...but what if you're deliberately looking for an artificial drum sound like the Roland 'TR's' in rave/trance?
Well, if you're asking me in particular, my reply is a very unsatisfactory and boring one ~ I never am. But if I was, well, I have quite a few VSTis and there'll be an approximation there somewhere. When I first bought them, back in 2004~6 the programmes would have so many different instruments. Something like Sampletank 2 had so many instruments, it was ridiculous. MTRON and Mike Pinder have more mellotron sounds between them than I'm ever going to use, Celtic instruments has so many pipes and fiddles, Miroslav Philharmonik has more orchestral sounds than probably all the orchestras in Europe combined {
}, B4 has tons of Hammond organs, Lounge Lizard has just about every Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric piano going etc. The plethora of scope and choice could be mental health issue inducing !
By 2009 when I came to load my programmes into my then new laptop, certainly with Sampletank, there were loads of instruments that I didn't load in {thankfully you have the choice} because I knew I wouldn't use them and I hate clutter. I actually sold Sonik Synth because it was basically a re~run of Sampletank but in a blue box rather than a red one.
But of course sometimes, one is looking for a specific instrument. Back in 2010 I wanted a steel drum. I know a few people that have played them in the past but I didn't really want to go through the rigmarole of resurrecting relationships with people that had come to a natural end years before just so they might play on my songs so I was going to buy one or a hang and teach myself. It was as I was looking into them that I came across this guy who put a sample of his steel drum online so I downloaded it and it was brilliant. I've used it quite a few times since then. So that's what I meant by "seek and you shall find." I spent about 8 years hunting down a sitar that actually sounded real. I went through hoops, man. But it was worth it. When looking for a particular VSTi, just know that somewhere it is out there. You may have to dig for a while.
Of course, you may have to give up sometimes. It was hearing this double bass on a CD given away in a copy of either computer music or sound on sound back in 2004 that alerted me to VSTis in the first place. The double bass sounded so rich and beautiful. It really was like the player was standing next to me. So I sold my double bass, thinking that it would be easy to get a decent VSTi one.
Wrong !
By 2012, having gone through Trilogy, Danny Thompson bass samples and a few others and finding that an acoustic bass guitar is nothing like a double bass no matter how inventive I got {and I'm a serial experimenter} I had to admit defeat and ended up buying an actual one. Sure, I'm all bent out of shape when I play it and my hands and fingers hurt and it's below the water line in quality but it's the sound of a double bass !
what about 'Studio Drummer'/kontakt? Natural?
I'm probably the 2nd worst person on planet earth right now to ask about sampled drums. I never use them. I did try. I did the sampled drums, I did the electric drums triggering samples and they never did it for me. I had given my drums away to my nephew to go that route and ended up having to buy a new kit when I concluded that I preferred an actual kit and a drummer. Of course I'm aware that this is not an option for probably most home recorders and that's just the way it is. I also recognize that acoustic drums don't fit every style of music. Some trance and house would end up sounding nearly like disco {or at least experimental disco} if one used an acoustic kit !