Don’t know how to ‘lighten up’ the EZDrummer2’s drummer for lighter, more moderate, songs

[WILLIAM FIREY]

I use pre-recorded drums in a Duo gig I do. I was using Drumcore sounds before switching to EZDrummer2. Drumcore’s sounds weren’t as robust as those in EZDrummer2 (there was also no sound processing available in Drumcore). Anyway, here’s my Problem… EZDrummer2’s sounds are so powerful they are overwhelming my small two-piece group. The EZDrummer sounds work with fine on some of the hard hitting ‘Spin Doctor’ type stuff we play, but otherwise, the EZDrummer sounds like Godzilla is playing drums on our light to moderate songs.
Q: Is there a way to ‘thin out’ or ‘sparce’ the modern drum kit sounds a bit?
Q: What are some ‘best practices’ with regard to this?

Incidentally, I’ve only used the modern drum kit sounds included with EZDrummer2. I wasn’t really impressed with the legacy drum sounds I went through.

Thanks in-advance for any advice you may give.

Topic

[John]

I would first ease up on the Velocity of the MIDI, making sure there is a sound amount of dynamics and not so many (if any) max velocity hits, then step through the Presets.
Also check the mixer for a Compression knob+channel that perhaps need to be turned down; maybe turn down Reverb and/or Ambience.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[WILLIAM FIREY]

Thanks John, I will give your suggestions a try. I think part of my problem is that I am so “old school” when it comes to drums. I keep looking for kicks (or kick sounds) that have a pillow in them… or sound like they are muffled with a pillow. I realize that today’s kicks are ‘more open’, but are there any of these kick sounds in EZDrummer2 ? If so, I don’t know where, or how to access them.
Thanks for your valuable input.

[Scott]

@RFriday said:
Thanks John, I will give your suggestions a try. I think part of my problem is that I am so “old school” when it comes to drums. I keep looking for kicks (or kick sounds) that have a pillow in them… or sound like they are muffled with a pillow. I realize that today’s kicks are ‘more open’, but are there any of these kick sounds in EZDrummer2 ? If so, I don’t know where, or how to access them.
Thanks for your valuable input.  

Have you tried the Vintage kit in EZD?

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[John]

Hi,

I understand, the included drums and presets may not have that much to offer in that department.
I made a preset you can try out from the Vintage kits, which I ZIPped and attached to this post. Un-ZIP, go into EZdrummer 2 and scroll down to ‘User Presets’ and then Manage in Finder/Explorer. This opens up the folder where you can place the un-ZIPped ‘Dry Vintage_1’ User Preset which will make it show up in the User Preset list.

You may want to check out the Vintage Rock EZX, the Southern Soul EZX, the Americana EZX and the Blues EZX.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[onewayout_1]

Thanks John,

You can’t have too many cool presets!! (-:

[Brad]

My 2 cents (CAD)… If you find that ambient mics in general give you too much over the top feeling you may want to look at the Claustrophobic EZX. It was created in a heavily dampened room. I use sometimes when I want to run the kit through the same outboard reverb I am using for everything else, to put everyone in the same sonic space.

Just a thought…

Mac Studio M1 Max, RAM 64 GB, 1TB Drive, OSX 12.x/13.x and Windows 10 (VM)
DAW: Studio One Pro (always up to date)
DTX Express III (Extreme triggers), Nektar LX88
OWC Thunderbay Mini (4 X 1TB Sata SSD), Express 4M2 (4 X 2TB M.2 SSD), Envoy Express (1TB M.2 SSD)
Presonus Quantum, Faderport & Faderport 8
Black Lion Sparrow Mk2 A/D, FMR-RNP-RNC, MIDI Xpress 128, BM5A, KRK VXT4, Equator D5
2020 Macbook Pro 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Audio(mobile rig)

[onewayout_1]

Hi Brad,

What you are saying sounds interesting but I was not fully understanding what you mean…sorry.
Could you give a quick example of a situation of this FX and how you exactly execute it plz?

Cheers, jeff

[Brad]

Sure simply if I was running the group through an external (for a live session) I want them to sound like they’re in the same room, using the same reverb, I found because of the highly dampened sound from this EZX I could apply more external effects (reverb, delay etc…) without it becoming too muddy. Just personal preference. Actually by cutting out the ambient mics you can get close with other EZXs I just find due to the nature of this one, it’s easier for me. Hope that makes sense.

Mac Studio M1 Max, RAM 64 GB, 1TB Drive, OSX 12.x/13.x and Windows 10 (VM)
DAW: Studio One Pro (always up to date)
DTX Express III (Extreme triggers), Nektar LX88
OWC Thunderbay Mini (4 X 1TB Sata SSD), Express 4M2 (4 X 2TB M.2 SSD), Envoy Express (1TB M.2 SSD)
Presonus Quantum, Faderport & Faderport 8
Black Lion Sparrow Mk2 A/D, FMR-RNP-RNC, MIDI Xpress 128, BM5A, KRK VXT4, Equator D5
2020 Macbook Pro 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Audio(mobile rig)

[onewayout_1]

Hi Brad,

Oh so you took OUT the EZX FX and added the same FX from ur session to match the sound of your live recording…I believe you are saying…Got it!

Cheers, jeff

[Brad]

Yup… you got it.

Mac Studio M1 Max, RAM 64 GB, 1TB Drive, OSX 12.x/13.x and Windows 10 (VM)
DAW: Studio One Pro (always up to date)
DTX Express III (Extreme triggers), Nektar LX88
OWC Thunderbay Mini (4 X 1TB Sata SSD), Express 4M2 (4 X 2TB M.2 SSD), Envoy Express (1TB M.2 SSD)
Presonus Quantum, Faderport & Faderport 8
Black Lion Sparrow Mk2 A/D, FMR-RNP-RNC, MIDI Xpress 128, BM5A, KRK VXT4, Equator D5
2020 Macbook Pro 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Audio(mobile rig)

[tooner10]

@Brad said:
Yup… you got it.  

i’m just getting back into exploring EZD2 after a 2 yr pause but it seems to me that if the original poster just wants a more dry sound, that going to the EZD drum mixer and turning down the ambient / reverb channels (like was suggested) is likely to give him what he wants vs having to go and buy more EZXs. it’s true the different EZXs should indeed contain different recorded kits so their should be a different sonic blueprint to each of them but i generally think this has more to do with the drummer and touch than the actual kit after the ambience is taken into effect! 🙂

i’d like to take another angle on this question in this thread. i think too many of the midi files included in these EZX packs are heavy-handed in terms of stylistic performance and don’t fit well with a lot of what i’m trying to do sonically. quieter and more dynamic music actually deserves a bit of finesse – what i’d call taste – and it requires players with chops to pull off well, especially in the slight fills required to keep such performances moving without overpowering them.

so if anybody has some midi pack suggestions (either toontrack or others) for the kinds of midi files i just described, please share them here as well. thx

[Scott]

You should be able to use the Edit Play Style section of EZD2 to make a groove (single kit pieces or the whole thing) less busy and/or lower the velocity also.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[tooner10]

@Scott said:
You should be able to use the Edit Play Style section of EZD2 to make a groove (single kit pieces or the whole thing) less busy and/or lower the velocity also.  

this is true. but do you have any midi packs that might already have the “understated spice” i’m looking for right out the gate ? 🙂 thx

[Scott]

@tooner10 said:

this is true. but do you have any midi packs that might already have the “understated spice” i’m looking for right out the gate ? 🙂 thx  

I don’t have any idea what exactly will suit your needs. You can try using the Show Web Shop MIDI so you can brows every Toontrack MIDI library for yourself to see if there is something that fits your need.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[tooner10]

@Scott said:

I don’t have any idea what exactly will suit your needs. You can try using the Show Web Shop MIDI so you can brows every Toontrack MIDI library for yourself to see if there is something that fits your need.

  

thx

[Author]

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