EZDrummer

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Bisson820

New member
Hey guys,

Im starting to do some research for this program, which i'm sure most of you are familiar with, EZDrummer.

Now I'm typically not a fan of fake drums, but if your not a drummer and dont have access to one, your kind of screwed. in my case, i can play guitar/bass/keys and sing, but i dont have a drum set, nor would i be very good at them.

I've been looking up this product and it seems to be the best of a bad situation.

my biggest question is can you place drums like you can in a midi track?

does anyone have experience with this? if so i'd like to ask a few questions.

Thanks er'body

Tyler
 
Ezdrummer is great. It never ceases to amaze me. It is a cheap piece of software that is pretty versatile when you get down to being creative with it. For the price and your ability you eluded to, i'd say screw your research and just get it and start playing with it cause you will fall in love with it.

What do you mean by place drums like a midi track ?

There is hundreds of patterns you can drag and drop into your daw. Which is great. I like that i can always go back and take a chunk out if i don't like it later on and tap out a new fill or insert a new fill that works better. You don't get that luxury that easy with a live drummer in a post production phase. i.e. set up, punch in jam, levels etc etc.

It's as simple as Drag out the old, find and drag in the new. Takes 20 mins tops if your as picky as me.

As far as the fake drum sound , it can tend to sound fake but i have found some workarounds to make it sound less fake. It is possible. Mostly in the velocities. That is where i spend time fixing. I play a lot of faster loud music so i always used to to just crank my velocity up to the max. Which is o.k. for the kick but for the snare i have discovered i have to go back and nudge them down a bit so i get a bit more dynamic snare sound rather then just a really clicky "SNAP" I have also started lowering the velocities on my kick a bit to give it a bit more oomph along with a nice click. I am not entirely happy with any of the hi-hats but, again, a little tweaking and add a bit of "human error" here and there and it all comes out in the wash.

If i had to give it a five star rating it get's a 4.5 stars. There are little trivial nits like any piece of software but the good outweigh the bad.
 
Basically i want an environment where i can easily create a drum beat with variation instead of just a loop atmosphere.

know what i mean?
 
EZD gives you so many groove files to choose from, you can easily change it up with different files that have small variations however you please. Each file is only one or two measures long. Copy and paste or drag in different files to make a song. Plus, and this is the part I like best, once you drag in all the groove files into your DAW that you like, you sit there and edit those to add the subtle variety your song needs. This helps reduce any 'drum machine' or loop feel from the drum track. I can spend hours editing my drum tracks, but I'm a lttle OCD like that.

Another good tip for EZD is to turn down the room mic. It adds a signature sound and most times doesn't fit the space of the other instruments. With it up, it always sounds like it's in one specific room and you are most likely NOT recording in that same room.

I have used EZD for a few years now and really like it. Listen to one of my tunes to get an idea of how it can sound.

hth
 
so you cant right out the parts of the entire song? i guess im confused if your saying you can or cannot do what i asked.
 
Yes, you can write out the entire song if you'd like. It's midi afterall. Use the midi editor in your daw and have fun with it. I'll just say, that's a lot of work and most of the work has been done for you already with EZD's groove files. You can audition them in the VSTi and find the one closest to what you want, then drag that onto your drum track. Edit it to taste, copy and edit some more.

i guess im confused if your saying you can or cannot do what i asked.
Click to expand...

I guess we don't know what you're asking.
 
if you can write out parts/ have full control of every single hit that is executed or if your limited at all to what they have in their arsenal.
 
You can hand write the entire drumtrack...

Or you can drag and drop midi loops and create the drumtrack that way...

Or you can hook up an E kit and play them yourself.


Also, see this thread for audio examples of EZ D and all of the EZX stuff:

Drum software audio examples..
 
Bisson820 said:
so you cant right out the parts of the entire song? i guess im confused if your saying you can or cannot do what i asked.
Click to expand...

It will do whatever you want it to do. I was like you when i got it. I wanted to write it all myself so i had complete control of it. I was either going to write it in midi or bang it out on my nanopad. but like chili said, this takes ALOT OF TIME!!!

Once i saw what i could do with the drag and drop loop stuff plus the exponential time it saved minus the personal tweaks and stuff... I said Fuck it. loops library was where it is at.

If they offer a free trial i highly suggest you get it.
 
Atom Bomb said:
Once i saw what i could do with the drag and drop loop stuff plus the exponential time it saved minus the personal tweaks and stuff... I said Fuck it. loops library was where it is at.
Click to expand...

It has never been said more succintly. :D It takes me paragraphs to say the same thing. :laughings:
 
Thanks! :)... i think im going to buy it.

however, i understand the convenience of drag and drop, but i'd MUCH rather do it on my own instead of using the same loops that everyone using EZdrummer has access to.. even with slight variants.
 
I use Addictive, and not EZ... they're drum samples, and have pre-done beats that come with them.

The ability to create a complete drum pattern from scratch, one hit at a time, which is what I do, is not a function of your drum sample program, it's a function of the MIDI editor of your DAW....

So you can do what you want to do, but it's not because you have EZ Drummer, it's because you have a MIDI editor.
 
The best thing about the loops is there is nothing to stop you from messing with them. You can modify them all you like. There are many times I want what was played on the Hats but the kick and snare aren't the right pattern so I'll drop the loop in and tweak the kick and snare.

It's not like audio loops where your stuck with what gets dropped on the project.
 
Armistice said:
I use Addictive, and not EZ... they're drum samples, and have pre-done beats that come with them.

The ability to create a complete drum pattern from scratch, one hit at a time, which is what I do, is not a function of your drum sample program, it's a function of the MIDI editor of your DAW....

So you can do what you want to do, but it's not because you have EZ Drummer, it's because you have a MIDI editor.
Click to expand...

I have AD as well, you get more midi loops with EZ. However, I think AD sounds better personally.
 
Armistice said:
I use Addictive, and not EZ... they're drum samples, and have pre-done beats that come with them.

The ability to create a complete drum pattern from scratch, one hit at a time, which is what I do, is not a function of your drum sample program, it's a function of the MIDI editor of your DAW....

So you can do what you want to do, but it's not because you have EZ Drummer, it's because you have a MIDI editor.
Click to expand...

Yes i am aware, i'd like to be able to do that but more in depth and EZD seems like my best option.

Im not satisfied with Logic's midi drum sampling.
 
Bisson820 said:
Thanks! :)... i think im going to buy it.

however, i understand the convenience of drag and drop, but i'd MUCH rather do it on my own instead of using the same loops that everyone using EZdrummer has access to.. even with slight variants.
Click to expand...


Fair enough.

I give you a week. Before you see what it can do.

I'm telling you, i was as adamant as you are right now about programming form 0:00 to 2:30 or whatever.

I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised. But none the less congrats on the purchase if you need help we're here for you.
 
Atom Bomb said:
Fair enough.

I give you a week. Before you see what it can do.

I'm telling you, i was as adamant as you are right now about programming form 0:00 to 2:30 or whatever.

I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised. But none the less congrats on the purchase if you need help we're here for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks bud!

As you can see, I'm stubborn as FUCK :P
 
If you want to have control over the loops but not have to write the entire track, you can write your short midi sequence and then loop it. I would say in terms of the beat it's more limited by your MIDI editor than EZdrummer. Also looping doesn't sound as robotic as it could because of the human error adjustment button. I think it's a great piece of software, the only problem I've found is the limited sound of the drums, but you can always have each drum sent to a seperate track and then use EZdrummer to trigger your own samples if you absolutely must have a certain sound, like you could with a real drummer.
 
The best way to get the most out of EZDrummer is by also buying the editor software. It's a little fidgetity but allows you to audition and isolate parts and mix and match them any way you want. Easy to make complex polyrhythm patterns with the editor. Get the free EZPlayer and you can use EZDrummer as a standalone without a VST host.

The samples are pretty cheap right now too, with most of the big online retailers pricing the older packs at $40US. The MIDI expansion packs available from Toontrack are pretty good too.
 
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