The Everything "EZDrummer" and "Superior Drums" thread.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chili
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I like the Pop/Rock kit in EZD....though I immediately customized all the sounds....via the SD player. :)
So if you have SD, you can really tweak both the EZD and SD samples...which takes the EZD stuff to a different level.
I like the EZD Nashville and Americana packs...and I also have the Latin pack which should cover just about anything latin I'll ever need.

The SD samples are really great, IMO...and I just added the NY Vol 2 pack...so I'm pretty much set for a long time.
 
elbandito said:
Roots is only for Superior, right? I don't see it in the list for EZD products... I read somewhere (maybe it was earlier in this thread) that all Superior products worked with EZD as well - one just wouldn't get the extra 'nuances' and stuff that Superior has, like the extra humanize options and whatnot. Maybe I'm wrong. *shrug*
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Other way around. EZX expansions work in Superior. SDX expansions will not show up in EZ Drummer.

btw, I have all the SDX expansions and a good number of the EZX expansions (it's an addiction). Would be glad to offer up any suggestions as far as what pack to buy for your music. Happy to answer any questions as well.
 
Do you have both the NY Legacy Vol 2 and Vol 3...?

I have Vol 2, but was wondering if Vol 3 adds that much more to the sample choices, since Vol 3 was done at Avatar, which is the same place where the samples were done for the basic SD package, though I do see that different drums were used for Vol 3 compared to the initial recordings at Avatar.

Yeah...I'm also liking the EZ/SD stuff a lot, and will probably add a few more packs from both samplers besides the few I already have.
I remember doing MIDI sequence drums back in the early '90s...and it was OK for that time, being able to do stuff like that...but I couldn't stay with it for long, as the quality and feel were still crude, so I went back to just tracking drums myself.
The current crop of drum samplers is just so much better and makes things easier while sounding great. If you are decent at doing the grooves, man, I doubt anyone could tell them apart from tracking drums live.
Just a great tool to add to the production options and to keep things going when the drummers are out banging the singer's girlfriend instead of drums! :laughings:
 
miroslav said:
Do you have both the NY Legacy Vol 2 and Vol 3...?

I have Vol 2, but was wondering if Vol 3 adds that much more to the sample choices, since Vol 3 was done at Avatar, which is the same place where the samples were done for the basic SD package, though I do see that different drums were used for Vol 3 compared to the initial recordings at Avatar.

Yeah...I'm also liking the EZ/SD stuff a lot, and will probably add a few more packs from both samplers besides the few I already have.
I remember doing MIDI sequence drums back in the early '90s...and it was OK for that time, being able to do stuff like that...but I couldn't stay with it for long, as the quality and feel were still crude, so I went back to just tracking drums myself.
The current crop of drum samplers is just so much better and makes things easier while sounding great. If you are decent at doing the grooves, man, I doubt anyone could tell them apart from tracking drums live.
Just a great tool to add to the production options and to keep things going when the drummers are out banging the singer's girlfriend instead of drums! :laughings:
Click to expand...

Vol 3 is very similar to both the standard Avatar SD soundset and Vol 2. I would sort of position it as a marriage between the Custom & Vintage SDX (my favorite and go-to for 90% of my music) and the New York series of SDXs. The standouts for me personally in Vol 3 are the Burned Edge Zebra snare (very funky, earthy tone) and the cymbals. The kicks are pretty decent too. Toms are pretty underwhelming. As are the rest of the snares for me (the Nir Z snare in the default SD library is one of my favorites, his prototype in Vol 3 is decent at best...on either tuning). The Black Beauty is a lot better recorded in Vol 2 as well, to my untrained ear, Vol 3 it just sounds kind of flat.

Since you have Vol 2, I would put nearly every SDX ahead of it if/when you want to expand them a bit...depending on your musical style. Like I said, the Custom & Vintage SDX is my favorite. The Roots double SDX is positioned sort of as the defacto Jazz SDX but I think it's very versatile, especially the brushes and mallets half if you do softer, acoustic stuff.

I recently got the "Rock Solid" EZX and it's an absolute blast. Very specific genre-wise (think Nickelback and their ilk...or the big hair bands like Motley Crue and what not) but just fun, huge sounding drums. Good MIDI too.

Yeah I remember plonking out drumbeats on my Fantom with my BOSS BR1600 before I switched over to a PC based studio. Even as a drummer who knows what to listen for groove-wise, they were pretty hard to get sounding decent. Definitely works better to have a drummer playing drums on your tracks!
 
Update for me....

I'm still slow as hell with ezd and think it's pretty inefficient, but I have gotten pretty comfy with it and it works great for my intended purpose of fleshing out arrangements and stuff before I track with real guitars and drums. It's allowed me to come up with my drum parts in my head and with my mouse so now I just have to sit and play it because it's already all figured out.
 
MarkCSmith said:
The Black Beauty is a lot better recorded in Vol 2 as well, to my untrained ear, Vol 3 it just sounds kind of flat.
Click to expand...

That's what I like about SD, being able to mess with pitch and attack/release for each piece, along with some other aspects....that way you can fine tune and/or really alter the flavor of the on-board samples to where you end up with a totally different sounding kit than what is default in the pack.
Besides the included samples in EZ and SD...I also have the Americana, Nashville and Latin EZ packs, and the SD NY Vol 2 pack.
I'll have to give the Custom and Vintage another listen.....


Greg_L said:
It's allowed me to come up with my drum parts in my head ....
Click to expand...

That's really why I like the EZ/SD stuff (you should check out SD, much more flexibility)...I can work out EXACTLY where I want a given accent/fill or change to the groove. I can understand when you are doing 220 BPM stuff, it's more about keeping the energy up and the beat moving, but with more slower beats and especially ballads and anything tripy...you often want to place the drums a little more "surgically" within the context of the song...at least the accents/fills...so they don't step all over the rest of the elements.
Sometimes when I have my buddy doing drums for me...even if I explain where/what is....he doesn't have the time to work out everything, so I end up editing later on. Now...with EZ/SD, I can get more exact, and if he's going to re-record drums for me, he has a much better "map" to follow than just my verbal instructions.
 
miroslav said:
That's what I like about SD, being able to mess with pitch and attack/release for each piece, along with some other aspects....that way you can fine tune and/or really alter the flavor of the on-board samples to where you end up with a totally different sounding kit than what is default in the pack.
Besides the included samples in EZ and SD...I also have the Americana, Nashville and Latin EZ packs, and the SD NY Vol 2 pack.
I'll have to give the Custom and Vintage another listen.....
Click to expand...

Completely agreed. I find I can spend a little TOO much time tweaking and trying different things out in SD. Sometimes I consciously choose an EZX because of the more processed, "ready to go" sounds so I don't get caught up tweaking and forget the song I was going to lay down LOL

The Nashville EZX is great, nice cymbals, great brush sounds. Americana is perfect for what it is named after :) Nice Black Beauties in both sets.
 
Good thread, I'm loading up the SD Crossgrade today.
I've tried hard to play real drums before; even if I had the space, it ain't happening... :cool:

ETA:

Regarding the time it takes to program drum sequences using Software:
If you were to include the hundreds of hours it takes to learn to play the drums,
and then research and purchase a decent kit and mics, treat a room and set up to record,
I think the drum machine route probably isn't that much more time consuming, overall.
 
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With the sequencer...you just need to hear the beats in your head, and then write them in.
Don't try to get the whole groove from the start measure by measure. The simplest approach is to first find the tempo and basic Kick/Snare/Hat pattern to start things off, then based on your song arrangement, break it down to where the verses/choruses are, and adjust the groove as needed for those sections...then finally focus on adding in any accents/fills that support the arrangement.
So you just build up on it.

There are like a gazillion ready-made MIDI grooves (you get a bunch with SD)...so it's a lot easier to find the basic groove and then build on it. I mean...why program a typical 4/4 rock beat note-by-not when it's already been done for you, and you're not going to do it any differently anyway.
The trick to making it your own, is in the accents/fills and adjusting the groove to fit your song...rather than making the song just follow a canned groove.

By the time you do the third song...it will start feeling pretty straightforward and you'll find yourself pulling off Neil Pert fills with ease. ;)
 
Thanks Miro,
I hope to immerse myself in this program as much as possible for a while, until I get at least a modicum of proficency.
I've got a lot of ideas and for some reason they all seem to involve drums. :rolleyes:
 
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miroslav said:
The trick to making it your own, is in the accents/fills and adjusting the groove to fit your song...rather than making the song just follow a canned groove.
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Absolutely this. If you have an idea of the groove you want...chances are with the EZD and SD stock grooves...you'll find something that is 90% there already, if not 100%. Then you accent where YOU want to accent...don't accent where the groove dictates, unless it fits. A lot of the SD grooves in particular are very "human" but even the most human/realistic groove looped over and over will start to sound mechanic. Making small changes, the ears won't pick up on a "MIDI groove" as easily. Start with building sets of 4-bar grooves, then 8, etc. Soon you'll be comfortable building up entire sections of songs, editing here and there to make them yours.
 
So, I don't know if this was already covered, but how should I handle the sub mixes for the drum kits;
in the plugin software, or assign tracks in my DAW and group them there?

Or both?
 
Telegram Sam said:
So, I don't know if this was already covered, but how should I handle the sub mixes for the drum kits;
in the plugin software, or assign tracks in my DAW and group them there?

Or both?
Click to expand...

I don't do sub-mixes or groups, but if I did I would do them in the DAW. I'm assuming you already separate out each track of the kit to its own track in the DAW.

Ah, reading more of teh thread, I'm guessing you're talking about SD and not EZD. I haven't gotten up to speed on SD, but I guess you can group in the mixer in SD. Is that what you're talking about?? It might end up the same as doing a sub-mix in your DAW.
 
Chili said:
I don't do sub-mixes or groups, but if I did I would do them in the DAW. I'm assuming you already separate out each track of the kit to its own track in the DAW.

Ah, reading more of teh thread, I'm guessing you're talking about SD and not EZD. I haven't gotten up to speed on SD, but I guess you can group in the mixer in SD. Is that what you're talking about?? It might end up the same as doing a sub-mix in your DAW.
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Yes, SD, and it is possible to create a submix group inside the plug-in.
I haven't really got as far as developing a consistent plan with these drum plug-ins, so thanks for the advice.
I think I will split them all out and not group them, unless I encounter a situation where it would be desirable to do so.
 
Mmmmm.....not looking at it in front of me right now, but yeah, I'm 95% sure you can do a few different groupings in the SD mixer, just scroll to the right, and there's all kinds of additional bus/group channels.

Because of my SOP....I just keep the tracks all individual in SD and in the DAW.
I usually go with 8 tracks (Kick, Snare, Hat, Tom 1, Tom 2, Floor Tom, OH pair)

I want to have a real straightforward SOP with the SD/EZD drums, and how I bring them into the DAW...so it's not too convoluted and so I can always stick with a go-to template for a typical drum kit. If I ever add additional percussion pieces, then I can just augment the basic drum kit template with more channels/tracks.

That said, I initially spend some time in SD setting up my kit...getting the sounds I want and getting a kit balance within SD BEFORE I break out the tracks into the DAW.
I'll run maybe a 1-2 scratch tracks along with it just to see if it's in the ballpark, and once I get it set, I don't mess with it that much more in the DAW as audio tracks.
Now for the guys doing it all ITB...you don't need to get it set that much ahead of time, since you're always in the DAW...but with my SOP, I'm dumping the SD/DAW tracks out to my 24-channel tape deck so I can then do the rest of my tracking, and I use the SD/DAW tracks as a "live" drummer...so I pull them back into the DAW along with the rest of my tape tracks later for editing/mixing...so I like to get the SD drums set at the sampler pretty much.
 
Has anyone used the "BOOM" plug in...the drum machine that comes with Pro Tools? If so, how do you compare EZdrummer to it?
 
jimmys69 said:
Yeah, EZD is not 'Flexible ZD'. This was one one the reasons I moved on to Addictive. Many more reasons actually. EZD is way limited in other aspects as well.

It is inexpensive, and works for many. Easy, yes. Not so great IMO.
Click to expand...

I've been using a mix of Steven Slate Drums and Superior Drummer. i think it sounds amazing, i use it with Trilian Bass. i was using Reason for a long time trying to get the samples to sound good, I only discovered SD a couple months ago, i can't believe how long i went with out it.

i use SSD for the Drums, and Superior for the Cymbals.
 
How are you combining the two within a single MIDI track.....or are you splitting up the grooves into two MIDI tracks with drums for SSD and cymbals for SD...?

I wouldn't mind having the SSD too....but with EZ and SD plus a few drum packs, I mean, how many drum sounds do I really need, not to mention, have to always audition for each song. I just spent about an hour or two (and I'm still not done) flipping through all my EZ/SD drum kits looking for what to use on a new song, and you know, I find myself returning to the same few Kick/Snare/Hat flavors each time.
I mean, some of the drum samples are cool, but they just don't fit at all with anything in Pop/Rock flavors I'm doing, so I just don't use them....and I'm not sure how many more usable flavors I would get by adding SSD or some other drum sample app.
If I was working with a real drummer....it would be the same kit, over and over...with maybe the occasional Snare change and mostly head tuning adjustments for high/low, tight/loose.
 
yeah it's 2 midi tracks, but i use a midi keyboard so i record drums and cymbals separately b/c i'm not very good at the keyboard yet. lol.
 
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