# Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, Addictive, Superior, etc.



## Giant_Shadow (Mar 18, 2014)

Going to be adding a drum library this summer and was just hoping for some opinions on these or any others. Musical tastes are in my my sig. I currently own Stylus RMX, Logic Drummer, NI Komplete Ultimate (Abbey Roads, etc.), Konkrete, and uTonic. Any examples greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## doctornine (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

Well.... looking at your tastes, I'd suggest your first port of call needs to be :

http://pluginguru.com/guru-products/megamacho-drums

Covers a lot of ground, *very* well, plus there's enough to play with to seriously bend the samples.


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## Maestro77 (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

I'm a formerly signed alt/rock drummer and _extremely _picky about my drum libraries. I either own, or have tested, most of the top libraries available. I have to say, for songwriting I generally reach for NI's Studio Drummer. EZ Drummer is a close second because it's so "EZ" to use and sounds great, followed by Addictive for certain sounds (it has more of a compressed sound - not good for everything). If I ever need deeper sculpting/routing I use Superior. If I had to choose one I'd pick up EZ Drummer and a few expansion packs (Nashville and Rock are my favs). Hope this helps!


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## StraightAheadSamples (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

Well, since you put Bill Evans, can we put in a plug for Straight Ahead! Jazz Drums and Brushes & Mallets.

http://straightaheadsamples.com/


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## guydoingmusic (Mar 18, 2014)

Hands down.... Steven Slate Drums. Versatile and extremely powerful. I've used them on everything stylistically: Pop, Jazz, Rock, EDM, Metal, etc.

The SSD player allows you to load other one-shot samples without having to go to another VST. 

Here's a couple of examples I produced using SSD:

https://soundcloud.com/maggiedowns/standing-in-the-rain
https://soundcloud.com/isworks/archtop- ... -his-blues

If you are looking for something in a specific style, let me know and I'll see what I can find to send you.

But in summation, worth every penny... and leaves the competition trailing in a distant second.


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## Giant_Shadow (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

hehehe, I see what you did there Trey 8) 



StraightAheadSamples @ Tue Mar 18 said:


> Well, since you put Bill Evans, can we put in a plug for Straight Ahead! Jazz Drums and Brushes & Mallets.
> 
> http://straightaheadsamples.com/


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## Mr. Anxiety (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

For anything jazz(y) / musical theater or just an intimate small kit

Straight Ahead Samples drum libraries are awesome! I've been using the sticks and the brushes libraries a lot and they sound great and are easy to program.

Mr A


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## guydoingmusic (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*



StraightAheadSamples @ Tue Mar 18 said:


> Well, since you put Bill Evans, can we put in a plug for Straight Ahead! Jazz Drums and Brushes & Mallets.
> 
> http://straightaheadsamples.com/



Nice! Very impressed, Trey!


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## wst3 (Mar 18, 2014)

I've tried several, and I always end up coming back to Toontrack Superior.


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## DenisT (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

*Superior Drummer* is pretty good indeed! Such as *Addictive Drums*.

Check *8Dio Zeus* too! This one is REALLY impressive!
http://8dio.com/instrument/zeus-drummer/


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## tmm (Mar 18, 2014)

I'm pretty partial to Zeus, myself. I gravitate toward more organic, 'realistic' drum sounds, vs the hyper-processed sound.


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## playz123 (Mar 18, 2014)

*Re: Drums: BFD, Slate, EZ, , etc.*

Superior Drummer (I need the extra features that my EZD doesn't have) and Steven Slate Drums. Definitely Trey's 'Straight Ahead' libraries for jazz.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 18, 2014)

I'm agnostic about which of the above is the best, but you have to add Ocean Way Drums to the discussion.


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## Anthony N.Putson (Mar 18, 2014)

+1 for SSD, though to be fair I've not tried the others.


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## blougui (Mar 18, 2014)

EZ Drummer is upgrading to a version n°2 in may.
Most interesting point : you'll be able to "tap" the kind of rythme you're looking after, on your keys for instance ; then, EZD will search its data base, or more precisely fiddle through its own patterns to show you every relevent/assorted/similar/related rythmic patterns as the one you just tapped. Could be an amazing, time saving feature for those of us who have a faint or close idea of what they want their next drum arrangement to sound like, without the hassle of playing it with less success than the pricey session drummer hired by Toontrack and the burden of flippint through dozens if not hundreds of patterns. Tap 2 find. Workflow improvement and the usual - and bettered - sonic candy.
You'll have a song creator that will allow you to cut any part/intrument you like from a whole different pattern and just this very part and paste it in your arrangement.
You'll also have a small integrated sequencer if you wish so.
You start with 2 drumkits and then you have the huge bunch of EZ libs - I've understood they'll be updated at one point. 

Audiofanzine tested it and the journalist was like "best workflow features ever" or something.

I'm happy with XLN addictiv drumz that I just purchased. Don't know if they are that much realistics but I enjoy the sound that can go soooo wacky, spaced out, a whole transformation. But bare in mind that you cannot really tweak every instruments - cymbals are not reachable like hihat, kick, snare, toms are.

- Erik


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## TheUnfinished (Mar 18, 2014)

I have to confess that for acoustic kits, I've got a few free ones (plus some I've recorded fairly shabbily myself), but find whacking them through different compressors, EQs and other effects - such as Guitar Rig - breathes a lot of life and variety into them all.

As for non-acoustic kits... You have Konkrete, which is great. I second Mega Macho Drums. Impact Soundwork's Juggernaut is pretty versatile too - not just epic dubstep etc.

I quite like Audio Damage's Tattoo too. Whether it does anything different from uTonic, I don't know.


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## mojamusic (Mar 18, 2014)

wst3 @ Tue Mar 18 said:


> I've tried several, and I always end up coming back to Toontrack Superior.




Same here. Toontracks covers all of the basses.


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## NYC Composer (Mar 19, 2014)

If Stylus was multi sampled/ round robin and had a few more outputs, I'd use it for everything. Great selection of drum sounds., very easy workflow.

Can anyone explain to me why crash cymbals on EZ and all the NI sets are lumped in with "overheads"? It's a pain.

I like the Slate drums for rock and the Straight Ahead are very good for jazz, although my version of Cubase cannot remember the set ups for songs. The samples on the NI stuff sound good and tight to me.


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## Stinki (Mar 19, 2014)

Whichever library you get - BFD, Slate, EZ, Addictive, Superior, etc., seriously consider also driving it with Jamstix.

http://www.rayzoon.com/jamstix3.html


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## Bohrium (Mar 19, 2014)

Nobody talked about BFD ... I think it's pretty good since version 2. I own it since almost ten years and have updated it a couple of times (I have no idea how long it's being produced. I started with 1.x-something and we are at version 3 now) and I have a lot of expansions for it (like DLX, J&F) as well as a lot of MIDI loops from various vendors. I like the flexibility of the kits a lot (I can just change the cymbals to match my taste of a Jazz tune or try different snares for some Rock). The other thing is, you can assign different tracks to overheads and room and all instruments in the kit so you can actually mix your drums to fit.

I own EZDrummer, too, and used it a couple of times, but it's not as flexible as BFD3.


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## juliansader (Mar 19, 2014)

All of the big drumkit libraries (Superior, Zeus, BFD, Slate etc) are of such high quality that only a connoisseur would really notice a difference.

That said, I would vote for BFD3 as the best-sounding and most versatile drumkit library currently available (but not necessarily the easiest to use):
- BFD3 features hi-hat transition effects modeling, cymbal swell modeling and tom resonance modeling.
- BFD3's hi-hats are especially good. Not only because of the transition modeling, but because BFD3 includes articulations such bell tip and foot splash, which not all other major libraries include.
- The standard BFD3 library comes with 6 drumkits (including a brush kit), each sampled to about as much detail (actually a bit more, I think) as Zeus.
- BFD3 gives you access to Platinum Samples' expansion packs, which give you >200 velocity layers per articulation!


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## Cygnus64 (Mar 20, 2014)

blougui @ Tue Mar 18 said:


> EZ Drummer is upgrading to a version n°2 in may.



I'm looking forward to this. I've had EZ Drummer for 7 years, and I have 6 expansions, plus EZ Keys. Now I see that they're going to squeeze another $100 outta me for upgrading. :twisted:


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## Echoes in the Attic (Mar 20, 2014)

Well you have quite an excellent selection of acoustic drums there with Komplete Ultimate and Logic. I will suggest something a bit overlooked - Maschine 2.0 because not only a nice library of drum sounds, but the physical modeling drum synths are amazing, both for electronic and acoustic styles. Plus you K9U which integrates with it as well.


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## EastWest Lurker (Mar 20, 2014)

Addictive Drums and Ocean Way Drums here.


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## Soundmagic (Mar 20, 2014)

Giant_Shadow @ Tue Mar 18 said:


> Going to be adding a drum library this summer and was just hoping for some opinions on these or any others. Musical tastes are in my my sig. I currently own Stylus RMX, Logic Drummer, NI Komplete Ultimate (Abbey Roads, etc.), Konkrete, and uTonic. Any examples greatly appreciated. Thanks!



You may check this drum kits
http://www.supremepiano.com/product/sdrums.html


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## Arbee (Mar 21, 2014)

Addictive and Damage.

.


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## lux (Mar 21, 2014)

Slate SSD4 99% here


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## ceemusic (Mar 21, 2014)

I have them all & BFD3 gets used here the most.
Look into BFD Eco too, goes on on sale every so often for around $29.00.

Also EZ Drummer 2 will be released in May.


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## feck (Mar 21, 2014)

Superior Drummer, including all the expansions, blows away the competition. From ease of use, depth/flexibility of features, round robins, stability, mapping, V-Drum playability, amount of mics, and overall quality, nothing else compares. I own and use virtually every drum sample set and expansion out there, and Toontrack is used on at least 75% of all of my productions. Can't recommend it highly enough.


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## davidgary73 (Mar 21, 2014)

+1 for Slate SSD4. Go for SSD4 Plat and you'll get 100 drumkit from, pop, country, jazz, fusion etc, You can mix and match different drumkit to your taste plus it sounds good out of the box. 

Cheers


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## ceemusic (Mar 21, 2014)

Speaking of drum samplers I just saw this posted. Reviews being what they are take it for what it's worth but you may still may want to check it out.
SSD4 should've been included there too.
They each have their own weaknesses & strengths no matter what anyone tells you.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/5- ... s-596627/2


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## Giant_Shadow (Mar 21, 2014)

Thanks Echoes, 2.0 has been on my list since January. Got to get err done. The only issue I see is implementing Maschine into Logic X workflow which is another project of mine right now.



Echoes in the Attic @ Thu Mar 20 said:


> Well you have quite an excellent selection of acoustic drums there with Komplete Ultimate and Logic. I will suggest something a bit overlooked - Maschine 2.0 because not only a nice library of drum sounds, but the physical modeling drum synths are amazing, both for electronic and acoustic styles. Plus you K9U which integrates with it as well.


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## benmode (Mar 21, 2014)

I haven't tried thatttt many but another vote for EZ drummer here! With the Rock expansion like Maestro said. 
Also, I think everyone should have this in their life: http://www.zenhiser.com/80s-retro-drummer.html


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## kitekrazy (Mar 21, 2014)

Anyone remember Drumcore and Kitcore? They are coming out with new versions.


If you can find sites where drummers put of samples of their kits then Battery would be great. 

Drum VSTs are becoming a dime a dozen and even less when it comes to electronic kits.


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## feck (Mar 21, 2014)

davidgary73 @ Fri Mar 21 said:


> +1 for Slate SSD4. Go for SSD4 Plat and you'll get 100 drumkit from, pop, country, jazz, fusion etc, You can mix and match different drumkit to your taste plus it sounds good out of the box.
> 
> Cheers


But for realism it doesn't stand up to Superior - many less round robins, obvious velocity scaling, and even when unprocessed, many drums still sound obviously Slate-ish regarding the plasticky/rock-centric timbre. Plus, given all the fantastic room choices in Superior, they are much more flexible with being able to sound roomy and natural without adding reverb processing. My 2 cents.


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## guydoingmusic (Mar 21, 2014)

feck @ Fri Mar 21 said:


> davidgary73 @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> 
> 
> > +1 for Slate SSD4. Go for SSD4 Plat and you'll get 100 drumkit from, pop, country, jazz, fusion etc, You can mix and match different drumkit to your taste plus it sounds good out of the box.
> ...



And that's why Slate's stuff is all over numerous hits... :roll: You have to be kidding right?

I'm not saying Superior can't be useful... but that's the most ridiculous statement that I've possibly seen ever made on this forum. Honestly! The realism?? And reverb processing? Personally, I can't stand the sound of Superior, but that is a preference. Not a matter of fact. 

SSD4 out of the box is the closest thing I've heard to listening to a good session drummer in the live room of a studio (from the control room, obviously). It absolutely gives you control over shaping your sound the way you want. I can get all kinds of the "roomy and natural" sound out of SSD4. I do not own Superior, but have played with it at a friends studio. I was not impressed one bit with it. It's easy to play... I'll give you that... but that was about it for me.


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## feck (Mar 21, 2014)

guydoingmusic @ Fri Mar 21 said:


> feck @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> 
> 
> > davidgary73 @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> ...


I'm not kidding at all. As a professional, I work with the tools which work best in my experience. I have been programming and using acoustic drum samples/V-Drum kits on productions for almost 15 years, long before they were being used commonly in radio releases. I have beta tested or had personal discussions with many of the leading drum sample set developers, so I know what is going on under the hood of a good many sample sets. With all of the Toontrack sets, there are roughly a dozen different rooms. With SSD, there are roughly half that. Plus most SDX's have around 15-20 mics per kit. So, my statement regarding ambience IS a fact, not an opinion. As far as realism, I will challenge you to this test. Take any drum roll or cymbal swell, set it to something fast, and do a long slow crescendo. Sub it out to any SSD set, and then to any Superior SDX. The difference in velocity scaling and attacks are obvious. SSD has some great sounds for sure, and it gets used here on many commercial releases as well. That isn't what I posted about. Toontrack simply has more velocities per hit, more articulations overall, and many more room/mic choices. "The most ridiculous statement you've ever seen on this forum"? Get real dude. Sorry, but "playing with it at your friend's studio" doesn't qualify you to lecture me (or anyone for that matter) on the detailed feature sets. I've owned both SSD and Toontrack since their first versions came out.


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 22, 2014)

NI's drummer range is pretty good too and worth considering. However I use EZ Drummer and Superior Drummer. Honestly I'm slightly underwhelmed with Superior Drummer... it's not a quality issue (its great) I just think its clunky as hell to use. Often I just load up EZD cos its so much simpler, and sonically I find it extremely good too (and I have loads of EZXs).

I see EZD 2 is coming out in May - can't get too excited yet cos the original does all I ask of it really - sep outs for the kit is crucial and very easily done. I'd be much more interested in SD3 where they address the usability issues. For example, they need to figure out a way to swap out kit elements far more easily. I just wanna right click a snare and see tree menu options for all my snares. As it is, you could waste a life doing it the SD2 method, it's actually quicker to load up a 2nd instance and just route the snare to that.... in which case you may as well be using EZD in the first place. I appreciate that SD2 has more depth there, but honestly... ain't a lot wrong with EZD to my ears.

I think Toontrack midi is excellent, and a main reason I like the libraries. Played by real drummers with all that subtle timing and plenty of expressive variety in the dynamics.

I'm the world's biggest Mythbusters fan. The guy who does the music on that show has the basic EZD kit over EVERYTHING. I occasionally think "would it kill you to buy ONE expansion?"

Speaking of which, there's an EZD expansions promo on right now. Oh look, Rock Solid has just download. Excuse me a moment....


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## guydoingmusic (Mar 22, 2014)

feck @ Fri Mar 21 said:


> guydoingmusic @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> 
> 
> > feck @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> ...



First of all... I'm not interested in a pissing match. The statement I was saying is absurd was where you stated that SSD4 doesn't match Superior's realism. 

Second... as far as challenging me to which library sounds better on drum/cymbal roll... Lol! I don't have the time, nor do I care....

Third... I have never had to use "reverb processing" to get a good room sound out of SSD4.

Last but not least... I'm not lecturing anyone. I said that I prefer SSD4 and was not impressed by Superior Drummer. As Guy said, I too was underwhelmed. You seem to love Superior. Good for you. o-[][]-o


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## Guy Rowland (Mar 22, 2014)

Wow, I just changed my mind on EZD 2 having read the blurb in Sound On Sound. You can switch out kit parts across EZXs, and some clever new innovative stuff. I can see me retiring SD2 to be honest... It's just a bit clumsy.


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## feck (Mar 22, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Sat Mar 22 said:


> Wow, I just changed my mind on EZD 2 having read the blurb in Sound On Sound. You can switch out kit parts across EZXs, and some clever new innovative stuff. I can see me retiring SD2 to be honest... It's just a bit clumsy.


Yeah, the new features look very welcome. I am sure that they will be doing SD3, including those features and adding more - at least I hope so! I will be happy to never have to go through the X-drum crap again.


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## Marius Masalar (Mar 22, 2014)

feck @ Sat Mar 22 said:


> I'm not kidding at all. As a professional, I work with the tools which work best in my experience. I have been programming and using acoustic drum samples/V-Drum kits on productions for almost 15 years, long before they were being used commonly in radio releases. I have beta tested or had personal discussions with many of the leading drum sample set developers, so I know what is going on under the hood of a good many sample sets. With all of the Toontrack sets, there are roughly a dozen different rooms. With SSD, there are roughly half that. Plus most SDX's have around 15-20 mics per kit. So, my statement regarding ambience IS a fact, not an opinion. As far as realism, I will challenge you to this test. Take any drum roll or cymbal swell, set it to something fast, and do a long slow crescendo. Sub it out to any SSD set, and then to any Superior SDX. The difference in velocity scaling and attacks are obvious. SSD has some great sounds for sure, and it gets used here on many commercial releases as well. That isn't what I posted about. Toontrack simply has more velocities per hit, more articulations overall, and many more room/mic choices. "The most ridiculous statement you've ever seen on this forum"? Get real dude. Sorry, but "playing with it at your friend's studio" doesn't qualify you to lecture me (or anyone for that matter) on the detailed feature sets. I've owned both SSD and Toontrack since their first versions came out.


Scott, could you give your thoughts on BFD3 if you're able to? I'm most tempted by it at the moment after having gone through the SSD4 demos and found them unconvincing. It's nice for the price, but I'm willing to pay a bit more for what to my ears appears to be noticeably superior sound and playability.

Just hoping for some more experienced opinions since I have very little hands-on time with any of these options.


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## feck (Mar 22, 2014)

Mathazzar @ Sat Mar 22 said:


> feck @ Sat Mar 22 said:
> 
> 
> > I'm not kidding at all. As a professional, I work with the tools which work best in my experience. I have been programming and using acoustic drum samples/V-Drum kits on productions for almost 15 years, long before they were being used commonly in radio releases. I have beta tested or had personal discussions with many of the leading drum sample set developers, so I know what is going on under the hood of a good many sample sets. With all of the Toontrack sets, there are roughly a dozen different rooms. With SSD, there are roughly half that. Plus most SDX's have around 15-20 mics per kit. So, my statement regarding ambience IS a fact, not an opinion. As far as realism, I will challenge you to this test. Take any drum roll or cymbal swell, set it to something fast, and do a long slow crescendo. Sub it out to any SSD set, and then to any Superior SDX. The difference in velocity scaling and attacks are obvious. SSD has some great sounds for sure, and it gets used here on many commercial releases as well. That isn't what I posted about. Toontrack simply has more velocities per hit, more articulations overall, and many more room/mic choices. "The most ridiculous statement you've ever seen on this forum"? Get real dude. Sorry, but "playing with it at your friend's studio" doesn't qualify you to lecture me (or anyone for that matter) on the detailed feature sets. I've owned both SSD and Toontrack since their first versions came out.
> ...


Hey man. Sure - BFD 3 has some great drum sounds. The cymbals (crashes and rides), in my opinion, are not as good as the kicks/toms/snares. Not as many velocities as I would like. Rail from Platinum Samples did the engineering, and he is excellent. The engine has a LOT of options and features, so be prepared to get into the manual in order to really maximize the results. I am being picky here, but the interface/GUI is not super appealing to me - very busy and a bit cluttered. Overall I think they are a good investment. But still, Superior gets used far more than BFD3 here. Hope that helps!


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## Marius Masalar (Mar 22, 2014)

Very helpful, thank you!

I've just downloaded the demo of BFD3 so I'll see what I make of the interface.


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## dinerdog (Mar 22, 2014)

Guy Rowland - Totally with you on the simplicity of EXDrummer, and EZD2 looks like it could be great. More time writing, less time futzing.

I'm also a fan of the sound and simplicity of NIs Studio Drummer, and I believe Dean at Scorecast mentioned something about a Studio Drummer 2 in the near future. I'd like to see what they have up there sleeve.

And of course seeing ALL OF THIS is Eric Persing, who has a chance to re-define Drums/Percussion sequencing as we know it once again. Always in play.

Personally, if the new Stylus is really next-gen AND has the simplicity of some of the other drum VSTs, I'd be happy to do most (if not all) of my drum/percussion/etc in one place.


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## Dan Mott (Mar 22, 2014)

We all have different opinions on drum libs. Different ears and tastes. Just because one is a professional, doesn't mean their ears are the definitive.


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## feck (Mar 22, 2014)

Dan Mott @ Sat Mar 22 said:


> We all have different opinions on drum libs. Different ears and tastes. Just because one is a professional, doesn't mean their ears are the definitive.


Of course. But I wasn't talking about quality of sound. I was talking about amount of and depth of features. That is definitive.


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## lux (Mar 23, 2014)

I think it has to do also with how much engineering you want to put into having a nice sounding drum sequence. Personally I don't consider myself the greatest drum engineer so I find Slate almost perfect for my work, as the sounds have been already engineered and made available in an usable form. And they sound quite good. I used Kitcore in the past, despite the lack of velocities and articulations, for the same reason. 

Probably if I had to (or want to) do my own drum shaping I would opt for one of the most detailed drum sets like some of the above mentioned or Mixosaurus.


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## synthic (Mar 23, 2014)

I've got Superior 2, EZD and Addictive. I use all of them depending on the style of the song. If I want to add a drumset to an orchestral piece I've found that Addictive is the one that usually sits best in the mix, provided I disable compression and saturation on the master bus, which of some reason is enabled on all their presets.


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## marclawsonmusic (Mar 23, 2014)

Might want to check out MAD...

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... t=#3763451

Piet's demo is impressive - mainly because it just sounds like a drummer rehearsing and "banging" around.


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## SpeakPianissimoAndCarry.. (Mar 24, 2014)

I started with Abbey Roads 1980s drums and the last few years have been using Addictive Drums. I worked in and sat in at Hollywood studios in the 1980s and have been trying to get that sound. What I have been using always sounds too small, no matter what I do compression and EQ-wise. I recently got BFD3. Out of the box, it has that Hollywood sound that I have been looking for. Big fat drums, crystal clear. A little kick and snare compression and I am good to go. Don't let all of the parameters scare you off. You can load these up, beat out a track and say "Oh what a good boy am I." So far I am using these with the same simplicity that I did AD and it just sounds better. Will I ever use all of their power? Probably not, but I don't care. They sound awesome. My two pennies, pence, centavos, etc.


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 8, 2014)

Will confess to being pretty blown away by the new EZ Drummer 2 screencast here 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Uvvyj4Cf8&list=UUQ-s4wVPNRZUzgAl87Fcq6w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Uvvyj ... gAl87Fcq6w)

Caveat - sound quality is awful, this is really a features overview not a sonic one.

I just know I'm going retire Superior 2. This is so much better thought out, some very clever ideas. Favourite - the ability to tap a beat, then have EZD search all your midi to find the closest matches (and also choose tags to refine the process). That is brilliant - pretty much like me saying to a drummer "can you do something like this" and they do it with all of their skill and none of my clumsiness.

And I can mix and match kits etc etc - super excited.


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## Cygnus64 (Apr 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> And I can mix and match kits etc etc - super excited.



I wish we could prepay, so I don't blow the money on something else. :lol: 

Yeah, this is gonna be great. Mix and match, tune drums, add percussion on the fly.


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## playz123 (Apr 8, 2014)

Certainly the new features are worth noting and will definitely come in handy. But I will be more excited if and when they upgrade Superior Drummer. And yes, as Guy pointed out, the sound of the drums in that video is terrible...sounds like dented metal garbage cans  but anyone who uses the program won't be alarmed because they will know that is not representative of the actual kits. Anyway, I'm sure I will upgrade, but probably I will still continue to use Superior and Steven Slate drums for production. The new EZD features are great, but I'm not certain I can claim yet that "I just know I'm going retire Superior 2."  What i would say is that I'm looking forward to the same features being added to SD some day.


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 8, 2014)

Tbh frank, I've semi retired SD2 already. I just find it such a pain to use, and I do much processing outside the plugin so EZD is just fine for that with sep outs. Sonically I honestly don't hear a whole lotta difference, and they're already a world apart in usability.


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## SpeakPianissimoAndCarry.. (Apr 8, 2014)

Just got this in the post today. Best ever and easy to use.


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## Cygnus64 (Apr 8, 2014)

SpeakPianissimoAndCarry.. @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> Just got this in the post today. Best ever and easy to use.



What does one have to feed him??


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## Giant_Shadow (Apr 8, 2014)

I been living comfortably with Session Drummer, Damage, and Konkrete everyone. Thanks.


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## woodsdenis (Apr 8, 2014)

EZ, Addictive and Nerve/Megamacho for electronic stuff


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## playz123 (Apr 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Tue Apr 08 said:


> Tbh frank, I've semi retired SD2 already. I just find it such a pain to use, and I do much processing outside the plugin



Can't argue with that, Guy. Yes SD 2 is indeed somewhat awkward to use, thus the hope that they update it. And theoretically if the same kit is used in EZD or in SD2 there should not be much difference in the sound. I guess it may come down simply to which one one prefers; I just like the additional features that SD2 has, so that's why I use it more.


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## cmillar (Apr 12, 2014)

I vote for 'Ministry of Rock 2' from EastWest. You WILL fool a real drummer into believing it's the sound of a 'live' drum.....but, then again, they are superb live drums!

(And not just for rock and heavy metal!)

This is a very, very versatile library thanks to the deep programming, multiple RR's, etc. etc.

It makes some of my other libraries sound like toys.

The price is great for the whole library, too, considering that you get basses and guitars that can hold their own to anything as well.


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## blougui (Apr 12, 2014)

benmode @ Fri Mar 21 said:


> I haven't tried thatttt many but another vote for EZ drummer here! With the Rock expansion like Maestro said.
> Also, I think everyone should have this in their life: http://www.zenhiser.com/80s-retro-drummer.html



Thanx Benmode, that's invaluable indeed !!!

-Erik


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## Cygnus64 (Apr 12, 2014)

blougui @ Sat Apr 12 said:


> benmode @ Fri Mar 21 said:
> 
> 
> > I haven't tried thatttt many but another vote for EZ drummer here! With the Rock expansion like Maestro said.
> ...



Yeah, they do sound 80s! Might have to pick those up.

I've been playing with the Abbey Road 80s lately and having a blast. EZX Rock! as well, both sound great. I've officially retired the standard EZDrummer library after 7 years.


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 12, 2014)

I really am silly excited about EZD 2. There's another 30m googlecast thing here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBeB7hn0-M&list=UUQ-s4wVPNRZUzgAl87Fcq6w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBeB7h ... gAl87Fcq6w) . Start a few mins in (again, terrible quality but that's Google Chat). Fantastic workflow ideas here, love almost all their new features.


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## Cygnus64 (Apr 27, 2014)

A heads up: Sweetwater has the EZdrummer2 upgrade for 89 bucks. You can get your license now and be ready when it's released.


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## zacnelson (Apr 27, 2014)

Here is an example of what I do with virtual drums; the backbone of my sound is Zeus, but I do often layer it with other sounds as well. I previously enjoyed Ocean Way Drums; I only wish the interface and usability of OWD was as excellent as the recording quality! Zeus is fantastic at conserving memory and CPU but at the same time achieving effortless realism. There are many other examples on my Soundcloud page, all using he same combination of Zeus.

https://soundcloud.com/the-dead-storm/the-best-day-of-my-life

[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F144167486&secret_url=false[/flash]


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## dinerdog (Apr 29, 2014)

Hey Zac, great stuff on Soundcloud. Where would one purchase your music? I don't see it on iTunes. Love it, killer songs and vocals.


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## zacnelson (Apr 29, 2014)

Thank you so much Stephen, that is extremely kind! You made my day! Actually we don't have anything on iTunes yet, we are still in pre-production stage, and trying to get the attention of record labels or publishers. At this stage all the mixes are just done by myself, so I find I update the soundcloud tracks every few days with a new version! If we ever achieve some kind of `deal' we will hopefully have the budget to get them professionally mixed. And at that point I would probably look at getting a real drummer in ... although that doesn't seem like the right thing to say given that this thread is about using drum libraries to create realism!!


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## dinerdog (Apr 29, 2014)

I'm just responding to the music =o 

Really great stuff, should be on TV and in Movies, no doubt it will once everyone hears it. Seriously great songs. I'll be going back to your Soundcloud on a regular basis. : >

I'm wearing out "Best Day of My Life".


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## zacnelson (Apr 29, 2014)

Awesome dude! `Best Day of My Life' is our newest song! I just wrote that a few weeks ago and I'm quite happy with it 

Hey you're not wearing it out! (Remember the old days of tapes etc..... sigh)


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## MaraschinoMusic (Apr 29, 2014)

Don't be mean... get 'em all! :D


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 29, 2014)

Nicely done, Zac!



Cygnus64 @ Mon Apr 28 said:


> A heads up: Sweetwater has the EZdrummer2 upgrade for 89 bucks. You can get your license now and be ready when it's released.



Time + Space doing the same think in the UK for I think £56. It's a steal.

It's a smart time to be getting EZD - if you buy the original now you get a free upgrade to 2, and you get all the original kit and midi to keep - after May 6 that will be a separate expansion.

The search for midi groove is a feature so brilliant and intuitive (assuming it works as advertisied) it puts EZD2 in a class of its own imo. I feel sorry for real drummers / percussionists... I can't think of another type of instrument that can be so successfully replaced by virtual.


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## zacnelson (Apr 29, 2014)

Guy, do you also think piano is as easily replaced? In some ways I agree with you, except that `room' sound is a big part of drums, whereas this is less of an issue with piano sample libraries. I feel sorry for drummers too... but I DON'T feel sorry for some of the agonizing drummers I've worked with!!!!


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 30, 2014)

zacnelson @ Wed Apr 30 said:


> Guy, do you also think piano is as easily replaced? In some ways I agree with you, except that `room' sound is a big part of drums, whereas this is less of an issue with piano sample libraries. I feel sorry for drummers too... but I DON'T feel sorry for some of the agonizing drummers I've worked with!!!!



Yes I do actually - piano is very successfully replaced imo, not 100%, but over 99%, which is a far higher hitrate than most instruments. As for drum room sound, I agree - it's another reason why I love Toontrack - they they have different kits recorded in different rooms, and you have control over the ambiance level as well as all the instrument levels.

Technically piano is percussion, so I'll claim it's covered already


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## blougui (Apr 30, 2014)

And don't forget about Addictive Drums 2 !

http://addictivedrums2.com/

- Erik


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## korgoasys (Apr 30, 2014)

So much good and helpful replies here to take in but it's just up my particular street at this time. I'll persevere. I started a drumming thread the other day on the Sample forum (probably by mistake) but I'll reproduce it here coz there should be some overlap. I was unaware of this thread.

"This is a plea from a non-drummer.

After many attempts, I‘ve come to the conclusion that I just don’t ‘do’ drums. I don’t think like a drummer. I don’t look like a drummer (photographs on request). I don’t have the ‘feel’ of a drummer. I can’t tap out the percussion beats on the keyboard to fit the mix. I envy those that can. I get hopelessly confused by GUI’s showing drum kits. I don’t instinctively appreciate the different sounds such parts of the kit bring to a mix. I therefore can’t appreciate the time taken in countless videos in massaging toms and hi-hats etc when they are eventually overlaid with the ‘melody’ instruments, which to my ears then dilutes or masks them out save that perhaps it gives your project ‘air’. BUT, I’m only too aware that percussion can serve to, and really does, drive the rest of the project. Without it, the rest is flat-- totally flat.

If anyone uses the Korg Oasys (me) or the Korg Kronos as their MIDI controller, they will understand the integration of drums loaded with the pre-sets, which are tweakable without needing to separate out the bits of the kit.

Can anyone help me to suggest what libraries you use, which you feel, are a help for the non-drummer? I suppose I’m after libs with an abundance of adjustable pre-sets like Stylus RMX. I can’t cope in the mixer with umpteen separate parts of a drum kit to fiddle with.

I suspect I’ll need to stick with my Oasys but I’d prefer to use dedicated libs. My DAW is C6.5 but for reasons above, I've not used its Groove Agent One or Beat Designer."

Thanks,
Patrick


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## zacnelson (Apr 30, 2014)

Patrick, it seems like a priority in your choice of drum library is to find one that provides ready-made grooves and beats and fills. The advice I have given regarding Zeus is probably not applicable to you, as it is purely drum sounds without any ready-made beats etc. I personally think it would be more time consuming to have to audition and trigger fills and beats, I find it quite quick to just write in all my drum parts. I have never even tried PLAYING in the parts though, it amazes me when I see people playing intricate drum parts on a piano keyboard, this must be a unique talent! Like you, I'm not a drummer either.


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## Stinki (Apr 30, 2014)

Try the Jamstix 3 demo. It has its own "brain" so composes the drum parts (with drummer feel) for you.


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## Guy Rowland (Apr 30, 2014)

Patrick - the first question you need to ask yourself is if you want things to sound like real drums or beats / loops. If it's the latter, I'd say Stylus RMX is a great buy. If it's the former, I don't think you'll find anything easier in use than EZ Drummer 2. All the midi data is played by real drummers on a midi-enabled drum kit, it helps with song construction and there's plenty of subtlety in the drums so you don't get that sampled machine gun effect. There are lots of mixer presets to get a sound you want with very little effort. 

There's no doubt that the more you understand about drumming / mixing, the better you'll be able to manipulate and customize everything to get precise and original results, but you get a lot of hand holding if you need it.


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## korgoasys (Apr 30, 2014)

Thanks everyone. I read what you say carefully and will sit down and crack this. I understand tempo very well. I have no problem with that at all. I've done Grade 5 Piano and I sing tenor in concert choirs. What I also find difficult to produce is the little nuances drummers bring to the project, ie those brief in-fills at the end of a bar just before the onset of the next verse or to signal a change of key or tempo, or to alert the listener there's a difference coming. It's more than merely a cymbal crash to my ears but I'll learn.

I suppose instead of looping, I could spend time writing, say, one bar myself and then extending it across the whole project just to complete the 'melody', and then return to individual bars where an in-fill might be appropriate with EZ Drummer 2 etc etc.

At the moment I find I get hopelessly bogged down in the drum department spending a disproportionate amount to time there at the expense of the 'melody' lines, which is my real home. I suppose it's a mind-set where I can hum tunes in my head til the cows come home but I can't hum drums.

Again, appreciate your posts.

Patrick


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## Bohrium (May 2, 2014)

Stinki @ Wed Apr 30 said:


> Try the Jamstix 3 demo. It has its own "brain" so composes the drum parts (with drummer feel) for you.



... and since it's available for OSX, too (Beta at the moment), I started to actually use Jamstix 3.


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## Guy Rowland (May 8, 2014)

EZ Drummer 2 is now out, and it's pretty much as stunning as expected. Seamless integration between kits and kit parts - all the correct samples load into the ambience, overhead mics etc. Very fast and snappy in general use - swapping elements from the same kit is completely instantaneous, while new complete kits take 3 or 4 seconds to load off SSD.

Tap to Find works great, finding grooves similar to anything you play, and it's terrific to be able to easily swap from, say, hi hat to ride or even different kinds of hi hat playing techniques (there are 7 or 8 ). Then you can make more or less busy in musical ways.

The kit mixer presets are great for rough and ready different feels, and of course you can break everything out into your DAW for more detailed work and routing.

Nothing bad to say about it really. There are a couple of minor refinements that would be nice in the fullness of time, but three thumbs way up here.

EDIT - OMG I just played with the song creator for the first time. I know what you're thinking - some cheap and easy 1 button thing for bedroom nobodies. NO! What a work of genius. If you have a basic groove going (from whatever source), you throw it into the song creator and it comes up with gazillions of variations, all based on your groove. The stunning thing is that something like 90% of them sound very usable and musical, it all sounds like a real drummer - opening up the hat a little into the chorus; adding little flicks on the hat; a huge variety of fills, stripped down intros etc. That's WAY exceeded my expectations - what a fantastic way to work and super-realistic results. Oh, and its fun.


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## Bohrium (May 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Thu May 08 said:


> EZ Drummer 2 is now out, and it's pretty much as stunning as expected. Seamless integration between kits and kit parts - all the correct samples load into the ambience, overhead mics etc. Very fast and snappy in general use - swapping elements from the same kit is completely instantaneous, while new complete kits take 3 or 4 seconds to load off SSD.
> ...
> Nothing bad to say about it really. There are a couple of minor refinements that would be nice in the fullness of time, but three thumbs way up here.



Could you elaborate a little on those refinements you propose?
I played with it the last few days, too, but I wouldn't know of anything that I'd really want to change except maybe the default size of some windows in the 'browser', which is basically nothing 

I haven't used EZDrummer 1 that much lately, though.


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## Guy Rowland (May 8, 2014)

Bohrium @ Thu May 08 said:


> Could you elaborate a little on those refinements you propose?
> I played with it the last few days, too, but I wouldn't know of anything that I'd really want to change except maybe the default size of some windows in the 'browser', which is basically nothing
> 
> I haven't used EZDrummer 1 that much lately, though.



Most of the refinements so far for me are on the Edit Play Style page. It's a great feature, I'd just like a few extra bells and whistles (not literally....). First, you can't record directly into this page, that's an easy win (and while I think of it - an auto record quantise might be nice). The Amount knob is great for adding musical details, but it would be great to have a few straight options there too. If you have a good groove going with a power hand on the ride, it would be great to be able to click the hi hat and set the amount to "4 backbeat" and set to the pedal articulation - so just little presets for downbeat and backbeats on 4s and 8s, say.

EDIT - one more - a swing option for quantize.


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## Bohrium (May 8, 2014)

Now that you mentioned it, the auto-record and quantize feature would be nice ...


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## Giant_Shadow (May 8, 2014)

I think the new EZ Drummer i2 s going to be hard to resist for me.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Thu May 08 said:


> EZ Drummer 2 is now out, and it's pretty much as stunning as expected. Seamless integration between kits and kit parts - all the correct samples load into the ambience, overhead mics etc. Very fast and snappy in general use - swapping elements from the same kit is completely instantaneous, while new complete kits take 3 or 4 seconds to load off SSD.
> 
> Tap to Find works great, finding grooves similar to anything you play, and it's terrific to be able to easily swap from, say, hi hat to ride or even different kinds of hi hat playing techniques (there are 7 or 8 ). Then you can make more or less busy in musical ways.
> 
> ...



Logic Pro X gives you much of for free with Drummer.


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## Guy Rowland (May 8, 2014)

EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Logic Pro X gives you much of for free with Drummer.



Huh - I've never heard anyone even talk about Drummer before and it looks like it has some very clever features (skipping trough this walkthrough - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tuWFzMVjA4 ). Perhaps there are two important differences (bearing in mind I only heard about drummer just now). First - the Toontrack kits sound terrific and you can customise and manipulate at will either with the simple built in mixer or, crucially, externally using sep outs. Second, Drummer seems geared to a no-effort "there you go" kind of solution, whereas you can be abslutely specific with pretty much every element of EZD2. These aspects make EZD2 much more of a pro tool, despite the name and plethora of clever features.

Maybe I have Drummer wrong, but the fact I've never heard anyone discuss it before here makes me suspicious that it can really compete at this level. For laying down basic realistic sounding generic grooves it looks really well designed. But I don't think it can really compare with a tool that allows you to play a groove yourself, find a match played by a real drummer, customise every part of the playing and sound, and THEN generate unique alternatives based upon it.


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## Cygnus64 (May 8, 2014)

Guy, how do the EZX libraries sound in version 2? Any difference?


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## EastWest Lurker (May 8, 2014)

Guy Rowland @ Thu May 08 said:


> EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:
> 
> 
> > Logic Pro X gives you much of for free with Drummer.
> ...



Sound is a personal thing but short of real drummers, Drummer and Drum Kit Designer can compete with ANY software You can easily change the drummers, change the kit, swap out kit pieces, re-tune them, dampen them, choose multiple pattern variations for each kit piece. make the pattern "more simple or complex by dragging a slider, and yes, of course, it has multi-output capability.


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## Bohrium (May 8, 2014)

EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Logic Pro X gives you much of for free with Drummer.



Actually that's why I haven't used EZDrummer that much lately.
But with EZD2 it's a bit different. The feature to tap a beat is something.

Drummer is not as flexible as Jamstix 3 with BFD3 as the sample player, though.


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## Giant_Shadow (May 8, 2014)

Jay, did Toontrack design Apple Drummer or do you mean just in general ?



EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Guy Rowland @ Thu May 08 said:
> 
> 
> > EZ Drummer 2 is now out, and it's pretty much as stunning as expected. Seamless integration between kits and kit parts - all the correct samples load into the ambience, overhead mics etc. Very fast and snappy in general use - swapping elements from the same kit is completely instantaneous, while new complete kits take 3 or 4 seconds to load off SSD.
> ...


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## EastWest Lurker (May 8, 2014)

Giant Shadow, do you know that for a fact? I have not heard that. AFAIK, it was done by the Logic Pro developers.


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## Guy Rowland (May 8, 2014)

Bohrium @ Thu May 08 said:


> The feature to tap a beat is something.



Exactly. That's your new starting off point, and that's pretty revolutionary. It's the difference between asking a drummer to "play something", and asking him to go "boom da da boom - da".

Another useful workflow - especially if your beat doesn't have anything close enough in the library - is to start with your own basic beat and add some real hats / cymbals from a genre filtered list (and then go on to do all the tweaking and variations). It's as easy and cut and paste hi hats


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## EastWest Lurker (May 8, 2014)

Well, I did say "some".So sure, EZ Drummer and others may have some stuff Drummer does not. But let me tell you, I tach Drummer to my Logic students and especially for those who do not really understand what a drummer actually plays, it rocks their world.

Let me put it this way: if you cannot produce great sounding drum parts with Drummer, you cannot with any software.


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## Giant_Shadow (May 8, 2014)

I think we crossed are VCO wires into each other, I rephrased my post above. James



EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Giant Shadow, do you know that for a fact? I have not heard that. AFAIK, it was done by the Logic Pro developers.


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## Bohrium (May 9, 2014)

EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Let me put it this way: if you cannot produce great sounding drum parts with Drummer, you cannot with any software.



Jay, I've used Drummer on a few tracks, and it's fine. If you start with a beat, it is really easy to use and good at what it does.

I just think if you know exactly what you want you'd be faster with the EZD2 method.
I'm pretty sure I'll be using both ... and Jamstix for even more flexibilty. Even though I think the idea and the workflow of Jamstix is much more related to what Drummer does, than to what EZD2 is trying to accomplish.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 9, 2014)

Probably so, but you would be surprised at how many songwriters either don't know what a real drummer plays (and most of us who do nonetheless don't "think" about it like a real drummer does) or do not have the chops to play in and edit the parts expeditiously.

Personally, I mostly useAddictive Drums and will probably continue to do so, but maybe not as Drummer is pretty fast to do stuff with and my guess is that Apple will be adding drummers and genres.


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## AC986 (May 9, 2014)

EastWest Lurker @ Thu May 08 said:


> Let me put it this way: if you cannot produce great sounding drum parts with Drummer, you cannot with any software.



I don't have Logic X yet but Drummer looks quite good actually. I watched a Logic video on it.


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## clarkus (May 9, 2014)

How do you like Konkrete?

Hans Zimmer Perc. collection fromSpitfire has a sequencer built in that looks great to me. Many ways to use it, well-designed, versatile with time signatures & so on. I don't know if you can load in samples from your own collection, though. Does anyone know?


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## bbunker (May 9, 2014)

I saw somewhere back on this thread someone asked how the other Libraries sound in EZD2.

I'll just say one word on that topic.

Blerraggahghh.

Which is me getting far too excited at how fantastic they sound to try to use a normal language like English. Seriously, it's several levels above EZD1. For example:

That old EZD1 kit. It sounded good before, I guess. I never used it once I heard it 12 ka-thousand times on...I don't know, anything on Discovery channel. Is it because I'm far too lazy to actually do anything with the individual outputs of EZD, and just want to click on a kit and preset and go about my business? Well, yes actually.

But now, I pull up a heavily Tape-driven EZD2 Vintage Kit. Sounds great. I want it to be more poppy, so I call in one of the snares from EZD1 (now known as Pop/Rock), and it sounds amazing. I call that same snare into a Dry Punchy "The Classic" kit, and it sounds amazing, but perfectly fitting the dry punchiness of that kit. I've used those EZD1 kitpieces in every other kit, including the EZD1 kit, and they sound ravishing, and like a whole new kit, in a way.

I don't pretend to know how they did it, but I have tried some utterly stupid stuff. Like using kit pieces from random kits, with a jazz snare and that huge Rolling Bomber kick from Indie Folk. And, it sounded great. And nailed the sound described in the preset too. I'm convinced that the process that makes the presets variable in coordination with kit pieces, the one that makes the Kick not get turned up as much as the snare when you turn the reverb knob for example, also tweaks the settings for any kit piece you substitute in, from any library. It is utterly phenomenally inspiring and spellbindingly good.

I'll sum up my EZD2 story in one narrative: I used to split between EZD1, SSD, some Analogue Drums kits, BFD2 with Deluxe, and some Abbey Road drums, depending on which one I was least annoyed with the sound of at the time. I got EZD2 because I liked the Tap-to-find-a-beat and Power hand things. Since, I've been blown away by the sound.

I'll stop before I sound too much like a fanboy. Suffice it to say, my experience has been far beyond my expectations. If it's your first port of call to the EZD world, it's probably a great piece of gear, but for somebody who has a host of EZX's and liked those before, EZD2 is one of those "light-streaming-through-the-clouds-while-angels-sing" kind of moments.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 9, 2014)

Nothing they are doing there I cannot do with Addictive Drums, Ocean Way Drums, Logic Pro X's Drummer and my UAD plug-ins. And I cannot imagine doing drums non-multi output. I would hardly ever use the same compressor setting on a whole kit.


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## bbunker (May 9, 2014)

Sure, Jay. Just to clarify, this is absolutely nothing that a competent professional couldn't do very well with a host of tools. I'm just pleased as punch that I can do it in 5 minutes while I'm tuning a guitar.


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## bbunker (May 9, 2014)

I just thought: Jay, do I need to post something here now to give you an estimation of my drum skills???

Just kidding


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## EastWest Lurker (May 9, 2014)

bbunker @ Fri May 09 said:


> Sure, Jay. Just to clarify, this is absolutely nothing that a competent professional couldn't do very well with a host of tools. I'm just pleased as punch that I can do it in 5 minutes while I'm tuning a guitar.



Got it. Not my approach, but I understand.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 9, 2014)

bbunker @ Fri May 09 said:


> I just thought: Jay, do I need to post something here now to give you an estimation of my drum skills???
> 
> Just kidding



Why would you care what I think about your work? if you like it and any clients you have/may acquire do, that is all that matters, not what a bunch of chowderheads on a forum think


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## Maestro77 (May 9, 2014)

I own most of the popular drum libraries and just upgraded to EZDrummer 2. As a drummer myself, I only use these libraries for their sounds and meticulously program parts from scratch to get them to sound as realistic as possible. Therefore, I never use the MIDI loops and won't need the tap functions or most of the other candy they added. For non-drummers I can see how it'd be quite useful though. My biggest complaint - and it's a big one - is the lack of custom mapping capability. I thought for sure they'd catch up to their competitors in that department. GM mapping isn't intuitive or convenient. I like to be able to have all my hi-hat samples on adjacent keys, not 3 down here and the rest two octaves higher. I'll still use EZ2 but really upset I can't customize the mapping.

Oh, and to answer an earlier question the old EZX's sound exactly the same and work nicely. I like being able to mix and match pieces from different EZX's, but I wish they had just included the option of simply listing ALL the kit pieces you own together on one menu instead of first having to navigate to a particular EZX and then choosing from its list. Not a huge deal but I'd prefer to see a list of all my available snares or kicks at once.


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## EastWest Lurker (May 9, 2014)

Maestro77 @ Fri May 09 said:


> I own most of the popular drum libraries and just upgraded to EZDrummer 2. As a drummer myself, I only use these libraries for their sounds and meticulously program parts from scratch to get them to sound as realistic as possible. Therefore, I never use the MIDI loops and won't need the tap functions or most of the other candy they added. For non-drummers I can see how it'd be quite useful though. My biggest complaint -and it's a big one - is the lack of custom mapping capability. I thought for sure they'd catch up to their competitors in that department. GM mapping isn't intuitive or convenient. I like to be able to have all my hi-hat samples on adjacent keys, not 3 down here and the rest two octaves higher. I'll still use EZ2 but really upset I can't customize the mapping.



You are a Logic user correct? You could use Logic's Mapped Instrument for that.


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## Maestro77 (May 9, 2014)

Thanks Jay, I hadn't even heard of Mapped Instruments. Researching now.


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## KEnK (May 9, 2014)

Maestro77 @ Fri May 09 said:


> Thanks Jay, I hadn't even heard of Mapped Instruments. Researching now.


A great and often overlooked tool.
It is the perfect solution for your needs.
Once you make your "Hat Map", it can sit in your template until needed.

k


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## jmvideo (May 9, 2014)

Does EZD2 need to be hosted on the same machine as your DAW to use the midi loops? For example, do you have to drag the loops to your DAW's timeline, or can EZD2 be hosed on a slave machine and loops triggered remotely?


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## Guy Rowland (May 9, 2014)

jmvideo @ Fri May 09 said:


> Does EZD2 need to be hosted on the same machine as your DAW to use the midi loops? For example, do you have to drag the loops to your DAW's timeline, or can EZD2 be hosed on a slave machine and loops triggered remotely?



I'd never thought of doing that, but it would probably work. You'd need to save your project in EZD2 on the slave machine and build up the EZD2 timeline to follow the host. It might get a little messy I guess keeping track of changes... probably a whole lot less hassle to host locally if you can.


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## bill45 (May 10, 2014)

Can I drag a midi file of a bass track from cubase
To song creator in EZD?


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## Guy Rowland (May 10, 2014)

bill45 @ Sat May 10 said:


> Can I drag a midi file of a bass track from cubase
> To song creator in EZD?



Yes, absolutely. It will sound a hideous mess, but technically you can do it.

More usefully, anything GM mapped drum-wise in your DAW should get you going in EZD2 though.

I need to modify my earlier comments on Song Creator though. First few times I used it, it was almost magical in what it came up with. However I've tried a few subsequently that have been entirely the opposite - perplexingly random offerings that seem to have nothing to do with the original groove at all. I can't yet predict what sort of groove will work and what won't, but clearly the algorithms aren't 100% yet.


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## dinerdog (Sep 3, 2014)

Guy, just wondering how your feeling about EZD2 after a few months of working with it?


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## valexnerfarious (Sep 3, 2014)

Good friends with these guys..IMO these are some of the best samples around
http://procustomdrums.com/?page=products


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## dinerdog (Sep 3, 2014)

Tons of great sounds, but so much rock and metal (which all sound great btw), BUT, does anyone know how to get that FUNKY sound of Zach Danziger on all the David Holmes/Ocean's soundtracks? I've heard BFD 3 demos that sound in the ballpark, but anything else? Also good midi files would be a plus.


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## Guy Rowland (Sep 3, 2014)

dinerdog @ Wed Sep 03 said:


> Guy, just wondering how your feeling about EZD2 after a few months of working with it?



Very good, ta - just got another expansion the other day. The tap to find and song creator stuff is sometimes miraculous, but other times lets you down - kinda hard to predict what will work and what won't. Also some major omissions in tap to find like swing.

So room for improvement for sure, but still light years ahead of the competition imo. And the basics are rock solid - being able to swap any kit parts, change pitch, volume et al. Major step up from EZD1 - oh, and its great that old projects open with the new dll.


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## dinerdog (Sep 3, 2014)

Music to my ears. :wink: Thanks.


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