Re: Which drum software for me?

Replied May 21, 2010 at 04:31 #1934997

Participant

ORIGINAL: K2000

I’m running Snow Leopard (10.6.3) but my Adobe software (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects) is not 64 bits. I think Adobe is finally releasing 64 bit versions just recently… I don’t have any of them yet.

So to be clear, I can install EZDrummer, I don’t need to do anything special…? I poked around a bit on the forum and saw some posts about bridging (?) somehow which I guess is no longer applicable. Cool!

BTW, I really liked the sounds of the New York Studios expansion – those really sounded fantastic. My friend recommended DFH, which seems a little more modern-sounding than what I like, but once everything else is added, it will probably work well. It will be a start, anyway.

Thanks for your help!

So here’s the real deal (forget about Musician’s Friend–they’re not particularly knowledgeable over there about these kinds of things):
There is currently a 64-bit beta of Superior Drummer (henceforth, SD2) for PCs, but nothing for Macs yet on that front. Same with EZDrummer (henceforth, EZD).

Assuming you have the most recent version of Logic Pro, it defaults to opening in 32-bit mode. You can easily get it to open in 64-bit mode instead, if you need to go that route, but until your plugs are 64-bit, it’s probably not the best move for you. It can be done, but I’d advise sticking to 32-bit mode until your plugs are fully ported over. (If you used other large sample libraries that were ported to 64-bit already, then I’d say yeah, go for it.)

So then, yes, you can install EZD just fine, no problems whatsoever. Same with SD2.

Now, in terms of your original post, here are my thoughts. First, it’s not that surprising that Logic Pro doesn’t come with many more options than the Jam Packs for percussion loops. It would be a little bit like including a bunch of pre-made company logos with Adobe Illustrator. Sure, you could adjust the vectors a bit, change the colors, etc, but really, Illustrator is a professional application that sort of assumes you know what you’re doing. Same with Logic Pro. (I hope this is a good comparison–heck, maybe Illustrator does come with that kind of thing! I use Vector Designer instead.) Plus, there are so many third-party add ons you can buy for exactly this kind of thing.

Next, in dealing with your major question, I would tend to recommend EZD for you. EZD still allows you to tweak a bit, and as John mentioned, you can always send the sounds out individually to Logic, and then you can do whatever the heck you want with them there. Since you say, “I’m not a real drummer or engineer, so maybe Superior Drummer is overkill for me. Given the choice of 8 snare drums to choose from, it might just be wasted on me”, I’d advise you to go with EZD. You can always pick up the Crossgrade one day if you’ve really gotten into it and hit the ceiling of what EZD can provide.

The next question would really be which expansion pack to get for your style of music. There’s certainly the ‘Drumkit From Hell’ pack, but you might also want to check out the Vintage Rock EZX. It might go in the direction of the stuff you’re into–Sabbath and the like. I don’t really work on that genre of music, so I’m not the best resource for that. The New York Studios expansion you refer to is actually an SDX, so it will only work with SD2, not with EZD.

I would also echo John’s thought that you should pick up a couple of the Monster MIDI packs. There’s one that involves odd time signatures, if I recall. If you’re using odd time signatures, it will pay in spades for you to get Logic’s bars and beats to match what you’re trying to do with the time signature. It’s dead-simple to do it, and very quick, and it’ll help line everything up for you with the song structure.

I want to mostly say to you that this is an exciting journey you’re on. The Toontrack products are excellent. I can say that without bias, as I don’t work for the company. They are making some really, really wonderful products right now, and this is a community that is very open to helping one another, so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Cheers, and best of luck to you.

Mark