Session Drummer 2? Is this worth downloading ?

Hi all,
 Haven't posted a question here in a while. This one goes out to those who have session drummer 2. I haven't composed in a while, but I am slowly putting my studio back together. I have been using a mix of Drum kits from TTS-1, Soundfonts w/Ultimate Drums and EZ-Drummer lite. Lately, I've been using a mix of EZ-Drummer lite for the basic Kicks, Cymbals and Toms, but the kit is rather limited, so I fill in the remaining drums with TTS-1 or a Soundfont. I'm not much of a drummer, but I usually program my own midi's for drums. I was wondering if the session drummer 2 kits would be good enough to simplify my set-up as well as the drain on my CPU. I generally play with a Jazz style kit. The download price is still like $10. But I think I read where many who have this don't really use it because they have something better. EZ-Drummer might be a good alternative, but I've been exploring other SoftSynths for Piano and orchestration and I'm concerned about the CPU drain on my computer. EZ-drummer does hog a sufficient amount of resources. I'm also certain that I will need to upgrade my RAM as well but don't have the bucks to put too much into my present computer. Any thoughts?

Hmmm.....  there aren't any Guitar Centers up here in Toronto. I think I qualify for a discount on the upgrade, though. 

My guess would be that they included so many uneffected sounds to satisfy all the folks who complained about the older drum samples being too wet. Those folks wanted to add their own effects and it's nearly impossible to remove reverb from a sample.
If I didn't already have SD 2, I would get it. For $10, it's a steal.

Sounds like this could work for me. I like the way that EZ-drummer allows you to mix the mic'ing of the drums to get a more realistic soundscape, but I do tend to run them on the dry side. The Room/Ambience is neat but when it comes time to mix the drums in, I dial it way down.  Maybe I'll down load it this weekend.

Tap


Wav samples will only respond at one velocity.

I can see how that could be interpreted, but it's not quite right.
The wav will respond to different velocities, but it will only result in a volume change.
Since there is only the one wav to reference, you don't get the variations in timbre that layered samples give you.
Most of the included drum sounds are sfz files, and have five layers.
I haven't messed with it much, but it is very easy to bring in different sounds. I usually just use the stock drums.
Most of my songs feature SD2, if you want to hear it in action.
Celebration and Donna Michelle were played live, from a keyboard. The rest use included patterns.
Celebration may be of interest, because it shows the layering more than the others.
I do like SD2, and even though I have EZD, it isn't going anywhere.

Thanks for that tidbit, Robert. I kind of interpreted the specs that way, though.
So, how many samples can be played at once? It doesn't look like it's capable of filling the whole GM spectrum.

So if you want more than 10 drums, can add an additional instance of SD2 Like you can with TTS-1?

I purchased an HP pavilion, with an AMD Athalon 3700+ 2.2 GHz (64bit) processor, 1 gig of RAM and a 200 Gig Drive. It does O.K. until I start to load up on the soft synths.

For $10... and it's from Cake.... I bought it even if I don't need it, which I don't... but I will take the time to explore it and try to find a use.....

that COWBELL is very tempting....

Thanks for that comment, Greg. When I get serious about rendering, I do freeze the synths, but since I've add the M-audio Keyboard, I have it set up to change instruments on the fly, sort of speak by changing the channel. I can easily bop between tracks and fix things as I go and I like that because I can react spontaneously to ideas as they happen (This seems to help keep the creative juices flowing). Between the keyboard and my numeric keypad programmed for transport control etc. I can sit down to a piece and start playing and recording and switching instruments as the piece progresses. I currently have about 5 or 6 soft synths loaded. I guess I could probably concentrate on the drums first and freeze that off, but I think I'll invest in SD2. This may do the trick for me.

I'll have fun playing with it as I try to figure out how it works.....I guess I'll watch some of the videos on it rather than try to guess how it works, which always gets me frustrated.