Several people have asked about multi-channel Real Drums. I am working with a VST that may interest some of you until the real thing comes along.

All of the following is my opinion based on my live performance and recording experience.

When we hear a human drummer, we don't just hear the stick or beater hit each drum. We hear a combination of that with the room. I think this is true of any other instrument. For example, you don't really know what a guitar sounds like at the speaker. You know what it sounds like at 8 to 10 feet.

The other thing about a drum kit is that we hear the drums together. Just as we hear parts of an orchestra together.

I have used midi drums a lot in the past and I liked them. But I don't think they sound realistic, and one of the reasons is each drum is close up instead of in combination with each other and the room.

The alternative is to use a drummer, Real Drums or a VST. Drums are a pain to record. Real Drums aren't multi-channel yet although this forum has had some great tips on getting individual sounds at the end of the RD waveform and slicing/dicing.

So I have been using a couple of VST's for drums. One of them is Westwood Drums. It comes with its own mixer which breaks the drums into Kick, Snare, Cymbals, Toms, Overhead and Room. The Room sound has enough volume to use by itself. You can add in the Overhead and the Kick and Snare to your taste. Same with the Cymbals and Toms.

My guess is there are a lot of drum VST's that take this approach. Westwood is nice because it is only $35. The drums sound good for many styles of music (hip-hop or metal not included).

As most of you have figured out by my questions, I have limited experience with computer recording. I'm not trying to be an expert here. I just thought this might help some folks.

2b

i5-3210 laptop. Win 10 Home. 2.5ghz, 64 bit. 6gb RAM. Focusrite Scarlet 2i2.