Best Software Drum option...

[drasmith]

Hi all,
I seem to have constant headaches getting my Yamaha DTX drums to play nice with my STRIKE in PT9.& Digi 002. Every drum set assignment is assigned randomly wrt sample groups and midi channels. I am a guitar player/recorder and could use something a little less demanding time wise than this arrangement so... what do you folks think would be the best drum software for a blues/rock/jazz environment???
Thanks ever so much!!!

Allen

[Rail Jon Rogut]

The top choices for the best e-drum support are: BFD2, Superior Drummer 2 and Addictive Drums 1.5

Check out our demos at our website to hear some examples in BFD2.

Cheers,

Rail

[Julia B]

I agree with those three. EZ Drummer is another one and is on sale right now at Sweetwater for like $29 -- it needs a bit more tweaking than the others. I use Addictive 1.5.2. I love the program. I've gotten some really good results. I also learned how to tweak the kits and stuff. I've gotten feedback like "holy crap! That's Addictive Drums? What did you do?"

Different people have different preferences for user interface, so you might want to try the demo versions first and see which one you like best.

Another thing is this 64 bit stuff. If you're going to go 64 bit any time soon (i.e. you're also using a second DAW that is 64 bit) that will be a consideration as well so you don't need something like J-Bridge to use a 32 bit plugin with a 64 bit DAW.

Also note: VIs including virtual drums need a lot of tweaking to get them to sound really good. The demos on the web sites of all of the majors have been tweaked extensively to make them sound their best. The kits are tuned, mic levels adjusted, and effects tweaked. Don't expect this out of the box. Read up on tuning a drum kit for a performance, even if you will never tune a real drum kit, and how to mic a drum kit, even if you will never do that. Watch as many videos on drumming as you can.

It is best to get these things sounding great before you even start mixing. Nothing is straight forward.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

EZDrummer does not have comprehensive E-Drum support.. he'll need Superior Drummer 2 if he want to use a Toontrack product. BFD Eco at $29 until the end of the year has better E-Drum support.

Rail