Drum Synth software

[TheBlues]

I have a newbie question. I am looking for decent but inexpesive software to create realistic drum tracks for blues/rock tunes. I have registered n-Tracks and am looking for something that will work well with it.

Frooty Loops looks good and the price is decent. Is it fairly easy to create realistic drum tracks with it, and how easily will it work with n-Tracks?

Thx, TheBlues

 

[jake-owa]

I have used fruity loops for some cool dance type electronic tracks but I don't remember ever hearing any really realistic drum tracks from it. That's not to say it can't be done, it all depends on the samples you start with but I don't think the "feel" of any drum machine or program will render realistic results.

 

[Chrisjob]

Actually, if you program very carefully and start off with some good samples, FruityLoops can do what you need it too. 3.5x has some new groove quantizing features that can help ALOT is humanizing your tracks.

There's always a demo available. go to fruityloops.com and check it out.

 

[TheBlues]

Thanks, I have the demo, but none of the samples or examples sound like real drums. I would like to hear at least one example of someone using it to do "plain old fashion drums".

 

[XerXes]

with fruity loops you can import your own samples.... so you can sample someone's real drumkit or download some .

i've used fruity loops as a drum machine for a couple of heavy metal type songs... it think it works great.

i don't have any mp3s up at this time, but trust me, you can put any samples in you want, and with some good programming you can a have some pretty realistic drumming.

of course there are also some free, or cheaper software than fruityloops, if you're just going to use it for drums.

 

[mjhigg]

Hey TheBlues,

I have used FruityLoops for about a year now. I started out just looking for the same thing. The thing is, for "realistic" sounds, nothing beats the real thing (believe me, I tried to go cheap on this, and it didn't work out). Electronic samples yield electronic sounding tracks, and garbage samples ---> you guessed it.

I bought a CD from these guys who recorded various drum and cymbal hits on a number of different drums sets, and then invested some time into learning FruityLoops. The CD was a little expensive ($100) but worth it - my drum tracks sound like a real, albeit boring drummer. Fills can spice things up, but are a little harder.

Anyway, I now use Fruity for a lot of mild synth stuff too, it's pretty endless what you can do with the plugins, and samples.

Here's where I found the samples that I use:
http://www.2dcd.com

 

[TheBlues]

Great. thanks for the tips!

 

[TheBlues]

What other software do you recommend I look at, and will the 45$ of Fruityloops work for what I want to do, or do I need the Full version?

Thx, TheBlues

 

[mjhigg]

Hammerhead is a very basic freeware download that is mostly for house/hip-hop style, but is a lot of fun, easy to use, and is a good intro to using this kind of software.

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/

FruityLoops is a lot more advanced. A recent review by Electronic Musician of the full version will give you an idea of some of the capabilities:

http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_imageline_fruityloops_win/index.htm

If you want to use it solely as a drum machine, though, you can, and it's still a really good deal. I never needed the full version for this, though, as I think the only major difference between pro and full is the piano roll feature, which is for adding melodies and strings and stuff.

I can't really speak to other drum machine programs, but I've had a lot of luck with FL.

 

[Samhain]

Native Instruments Battery is a very cool one too Easy to use as well... not to sure about N-track though... but more than likely will work in it if it supports VST.

http://www.native-instruments.net/index.php?battery_us

http://www.native-instruments.net/index.php?updatesbattery_us

 

[charger]

I used to program all of the drums for my songs in Fruity... since then I've switched to real drums... but it's not that hard to get really good results, if you're careful.

I have heard some great drum soundfonts, and you can use soundfonts with Fruity in the FruityLive synth. It's a 35$ add on to Fruity. Always buy the $99 version, everyobody who doesn't eventually wants it. Then program the drums from the soundfont on the piano roll... The soundfont I found to be incredible was I believe Blue Jay ambient drums, from www.sonicimplants.com.

I don't have samples posted of the soundfonts, but I do have samples of some of my fruity "realistic" drum programming... First 3 songs on this site...
http://www.astrondelta.com/charger/audio/

 

[Stealthtech]

You need some kickass drum samples ??

These are excellent

http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75027

 

[TheBlues]

It's a 35$ add on to Fruity. Always buy the $99 version, everyobody who doesn't eventually wants it. Then program the drums from the soundfont on the piano roll...

I don't have samples posted of the soundfonts, but I do have samples of some of my fruity "realistic" drum programming... First 3 songs on this site...
http://www.astrondelta.com/charger/audio/

Were starting to get out of my price range now with 134$ for the software and then ???$ for the sounfonts...

I guess what I'm really looking for right now is something easy and cheap (50$ or so) that will allow me to do decend demo quality recordings.

Oh, and about your web site examples.... I have one word for you: WOW!