New drum software recommendations?

[David Polich]

I'd like to get another drum VI (I currently have BFD2, but it resides on my PC), that will "play
nice" with DP. Any recommendations from the MOTU brain trust here? The ones I'm considering
are Addictive Drums, Superior Drummer, and Steven Slate. Not interested in BFD3.

[dewdman42]

Some recent related discussion here: http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... 26&t=59919

[Guitar Gaz]

Superior Drummer

[BKK-OZ]

What about Maschine?

[Tesionman]

Me!!!

Just kidding!

[David Polich]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. For my purposes it seems that Superior Drummer is the way to
go.

[FMiguelez]

Good choice, David.

I´m confident you´ll LOVE IT!

If you like video tutorials to quickly learn software, I can definitely recommend this:
http://www.groove3.com/str/superior-dru ... ained.html

Some people really don´t like Scott´s accent and say they get distracted by it. Personally, I lauve it!

[Babz]

I have both Superior Drummer and EZDrummer 2, as well as BFD2, Drumcore, and a number Kontakt-based kits (NI Komplete Ultimate, Sonic Reality, etc.).

Superior Drummer is an excellent choice, but you might want to take a hard look at EZDrummer too. It recently received a major overhaul w/ EZDrummer *2* that includes a really advanced groove browsing/song building engine. Superior Drummer is due for a similar major overhaul. It does offer ultimate customization and tweaking, and I'm glad I have it, but I more often find myself reaching for EZD. It's just more intuitive, more grab-n-go, quicker when building up and developing ideas. There are also tons more EZX expansions for it (which of course also work w/ Superior). It is also easier on resources than Superior.

Why are you not interested in BFD3? I've actually been thinking of doing that upgrade. Seems like you get some cool new kits and other new features.

Babz

[mhschmieder]

Yep, Superior has become more like BFD2, while BFD3 has become more like EZ Drummer. I haven't made the switch yet, as I've been too busy. I think I finally have the hang of how to make BFD3 act more like BFD2 (that is, a professional package vs. a toy). Superior is covering more breadth, though, in terms of drum styles and genres.

You already have BFD2, so keep using it. I don't think any new BFD libraries have come along yet that require the upgrade, but I could be wrong.

For new drum voices, Superior is the way to go, as it covers the most ground sonically, is well-recorded, and as of the new version it has as much control and power as BFD2 (not true before, however).

I also have Addictive Drums and a few others, but find them rather permanently baked, so have yet to use them in final production. Sometimes if I'm lazy I'll use Kontakt-based drums for quick early mockups.

[David Polich]

Why are you not interested in BFD3? I've actually been thinking of doing that upgrade. Seems like you get some cool new kits and other new features.

Babz

Easy question to answer, for me. I can't stand BFD3's interface. It's the worst of any of the
big drum VI's. The sound isn't that much improved over BFD2. The cymbal roll feature doesn't work.
And BFD3 has been plagued by a number of host incompatability issues, particularly for users on
Yosemite.

I'm most concerned with a drum VI that features really well-recorded drums. Not interested in "pre-processed" or "baked-in" drum sounds, I prefer to do the processing myself. I don't need
grooves because I roll all my own beats, and so MIDI grooves aren't important to me. So Superior Drummer looks like the choice to me.

[mikeka]

Hey Folks,

I'm in the market for a drum VI too. Any thoughts on Drumasonic 2? The sounds and mic choices sound good to me.

Thanks!

[mikehalloran]

Clicking through to the Sweetwater ad, I see Superior Drummer for $179. That's $50 less than the 'sale price' on ToonTrack's web site and $70 less than the crossgrade from EZ Drummer.

I am still using iDrum on the rare occasion that I need something like this. I know, I know... I probably wouldn't buy it again but it works. The interface is close to my old RX 11 which was a pretty good machine back in the day – I replaced that with an Alesis SR-16 and regretted it immediately.

Anyway, iDrum is $49 from iZotope or Sweetwater. Nowadays, I would go with Superior Drummer and may just do so this month.

https://www.izotope.com/en/products/eff ... nts/idrum/

[Tobor]

Yes, Superior, especially since you like to do your own processing. As others have said, Superior is not too far from an update so you might check with Toontrack to make sure you're in the 'free update' zone for when it happens.

The update will no doubt incorporate the many new and useful features introduced in EZD2, and because of those features I too have gone back to using EZD2 most of the time these days.

If you're weighing which Superior libraries to add, I'd vote for the New York Studios and the new Metal Machinery which must be good because Metal Machine EZX has some great sounding kicks and snares. Although eventually you'll probably get most of them.

[stevenew]

I have just had the same dilemma:-) Been a BFD2 user for years, in the end I went for Superior 2 and Slate SSD4, as both were on offer. I really like Superior and suspect it will be my goto from now on, I do wish they gave you all the cymbal bells like BFD does, not just the ride, minor I know but I like cymbals!

Slate is good if you want a totally different sound, it is the total opposite to BFD. The only pain with all this is making all the new drum maps for DP's drum editor.

[musicman691]

Why are you not interested in BFD3? I've actually been thinking of doing that upgrade. Seems like you get some cool new kits and other new features.

Babz

Easy question to answer, for me. I can't stand BFD3's interface. It's the worst of any of the
big drum VI's. The sound isn't that much improved over BFD2. The cymbal roll feature doesn't work.
And BFD3 has been plagued by a number of host incompatability issues, particularly for users on
Yosemite.

I'm most concerned with a drum VI that features really well-recorded drums. Not interested in "pre-processed" or "baked-in" drum sounds, I prefer to do the processing myself. I don't need
grooves because I roll all my own beats, and so MIDI grooves aren't important to me. So Superior Drummer looks like the choice to me.

Good call on not going for BFD3. I started with the original BFD and then moved to BFD2 when I started with ProTools 10. One heck of a jump and worth it. Got real used to BFD2 and how it works. When PT11 dropped I held off for the longest time hoping fxpansion would do aax64 support for BFD2 and when it became apparent they wouldn't I tried the demo of BFD3.

BIG disappointment. Like you I found the cymbal roll didn't work as expected. As I found out from posting on the fxpansion forums all it really does is mess with the attacks. Wasn't all that impressed with the tom resonance feature either. I didn't expect any sound improvement though. I find the gui one of the ugliest things out there. And it's a lot more difficult to deal with than BFD2 ever was.

I did, after months of doing drums in PT10 and bringing the stuff over to PT11, go for BFD3 so I could do everything in one program. Still an ugly gui and not an easy program to work with but I have a number of libraries with drums and cymbals that with one exception don't exist anywheres else. The one exception is Neil Peart drums that are also available for NI Kontakt. I love DW drums and the only other place I've seen them is East West Pro Drummer and for many reasons I won't spend any more money with EW.