Drum Solution?

[Brent Holder]

Hey guys, I recently got my first set of recording equipment! I got the Komplete Audio 6 Audio Interface which came with Guitar Rig 5 Pro (And it came with Reaktor and Komplete Elements but I'm not sure if they are full versions). I also have ATH-M50s and Cubase LE 6.

So as far as I can tell I have everything I need to start practicing with mixing. Only problem is I need some sort of drum program. I don't mind spending money but if I do I want to make sure the program I'm buying is going to be enough to suffice for a long time.

I know programs like EZ Drummer, Superior Drummer and Addictive Drums and then I feel like I've heard that you can just use a sampler and put drum samples and use that too... but I'm not 100% sure, but I was just wondering whats the best choice?

Sorry if this a bad question I'm really new to all this and want to make the best with what little spending money I have. Any advice any or input is welcome!

 

[Sloan]

EZ Drummer with the Metal Machine ezx will get you started programming drums and it sounds ok without having to do anything extra. It's become my go-to for banging out drums for demos etc...

 

[LowellWolfe]

If you dont want to spend money, then use a sampler. There's an incredible amount of free drum samples on this site and online that sound equally as good or if not better than the EZ and Superior ones. A great starting point would be to search for Erkans Organized Drum Sample Pack and download the living shit out of that. From there you can download other samples you come across.

Then just look up a YouTube tutorial for the samples in Cubase LE 6 if there is one. If there's not I'm sure you can find a third party sampler for free.

 

[Brent Holder]

EZ Drummer with the Metal Machine ezx will get you started programming drums and it sounds ok without having to do anything extra. It's become my go-to for banging out drums for demos etc...

I had seen some of you guys talking about Metal Machine on a previous post. I was thinking about getting it. 180$ in all though, if I get that I might have to buy EZ Drummer then get metal machine later. haha

If you dont want to spend money, then use a sampler. There's an incredible amount of free drum samples on this site and online that sound equally as good or if not better than the EZ and Superior ones. A great starting point would be to search for Erkans Organized Drum Sample Pack and download the living shit out of that. From there you can download other samples you come across.

Then just look up a YouTube tutorial for the samples in Cubase LE 6 if there is one. If there's not I'm sure you can find a third party sampler for free.

I will need to check that out then!

 

[Flow Of Time]

From what I experienced using free samples with a sampler, it's a huge pain in the ass.. Cymbals are very hard to get right, and everything sounds wierd, all in all. I vote +1 on ez dummer and metalmachine, it sounds awesome and is easy to use!

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Why not download the sennheiser drummica? It's free and sounds pretty OK

 

[mharwood]

If you dont want to spend money, then use a sampler. There's an incredible amount of free drum samples on this site and online that sound equally as good or if not better than the EZ and Superior ones. A great starting point would be to search for Erkans Organized Drum Sample Pack and download the living shit out of that. From there you can download other samples you come across.

Then just look up a YouTube tutorial for the samples in Cubase LE 6 if there is one. If there's not I'm sure you can find a third party sampler for free.

If you decide to go the free route, I'd highly recommend TW16X as a sampler. I use the free version for a drum kit with 8 velocity layers on every drum and cymbal articulation, and it's a breeze to use. The "Pro" version has a matrix that would make implementing infinite layers of round-robin a snap, but I've been getting good results without it so far.

I also stumbled across a free program called KMS Drums on the Reaper forums awhile back. It's available here: http://pipelineaudio.net/products/kms-drums/. It's pretty basic, but definitely something to get you started if you're not sure what you want yet. Really handy for practicing drum mixing, too, as all the hits are raw and it comes with close, overhead, and room mics for every hit. You can also use the samples (8 velocity layers, 8 levels of round robin) in a third party sampler, and I actually have some of them in my TW16X drum kit.

If you have the money, you'd probably save yourself a ton of time just buying a program like EZ Drummer, BFD2, or Steven Slate Drums. But if you're broke like me, it is definitely possible to piece together a very convincing kit from TW16x and the gobs of free samples available on this forum and elsewhere!

 

[MatrixClaw]

Search online for the Sennheiser drum pack for Kontakt. It's very professional sounding, especially after some mixing, plus... It's free and works with Kontakt Player.

 

[Brent Holder]

Sorry for the late reply guys, I'm trying all the free stuff first, trying to download the Sennheiser Drummica for Kontakt right now. (4gb download... my computer takes forever! ) I may also try some samplers and stuff. And last resort will be EZ Drummer and Metal Machine (which I will still probably end up buying one day regardless).

 

[mharwood]

Search online for the Sennheiser drum pack for Kontakt. It's very professional sounding, especially after some mixing, plus... It's free and works with Kontakt Player.

Never even knew this existed. Just downloaded it last night, thanks to those of you who pointed it out! I'm pretty impressed with the sound so far. The individual controls for the top/bottom snare mics and the ability to independently control the overheads are a big plus for me and something that I wouldn't really expect in a free program. The sounds seem pretty raw overall, which I like. It does not include rooms, but I have enough decent multi-layered room samples where I think I can piece together a good sampled room with TW16X. Usually I just smash the hell outta the room and use for glue anyway!

 

[abaga129]

I don't think I'll ever go a route other than Kontakt. I love being able to buy specific drums from the guys on here and mix and match them.