What did you struggle with in Drambo, and what’s missing in the manual?
Hi everyone,
I’m updating the Drambo manual and I’d love to base it on real situations where people got stuck. (especially newbies)
If you’ve struggled with something in Drambo, please share:
- what you were trying to do
- what part confused you / where you got stuck
- what you wish the manual explained
Even a couple of lines is enough. Thanks!
I’ll use these to add practical examples and workflows to the manual.
Comments
I'll have to think about that some more since it was a long, long time ago.
However, judging from comments I read about people who look at Drambo and walk away out of intimidation, I think some recipes for the most basic uses of Drambo, showing how not much knowledge and not much setup are needed, would be helpful.
The main example I can think of would be using Drambo as a MIDI note sequencer plugin in other hosts. Maybe also getting into using CC generators, p-locking, and automation if it doesn't complicate things too much. Perhaps a basic tutorial with added tutorials to do more complex things.
I'd also include something to show how Drambo as a plugin host can be used to automate plugin parameters.
So many people don't realize that Drambo can be as easy to use as other apps they use, just because it can do a lot more than they need. It's usually not apparent that the complex capabilities are there but completely out of the way unless intentionally brought into play.
I think audio and midi routing can be helpful to include. Especially midi feedback. And I’m always curious what the 3 types of saturation are and what the bias control does per model :)
And for the math modules maybe a use case example
Thanks for taking the effort to spend time with documentation - an area that many developers neglect. And I know the temptation to look at exciting features rather than write boring docs.
People are different and some (myself included) are not video tutorial people. I think my species would appreciate written step by step tutorials (can be brief lists) that are accompanied by an example that comes with Drambo. So for “My First Synth” there should be a “My First Synth” project (exact same name) that shows the result in the Tutorials section. And the existence of that file should be mentioned in the manual.
The new ? Info system is great but there are still gaps:
I do think the code module can do with some built in offline documentation.
And I still don’t know what that MIDI input in the Delay FX module is for.
You know what I didn’t learn very fast at all was that pulling a knob vertically is a macro change and horizontally is a micro change.
Thank you guys, this helps me a lot.
Honestly, most of the questions I had were related to modular systems as I found Drambo itself very intuitive. As number37 said, it's so easy to use when utilised as host for AUv3s or as a sequencer. I've watched a few videos, read a few things and was ready to go.
Coming from Loopy Pro, I was a bit frustrated how easy it was to use the LP manual in an AI to get decent tutorials and ways to achieve certain things, whereas with Drambo it was a bit hit or miss. But I now understand it has more to do the modular nature than the manual itself. I guess if there was a way to do this, it'd be very cool.
A thing I have explored less is the tracks menu (when clicking on the left side), routing external hardware and things like this. But I'll do this very soon.
Finaly, thank you for doing this :)
If I would have to choose one thing: MORE RECIPES 🙏
I just love following along a walk through (might involve forensic work, frame by frame analysis and excel files), from idea to reality, when given by someone that knows the matter so well they can not only explain it, but do it in a way that anticipates where the student will struggle and alerts them of the perils
For example:
Let’s make a xenomorph synthesizer, with all the gurgling clacking sounds but lots of parameters to control timing and sliminess
Part 2:
you know what, let’s make it polyphonic, each voice gets its own reverb and there’s lots of jungle noises
I don’t mind still feeling like a rookie after all these years, I love it! I hope I always feel like that, it makes me eager to learn
(do welcome a manual, though cause I love to RTFM)
Music as a living hasn’t been my karma, unfortunately, but this app and this and ABF community were a great support group (Long story short I divorced in 2010; lost my bedroom studio, never bothered to rebuild, went mobile)
❤️
I'm not very clear about how samplers work:
- Flexi Sampler. How do I make a loop, how do I adjust the tempo of a sample, is there warping?
- Sampler. Working with zones. Why is each note divided vertically into four segments? What does the letter R at the bottom mean? Why can't I deselect or remove previously selected zones?
MIDI to CV module. Nowhere is there any mention of voice allocation.
The first two, have become so powerful that indeed they need a proper tutorial each. There’s plenty of videos already if you feel like
the cv module is deceptively simple, but have you looked into the scope’s vouce display? And also the voice specific modules of drambo
In Drambo, you have to study most of the modules yourself. We're talking about the manual, which you open and look at if something isn't clear.
@ptrvch
and
Here are some of the resources that are dRambo specific and a glossary of modular terms and descriptions.
@bcrichards has a youtube with plenty of tutorials along with soundformore who has a dedicated dRambo playlist.
Links to both youtubes can be found here.
www.youtube.com/@benrichards4554
https://www.youtube.com/@soundformore
Thanks for the links. I've watched the manual and tutorials by benrichards and soundformore many times. As far as I understand, we're talking about the Drambo manual. In my understanding, this manual is a reference that explains how the module and each knob in it works. It's so I can open it and look it up in one place, rather than searching all over the internet.
Yes, I initially started posts answering the questions @ptrvch posted until finally realizing they're not questions, but mentions of things that should be in the manual, per the context of the thread.
Good morning @ptrvch and @number37 you are both right, a one stop manual would be very useful especially for new users.
It is something that the forum has tried doing before see this link here
https://forum.beepstreet.com/discussion/2453/just-checking-drambo-documentation-is-still-a-bit-sparse-right/p1
I provided the links earlier as a starting point.
Giku is one developer and many of us long time users have our own rhythm
in regards to using dRambo especially taking into account our input is purely voluntary.
To add this thread.
The things I personally struggled with in the beginning were using the Maths modules without context or useful examples.
To be honest, at the pace drambo changes, I think a manual would be outdated the moment it’s finished. More effort into the wiki would my best guess. One page per module, starting from the inbuilt help but expanding with pictures and usage cases/recipes. I know it’s a lot of work but I’m sure many of us, me included, would be willing to help
nvm.
@number37
Users often struggle because the current manual doesn’t give a simple, high‑level picture of how Drambo is actually put together,
as in tracks, modules, containers, and the different signal types, so early tasks feel less intuitive than they should.
A short, clear outline of that basic structure, plus a couple of straightforward signal‑flow examples,
would make the rest of the documentation much easier for new users to absorb.
well that could be covered by a number of recipes:
but isn’t all this out already? We might just use a wiki to keep track of useful videos
Yes, I understand that Drambo and this forum are voluntary, and I'm sincerely grateful to everyone who helps and shares. For my part, I also try to talk about Drambo on my YouTube and Telegram channels. I also answer various questions.
In my opinion, a wiki is the best solution, especially if you add a few screenshots and a usage example. That way, we'll have a better understanding. I'm willing to help in any way I can.
Agreed a wiki would be useful however attempts have been made in the past which have reached a stand still.
One of the links I provided earlier in this thread show one of the early attempts of creating a wiki.
Can you add your Youtube here or is it already available on the forum?
@pedro "but isn’t all this out already? We might just use a wiki to keep track of useful videos"
Agreed.
I also think a well maintained Wiki could be the way forward.
Maintaining a wiki is a whole new pandora’s box, though, that has been tried many times. But we should learn as we go, right? I’m willing to contribute articles for what I know (which isn’t much) but I would be glad to contribute whatever I could
Could do a book of shaders intro page, adapted to drambo
(oh wait, wrong thread)
Agreed, I've got my hands full with my own thread though some of it could useful
in regards to contributions for a wiki for instance cv scaling, note wrap arounds and my Midi Clock utility.
Now, now. ;)
Of course, everyone's busy with their own projects. But the fact that we're trying to do something to develop Drambo is incredibly cool!
I think even adding screenshots of each module to the wiki would give a better idea. I'm ready to help with that, if needed. But that's more of a question for @giku . How can we help him?
I'm not sharing my YouTube channel because it's in Russian and I don't think it'll be understandable :]
https://youtube.com/@ptrvch
However, I did manage to release a video about MIDI mapping between Drambo and the Akai APC40MK2 in English.
https://youtu.be/XqxSEYWKk00?si=47Q5yP5XN9cgUwso
@ptrvch someone did screenshots of all the modules up to a certain point a while back. (I’ll have to see if I can find it) Of course many new modules have been added since, so an updated visual module “glossary” would be awesome.
speaking of awesome, your channel is great and your English is very good! You’ve really got me GASing over that APC40! 😍
Thank you! You're not the only one who ordered the APC40MK2 because of me:] But I'm sure you won't regret it..:]
If you can't find the screenshots, I'm willing to re-make them.
@ptrvch oh I haven’t ordered one yet, but you’ve definitely got me tempted. 🙂
The thing is, I bought this Launchpad MK3 which I don’t really use that much already. I’d hate to spend the money and have yet another desk ornament taking up space.
Maybe one day when I have more free time (instead of working all the time)
Right now, my “Drambo time” consists of only the iPad on my lap, kicked back on the couch with my feet up… which usually only lasts for about an hour at the most, until I pass out asleep.
If anyone is serious about the notion of a wiki or other crowd sourced documentation, this thread is worth a look. Lots of the same line of discussion and fair attempt to gain momentum for a wiki has already been made. It never got off the ground. I'd contribute if anyone can figure out how to get something going beyond just talking about it.
There is also a super well done contribution from @offbrands not too long ago here.