it a test run and have to say no thank you on that.

[swisha31]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

That sounds like something I really gotta check out for sure. One of my producer friends mentioned something about Guru to me before, but I never thought to look into it.

How good is the quality of the built in effects? and how good is the quality for manipulating the drum sounds?

built in fx are ok at first glance but i havent really just sat down and really played with them. i just messed around for 15-20 mins with the fx when i first got my hands on it. i wasnt really interested in that seeing how i can just do it on my own. i just wanted to assign sounds to pads and go from there. it's simple as hell too. some will like it, some won't. pretty much the same with anything but i think its nice. i really dont see a reason to use both battery or guru and i'm pretty sure i will find myself using one or the other.

[cynic one]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

That sounds like something I really gotta check out for sure. One of my producer friends mentioned something about Guru to me before, but I never thought to look into it.

How good is the quality of the built in effects? and how good is the quality for manipulating the drum sounds?

ill enough for me......

and if you don't like the sequencer (which i love), you can still trigger notes from your host sequencer like you're used to doing.

i'm really not supposed to be pumping it up, but i'm beta testing the next version and i gotta say - the new shit they're adding is outta control :D

ships with a pretty decent sound set too.

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by swisha31

built in fx are ok at first glance but i havent really just sat down and really played with them. i just messed around for 15-20 mins with the fx when i first got my hands on it. i wasnt really interested in that seeing how i can just do it on my own. i just wanted to assign sounds to pads and go from there. it's simple as hell too. some will like it, some won't. pretty much the same with anything but i think its nice. i really dont see a reason to use both battery or guru and i'm pretty sure i will find myself using one or the other.

I think its pretty much gonna depend on whether the sequencer and other different options are gonna be something that I'd prefer having over having no sequencer with Battery, but I'm going to check out some magazine reviews online and get some details on its use when put to the test.

[swisha31]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

I think its pretty much gonna depend on whether the sequencer and other different options are gonna be something that I'd prefer having over having no sequencer with Battery, but I'm going to check out some magazine reviews online and get some details on its use when put to the test.

yaeh my brother told me about it and he loved it. he uses it all the time in ableton live and told me to try it so i did and i liked it. to each his own though

[cynic one]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

I think its pretty much gonna depend on whether the sequencer and other different options are gonna be something that I'd prefer having over having no sequencer with Battery, but I'm going to check out some magazine reviews online and get some details on its use when put to the test.

there's a demo available here..........

FXpansion - Guru

[jordanh]

damnit! right when i get battery and start messing around with it i have to hear about guru...oh well! i guess ill be downloading the demo

[PettyCash]

After doing a bit of reading around on the internet, I dont even think I would bother with trying the demo.............Im just gonna bite the bullet and and buy the full program.

The part that hooked and reeled me in was the beat slicing capabilities. I will finally have a quicker alternative to slicing up samples, which I currently do using Recycle or Acid.

The sequencer also seems like something I would take advantage of on a regular basis. As powerful and more complex as it looks, I think it would actually fit my workflow much better than Battery 3 does at the moment.
This looks like a tool that would challenge your creativity more than hamper it. I'm also feeling how it has a good variety of quantizing grooves.

Before Battery 3 I was using Reason Redrum via rewire for drum sequencing, which I was feeling at the time. Then I finally decided to give redrum a rest and put Battery 3 to use, which doesnt have its own sequencer and forced me to sequence drum midi within the DAW, which was alright but not my favourite thing to do in the case of drums. Sometimes it made me feel like pulling out my MPC and using it for drum sequencing again.
Guru just seems to be the best of all worlds giving me the good qualities from both redrum and Battery, but in one complete package.

I will be hitting up L&M and buying Guru first thing in the morning, and putting it to the test during my next production session.

[jordanh]

maybe i'll have to pick it up also... I was using redrum for the longest time and just switched to battery--- but i agree with you.. I do my beat slicing in recycle and usually bring it into reason (dr rex) and then rewire to logic but why not beatslice it all in guru?

shortcut!

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by jordanh

maybe i'll have to pick it up also... I was using redrum for the longest time and just switched to battery--- but i agree with you.. I do my beat slicing in recycle and usually bring it into reason (dr rex) and then rewire to logic but why not beatslice it all in guru?

shortcut!

I dont think you could go wrong with using Guru as far as I can tell. Its almost like combining Recycle to chop samples, then Reason for loading and playing the slices along with using Redrum for drum sequencing and loading one shots; Then then combining what abilities you have in Battery and shoving it all under one hood.

I decided to sequence my drums digitally to save myself time in sessions, so this tool is gonna be even more of a plus, now that I can save myself the time of going back and forth between Recycle, Reason and the DAW.

For me this is enough to justify the cost of admission.

[huggie]

I use iDrum, Guru, Battery, Redum.

iDrum is great for getting ideas down fast.
Redrum is also great for making beats fast.
Battery with Recycle is a killa combination. If your happy using your host to program drum sequences....
Guru does it all! As fast or as deep as you want it to be.
Guru is a great product and gets better with ever update.

Just so you know... I am affiliated with FXpansion and Guru. I do sound design work for them. Even if I didn't have that connection I would be plugging Guru though...

Hugo

[gb-jazz]

I've been using iDrum and it's cool but it's limitations are gigantic, been thinking about pulling the trigger on Guru.
Huggie, how do you feel about Guru's sequencer coming from a MPC users perspective?

[PettyCash]

Bought Guru today and put it to the test during a production session for a really good local hip hop artist.

Let me tell you, I dont know if it was because I was psyched up about using a new product or whatever, but as soon as I got things going with Guru I was able to come up with some of the best sounding drum programing that I have done in a while, and from there on I was able to put a really great beat together faster than usual.

Guru really gave me the ability to just flow better with the ideals I was putting down. I was able to put the sequencer to use in the same way I would use redrum, and the built in tweaking abilities are really quick and easy to breeze through and get everything sounding strong without spending too much attention on tweaking.

I probably spent 5-10 mins laying down all the drum parts for the track. The artist was so inspired by how things were going it took him only 10 mins to come up with some fire, and everything else just got built around that. All in all a great session today.

I think I have finally found something that I will stick with using for a long time until something even better comes along. Redrum and Battery will probably only see the light of day when I go to our other studios which dont have Guru.......................Yet.

[illynoise]

Not to always be a Logic "Homer", but seriously Ultrabeat built into Logic Pro is just as powerful as these programs, and Ultrabeats Sequencer is more powerful for what I've seen. If your gonna spend 250 bucks on Guru I would save up and get the whole package, or at least get the Educational version of Logic (if your in school of course, lol!)

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by illynoise

Not to always be a Logic "Homer", but seriously Ultrabeat built into Logic Pro is just as powerful as these programs, and Ultrabeats Sequencer is more powerful for what I've seen. If your gonna spend 250 bucks on Guru I would save up and get the whole package, or at least get the Educational version of Logic (if your in school of course, lol!)

That sounds like an interesting option, but it would mean taking the logic pro root. I own and have a longer history with Pro Tools, Nuendo, and Cubase. Guru really gives me practically all that Im looking for in one complete package for use within these Daws. My only problem with Guru at the moment is the fact that it has no Song Mode for chaining different patterns, which is still not a deal breaker, because you can use the Scene options to switch patterns on the fly via Midi.

[illynoise]

Song mode would be useful for something like Reason, which it has that built in I think. I've been messing with battery tonight and I'm really liking it more than anything for drums at the moment. Ultrabeat is an option for me, but I have to admit, I don't use it as much as I would like mainly because I like playing drums live into the sequencer!

[DAH]

why oh why are all these people messing wit`em guru?
FL studio rulezz all the DRUM way hands down.
PS I messed with guru as well

[gb-jazz]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

That sounds like an interesting option, but it would mean taking the logic pro root. I own and have a longer history with Pro Tools, Nuendo, and Cubase. Guru really gives me practically all that Im looking for in one complete package for use within these Daws. My only problem with Guru at the moment is the fact that it has no Song Mode for chaining different patterns, which is still not a deal breaker, because you can use the Scene options to switch patterns on the fly via Midi.

Have you been using guru mainly in step sequencing mode? Or are you programing it mpc style?
I been messing with idrum and using it like a Machinedrum or a glorified 808. But when I use Battery I go MPC style using Protools sequencer. Just curious how people are using Guru. Also does Guru have a "16 levels" tuning function?

[Angus_FX]

Yes, it has "16 levels" (actually 24 rather than 16) and also "chromatic" mode (where you get the current pad mapped chromatically +/- 1 octave).

illynoise - sorry, but Guru's sequencer is a LOT more powerful than the one built in to Ultrabeat, in that you can have different meters (and multiple patterns) running at once, you have all the different Graphs (repeat, shift, pitch etc.), you can import and export MIDI clips, you can use different swing templates, you can copy and paste between patterns, select notes and move them, etc. - of course, you have all that in Logic's main sequencer as well, but it's not there in Ultrabeat's onboard by a long way.

[jordanh]

im not a guru user (yet) but a long with its great features you seem to get great information and support from its creators, as seen by the post above me...

as far as us logic users, when was the last time we heard about anything new with logic? (dont actually answer that...we already have a 40000000 page thread about there here on GS, haha )

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by gb-jazz

Have you been using guru mainly in step sequencing mode? Or are you programing it mpc style?
I been messing with idrum and using it like a Machinedrum or a glorified 808. But when I use Battery I go MPC style using Protools sequencer. Just curious how people are using Guru. Also does Guru have a "16 levels" tuning function?

The first time I put it to use, I was using the step sequencer to see how the workflow was in comparison to other step sequencers I have used in the past such as Redrum, etc.
It work pretty good, and I was able to lay down a good amount of different drumming variations in minutes. Not having a song mode was a bit of a pain in the ass, I had to use the scene function to chain the patterns I created together.

The next time I use it I plan to program in the drums as I usually do with Battery 3, but I will be doing the midi sequencing within Guru instead of the DAW.

[goldenlotus]

I just got Guru and am loving the sample editor. It's exactly what I wanted out of the nnxt from Reason. I wish it had a piano roll though, it would be great to be able to switch each engine between pattern and piano roll view. EQ and effects for each pad would make it perfect.

[Angus_FX]

PettyCash - yep, we want to put a song mode in v2.. some way off though.

goldenlotus - there are effects for each pad (including EQ), although they're a bit basic compared to the main and aux effects.. also you can use the aux's pre-fade to have a total of 24 insert effects if need be (with all 24 aux's loaded up, you're going to be using a fair bit of CPU unless you've got something super fast).

[cynic one]

Originally Posted by PettyCash

The first time I put it to use, I was using the step sequencer to see how the workflow was in comparison to other step sequencers I have used in the past such as Redrum, etc.
It work pretty good, and I was able to lay down a good amount of different drumming variations in minutes. Not having a song mode was a bit of a pain in the ass, I had to use the scene function to chain the patterns I created together.

The next time I use it I plan to program in the drums as I usually do with Battery 3, but I will be doing the midi sequencing within Guru instead of the DAW.

dude f song mode.......you can get crazy variations by using the step sequencer, then using your midi keyboard to switch patterns. try it......

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by cynic

dude f song mode.......you can get crazy variations by using the step sequencer, then using your midi keyboard to switch patterns. try it......

Thats exactly what I did to chain my patterns together during that session. I recorded the midi notes used to switch scenes all into the DAW's sequencer. Then I just copied and pasted those notes through out the song. I chose to do it that way because I can quantize the notes and make sure that they start exactly where they need to, so the pattern chaining wont sound off.

What I'm saying though, is that things could have been even more convenient with a song mode built in. Guru has so much going on for it that I'm surprised that a song mode was not included in there, I was expecting it to have one. Version 2 will be something to look forward to if they can add that feature in there, for now it doesnt really phase me at all, Guru still allows for a much faster work flow than the other software pieces I was using before.