Best Virtual Drums?
Moderators: greatmutah, GuitarBilly
- esizer
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 3185
- Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:44 am
- Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
Sometimes this all seems pretty overwhelming. Anyone have any good links for general recording practices, terminology, etc.?
Of things we've done
Caligula would grin
Caligula would grin
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
esizer wrote:Sometimes this all seems pretty overwhelming. Anyone have any good links for general recording practices, terminology, etc.?
Well mixing programmed drums is the same as mixing real drums. Check out Graham Cochrane's "5 Minutes to a Better Mix" on Youtube.
http://therecordingrevolution.com
I watched this workshop of how to make good sounding programmed drum tracks when it streamed out live for free and it seemed pretty good, it's $49 now though:
http://www.creativelive.com/courses/digital-drums-ezdrummer-eyal-levi
But you know where to go to ehrm, preview it.
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
I have been using the Slate stuff for the last few years and really like in in Logic. I have not heard anything that has made me want to change software.
_____________________________________________________
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
- Loins of Fire
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 1335
- Joined: Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:01 pm
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
JerEvil wrote:I have been using the Slate stuff for the last few years and really like in in Logic. I have not heard anything that has made me want to change software.
From what I've heard the Slate stuff sounds great. Only problem is that when doing fast 16th and 32nd notes the drums suffer from the "machine gun effect"
- mrelusive
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 610
- Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:35 am
- Location: up a goddamn mountain.
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
nakedzen wrote:esizer wrote:Sometimes this all seems pretty overwhelming. Anyone have any good links for general recording practices, terminology, etc.?
Well mixing programmed drums is the same as mixing real drums. Check out Graham Cochrane's "5 Minutes to a Better Mix" on Youtube.
http://therecordingrevolution.com
I watched this workshop of how to make good sounding programmed drum tracks when it streamed out live for free and it seemed pretty good, it's $49 now though:
http://www.creativelive.com/courses/digital-drums-ezdrummer-eyal-levi
But you know where to go to ehrm, preview it.
i'll hafta check these out! i need to learn new tricks instead of just doing every thing "trial and error... and error... and error... and i fucking QUIT!!!"
"You forget, this is HCAF, where everyone thinks like Stephen Hawking, fights like Manny Pacquiao, pulls trim like Justin Timberlake, and emotes like The Terminator...as long as it's someone else's dog who died" -Benjamin801
Droppin similes like i got holes in my pants pockets.
Droppin similes like i got holes in my pants pockets.
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
Loins of Fire wrote:JerEvil wrote:I have been using the Slate stuff for the last few years and really like in in Logic. I have not heard anything that has made me want to change software.
From what I've heard the Slate stuff sounds great. Only problem is that when doing fast 16th and 32nd notes the drums suffer from the "machine gun effect"
Hmmm, I am pretty sure you can set each drum for up to 27 variations in hit from center to rim. I haven't noticed that issue. Certainly nothing like the horrible sounding fills in Dimmu's "Blessings On The Throne of Tyranny"
This is all slate and I think they sound pretty natural:
https://soundcloud.com/jerevil/folly-of-youth-vox1
I don't spend too much time messing with the drums as honestly, I record the songs and set them for free downloads. Most listeners could give a rats butt and can't even tell or even care that they are all sequenced.
_____________________________________________________
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
- Reverse Entropy
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 1807
- Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2013 1:21 pm
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
Does anyone use Roland TD-series electronic kits for recording ? I use a midrange TD6V set with real rides and real hats for neighbor-friendly drumming (for exercise and sanity), and I've just started fooling with Reaper as my DAW software. Has anyone found any peculiarities recording Roland drums ?
“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."(Hanlon's Razor)
"rock enough that I don't drown in ... jazz ennui" - draelyc
"...you realize that absolutely nothing happens when you get butthurt, right?
You know you're not going to go home and immediately have cancer, right?" - Steinmetzify
"rock enough that I don't drown in ... jazz ennui" - draelyc
"...you realize that absolutely nothing happens when you get butthurt, right?
You know you're not going to go home and immediately have cancer, right?" - Steinmetzify
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
Reverse Entropy wrote:Does anyone use Roland TD-series electronic kits for recording ? I use a midrange TD6V set with real rides and real hats for neighbor-friendly drumming (for exercise and sanity), and I've just started fooling with Reaper as my DAW software. Has anyone found any peculiarities recording Roland drums ?
I have used them but always just use the midi into the piano roll. I like having a real drummer play when possible but use Steven Slate Drums from the actual sounds. Easiest way to get the best of both worlds.
Here a REALLY old clip from 2010 when I first started doing my own recordings. Crappy recording but you get the point.
http://tonefinder.com/?section=id&value=8799
Never had any issues recording the TD kits.
_____________________________________________________
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
I have some gear and junk...
Like Coffee? Like Pedals and amps? Like General Jackassery???
Check out "Dunky's N' Demos at:
https://dunkysndemos.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyVarao
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
One thing I noticed from Reapers piano roll just now.
You can randomly humanize the midi hits by going to Edit->Humanize (in the piano roll screen). You can set the amount of variation between the notes by percentage, both timing and velocity.
You can randomly humanize the midi hits by going to Edit->Humanize (in the piano roll screen). You can set the amount of variation between the notes by percentage, both timing and velocity.

- Ostinato Rubato
- Crystal Lettucer
- Posts: 35812
- Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2013 1:14 pm
- Location: Fruitville, TX
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
I have SSD4 and barely use it. It's tha bast.
EBMM Stingray Tobacco and Tort
Marshall 2555X Jubilee
Marshall 2536 2x12
CS Deja Vibe mkii > SupaTrem Jr. > Xotic Wah > OCD v2.0 > Fulldrive 2 mkii > TB Jailed Pitchblack > (Alter Ego x4)
Marshall 2555X Jubilee
Marshall 2536 2x12
CS Deja Vibe mkii > SupaTrem Jr. > Xotic Wah > OCD v2.0 > Fulldrive 2 mkii > TB Jailed Pitchblack > (Alter Ego x4)
- RustyMetal
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 1157
- Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:36 am
- Location: Hurricane Alley
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
nakedzen wrote:One thing I noticed from Reapers piano roll just now.
You can randomly humanize the midi hits by going to Edit->Humanize (in the piano roll screen). You can set the amount of variation between the notes by percentage, both timing and velocity.![]()


"That's not surround sound, that's in your face sound"
blame it on my dain bramage
Epi SG / Dean Vendetta XMT, & 1000
Boss GT-3 / Pedal Case Full of Pure ROCK
Marshall 3210 Mosfet & Kustom 4x12 / Peavey Vypyr Combo
Great deals!: JonVengeance, ColeJustesen, DoubleBarrel, SpeedBag-x2
blame it on my dain bramage
Epi SG / Dean Vendetta XMT, & 1000
Boss GT-3 / Pedal Case Full of Pure ROCK
Marshall 3210 Mosfet & Kustom 4x12 / Peavey Vypyr Combo
Great deals!: JonVengeance, ColeJustesen, DoubleBarrel, SpeedBag-x2
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
It's all about Superior Drummer (and its expansions) for me. Slate stuff is pretty cool but I don't like the processing that's already done to the samples. The way they process them just sounds like instant generic-radio-rock mix to me and I don't dig it, plus I can pick it out instantly when I hear it in other people's work. I tend to like more natural drum sounds (but still with plenty of punch) and building mixes from scratch, so Superior fits the bill perfectly. However, I do like using Slate for a bit of sample reinforcement pretty low in the mix (for kick, snare, and toms) if I feel a certain aspect of the drum sound is under-represented in the Superior samples.
- esizer
- Hall of Fame Member
- Posts: 3185
- Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:44 am
- Location: Saint Augustine, FL
Re: Best Virtual Drums?
I made the switch from EZ to SSD4 and it sounds good enough to make demos with for me. So I'm pleased with it.
Of things we've done
Caligula would grin
Caligula would grin