Drum Replacement Software

[allends]

Does anyone have any experience with or an opinion about drum replacement software like Drumagog (http://www.drumagog.com)? I read about it in a recent issue of Recording Magazine. I can see how creative and convenient it is to replace the drum sound of a MIDI track bounced to audio with another sound. It seems to me, however, that my money and time would be better spent on a number of good sounding MIDI drumming applications and sample sets. Is drum replacement software a luxury for someone who "has everything" (so to speak) ?-Allen

[cowriter]

Hi Allen,Drumagog is a great tool if you have already recorded drum (multi-)tracks and want them to be replaced by various samples. For that reason I'm using it a lot then mixing live-recordings. If you're looking for a way to improve the sounds of your midi-tracks I would recommend EZDrummer (http://www.toontrack.com/ezdrummer.asp) or Addictive Drums (http://www.xlnaudio.com) they're coming with excellent sounds and tons of mididrumtracks. Regarding your musical style - which I like a lot btw - Spectrasonics STYLUS RMX (http://www.spectrasonics.net) is definitely worth to check out as well. Their separate expansion packs "Liquid Groove" and "Metamorphosis" will also be a perfect fit for your kind of music. If you have more questions about these issues, don't hesitate to ask - I'm a drum(sample) maniac, working with a lot of different libraries. With best regards, Andy

[matto]

Andy hit the nail on the head, this type of software's real purpose is replacing (or augmenting) real drums with samples.There are many reasons one might want to do this, ranging from problems with the recording itself (distortion, excessive leakage from other instruments etc) to problems with the drum kit (poor tuning, rattling hardware etc) to problems with the drummer (many guys who are not used to studio recording may hit the drums with too much inconsistency to make e.g. for a nice consitent pop backbeat ).If you are trying to use software instaed of a real drummer then AD or EZ Drummer or loop based products will be a more appropriate choice.matto

[allends]

Quote:Andy hit the nail on the head, this type of software's real purpose is replacing (or augmenting) real drums with samples.Thanks Andy and Matto,You guys not only clarified the best use of the product, but you also validated my point of view that the author of the article expressed opinions that deserved closer scrutiny. BTW: Here's the reference to the magazine article...RECORDING, April 2008, page 46.Thanks for the complement and specific recommendation, Andy. I am pleased to meet a fellow maniac Cheers,Allen

[daniel481]

Hey there. I read the same article in Recording, and while it was interesting, I immediately thought that it was outdated based on the fact that EZ, Addictive, etc. have recently come to the forefront and are so affordable. I was actually a bit surprised that a current recording magazine would publish an article describing a method as cumbersome as that for producing great sounding drum sounds without a drummer!So, I'm glad you asked for other opinions before taking that route! And these other guys definitely know what they're talking about Dan

[silverorlead]

I too read the same article and thought it was a really really complicated process to replace MIDI sounds with live samples using a middleman type app. Still, I had nowhere near the knowledge base to know what exactly sounded wrong about it. Thanks for the post!-Bri

[justinatrecording]

Howdy all...Just came across this thread and thought I'd chime in regarding the article in Recording Mag in April...You're 100% correct that Drumagog's main purpose in life is sample replacement. What we should have made clear was that Dave really likes using the Steven Slate drum samples, which only work with Drumagog. His method seems convoluted and is more involved that just using AD, EZ, BFD or Strike, but in his opinion sounds superior to other tools. It's the combination of the Slate samples and real cymbals that gets the sound Dave is after.At any rate, the Steven Slate samples are coming out in version 2.0 and we'll be reviewing them hopefully soon. The good news is that this new version is more than just Drumagog compatible. It's mapped for all of the major samplers so you can play the sounds in MIDI instead of using a workaround like this.Cheers,JustinRecording Magazine

[guest4254]

I have Drum-a-Gog and the new Steven Slate 2.0 samples. If anything, there's almost too much to choose from!Aside from that, I also use Groove Agent 3, and even though it's similar to AD and EZ, I still prefer to replace (usually) those drums with SS 2.0.I've never used EZ, how do the drums sound with this program, and would anyone be willing to give a brief review?Still haven't had time to read Recording's April issue....Harry