Drum VI recommendations

[Phil O'Keefe]

I just tried to get the latest version of AIR Strike installed, but apparently it is a no-go on the Mac Studio and/or Monterey. So I’m looking for recommendations please. I liked the “variability” of Strike, and the various styles and grooves. The sounds were okay for the most part - I’m generally more interested in rock, jazz, country, etc. - more acoustic-oriented as opposed to electronic sounds.

So…what works for you for drums, and what do you recommend?



PS Yes, I have a real drum kit, and I can play on a basic level, but I need something I can use for writing and demoing things that would be difficult for me to play with my limited skills.

[Darryl Ramm]

I like Toontrack EZ Drummer or Superior Drummer for my simple needs, but others do a lot with them. Toontrack seems better than most with compatibility, updates etc. The new version EZ Drummer 3 is coming out in May, which you'll qualify for if purchasing now.

[albee1952]

My 2 cents, but I think Strike got passed by many years ago. EZDrummer2 and Addictive Drums 2 are both really good, and both quite easy to build performances with(BTW, Toontrack just announced EZDrummer3). Superior Drummer 3 takes it to a whole other level. Not only does it do everything EZDrummer does(and then some), it can play all the EZX kits and can act as one of the best drum replacement tools available(sorry Slate and Drumagog) Well worth the extra money if your budget allows

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by albee1952

My 2 cents, but I think Strike got passed by many years ago. EZDrummer2 and Addictive Drums 2 are both really good, and both quite easy to build performances with(BTW, Toontrack just announced EZDrummer3). Superior Drummer 3 takes it to a whole other level. Not only does it do everything EZDrummer does(and then some), it can play all the EZX kits and can act as one of the best drum replacement tools available(sorry Slate and Drumagog) Well worth the extra money if your budget allows

I agree w/Albee and Darryl. I very much enjoy using EZ Drummer. It's good. It just works! But I sympathize about Strike. Very, very cool, especially how it used the keyboard to lay out the intro, vs, chorus, fills, etc. As I would work with a particular kit and genre (of which there were MANY), I'd soon learn the sound of each, and build tracks on the fly. EX Drummer's layout is more for pre-planning and arranging. I also LOVE DrumCore. But like EZ Drummer, lends itself to auditioning and preplanning. Strike was so much fun to use on the fly, and sad to see it in oblivion for now. Also, EZ Drummer was "Johnny on the Spot" in terms of native compatibility for Apple Silicon. Cheeezus H.!!! Makes you wonder why everyone else is having such a hard time. Drumcore still doesn't work with Monterey. Bummer.

Another vote for EZ Drummer soon to be 3.

[Stephen Bond]

Big fan of Strike here. Sounds are not great out of the box. Poorly/over mixed kits in for my taste but great selection of patterns and features. Using it with Big Sur and the M1 better than ever before!

NI Drummers get a lot of use. Need some tweaking to the sounds again but a good selection of patterns to get you started and edit and sounds are good.

Use Slate SSD a good bit too. Some nice sounds but overcooked in the recording department for my taste which leaves you boxed in with their sound, which is generally rock centric. I have the Blackbird expansion too which gets more use but still over (pre) cooked for my taste. Some good patterns, some quite complex and others too basic but in general too few patterns and styles compared to Strike and NI drummers. Stop making free sample packs Steven and enhancing the products you sell!

I bought EZDrummers 2 fairly recently as I had a demo song it sounded good on but I haven't used it really yet. Felt short changed in the patterns department. Too few for sure and probably a ruse to get you to buy their endless expansions. Sounds are good but not incredible. I'll probably upgrade to V3 and hopefully this will turn out to be true?!

"NEW MIDI LIBRARY
A massive library covering all major music genres (pop, rock, electronic, hip-hop, reggae and much more)."

Can't see a list on the website yet though

Stephen

[musicman691]

Toontrack is coming out with a EZ Drummer 3 in May. If you buy EX Drummer 2 now you get the new one free when it drops. Supposedly a whole slew of changes in the new version. Current price $179.


Do stay away from BFD. The program is okay but there are authorization issues with it. You have to stay logged in to their license manager but you don't have to be online. Also you can/will lose authorization because it has to see the license server every few months. It's supposed to be like 6 months but good luck with that. I have it and the only reason I haven't moved to Superior Drummer is the cost. I'd go EZ Drummer but there's no MIDI remapping in it - only the big dog has it.


Then there's NI's Battery 4. It's ok if you need a GM compatible drumkit but that's it.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by albee1952

My 2 cents, but I think Strike got passed by many years ago. EZDrummer2 and Addictive Drums 2 are both really good, and both quite easy to build performances with(BTW, Toontrack just announced EZDrummer3). Superior Drummer 3 takes it to a whole other level. Not only does it do everything EZDrummer does(and then some), it can play all the EZX kits and can act as one of the best drum replacement tools available(sorry Slate and Drumagog) Well worth the extra money if your budget allows

Yes! It's a much cheaper way of adding some new drum sounds to SD3. Of course they are pre-produced libraries, but it's also nice not having to download 300GBs for a SDX

For those who don't know an EZX is an EZdrummer expansion (ie drum library), and a SDX is a Superior Drummer expansion.

SD can use EZX packs.

EZX packs go on sale all the time, SDX, at least the new ones, not very often.

BTW, if anyone wants the Dream Pop EZX it's on-sale this weekend for $34 at Best Service.

SD3 is my go-to. But I have and like all the other plugins I mentioned. Always nice to have options and different ways to work.

But if the OP can only get ONE? SD3 will cover everything, and you can add some cheap EZXs for more electronic sounds if you need them. Just be sure you have the disk space, cause SD3 is HUGE - over 230GBs.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I was looking around last night and ran across UJAM Solid 2 on the Plugin Boutique website. It was only $30, it's M1 compatible, and it seems similar to Strike in some ways, so I thought, what the heck. So far, it's working fine and seems to fit the bill for something quick and easy.

I was thinking about EZDrummer, but once I watched a couple of videos for Superior Drummer 3, that idea went out the window. I have been listening to George Massenburg's work since I was a teenager, and I've known him for ages - we were both moderators over on Musicplayer.com back in the mid aughts. I've learned a tremendous amount from talking with George and I have the utmost respect for him; knowing he was involved and recorded the audio files speaks very highly for SD3, so I think I'm going to save up for a month or two and get that as well. It's six hundred dollars for the software license and SSD, but it sounds like it's well worth it for all that it does.

Quick follow-up question for those of you who use SD3 - if you also get the SSD, can you run SD3 straight off of that, or do you have to copy it over to a different drive? It sounds like you can run it off the SSD from what I'm seeing on the Toopntrack website, but I want to make sure.

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I was looking around last night and ran across UJAM Solid 2 on the Plugin Boutique website. It was only $30, it's M1 compatible, and it seems similar to Strike in some ways, so I thought, what the heck. So far, it's working fine and seems to fit the bill for something quick and easy.

I was thinking about EZDrummer, but once I watched a couple of videos for Superior Drummer 3, that idea went out the window. I have been listening to George Massenburg's work since I was a teenager, and I've known him for ages - we were both moderators over on Musicplayer.com back in the mid aughts. I've learned a tremendous amount from talking with George and I have the utmost respect for him; knowing he was involved and recorded the audio files speaks very highly for SD3, so I think I'm going to save up for a month or two and get that as well. It's six hundred dollars for the software license and SSD, but it sounds like it's well worth it for all that it does.

Quick follow-up question for those of you who use SD3 - if you also get the SSD, can you run SD3 straight off of that, or do you have to copy it over to a different drive? It sounds like you can run it off the SSD from what I'm seeing on the Toontrack website, but I want to make sure.

Thanks again for the suggestions everyone!

I would think of the ssd you get as an insurance backup copy that you install from and save for when things go south. You do keep insurance backups/clones of your system and s/w right?

[simon.a.billington]

Originally Posted by albee1952

My 2 cents, but I think Strike got passed by many years ago. EZDrummer2 and Addictive Drums 2 are both really good, and both quite easy to build performances with(BTW, Toontrack just announced EZDrummer3). Superior Drummer 3 takes it to a whole other level. Not only does it do everything EZDrummer does(and then some), it can play all the EZX kits and can act as one of the best drum replacement tools available(sorry Slate and Drumagog) Well worth the extra money if your budget allows

I'm a fan of Addictive Drums myself. I've been slowly buying up their kits over the last few years.

I do tend to use Battery instead when it comes to electronic kits, however, even though I have the AD2 I have their "Reel Machines" kit. Not because it's bad in anyway, its actually quite good, but there's a certain workflow that you generally want with electronic music and Battery better suits that. It allows you to add any sample you want and offers you many ways in which to manipulate it.

You don't get that kind of workflow in AD2 or Superior Drums, but that's because they're distend for a different purpose and are quite good at it.