Hi folks,

Having just got Toontrack EZdrummer 2 I find it plays fine as a plugin on the midi drums in biab, but want to explore other creative ways of using it.

Do you use it in your workflow and any useful ways of using it?

Thanks.

Well, I have had this for years and find it a worthwhile investment. Meaning, I continue to fire this up when I need that special something on drums. Generally, I will try JamStix first and if it can't tame that, I move to EZDrums2. No special workflow since all is done in Reaper where I combine BIAB and all for recording and mixing. Bit of a steep learning curve but worth the time to be able to control the drums at a level far beyond RealDrums. I have seen you can use the BIAB midi to drive it, but I generally have done all the construction within EZdrums2.

Dan

Thanks a lot Dan, its a new toy for me to play with, hopefully I can find my way around it fairly quickly, I do like the GUI.

Thanks again.

I have been using EZdrummer for a long time. I got Superior Drummer a few months back. Both are about as good as it gets. They are not easy to learn how to use.

Everyone goes about dealing with drums in a different way. I think how you may use the software depends on your perspective and skill sets with drums in general.

Unless you are happy with a generic drum track you will find using EZdrummer not so easy...lol

If you are happy with a basic generic drum track Real Drums works as well as anything. There are some very tedious methods of small amounts of control of Real Drums that can be done in a DAW. You have a very large amount of control over the drum tracks with EZdrummer "if you know how".

For me, I could never get what I was looking for on the Hi Hat with any drum software so I got a good quality Hi Hat and play that live. I don't have the space for a full kit plus the noise is unacceptable.

There is a learning curve for the software. If you are a skilled drummer you may not like the software drums to begin with. If you are not a skilled drummer you will most likely have a difficult time creating a really good drum track with software.

Many skilled drummers in todays world use both acoustic live drums and midi triggers on their kits to trigger things like EZdrummer.

I guess everyone would like to have software that they could klick on a few things and have world class music come out the other end....good luck with that...lol

Billy

Thanks Billy for your advice, I am not a drummer in fact I have never sat at a drum kit even at my ripe old age.

Funny story I did try to have a go once when I was about 20 when I played for a short time with a little group, but the older guy (who had a very basic cheap drum kit) when I stepped towards his drums to have a play, came across as so uncomfortable with it that I just backed away and abandoned the idea.

Anyways I like the EZdrummer software, plays well within biab, I'm sure I will get some use from it.

Do you guys realize how much nagging that took to get vst sync finally implemented so VSTs like EZDrummer 2 will work.

I guess because of the way I use BIAB the vst sync issue never really got in my way. I use BIAB to lay out the harmonic structure of the song I am trying to create. I leave the generic BIAB Real Drum track in until I get everything into my DAW. It is not much more than a click track. Sometimes I can use it. I then start working with the EZdrummer and the bass line from BIAB or EZbass or I play it live. If I use EZbass I use use Trilian for the final sound.

I also am not a skilled drummer. Not developing that skill was a serious mistake on my part. I find that many really good guitar players learned to play drums at some point. Timing is everything and without it nothing sounds good.

I think that EZdrummer is well worth the money and the best over all of the drum software. I also have Addictive Drums which is good for rock and metal music but not very useful for other forms of music.

I also have EZkeys. I am a big fan of Toontracks software.

Billy

Another trick is open your SGU in
C:\bb\BBPlugin\Files\Band-in-a-Box DAW Plugin Standalone.exe
right click on the C7 at the bottom to output midi chords
then drag the C7 into EZKeys/Bass it get the chord progression.

pipelines example of using C7 in the the standalone is great or If already working in the DAW just drag the Drum chart to the DAW and route the output to multiple tracks and send that to a drum bus or two.

The workflow you choose is really driven by personal choice.

I happen to like working in the DAW.

But if someone has a different workflow, more power to them.