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Drum Machine Programs

Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my worldRound Rock, TXRegistered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm interested in what you guys think are the best drum machine programs for the PC. I've mainly used Fruity Loops over the years. While decent, I feel like there is probably a better program out there. This is for modelling traditional drums, mainly for rock/metal. The ability to change tempo and time signatures mid song is a plus. It will definitely need to be able to be exported in some audio format, though I imagine they all do that. I use Adobe Audition for my recording, if it matters. Also the more good samples included (or somewhere to get them), the better. I'm sick of my tired old samples.

Any suggestions? I haven't recorded anything in the last several years, but I'm wanting to get back into it and figure now is a good time to look at a better drum machine.

Sir Carcass on

Posts

  • Masked_MulletMasked_Mullet Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Ez Drummer

    Masked_Mullet on
  • Homestar GunnerHomestar Gunner Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    I know it's not at all what you're looking for (certainly can't be called one of the best drum machine programs), but since you have Rock Band I feel like you should know about this.

    It's not really practical at all for recording - either I suck or the response time is off a little bit - but it's fun to play around with.

    Homestar Gunner on
  • .kbf?.kbf? Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Maybe Cakewalk


    from their website

    "Cakewalk Studio Instruments—only $49.99
    Cakewalk Studio Instruments is all you need to turn your computer into a Drum Set, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano, or String Section. You can also use these high quality virtual instruments as stand alone or in your favorite recording software."

    Although I've never used it I've heard good things.

    .kbf? on
  • KnobKnob TURN THE BEAT BACK InternetModerator mod
    edited June 2008
    If adobe audition can handle vst plugins, you really need to be looking at drumkit from hell. best metal drumming software in the universe

    ez drummer could also work in a pinch

    basically any of toontrack's software is terrific


    if you're looking for a free solution, ns_kit7 is about the best you're going to get http://www.naturaldrum.com/

    Knob on
  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Knob wrote: »
    If adobe audition can handle vst plugins, you really need to be looking at drumkit from hell. best metal drumming software in the universe

    ez drummer could also work in a pinch

    basically any of toontrack's software is terrific


    if you're looking for a free solution, ns_kit7 is about the best you're going to get http://www.naturaldrum.com/

    Since when is $130 free? Or is there some free stuff buried on that site that I'm just not seeing?


    The way I understand it, FL is a really basic pattern sequencer that comes with a fairly large pack of samples/instruments. Renoise is pretty much the opposite: sophisticated tracker, but requires you to build your sound library pretty much from scratch. It has a steep learning curve, especially if you have no experience with the programs it's based on (e.g. Fast Tracker), but who knows? It could be worth a look. There are some stickied posts in their forums regarding free samples & plugins, but a quick glance indicated that it wasn't organized very well, so it might take some digging. For that matter, even if you don't bother with the software itself, the aforementioned posts in their forums may be worth looking at; never know where you're going to find the samples you crave.


    Oh, you have to register to output to .wav, so maybe not the best suggestion. Still, could be worth a glance.

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Knob wrote: »
    If adobe audition can handle vst plugins, you really need to be looking at drumkit from hell. best metal drumming software in the universe

    ez drummer could also work in a pinch

    basically any of toontrack's software is terrific

    It looks like Audition can handle VST.

    I'm looking at Toontrack's website and am a little confused. It looks like Drumkit From Hell is an add-on for EZ Drummer? So I guess I would need EZ Drummer as well? And from what I can tell, it contains premade drum loops? Any way to modify those? Would I need a separate sequencer?

    I guess I'm new to all of this. I'm just used to loading up FruityLoops, loading samples for each of the drums/cymbals, setting the tempo, then selecting when each item is played, making my drum loops. How does this method compare?
    I know it's not at all what you're looking for (certainly can't be called one of the best drum machine programs), but since you have Rock Band I feel like you should know about this.

    It's not really practical at all for recording - either I suck or the response time is off a little bit - but it's fun to play around with.

    Yeah, I wouldn't want to use the Rock Band drumkit for recording (way too imprecise), but that looks fun to play around with.

    Sir Carcass on
  • KnobKnob TURN THE BEAT BACK InternetModerator mod
    edited June 2008
    dfh is a standalone plugin. you open audition, create a midi track, set dfh as the output, then write your drumtrack with the piano roll

    and there was a free version of ns7_kit called ns7_free. used to be on that site, so i didn't check for it but i can't find it now either

    Knob on
  • useless4useless4 Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Haven't tried EZ drummer but Drums from Hell Superior as evil evil evil evil.
    I hated it.

    I use FXpansion's BFD 1.5 which is a million times better. pricey though.

    useless4 on
  • EarthenrockEarthenrock Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Theres two that I use that are I find are high quality but they are pricey. Not sure if you could throw in some asymmetric meter, but I have done bars of 7/8 in fruity loops before, but I went back to check and couldn't remember how to do it.o_O

    My favorite program that I use quite a bit to program drum loops is Reason, with its rack drum machine "Redrum."
    With reason you can change tempo during songs, gradually or suddenly. not sure about time signatures.

    Unfortunately I wouldn't think anyone would just buy it for the drum machine. Reason is more of a one stop shop for any type of drum, synthesis, or rex file players. Its $400.

    A good drum sampler that has some really high quality sounds is Battery by Native Instruments. You can check them both out.

    Battery acts as a plugin, VST, RTAS, etc. check out native instruments website. Some of the best plugins I have come from there.

    Battery is $230 I believe.

    Earthenrock on
  • hellobuddyhellobuddy Registered User regular
    edited June 2008
    Ez drummer with DFH addon is quite an excellent budget alternative, and also Addictive drums from..uhh..Cant remember but its basicly the same as Ez drummer but from another developer. The old "real" Drumkit from Hell is as far as I've understood, not only pricey, but not very userfriendly.

    hellobuddy on
  • KnobKnob TURN THE BEAT BACK InternetModerator mod
    edited June 2008
    no, it isn't user friendly in the slightest. but if you take the time to learn it, it is hands down the best drum software in the universe ever

    Knob on
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    I've been playing around with EZDrummer and I have to say, it's pretty bad ass. Way better than my previous method of doing drum tracks. I love the multiple samples with the humanize function. Once I get it down, I think this will be the way to go in the future.

    Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

    Sir Carcass on
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