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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 110
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 110 |
Hi All, I'm treading the waters again concerning this topic, which is more specifically: What kind of "soft" drums do folks out there use in their set ups at home/studio? I've been doing some lite reading of a few packages out there such as: ---EZDrums (toontrack) and ---BFD related (from fxpansion) About 2 years ago, I purchased DrumCore3 (which in my case, is highly under-utilized!). This product has a nice mix of midi and audio (primarily audio) and some great kits and artists. Here's a link for a peek if you're curious: DrumCore etc In my particular case, I've trained on a drum machine (DR-660) for years (yeah, back BEFORE there was software for this kind of thing!). I rarely use this approach any more; too limiting obviously. The other "drum" groove source I have at my disposal are the patterns entrenched in my Yamaha Motif XS-6 synth/workstation. Which is great, BUT, getting those grooves to my DAW is tricky and the synch is never as I expect it to be within the DAW (which is another subject...sorry). Finally, I have some loops (which are good starting points, but suck in general for polished work). Enough about me...as you can see, too many options, most are laborious, and well, I'm just looking for more insight from the community. Consider this an open discussion and opportunity for you all to share your experiences, likes and critiques of your favorite thing to use to get you grooving! This stuff seems to get better all the time (unlike me). In the end, drums are THE hardest, most difficult sonic attribute to get nailed down in my "solo" one man, half-show-in-the-basement, kinda musician world. Thanks in advance for your input!
JOHN 10:10
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Joined: Jun 2010
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BTW: Feel free to post links for products, demos, and any personal music that showcases your stuff!
JOHN 10:10
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Joined: Jun 2005
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It's difficult when you're by yourself. Here you are alone working with a bunch of software and equipment trying to emulate the sound of a collaborative effort of a group of excellent players. It's impossible and that's the frustration in this. I'm a pretty good keyboard player but can't play a lick of guitar. I know kinda sorta what I want to hear in a guitar part but I can pick out all the loops or guitar RT's in the world and maybe not find what I think I want. But, bring in one of my college trained guitarist friends and in two seconds he comes up with something I would have never thought of and it sounds great. That's why people put bands together.
To try to answer your question, look at Jamstix at rayzoon.com It's a completely different type of drum software. They use specific drummers styles if you want, you have complete control over every element of the drum kit plus it can "jam" to a certain point by itself. It's pretty cool.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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FLAN. I tend to do things the hard way! My drum tracks are all programmed individually as midi tracks and then played through a software VST drum machine which is essentially just a sample player. I even make up my own wav samples so that I get exactly the kits that I want. I find it gives me the flexibility I want for breaks where I want all the instruments to move together. Think Jessica by the Allman Brothers. As a shortcut, midi grooves can be imported from such as your Motif and then quantised if the sync isn't spot on. You can then just write specific bars for the breaks. The VSTi which I use is bigbadabom 24/2 and it's free from http://www.vstplanet.com/Instruments/VST_Drums8.htmIt'll hold 24 wav samples with full control, including comprehensive EQ, on every drum. It may be time consuming, but I eventually end up with the effect I want. ROG.
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Another big fan of Jamstix. It does have a learning curve to fully utilize, but the forum is great, and it is powerful.
Sadly PG products can not fully use all the features, but we keep hoping they will solve that issue soon.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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Jamstix, BFD and RMIV user here. Also I tend to use loop CDs and DVDs with time stretching - most of the time, the loops are what sound most 'real' to my ear.
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Wow! See? Great input! Thanks...and now I'm drooling over Jamstix.
*rolling my eyes*
Sheeeeeeeeeeesh.
That product is pretty darn cool I must say...very, very smart indeed.
The real life emulation is incredible...to go from "loop-poop" to real drummer is awesome.
Well, not quite "real"...but a whole lot easier to haul around huh?
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Be advised that the jamming feature of the Jamstix software does not work with PG products, though many have asked. It becomes a somewhat expensive MIDI playback module at that point.
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Rockstar (which by the way, I'm sure you are!):
I see you mentioned ye ol' RMIV---interesting. This piques a bit of interest because, as fate would have it, I actually HAVE this VST as it was included in Mackie's Tracktion 3 DAW I got back in '08 (wow, how time flies).
What's more dispicable than that is...well, I've never really tried it out (maybe I should duh).
In truth, I'm not exactly sure why...maybe at the time, it seemed slightly "archaic" and unfamiliar and or complicated.
Because of you, I am again interested...it could yet be another rock yet unturned?
Tell me how you like it...or not.
I hear BFD comes highly recommended also...it looks very impressive and probably blows RMIV away (really, I'm simply assuming that...I could be wrong).
Thanks again for your insights!
JOHN 10:10
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I use RMIV when I'm doing an electronic track and I'm looking for the right 808 or 909 feel. I use BFD when I'm 'playing' the drums for a track using my midi keyboard. It has a great set of accents/flams/etc. and the 'mic' settings are intuitive and can be used to great effect. I use Jamstix when I'm lazy - though it can be cantankerous as well (Try to do reggae with it), and lastly, I will use loops when I already have a song structure figured out in my head and I simply want to get the songwriting over with and fleshed out, and flushed out of my head. Each has it's purpose.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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