EZDrummer: Can I demo this first??

Drummerbones

New member
I've heard many good things about EZdrummer, and since I've been performing as a semi-pro drummer for the past 15 years I think I'd have quite an advantage in programming patterns. I'm in a situation where I've lost my studio space and my kit had to go. I'd like to at least give programming a try but I'd have to insist on demoing a product first. What do you all suggest?
 
I don't think they have a demo....just some sample clips. I like it myself, but have recently started learning acoustic drums...
 
EZDrummer is basically a drum only sampler that uses midi triggering to play real drum samples. It basically performs as any other sampler but gives you the added flexibility of multiple output via "virtual" microphones. It does not allow you to write, or load your own sample. It has no programming functions at all. It will play however any drum midi file you throw at it. If you already have midi drum sequences, it does a great job of making them sound like real drums.

If you want to program your own drum fills and patterns, you will need a separate sequencer. I would recommend a simple but free program called DrumFlow to write short midi files. If you've got some money and time to spare look into Cakewalk/Sonar/Fruity Loops for PC, or Logic for Mac.
 
I also suggest real acoustic drums.
Of course that takes more time, and it's difficult with Dogman's avatars all over the forum... :D
 
I've heard many good things about EZdrummer, and since I've been performing as a semi-pro drummer for the past 15 years I think I'd have quite an advantage in programming patterns. I'm in a situation where I've lost my studio space and my kit had to go. I'd like to at least give programming a try but I'd have to insist on demoing a product first. What do you all suggest?



I would check out Addictive Drums. The interface and samples are better than EZdrummer IMO. I have both and have triggered EZdrummer & all DFHS versions via midi playing live but haven't tried it with Addicitive yet.

I will say that toontrack has just come out with something they call Solo. What this is is a free application that allows you to use EZdrummer and all DFHS products as stand alone programs. What this means is you do not need a seperate sequencer or recording appliction (i.e. Sonar) to use the drum sampler. This is approaching the holy grain for the e-drummer.

So if you want to play live and trigger drum samples while recording (or gigging), then forget about Adicitve and go with Ezdrummer. You can always upgrade to DFHS later.
 
Just to clarify my situation, I played acoustic drums for many years then made the transition to a roland Vdrum kit. I had to sell my kit because of space limitations so though I was happy how I used to do things, what I'm looking to try is creating drums strickly in the PC via programming. So what I'd like is an easy to use program that takes pre-existing beats (loops) that I can repeat as necessary, add fills where needed, change the beat a little etc. and the flexibility to change drum sounds, tunings and so forth all on the PC. That being said, and being new to drum programming, what is the all-in-one solution, or "better" combination to acheive what I'm looking for?

Thanks again
 
Just to clarify my situation, I played acoustic drums for many years then made the transition to a roland Vdrum kit. I had to sell my kit because of space limitations so though I was happy how I used to do things, what I'm looking to try is creating drums strickly in the PC via programming. So what I'd like is an easy to use program that takes pre-existing beats (loops) that I can repeat as necessary, add fills where needed, change the beat a little etc. and the flexibility to change drum sounds, tunings and so forth all on the PC. That being said, and being new to drum programming, what is the all-in-one solution, or "better" combination to acheive what I'm looking for?

Thanks again


Addictive Drums is the way to go check it out here http://www.xlnaudio.com/ there is a demo version. Like EZdrummer, Addictive has per-canned drum beats that you can drag & drop, micx & match together to build a song. This does not prohibit your ability to develop your own MIDI traks from scratch.
 
I need some serious help here!

OK, so I downloaded the demo version of AD. I'm running N-Track, and I got AD set up as a VST plug-in, though I'm really confused on the use of midi. I have literally no experience using midi, and I need a midi source created as a track to even open AD as a plug-in to that track. The demo download came with a sample midi file so I opened that in N-Track and then selected AD as a VST for that track...I must have a path set up wrong somewhere becasue I could visually see the level meters bouncing but I couldn't pass any audio. I was hoping I would be able to just open AD somehow in N-Track so I could access the loops and edit from there. Am I missing something? AD is triggered by midi, but I don't know how to get started on the midi part! Does AD not have built-in midi loops that I can manipulate to create the drum parts I want? Confusing....I feel like a jackass because I've been recording and working in the PC environment for a long time. This is just an area I have no knowledge of. Please offer your wisdom! :D

Thanks.
 
OK, so I downloaded the demo version of AD. I'm running N-Track, and I got AD set up as a VST plug-in, though I'm really confused on the use of midi. I have literally no experience using midi, and I need a midi source created as a track to even open AD as a plug-in to that track. The demo download came with a sample midi file so I opened that in N-Track and then selected AD as a VST for that track...I must have a path set up wrong somewhere becasue I could visually see the level meters bouncing but I couldn't pass any audio. I was hoping I would be able to just open AD somehow in N-Track so I could access the loops and edit from there. Am I missing something? AD is triggered by midi, but I don't know how to get started on the midi part! Does AD not have built-in midi loops that I can manipulate to create the drum parts I want? Confusing....I feel like a jackass because I've been recording and working in the PC environment for a long time. This is just an area I have no knowledge of. Please offer your wisdom! :D

Thanks.

The reason you see the meters moving and don't here anything is because you have to route the output of AD (which is audio) to an audio channel.

To answer the other part of your question, yes just start with an empty MIDI track, load AD ad a plug-in (as you did). In side AD there are lists of beats (Beat page), fills, etc. , you should just beable to drag & drop the beat onto the N-Track MIDI track. You build a song by dropping additional beat into n-track, just make sure you advance the position in the track or you'll overwrite the previous midi notes.

Now I'm going to have load this up and make sure what I just said was correct :D
 
Okay, I've got the program to pass audio but I can't drag-n-drop the midi loops into N-Track for editing. I don't know if N-Track supports this function or not....
 
We recently recorded some music for Konami's "Winning Eleven" video football game, and we used ezDrummer for that - great program! I have the mp3 here, if you want to hear it in action (some fine music to boot, I might add!).
 
Okay, I've got the program to pass audio but I can't drag-n-drop the midi loops into N-Track for editing. I don't know if N-Track supports this function or not....

I just got Ez Drummer and I am using Sonar LE and Ableton Live to run it-sounds like N-track might not support it I suppose..
 
I just got a reply from the founder of N-Track, but I still can't get it working. Any thoughts?


"You should set the track that has been created by the drag and drop to output to theVST plugin from which it came from. You can assign a track's output for example with the popup menu that appearas right clicking on the track in the timeline window.At the same time you should set the VST Drums plugin to operate no longer as a sequencer, i.e. playing pattern of drum events it generates, but just as a synth, i.e. simply generating the sounds corresponding to the events in the MIDI track that is being sent to the synth."


How do you make AD play as just a synth sound generator only? I've checked the manual etc. and I can't figure this out.

Thanks
 
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