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Old 01-02-2009, 06:43 PM   #1
nyaben
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Default Want real drum sound - will EZ Drummer do it?

Have V-Drums (TD-6 brain) and am not always getting good sounds. Some kits are okay but I don't care for the cymbal sound. I'm tired of people (mostly those who know they aren't real) saying the drum sound is not real. Should I sell my V-drums and get an acoustic kit or will I get acoustic drum sounds with EZ Drummer?

Thanks
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Old 01-02-2009, 07:36 PM   #2
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No one can really answer this for you as it's all a matter of taste.What I did before deciding on some drum software was to listen to the demos on the maker's sites and also to as many projects in their forums I could find that had similar tastes to mine and how flexible the software could be.
I eventually decided on,"JamstixXL",

http://www.rayzoon.com/jamstix2.html
http://rayzoon2.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8


as it was on special offer.It's drum sounds are very natural to me and sit well in a mix and can easily be tweaked.It takes a bit to get used to but it generates unique midi drum tracks or can be used as a standard midi drum sound module but the thing that swung it for me is that it can host other Drum sofware inside itself so it's not limited to it's own sounds.

There is a downloadable demo version but you d need to read the manual and look on the forum as the interface is a little tricky at 1st but worth it.

I also have the excellent Addictive Drums Demo
http://www.xlnaudio.com/?page=downloads

so I can use the basic kit from that along with Jamstix sounds so I can get more modern compressed style kicks and snare sounds and use the Toms from Jamstix.

I liked the sound of EZ drummer but as they don't do a demo to try it put me off as I wouldn't know what I was getting.

I've done a lot of midi drum editing over the years and it really is a chore so Jamstix is an absolute boon because once you make a couple of song sheets inside the program with it's editor say like intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/Middle/Verse/Chorus you can change style/drummer and feel any time and just let it do all the drum patterns and fills and then edit them if required.Saves a helluva lot of time.

HTH
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Old 01-02-2009, 08:47 PM   #3
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I second Sheppola's reply; it's a matter of taste and it's you who make a decision.

But if the reason you, nyaben, mention EZ Drummer is the price/budget thing, then I would recommend you to reconsider other drum samplers as candidates.

I made a shift to software synths a few years ago from GM modules (Roland SC and Yamaha MU), and thought EZ Drummer might be enough at its price. I ended up buying expansion packs (EZXs) and the overall cost exceeds BFD (1.5 or 2.0)...

Now I'm using dfhs/Superior 2.0 with EZ Drummer+EZXs, but if I were to start over from now, I may choose BFD or S2.0, or Sonic Reality's Oceanway drum...or whatever with less processed sounds. (EZ drummer seem to have well-processed sounds, you can't tune pitch, sometimes I couldn't find low pitch snare/toms that I wanted to use for certain songs.)

good luck finding your drum sampler!
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Old 01-02-2009, 08:54 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nyaben View Post
Have V-Drums (TD-6 brain) and am not always getting good sounds. Some kits are okay but I don't care for the cymbal sound. I'm tired of people (mostly those who know they aren't real) saying the drum sound is not real.
You would think that for the price of a full blown $5-6k V-Drum set Roland would do what some other companies are doing in software and just put some really top quality multi-samples right inside the damn drum brain/module thingy.

How hard would it be to put 2-3 gb of drum samples in that hardware box?

Imagine the Superior 2 multi-samples inside of the V-Drum brain. You wouldn't need anything else if you could pop in a ram card with a different kit on it whenever you wanted.
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Old 01-02-2009, 08:59 PM   #5
nyaben
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Thanks for replies. I'm gonna try the demo versions of some of these. Part of me wants to just record real drums...as painful as that can sometimes be.
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Old 01-03-2009, 08:45 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nyaben View Post
Thanks for replies. I'm gonna try the demo versions of some of these. Part of me wants to just record real drums...as painful as that can sometimes be.
I can dig that. lol Finally I realized that even if I could play that well, I'd spend a fortune on mics, and after that I'd spend another fortune getting the room right.

+1 for jamstix here, but I've heard VERY convincing tracks done with EZDrummer as well. Personal taste.
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Old 01-03-2009, 09:22 AM   #7
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I use EZDrummer and it sounds real enough for me. It's all in the programming though, if everything is the same intensity it loses its realisticness, but if you're playing a proper electronic set I dont think that'll be a problem. I recorded this earlier with EZDrummer:

http://www.netmusicians.org/files/18-fotd2.mp3

Most of these were done with it as well www.soundclick.com/deepwaterblackout
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Old 01-03-2009, 09:46 AM   #8
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I was worried too about being locked into a certain sound with ezdrummer kits but it is startling how much you can alter the sounds with the rocket compressor plus others like the 1973 eq.
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Old 01-14-2009, 03:38 PM   #9
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V-drums are highly compatible with EZD, I will attest to that because that is what I use. I've heard EZD Edrum support was originally for V-drums. I also hear Addictive Drums is even better sound wise, but I can't speak to the compatibility with V-drums.
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Old 01-14-2009, 04:01 PM   #10
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I highly recommend Addictive Drums, fast loading and easy to use. no funny quirks whatsoever and it sound great.

You get three full kits, and extra snares, kicks and cymbals, all of which is infinitely tweakable.

My only complaint if you can call it one is there aren't any brush sounds with it so I would have to sample replace.

You can hear the kit pieces on the web site here http://www.xlnaudio.com/

.....But you could play a very nice sounding Ludwig kit from your V-drums for nothing

listen to the Bluenoise drums
http://www.bluenoise.no/samples/mididrums2.mp3

Bluenoise web site http://www.bluenoise.no/mydrumset.html
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Old 01-14-2009, 05:06 PM   #11
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I have EZD, Addictive Drums, and a ton of loops from Smartloops, DOD, Beta Monkey, etc. Brushes are THE hardest to find that sound good. All of the above sound fine to me, it is just in the "ear" of the beholder IMHO.

The BEST way I have seen to record the Roland, Yamaha or the Alesis drums was to use the pads for all the drums sounds, and set up real cymbals and mic them like a regular set. With the modern pads the "click" is almost non-existent, so it can be dealt with no problem.

And as a side note, how does everyone use the Bluenoise "My Drumset"? Is there a "map" that I can use to get the set in the right GM position, or even one to use with the MidiFileMapper_0_3_31_0 program to "map" the gm files to the Bluenoise setup? It is a shame that it has been put on hold, it looks really promising!
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Old 01-14-2009, 08:00 PM   #12
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I recommend Steven Slate Drums for V-Drums, it sounds amazing. Version 3 is just about to be released, here's a link to the kit sounds:

http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/scott/

and plenty of info here:

http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/drumindex.html

Many many processed flavours available.
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Old 01-14-2009, 11:09 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Smurf View Post
And as a side note, how does everyone use the Bluenoise "My Drumset"? Is there a "map" that I can use to get the set in the right GM position, or even one to use with the MidiFileMapper_0_3_31_0 program to "map" the gm files to the Bluenoise setup? It is a shame that it has been put on hold, it looks really promising!
Here ya' go.
I was looking for one and ended up making one myself.

I love MyDrumSet. Together with the Groove Monkey rock package, I get great quality drum tracks for a ridiculous cost.
Attached Files
File Type: txt 03 - GM to MyDrumSet.txt (1.8 KB, 556 views)
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Old 01-15-2009, 12:45 AM   #14
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in my opinion what really matters is the way you write/play the drum score...


tweak a little with the velocity midi setting within the drum part (verse- quieter/chorus-harder, as your first try) and your drum will sound better even with cheap drum samples...

+1 for addictive, even the demo one
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Old 01-15-2009, 09:08 AM   #15
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OrenS, you ROCK! Thank You!

Now to figure out how to use this in MIDI File Mapper so I can convert all the GM ones I have to match MyDrumset...

Also, you have a PM....
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Old 01-17-2009, 02:56 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence View Post

How hard would it be to put 2-3 gb of drum samples in that hardware box?

The answer is simple,they can do it but then you wouldn't buy anything else after that !!
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Old 01-30-2009, 02:50 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by matey View Post
in my opinion what really matters is the way you write/play the drum score...


tweak a little with the velocity midi setting within the drum part (verse- quieter/chorus-harder, as your first try) and your drum will sound better even with cheap drum samples...

+1 for addictive, even the demo one
+1 Matey!

This may seem strange to say, but sometimes "real" sounding drums don't sound that good, and drums that don't sound "real" are just what the song/arrangement needs. I have a perfect example of this here. It's a symphony score for a short video soundtrack I wrote using BFD drums which of course are recorded in a small room, but I needed to put them on stage with the Symphony...so, narrowed the drums pan a bit, added hall reverb thinned things out a bit, lowered their level all in an effort to give the "impression" the drums are IN the symphony. I think it works, but, do these drums sound great? No, not really, but they do sound about like what you'd expect from the audience position in the hall. You can have a listen here, but remember, it's a sound track, not a song. (There are places in the score screaming for drum fills but I couldn't do it because of the voice overs and dialog in the video).
>> http://www.myspace.com/jamuliansymphonyorchestra
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Old 01-30-2009, 03:15 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nyaben View Post
Should I sell my V-drums and get an acoustic kit or will I get acoustic drum sounds with EZ Drummer?
I know a lot of people are getting great sounds with plug-ins, but to me nothing beats a real kit. Learning to record drums is a lot of work but it's rewarding (and fun!) and once you've mastered it you can always choose to trig a real kit if you at some point want to use samples instead (or blend a real OH with trigged samples or...).

Just my two öre, of course.

Regards,
- Jonas
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