chuckebaby


ive used alot of different programs but my favorite still is session drummer,here is why:
its stripped down so your adding all your own effects,not processed efeects that come with the drum simulator.(like bfd)
and have you ever tried to seperate every drum track out to a seperate track in bfd?
sure it can be done,but someone tell me how easy it is compared to session drummer?
the cost:hello ???
the onlt thing its lacking is a massive sound library.like bfd or addictive.
but then again,im not looking for a huge library,i want a dry drum sound so i can be the one to add the effects to my liking so it doesnt sound like the next guys drum sounds.
its those little things that make your music more original.
sample loop librarys: ??  dont even go there,if your a true musician your writing your own drum parts anyway so who needs them?
i just assume have a drum kit with no loops at all.

Chuck I can't believe you're still banging on about this. I went to great lengths to explain the simple process of routing in BFD eco & BFD 2 and they are exactly the same as session drummer or any other drum vst. You choose where to send it on the mixer page at the bottom of each mixer channel. Just like all the others. In fact BFD Eco gives you something that none of the other do that makes it absolute child's play. When you load up BFD Eco and select "all synth outputs to stereo" in sonar you will find that it has even named each track accordingly.
What the hell do mean by, adding all your effects, not "PROCESSED" effects that come with drum simulators? That's just nonsense.
The effects that come with both Eco and BFD2 are award winning effects drim DECAM and are better than most of the ones that ship with sonar.
Admittedly there are better 3rd party effects out there now but back in 2007 when BFD2 was released they were some of the best.
It's not like you're being forced to use the effects that come with your drum simulator either.

Steve

To the OP I'm confused, you're asking what everyone here is using but say you have used the all the others, does that mean you bought them or just tried the demo's ?
All the others you have used (or own) are pretty much all the ones that people here use.
Toontracks, fxpansion and XLN Audio being probably the most common.

The others I see are no more than libraries that have to be used in kontakt which is a major minus in my opinion. 
I'd love to hear why you think BFD Eco is "terrible" ?
Personally I think fxpansion have led the market in drum software for some time.
Superior is good but I would place it in between Eco & BFD2 in my top three.


I'd say my music is quite eclectic but has strong routes in early UK punk and indie but I also do ska and electronica. 

The big question when moving on from the likes of session drummer to something like superior or BFD2 is do you want generic presets and midi loops or do you want complete control ? I never use drum loops and I never will because I want to be calling ALL the shots

Steve

I'm pretty sure OP is interested in having access to extensive loop libraries. He was asking if the SD3 Slate kit had a lot of loops. I could be mistaken though.

Hey.. I'd cast another vote for BFD2.  I have never tried eco, so can't speak to that, however BFD2 has some extremely articulate acoustic drum sounds - I can't imagine you being unable to get quality sounds out of it.  I've never been overly impressed with Session Drummer - it's good given it's included in Sonar, however I don't believe it compares to the other products mentioned in this thread in both sound quality & functionality. 

When selecting which product to purchase, I listened to most major third party products (EZDrummer, Superior Drummer, etc) and BFD2 just grabbed me with the quality of their sounds.  If you're mainly concerned with sound quality - take 2 minutes and listen to sound samples on FXPansion's BFD2 page - I think you'll be blown away.   I think the price just came down recently too - I paid alot more for it a few years back.

Hope this helps.
Russ
 

I use a variety of things for drums depending on what I am making. I generally make hip hop and r&b and Addictive Drums works really well for that and pop a lot of the time. Or I will use the Kong device in Reason especially for synthetic drum sounds which are great for certain kinds of hip hop and pop. And I have been using Live's drum rack system for one shot drums lately as well. I also use the Reason Drum Kits, Disco School and Soul School reason refills. 

Anyone familiar wit Drums On Demand? I have read good things...

i am soooo sorry as i can see i have greatly upset you and the folks at bfd,my apologies to you and everyone over there.   

to add "what the hell" in one of your post directed towards me shows your pretty much a loose cannon and a little off the deep end. 
which inturn now leads me to believe all the good things i said about you before are now a farce and youve lost all credibility in my eyes.
not that im anything special but obviously you are. 
next time i want to post my opinion in your forum i will be sure to ask your permission first. 
  
all you had to do was post a simple reply saying what you felt about bfd compared to session drummer. 
but instead you just cracked up here..wow..im a bit surprised.  

Wow!! all this simply because I said, "what the hell" Well I'm inclined to add to that, "what the f#ck!!??" 
I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill but there you go. Had I not said "what the hell" would that have been OK then?

As for BFD's routing and your comments I can only refer you to This thread where I tried to explain how easy it was and how it was the same
as any other drum VSTi (even session drummer)

Your comments "not processed efeects that come with the drum simulator.(like bfd)"  don't make any sense to me at all.
That's what I'm saying what the hell to. What do you mean by processed effects??? That just doesn't mean anything.

 next time I want to post my opinion in your forum i will be sure to ask your permission first.

I don't think this is my forum and neither do I think I have ever given that impression. What I wonder have I said to make you say that? 
I mostly join in topics surrounding drums but occasionally help out in areas I feel confident to do so. Consequently my post count is low.


I'd have said I was more mystified than upset by your comments as they were (in my opinion) untrue and even nonsensical. 
 
As for upsetting the people at fxpansion I can't comment as, "contrary to what you seem to think" I don't happen work for them.
I do hope to be beta testing for BFD3 later this year which may be what has made you think I work for them I and am most certainly
a fan of their product line (not just drums) ?


Steve

UbiquitousBubba


I'm with you, Steve.  I've never used loops, nor had any interest in them.  I'm interested in the sounds themselves.  My own preference is for Superior Drummer 2 over BFD2, but that's due largely to past experience with Superior.  That being said, there's a bit of a learning curve with some of these products.  With any of them, I suggest that the demo alone is not going to give you the whole story.  It's going to take an investment of time to really dig into any of these tools and bend them to your will.  I'm sure the task may be somewhat more daunting for non-drummers, but there's a lot of help available for the asking.

Yeah I was quite overwhelmed when I got BFD2 having dabbled with EZ drummer and addictive drums this was a steep learning curve.
Both superior and BFD2 put you firmly in the hot seat of drum engineering but I'm really glad I stuck with it.


I did recently download the demo version of BFD2 just to see what limitations there were and there are none except for the kits themselves.
You only get one and it's 16bit with less velocity layers but everything else is the same as the full version so I'd say you should be able to get a 
very good sense as to what it's all about.

Steve

musicroom


I want to try some different ones too. I have ezdrummer outside of the sonar offerings and sometimes impressed, sometimes not.

I'm currently using a MacGyver type track template that uses 2 instances of sonars SI. I know, who would have thought? Not a lot of sound sculpturing capabilities, but the blend / mix I use between the 2 kits sounds impressive and real to my ears.

I have my eye more on Superior Drums when a good price comes out.

Not sure what you'd call a good price but BFD eco is currently on sale at $49 plus you get platinum samples rock legends kit thrown in for free.  Here's your link 

At that price is pretty much a no brainer.

Steve

If this is a bragfest I own

Superior and all SDXs
EZDrummer and EZXs
BFD2 (& Eco too)
OWD & Platinum Samples Neal Peart
Komplete 8 Ultimate - Which includes all Abbey Road Drums and Battery
Addictive and all the AD Paks
Slate 4.0 Platinum
Bluenoise Plugins Metal 1
Jamstix 3
Voxengo AccuDrums
Jet City (by Jim Roseberry)
Drumagog (with Invictus Metal Expansion Packs 1 - 5)
Slate Trigger

They all have their place.

bapu


If this is a bragfest I own

Superior and all SDXs
EZDrummer and EZXs
BFD2 (& Eco too)
OWD & Platinum Samples Neal Peart
Komplete 8 Ultimate - Which includes all Abbey Road Drums and Battery
Addictive and all the AD Paks
Slate 4.0 Platinum
Bluenoise Plugins Metal 1
Jamstix 3
Voxengo AccuDrums
Jet City (by Jim Roseberry)
Drumagog (with Invictus Metal Expansion Packs 1 - 5)
Slate Trigger

They all have their place.

You win. That's heaps more than me. Makes me feel my collection is modest at best. Lol

You might check http://www.drumasonic.com/.  Good basic kit with some good editing options.
 
I've recently coupled this with midi loops from Groove Monkee. 
 
Great combo for me.
 
Jon

I would use SD3 for quick and dirty MIDI recording (from V-drums). It does the trick, but then I move onto BFD2 (and various expansions) when I begin to flesh out my tracks. BTW, isn't Battery a bit dated by now?

mudgel

Rain


Superior Drummer - it has the perfect balance of flexibility and sound quality, it offers impeccable performance, and imho, the most elegant and refined GUI of them all. Plus libraries are available in all genres.

And one thing that's totally killer for me is the ability to bounce/render individual instruments from w/in Superior Drummer at a click of a button - no need to even worry about routing tracks.

OTOH, if I trust the demos, the most stunning library I've heard was Joe Baressi's Evil Drums for BFD. 

I do have BFD Eco - which I don't bother to use due to its restricted features - and Kontakt w/ Studio Drummer (never use this one either) and Abbey Road, which sounds great. I've considered upgrading BFD to full, but in all honesty, I love SD too much and the GUI's just was easier to navigate and cleaner for my taste. Maybe someday, between two projects...

As a songwriting tool, EZ Drummer does it for me. Plus it's easy to just replace it w/ Superior later in the session.

Not sure if you know but Joe Baressi's Evil Drums is available as an SDX for Superior Drummer. Awesome. They promised more kits but haven't seen them released yet.

REALLY?!!!
WANT!

twaddle
In the real world there is no such thing as the drum kit from hell or the pop and rock kit, or the motown kit or the bonzo kit.  

{pedantic on}
There may not be a "real" kit in your local Guitar Center, but they are real samples, so for the purposes of the home enthusiast there once was a real kit just like that, and now they own it too.
{pedantic off}





Jest yankin' yer chain Steve/twaddle.


See, I get it. BFD2 is the cats meow for you. But for many, the other stuff is the cats meow.