Best Virtual Drum Software for me?

[notr2d2]

Hey guys,
I'm barely know much about virtual drum instruments & would please like a recommendation on one. I run Mac OS 10.5.8 on a Mac Mini (2 GHz Intel Core Duo/ 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM) with PT LE 8.0.1 on an 11R. The BFD Lite runs ok but makes editing tough (I can barely use any plug-ins while using it). Are there any other Virtual Drum programs that would run better on my computer? Maybe BFD eco or EZDrummer?

Thanks,
David

[albee1952]

Before you add ANY drum software, you need to up your RAM to 4gb. 1gb is the bare dead minimum for just opening Pro Tools. Everyone has their favorite. Mine is SD2 with some ezdrummer expansion packs(the Nashville pack is the first to buy for pop/rock/country). Then add the Avatar kit and Metal Foundry(which is good for pop/rock/country as well). Don't be put off by the moniker(but is a HUUUUUGE package if you want most/all of the options). SD2, Avatar, ezdrummer and Nashville kit isn't too awful big, but you may want to upgrade your internal drive to 1TB. You can start out on the cheap by getting ezdrummer and the Nashville kit as that makes a great start and is quite easy to use(drag&drop loops).

[Bender]

Addictive drums has made my life so much easier.
Use it to play your existing midi drums or audition
loops and song sets within the program and drag them onto the audio file or midi.

Up the ram for sure

[brianiac5150]

I found out about Superior Drummer 2.0 on this forum and could rave like nobody's business about how thrilled I am with this product and the brief customer service I have had with them. I've owned Strike 1.0 and content expansion pack basically since I bought Pro Tools LE many years ago. It served me well, but was lacking - especially in the cymbal area, which was even acknowledged by a Digidesign rep at a local Pro Tools convention I attended. As a PPC owner - and someone who can't afford to upgrade a perfectly functioning PPC box to an Intel based unit - I faced the fact that I am no longer supported by AIR plugins and looked hesitantly elsewhere, which turned out to be the best thing that could've happened. Toontrack products, SD2.0 and all the expansions are mind-boggling. Go to their site and watch the videos or YouTube them. They truly represent their product well. OK...I'll digress (trust me, I could really go on about this product).

Do as others have suggested: upgrade your RAM to as much as possible and then check out Toontrack products. The EZ line is also very viable product; however, do a little or a lot of research/reading on their and other sites before purchasing. The EZ line is 16-bit and the SD line is 24-bit with sample, articulation and other variations.

American Music Supply, AudioMidi.com and several other retailers have Toontrack products on sale right now and they're worth your money. I'm salivating right now thinking about getting home from work to play with this stuff some more.

[brianiac5150]

Just posted a demo with Superior Drummer 2.2 and Music City SDX at another thread on this forum:

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=288568&page=2

[iyaron]

Hi
Yes the RAM the more power the better.
I LOVE the BFD2 outfit .very easy to use especially if you learn the tutorials of www.groove3.com about this subject. Samples of BFD2 are superb and their engine works well with PT 8 or 9.
There is a nice workflow that you can rout the drums into separate Aux or audio tracks and get a very real feel to them Sleisman samples are remarkable as well and were designed for BFD2
I found myself creating drums/percussion tracks using more than one instrument going for the sounds and using the best of every system. But that will come later on...
Hope this helps.
I

[mmf78]

I had BFD, went to Superior Drummer and uninstalled BFD.

SD is FANTASTIC!!! Depending on your style of music, you may want an expansion pack, too. I have the New York Studio Vol. 2 (2 kits) and Joe Barresi's Evil Drums (6 kits) by Platinum Samples.

Sweetwater has Evil Drums for $99.50 and it's an absolute steal at that price, but you definitely need more RAM.

[necjamc]

I highly recommend buying EZ Drummer, then as you get more into it, start getting expansions when they are on sale. Then you can crossgade to SD2. That's how I did it. SD 2 even with Just the avatar kit is Awesome. Not to mention Toontrack has tons of midi packs pretty cheap. And artist presets you can buy. Which I really like.