Drums for Rock & Pop Rock Tracks: Live, Drum Machine or S/W?

[marcblack30]

Hey Chip, I would suggest starting with EZdrummer with the new Rock Solid EZX. Great sounding versatile kit, would suit your style well, and EZD is pretty... well... easy to learn and get started.

http://www.toontrack.com/products.asp?item=161

[ChipD]

Thanks for the suggestion, Marc! I definitely want to check out EZD. I also want to check out Addictive Drums. Ron's drums sounded pretty good and had the "head bop" factor that you get with a real drummer but often lose with programmed drums.

[jdhogg]

toontrack stuff is on sale.
you can buy cheap EZdrummer on ebay then update to s2.2 via the sale and get a few sdx packs half price.

[matto]

I definitely recommend Addictive Drums especially if you don't want to get bogged down in complexity. I think it is as "EZ" to use as EZ Drummer but yet far more flexible and professional when you need it. I use it almost exclusively...

matto

[ChipD]

Thanks, jdhogg and matto.

Matto, do you have a link to your taxi page? I'd like to check out how Addictive Drums sound on your stuff, too.

Thanks again, guys!

[eeoo]

I just posted a tune in Peer to Peer that I used AD on. Not a rock tune, more indie/Americana but you can get an idea of the natural, organic vibe you can get from AD. I have EZ drummer as well, I just prefer AD but they're both great.

eo

[ChipD]

Thanks for the input, eo!

I checked out the track and, wow, it's good!

Do you have a version with vocals?

It sounds like some of the stuff that is making it to pop radio, like The Lumineers.

Back to the drums, they sound good...I don't know how to explain it, but it's almost like the drum sounds you used were intentionally imperfect and that made them sound non-machine generated. They really fit the vibe of the song!

[pboss]

...Consider the studio as your instrument

Yeah, and consider beer like your secretary. She makes you feel all warm and confident about yourself.

[elser]

I use in this order 1. RMX, but primarily using the add on's like Backbeat, and the stuff from Matt Sorum and Zorro. RMX is very deep and you can really tweek drum loops that were originally played and recorded live.

Addictive is a close second. Not as live sounding as RMX but there are some great loops that were played on midi drums which you can use to run AD. It also has a bunch of great sounding add on kits.

Drumcore is interesting. I haven't used it much but what is cool is you can get live drum loops from say Matt Sorum and they also provide individual samples of his drum kit so you can program you're own fills and beat variations and combine them with the loops.

You can get good results but constant learning is essential. Embrace it.

[ChipD]

OK, I think I've reached a decision!

I am not yet where I need to be with home recording, so I will be continuing to record in a studio for the time being. The engineer that I work with uses Superior Drummer (SD) and says that, because of the compatibility between SD and EZ Drummer (EZD) with them both being Toontrack products, I could lay down my drum tracks with EZD and bring them to him for editing/mixing/etc. with his SD. To me, that seems like a big plus.

In addition, after watching countless videos of SD, EZD, and Addictive Drums, EZD to me just seemed to be the most intuitive. I feel like it fit my style of how I like to work with software. Plus, it's inexpensive so if I decided to upgrade to another package after I get accustomed to working with software drums, it wouldn't be a big loss.

So, do you guys think that the above are solid reasons for getting started with EZ Drummer?

Thanks so much for all of your input! The spirit of this community is wonderful!