Sonnox has announce the Oxford Drum Gate plug-in, designed to solve problems regularly encountered when using traditional tools to gate drums – chatter, mis-detection, choked and lost ghost notes among others.

Described as swift and logical, the workflow adopted by the plug-in directly addresses the complex and time-consuming alternative workflows needed to get the most musical and transparent results.

There are four aspects to the plug-in. At its heart is intelligent drum-hit detection. First, all hits are analysed in real-time using tailor-made transient detection, then the operator determines which hits on which drums are to be kept. For example, in order to reduce spill on a snare track in a dynamic mix of backbeats, ghost notes and cross stick hits, the Snare button is clicked. Everything else is gated out.

Many struggle with the abrupt and un-musical gating of toms, wanting instead to keep their natural ring while removing the spill around them. Drum Gate’s adaptive Decay section provides the quick control each tom’s resonance in real-time and according to the velocity of each detected hit. In order to improve the dynamic consistency of a performance, the Leveller section enables louder main hits and softer background articulations to be conformed to two separately controlled target level ranges. Drum Gate’s hit detection and Midi triggering functionality are available should an operator wish to augment/replace individual drums with samples and confidently retain the dynamics of an original performance.

Key features:

• Precise transient detection and intelligent drum-type matching to separate the hits from unwanted spill.
• Custom drum profiles isolate unusual drum types or fix the occasional kick, snare or tom mismatch.
• Decay curve adapts to the each drum hit, for consistent spill reduction on dynamic performances.
• Spectral decay editor preserves the resonance, ring or rattle of each hit while clamping down on spill.
• The leveller's dual target and amount controls address level consistency without losing the contrast between loud hits and ghost notes.
• Real-time Midi output and Midi file capture, for accurately triggering drum samples.

The Oxford Drum Gate will launch at an introductory retail price of £127.50/US$183 (US$172 MAP) until midnight GMT 4 December 2019, costing £170.00/US$244.80 (US$230 MAP) subsequently.

More: www.sonnox.com/drumgate