drums for recording

[finstah]

I've been using EZ Drummer with Drumkit From Hell to handle my drum loops. I like it because you can pick a riff and drag it into your track. The drawback is there are hundreds of beats and it sometimes takes time to find something to fit what I'm recording. My Sonar package came with Session Drums but I've never used it. I tried Leaf Drums about 12 years back but can't remember if that was good or not.

Question is, what do you guys that record at home use for drums? Looking for simple UI and ease of use without costing an arm and leg.

[Peter H. Boer]

EZ drummer2 with a.o. Drumkit from hell, until it's time to bring in a real drummer.  :D

Then it's Yamaha Stage custom advantage time  8)

[finstah]

Peter, how does 2 differ from the first one? I have a copy but it keeps asking me to register. 

[GuitarBuilder]

I use EZ Drummer as well as Riffworks from Sonoma Wireworks.

[Peter H. Boer]

Peter, how does 2 differ from the first one? I have a copy but it keeps asking me to register. 

This gives a good explanation of the differences  http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may14/articles/toontrack-ezdrummer-2.htm


Main advantages to me are 64-bit + you can take a basic expansion pack (DFH) and if you have more expansion packs you can mix and match per instrument.
I, for instance use DFH bass drums, a snare from the Funkmasters and the Yamaha toms from the new EZD2 pack.

[rnolan]

Hey Finstah, my preference is a real drummer (at the end of the day LOL). But seriously IMHO  except for stuffing around stuff, a (good) real drummer is vital hey my 2 cents worth

[finstah]

Hey Finstah, my preference is a real drummer (at the end of the day LOL). But seriously IMHO  except for stuffing around stuff, a (good) real drummer is vital hey my 2 cents worth

Real drummer would be ideal, but I don't have the space or a kit. lol

[rnolan]

I've been hearing good things about EZ drummer, apparently the "human" button/options works very well.

[Peter H. Boer]

I've been hearing good things about EZ drummer, apparently the "human" button/options works very well.

Yes, and if you combine it with midi grooves from the likes of oddgrooves, which aren't quantized to bits, you can get a pretty decent sounding drummer out of the box

[Zilthy]

I like EZ drummer a lot, and use that.  I will also trigger them with v-drums, which does sound human (and in my case, a human drummer that needs more lessons) which comes even closer, but I do wish that some of the niceties of the V-Drums came through (Notably cymbal damping, rim shots, ghost notes).

A real drummer on a real kit is the best, but I have to honestly admit that I have never been able to get a good acoustic recording, but I have never had the mics or acoustic space to pull that off.

But, of the ones that I have used, EZ Drummer has been by far the easiest to get very usable results from.

[GonadiusPrime]

In reply to Finstah's original comment, I use the same thing only manually program the "notes" instead of the pre-made patterns.  Drawback, no humanizer.

[El Chiguete]

In reply to Finstah's original comment, I use the same thing only manually program the "notes" instead of the pre-made patterns.  Drawback, no humanizer.

Yep I did that too... I think since I'm good working with Microsoft Excel I have an easy time figuring out and visualizing the notes manually jeje.

BTW been stuck for like a year and a half on two song ideas thant I hope one day I finish them but I'm stuck in the same place after adding the drums to the intro, verse and first cut of both of them 

[finstah]

In reply to Finstah's original comment, I use the same thing only manually program the "notes" instead of the pre-made patterns.  Drawback, no humanizer.

I'll do that too, pro, it's a lot quicker. lol

In the end I decided to go with Addictive Drums since it was included in the latest update of Sonar.

[rnolan]

Hey El, there's alot to be said for that approach, it' teaches you about the connstrudtion of songs. But at the end of the day, I like having a drummer, preferably real drums, but the new electric kits are "very" convenient, had my old drummer (of 25 yeas(ish)) play with us recently with his ~$9k roland kit (wow) it's still not real drums but...

@Zilthy, I hear you, it's not easy getting a good "real" drum sound but IMO worth it. As a sound engineer I've had to learn how to tune drums LOL, but lots of other variables (like having a space to do it, kind of fundamental)