VI Drum Suggestions

[adam79]

I'm looking for VI Drum software to use as an instrument track. I'm not a fan of the ones included with PT, XPand2, Structure Free, Boom and whatever other ones. I've been using the Audio Assault Westwood VI, but I'm not happy with the drum kits.



I've seen some good Black Friday deals that are still going on. I was reading the EZ Drummer 2 is great for songwriting, which is what I mainly use PT for. However, the people who say that use other Drum VI's for a better sound once the Midi notes are recorded with EZ2.. like BFD 3, SD2.. Those last two are out of my price range tho.



I was checking out SSD5 on the Slate site and it looks pretty cool. Plus at $150, it's at the top of what I'm able to spend.



I'd like a VI that has processing, but also the option to use them dry. I also don't care about pre-made loops or any kind of electronic music. I play a lot of blues/Rock and a bit of Heavy Rock. Not sure if certain VI software excels in these categories better than others.



Looking forward to hearing you suggestions. Thanks.

[Southsidemusic]

XLN all the way here. Slate drums use a helluva ot of CPU just so you know.

XLN has 50% off right now and their expansions are great. We used them for many productions that appears on billboard and top 10 radio. As we don't make any heavy rock, more pop rock I would rather get Addictive Drums from them but of you make heavy rock then Slate might suit you better. Only you can answer that. Many demos on utube to partake in.

[amagras]

I agree XLN is very good and I think the composer on Toontrack is super useful, however I still use Drummica a lot, pure raw samples and some buit in effects and it's free and runs on Kontakt player:
https://youtu.be/5r34MWUxclA

[DonaldM]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

If you are new to Drum VIs I would just grab EZ Drummer and start there. When you run out of things it can do you can look at other software.

Now for $89 at Sweetwater.

[Benoni]

BFD3 is 50% off today for those interested.

https://fxpansion.com/products/bfd3/

$149 if you buy through AudioDeluxe.

https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products/fxpansion-bfd3

[Benoni]

Addictive Drums 2 is on sale too for about $60 through AudioDeluxe
You can pick your own content too
https://www.audiodeluxe.com/products...drums-2-custom

It Might Get Loud also has a 50% off sale

https://www.itmightgetloud.org/black-friday/

[albee1952]

Another nod to XLN. I have owned and used Addictive Drums version 1, EZdrummer(original thru current) and Superior Drummer(versions 2 and 3) and really have nothing bad to say about any of them. XLN's Addictive Drums gets the nod as easiest to navigate and use(plus its a bargain). All of the current crop are capable of great drum tracks(or not-so-great, depending on the operator).

[Stephen Bond]

Originally Posted by adam79

I was reading the EZ Drummer 2 is great for songwriting, which is what I mainly use PT for. However, the people who say that use other Drum VI's for a better sound once the Midi notes are recorded with EZ2.. like BFD 3, SD2.. Those last two are out of my price range tho.

It depends on your goal. If it is songwriting with a view to replacing drums thereafter then ease of use and the patterns included are of precedence.

For example, I think that Strike has some excellent features and lots of useable patterns and styles although the drums don't generally sounds great out of the box.

Native Instruments drums has some good sounds and patterns too.

Slate has a good stellar of sounds for sure. The patterns I have seen are real good too.

I'll probably plump for EZ Drummer at some point. That Tape 2 Find feature where you can tap in the basic kick and snare groove and it comes back with patterns which are closest to the percentage value looks amazing. Surely a real quick way to get something up and running?

https://youtu.be/sACTiNM7cAs

Stephen

[adam79]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I mainly write/play blues/rock, so I'm looking for a VI that excels in that area. I've always loved the drums sounds on the Stones and Beatles recordings. Is this something you can achieve with any of these drum VI's, whether they come as stock kits or in an expansion pack? I'd obviously prefer them to come stock, as I can only barely afford to buy one of these VI's.



I also do some heavy rock, but not so much.. and all the few free/cheap VI's I have seem to do a decent job with this.


At the moment I only use the VI's for songwriting, but I want them to sound good as well, cuz I'd like to release them at some point.



I don't really care about getting the one with the most bells and whistles; some have so many options that just reading about them hurts my head. I definitely want one that's easy to navigate.



On one of these forums I read that some VI's come heavily processed (EZ Drummer is the only once I can recall) , while others are kept dry for the user to tweek. It left me with the impression that on some VI's you can't remove the FX that the drums come processed with. Is this true? If so it seems kinda ridiculous.

[amagras]

Originally Posted by adam79

Thanks for all the suggestions. I mainly write/play blues/rock, so I'm looking for a VI that excels in that area. I've always loved the drums sounds on the Stones and Beatles recordings. Is this something you can achieve with any of these drum VI's, whether they come as stock kits or in an expansion pack? I'd obviously prefer them to come stock, as I can only barely afford to buy one of these VI's.



I also do some heavy rock, but not so much.. and all the few free/cheap VI's I have seem to do a decent job with this.


At the moment I only use the VI's for songwriting, but I want them to sound good as well, cuz I'd like to release them at some point.



I don't really care about getting the one with the most bells and whistles; some have so many options that just reading about them hurts my head. I definitely want one that's easy to navigate.



On one of these forums I read that some VI's come heavily processed (EZ Drummer is the only once I can recall) , while others are kept dry for the user to tweek. It left me with the impression that on some VI's you can't remove the FX that the drums come processed with. Is this true? If so it seems kinda ridiculous.

Give Drummica a try, it's completely unprocessed because it's meant to be a promotional tool for Sennheiser microphones, you can use it in a single instrument track but it can be routed to independent tracks on your DAW (the video I posted earlier) and it comes with good effect presets that can be turned off.