Best drum option for Mac/Leopard

[cneumeye]

I am new to Pro Tools and am running a Digi 003 system on a Macbook Pro with Leopard. I have the factory bundle (which seems to have a lot of "Lite" versions), so I have quite a few plug-ins, but was wondering what the best drum/beat option is. I'm looking for something that works well with guitar/rock based sounds and also something that is good for electro/dance type stuff. Finally, is it absolutely necessary to use a MIDI keyboard to play the virtual drum programs?

Thanks in advance. Apologies for the rudimentary questions...

[randyT]

You do not need the keyboard. You can usually draw your beats if you are programming.
Now for the bad news. There is no good drum plugin for PT on a native system. They all hog too much CPU power. Using a second PC for stand alone drum software like BFD2 is about the best way to go. Outboard drum modules are ok but usually can't sound as good as the software counterparts.

randyT

[Stig Eliassen]

There is no good drum plugin for PT on a native system.

I beg to differ. DFH Superior (v 1) from Toontrack sounds smokin'. In addition, I use Custom & Vintage and Vintage addon as well. I'm waiting for my upgrade to Superior 2.0.

They all hog too much CPU power.

I can't agree with this either, but I guess it depends on how lightly you expect the plugin to run. I use this plugin in nearly all my productions, along with many VI's.
For something more "electronic" I go to Reason, which also runs lightly. No matter which plugins you use I highly recommend getting 4-6 GB's of RAM.

Good luck.

[randyT]

Hi PT Lover,

I agree the sound quality is good on most all the drum plugs. It's only CPU hog issue that I am saying is a problem. I just want to encourage new users to do what I should have done and focus on getting a slave PC setup rather than relying on RATS or outboard modules. I could have saved a ton of money if I had known the issues from the beginning. I am the proud owner of a lot of equipment that could be replaced with a PC and some software that would cost a lot less and sound a lot better and then be upgradeable and expandable to boot. Do you dis-agree that a slave PC or a Receptor is the best solution for instruments with today's situation? If so i am intersted in hearing the arguments for my own bennifit.

randyT

[Stig Eliassen]

I agree the sound quality is good on most all the drum plugs.

Ah, I see. Cool.

Do you dis-agree that a slave PC or a Receptor is the best solution for instruments with today's situation?

Well, I can't say that I disagree. I haven't tried setting my gear up your way, but I know that quite a few people do. I certainly see that the added power will take some strain off the host computer. But for my needs I get by just fine with a dual 2.3 G5 with 6.5 GB RAM.

[remute]

FXPansion's GURU is good for electronic music, as is Sonic Charge's Microtonic.

[TheBaron]

Ezdrummer is also a good alternative. It's Superior's little brother but sounds great, is cheaper and is very easy to use. It's pretty versatile. If you get it and find you really want to tweak things more, you can upgrade to superior for a discounted price plus all the samples and pre-made midi parts in EZ will be compatible with superior. You should demo it. I love it. The expansion packs are nice, too, but not necessary for guitar rock.

Also, if you want to get way more info and opinions than you could ever need on cpu drums, go to vdrums.com's forum. There are tons of threads if you do a search and everyone loves to give their opinions.

[JrummerJ]

I agree that both EZDrummer and Superior 2 are great options. I own both, being a drummer, and I am able to use these along with quite a few audio tracks with plugs, etc. Besides, you can always bounce the audio and make the intrument/midi track inactive to reduce resource usage.

J

[psychotoddler]

I'm also underwhelmed by BFD Lite. Aside from being a resource hog, it also randomly resets the set dynamics to full (so that my velocity programming gets ignored--it took me a while to figure out why all my crashes were full volume).

And, this really bugs me, no RIDE cymbal in the included kits??

[RangerJay]

I really like Addictive Drums. Works well with PT and others...recommended.

It comes with some pretty good chunks to get you going.