Gust0o Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I might have missed this, but was looking for recommendations around a decent software for simulating drums. I'm finding myself doing a lot more of the writing now, and it would be nice to be able to put some drum ideas onto my recordings alongside the bass. How would I best go about this? Would prefer a software to a hardware solution! Thanks BC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [url="http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=53"]http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=53[/url] Very kool software Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [url="http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/"]http://www.hydrogen-music.org/hcms/[/url] free linux based drum sequencer. Excellent, especially at this price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [url="http://www.bluenoise.no/mydrumset.html"]MyDrumSet[/url] Free vst drumset. Very nice, has individual outs for all the drums, room and OH. Proper spill and crosstalk as well. Means its exactly like working with a real kit. Which is superb if you know what you are doing, and less super b maybe if you dont. Did I mention its free already? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [quote name='51m0n' post='1294918' date='Jul 6 2011, 04:36 PM'][url="http://www.bluenoise.no/mydrumset.html"]MyDrumSet[/url] Free vst drumset. Very nice, has individual outs for all the drums, room and OH. Proper spill and crosstalk as well. Means its exactly like working with a real kit. Which is superb if you know what you are doing, and less super b maybe if you dont. Did I mention its free already?[/quote] Shame it's Windoze only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 I think I might cope with the Windows, as I doubt I'm cool enough for a Mac. Thanks for all the recommendations!!! Assuming you chaps with the recommendations are regular users - any tips for building reasonable drum tracks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Gust0o' post='1294968' date='Jul 6 2011, 05:18 PM']I think I might cope with the Windows, as I doubt I'm cool enough for a Mac. Thanks for all the recommendations!!! Assuming you chaps with the recommendations are regular users - any tips for building reasonable drum tracks?[/quote] I presume you will be Midi programming drums & percussion, so you will need to humanize the parts, IE - not everything on the grid or you will end up with the machine gun effect. The other thing is velocity levels [on various hits] it will give you various accents like a human would play. Layering up various drums, like two or three various kick sounds etc. Adding various elements every two or four bars etc variation & dynamics on verse/chorus etc. Youtube will be your best friend, loads of videos on tips & tricks. And don't over use the word various like i have. Garry Edited July 6, 2011 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [quote name='Gust0o' post='1294968' date='Jul 6 2011, 05:18 PM']...any tips for building reasonable drum tracks?[/quote] Big subject this one! There's a ton of advice online about programming drums; too much to easily summarise here to be honest. One of the most difficult issues is programing drums that sound 'natural'. A typical way of doing this is to fiddle with the groove (again, plenty of tutorials explaining this on YouTube, etc): that is, placing your drum hits slightly before or after the beat itself, to make the drums sound more 'human' and give the rhythm a more urgent or laid-back feel respectively. Or you could 'play' the drums yourself using a midi keyboard if you have one. I've just started doing this myself and it's proving to be a very fun and useful way of going about it. Check out this videocast, which might give you some inspiration: [url="http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm?fuseaction=eventinfo&EID=1"]http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm...tinfo&EID=1[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Skol303' post='1294996' date='Jul 6 2011, 05:51 PM'][url="http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm?fuseaction=eventinfo&EID=1"]http://www.propellerheads.se/mmm/index.cfm...tinfo&EID=1[/url][/quote] I see you are pushing Reason a lot today... It does look interesting, but they really need to sort out the 64 bit Rewire thing, or lack of it. Garry Edited July 6, 2011 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I love EZ drummer. not cheap, but some great results and loads of MIDI loops included with the kit packages. Choice of microphone balance / room mics etc... Wouldn't be without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danbass7 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [quote name='paul_5' post='1295380' date='Jul 6 2011, 11:10 PM']I love EZ drummer. not cheap, but some great results and loads of MIDI loops included with the kit packages. Choice of microphone balance / room mics etc... Wouldn't be without it.[/quote] +1 Also, If you ever get a chance to use Kontakt check this out. Probably the best sounding programmed drums I've used. [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/powered-by-kontakt/abbey-road-modern-drums/"]http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/pro...d-modern-drums/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Danbass7' post='1295494' date='Jul 7 2011, 12:20 AM']Probably the best sounding programmed drums I've used. [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/powered-by-kontakt/abbey-road-modern-drums/"]http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/pro...d-modern-drums/[/url][/quote] +1 Along with the Steven Slate Drums for Kontakt. [url="http://stevenslatedrums.com/"]Steven Slate Drums[/url] On another note, if you don't have the Kontakt sampler you can download the free Kontakt player from the NI site, [comes with about 50 various instruments] and there is plenty of lIbraries for the Kontakt player. Free player here. [url="http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/kontakt-player/"]Kontakt Player[/url] I suppose at the end of the day all the above mentioned stuff in the thread will do a great job, just go to all the links and choose what sounds good for your ears, and a work flow that suits you all within your budget. Garry Edited July 7, 2011 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 [quote name='lowdown' post='1295038' date='Jul 6 2011, 06:33 PM']I see you are pushing Reason a lot today... [/quote] Ha, ha! Yeah... anyone would think I work for them! But seriously, I don't. I'm just back using it after taking a month or so off (birth of Skol Jnr being a worthy distraction), so I'm all fired up again and spending what time I can find twiddling dials. That said, I've been having fun in the meantime making music on just my iPhone. Amazed myself at what can be done using something so small and 'toy-like'. Here's a quick example of a little ditty I made recently: [url="http://soundcloud.com/skollob/hypnomatics"]http://soundcloud.com/skollob/hypnomatics[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) I am currently enjoying Jamstix 3 - [url="http://www.rayzoon.com/"]http://www.rayzoon.com/[/url] There are lots of pre-set rhythms, so once you've got your head round it you can get basic songs knocked up very quickly; then you ask it to do all the fiddly stuff like adding accents, composing fills, ramping up dynamics for choruses, etc. It's also much cheaper than similar paid-for programmes - about £60-odd for the fully-functioning doo-dad. £85 got me the base software and most of the useful expansion packs - inc a John Bonham kit (!) It's quite a clever idea - you select a drummer 'personality' with various stylistic quirks and apply him to a basic rhythm. Each part of the song can be designated as verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, etc. Best results I've ever had. Also, the developer runs his own forum. So you post a problem and he gets back to you fast (sometimes within minutes) or he requests a bug-log and goes to work on it. And he's a nice guy and very patient with newb queries. Freebie downloadable demo, no time restrictions. So far so good. Downside is that it runs as a VSTi in one's DAW, it's quirky, the manual's a bit sh*t with no obvious workflow and it's a programme you have to spend hours (days) getting to know. Otherwise, absolutely stunning. Edited July 7, 2011 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuco Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 superior drummer 2 for me , i think the avatar kit can sound incredible with a little tweaking...... granted its an expensive package but you get what you........... etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 +1 for EZ Drummer. I use that with the Funkmasters expansion (and I've just ordered the Classics expansion too). All tracks on my Soundcloud page use EZ Drummer: [url="http://www.soundcloud.com/mornats"]www.soundcloud.com/mornats[/url]. I've not tried any other drums other than the Abbey Road 60's Drums Vintage which came with Komplete 7 Elements (and even then, not in a track) so can't compare them to others. You can buy drum midi tracks from Toontrack themselves (the EZ Drummer guys) or from other places. [url="http://www.groovemonkee.com"]www.groovemonkee.com[/url] have some good sets fairly cheap and you can download their free sample pack which is quite cool. I'm off to check out the Steven Slate drums, they look quite interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuco Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Mornats' post='1296517' date='Jul 7 2011, 09:56 PM']+1 for EZ Drummer. I use that with the Funkmasters expansion (and I've just ordered the Classics expansion too). All tracks on my Soundcloud page use EZ Drummer: [url="http://www.soundcloud.com/mornats"]www.soundcloud.com/mornats[/url]. I've not tried any other drums other than the Abbey Road 60's Drums Vintage which came with Komplete 7 Elements (and even then, not in a track) so can't compare them to others. You can buy drum midi tracks from Toontrack themselves (the EZ Drummer guys) or from other places. [url="http://www.groovemonkee.com"]www.groovemonkee.com[/url] have some good sets fairly cheap and you can download their free sample pack which is quite cool. I'm off to check out the Steven Slate drums, they look quite interesting...[/quote] i brought the slate EX , bit too processed sounding for my liking if im honest :/ edit: and the slate cymbals are awful imo Edited July 7, 2011 by Tuco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mornats Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Yeah, I had a listen to the sound demos on their website and wasn't that impressed really. I prefer the sound of the EZ Drummer drums by far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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