Session Drummer II

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Bob's Mods

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Does anyone use Cake's Session Drummer II? What are your thoughts on it? I'm thinking of upgrading my Sonar 5 Studio to get Sonar 7 Studio which contains said drum routine. I know there are others like EZ Drummer and Drummer a Gog. How does SDII stack up against these for those that have tried the other drum routines as well?

Many thanks to you o great wise ones for replies great and small.

Bob Mod
 
On S6PE here and if I were to give SD2 a grade it would be incomplete.I haven't tried the other programs you mentioned but I don't find myself using session drummer,I still prefer using SD1 with a sampler or midi clips when I'm not using loops.
Unless I'm mistaken the drumkits have a limited amount of pads/voices leaving out percussion and the layout is counterintuitive to me.
I have read lots of good reviews on things like EZdrummer and Jamstix.
 
I've used Session Drummer I a number of times and found it cumbersome to use. The velocities were out of whack plus using midi samples it did not sound all that realistic. I think the idea behind SDII is to provide a more GigaStudio type of sound where different velocity ranges generate a different sample. The samples should also be of a higher caliber than lower end midi samples. I think there should also be an ease of use as well. SD I is usuable however. So SD II is not that much of an improvement over SD I as far as you are concerned.
 
I really like sd2. Its my go to for ideas and quick songwriting. I have BFD and all the expansion packs for it for my big mixes. But Ive actually stuck with sd2 for a few things because it worked just fine by time I got all the other tracks in. I find it very easy to use and one of the best included plugins with a software package ever.
 
Bob's Mods said:
I've used Session Drummer I a number of times and found it cumbersome to use. The velocities were out of whack plus using midi samples it did not sound all that realistic. I think the idea behind SDII is to provide a more GigaStudio type of sound where different velocity ranges generate a different sample. The samples should also be of a higher caliber than lower end midi samples. I think there should also be an ease of use as well. SD I is usuable however. So SD II is not that much of an improvement over SD I as far as you are concerned.
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I use Kompakt as my sampler which pretty much gets me around that.
 
Bob's Mods said:
EZ Drummer and Drummer a Gog
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Drumagog is not quite the same thing - it's a sample replacer. You use "real" recorded drum tracks to trigger samples. It's usually used for replacing the kick and snare.

EZ Drummer is great. Quick, easy, flexible, and sounds good. I bought it before SD2 came out, so I've never messed with SD2.
 
I have Session drummer 2 and EZD. When I got EZ drummer, I for the most part stopped using Sonar's session drummer....although it is a decent program. I just liked the sounds better in EZD, even though you could put your own sounds in the session drummer. I think EZD is that...easy... Session drummer is nice because it has pitch change, but that's the ONLY feature I really like better. On some occassions, I actually use both and combine a kick for instance. However, the upgrade to Sonar 7 is WELL worth the upgrade, besides just the session drummer...ESPECIALLY if you go to the producer edition. The plugins are fantastic and stuff like the soft synths like Dim pro, rapture are a bonus.
 
mixmkr said:
. However, the upgrade to Sonar 7 is WELL worth the upgrade, besides just the session drummer...ESPECIALLY if you go to the producer edition. The plugins are fantastic and stuff like the soft synths like Dim pro, rapture are a bonus.
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I agree and yet I don't agreee.
I think the producer edition is a great deal,but if you're willing to spend the money you're better off buying your plugs/synths for other companies.
I wouldn't recomend the upgrade for SD2 alone,but as an add on it's okay.
 
As I look over the Sonar 7 upgrade, either Studio or Producer, it looks like the best upgrade yet. They just keep getting better and better. For me, Studio is more than I would need. I would be most interested in the SDII and Demension LE for the regular samples and the orchestral samples, although they do not elaborate on the orchestral samples. Getting good orchestral samples for a $100 upgrade cost is a bargain if they are in fact decent. Good orchestal samples can be very expensive. Also the upgraded midi features are nice too. I don't see how they can continue to do yearly upgrades forever without end. Sonar is so good now its hard to imagine it getting even better with time. This is such a change from the early days when it was crashy and the plugs sucked.

Bob
 
As far as the plugs, the VC64 is great as is the new stuff in S7 for the home "mastering". I don't turn my noise up at the convalution reverb either and the Lexicon Pantheon is pretty decent too. The Sonitas package is above average too, imo. Not a UAD pack, I suppose, but they're offering a deal that's hard to beat if you DO want the UAD stuff at some great price savings. The synth stuff is good "bread and butter" stuff, but the upgrade to Dimension Pro (from the free LE version in S7) helps out quite a bit. I have some Native Instrument stuff and tried the TruePiano and I thought the Dimension Pro was "almost" as good.... at least for THIS guitar player!

btw, Toontracks has a new "Superior Drummer" coming out soon.... (but it may be 1st quarter '08) that looks very promising. I would think it would blow session drummer out of the water. Session drummer is a great "sketch pad"...but so is the Toontracks stuff too. Fun decisions!
 
Does SD II do fills? Or is it only patterns and sounds?

My needs are really only bread and butter stuff. Nothing fancy although I would love great sounding orchestral sounds.
 
Bob's Mods said:
Does SD II do fills? Or is it only patterns and sounds?

My needs are really only bread and butter stuff. Nothing fancy although I would love great sounding orchestral sounds.
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SD2 is a combination of sound module and midi player.You can trigger it's sounds with external midi tracks and you can import sounds.You can use any existing midi tracks or your keyboard to trigger it's sounds.SD2 comes with some midi tracks including fills.

As far as great orchestral sounds Garritan pocket orchestra is included in the sample player in S7PE but you'll probably find that to get to the next level of sound requires a knowledge of midi programming and each instuments articulations.

Once again the PE edition is a great deal but if you're very particular about what you want you may have to go outside of Cakewalk.
 
Does SDII do fills or just basic patterns using quality drum sounds?

I just listened to the demo of the GPO orchestral. It sounds super.

Bob
 
I went to the Sonar 7 demo at the big Banjo Mart in Natick, Mass. last night. Its just amazing what you're getting now. You get everything you need to complete a project from start to finish. A far cry from what you got in the days of long ago. And the provided plugs and synths are of a usable quality. Session Drummer II is just fine for my drumming needs.

There was a time when computers were underpowered...hard drives couldn't handle the a large track count....many plugs sucked...cakewalk would crash..working at home alone you had no way of generating good drum tracks easily. The cakewalk was in the dream selling business for a long time. But those days are gone now. If you got decent recording gear, a good recording and mixing technique and musical ability you can produce very decent mixes today. Its no longer a dream but a reality. A little over ten years ago, Cakewalk was a midi program that added analog recording. If you were lucky your computer would give you four tracks. How far we have come.

Bob
 
We will soon have an official 3rd party drum pack for Sonar Session Drummer, including our signature drumkit series (sneak peak at www.stevenslatedrums.com/twoinfo.html ) We are very excited about his, as we are huge Sonar fans here, its a fantastic program.
 
Your samples sound on the harder edge. I would be interested in a high quality acoustic kit like the old Gretchs. They sound good though. I just want something more on the easy relaxed side.
 
I didn't necessarily mind sd2's interface. It's basically programming midi, or you can drop the supplied midi loops in. But I found the sounds to be far inferior to dkfh or reason drum kits 2.0. There was one good kick sound that I still use sometimes, but other than that, it's been a pretty useless update for me. I do all my drums, strings, and most of my synths in reason rewire.

But for someone that only has sonar, and doesn't want to shell for a good drum synth or reason, it's fine.
 
It's a sequence player like alot of others. Programming drums sounded like fun and easy enough but I'm too impatient for it. EZ II works for me in that I can get some timing down quickly and some fills in to get a groove or feel for the tune I might be working on but after that, I bring in a live drummer. For more serious drum programming, I too would suggest something else...like DKFH II. Just be warned, two different things here. EZ is exactly that...easy. Gets you up and running really quick but lacks the detail capabilities of other applications. Then you've got DKFH II on the other end of the spectrum which lets you tweak to the point you might consider learning to play drums but, it certainly can render some very very convincing results.
 
punkin said:
It's a sequence player like alot of others. Programming drums sounded like fun and easy enough but I'm too impatient for it. EZ II works for me in that I can get some timing down quickly and some fills in to get a groove or feel for the tune I might be working on but after that, I bring in a live drummer. For more serious drum programming, I too would suggest something else...like DKFH II. Just be warned, two different things here. EZ is exactly that...easy. Gets you up and running really quick but lacks the detail capabilities of other applications. Then you've got DKFH II on the other end of the spectrum which lets you tweak to the point you might consider learning to play drums but, it certainly can render some very very convincing results.
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you obviouly haven't used EZ drummer. It is the best thing out there. Add Drumkit From Hell Superior or one of the other pack and nothing can touch it. DFH II are processed loops... those days are over.
 
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