LTI’ve been using EZdrummer 3 extensively and really like its core philosophy: fast, musical, intuitive, and focused on helping songwriters build drum parts without turning the process into engineering work.
I think there’s an opportunity to push the EZ ecosystem much further while preserving that simplicity.
Here’s my Top 10 wishlist for a future EZdrummer update or EZdrummer 4.
1. Bandmate 2.0
Bandmate should return a wider range of genuinely different ideas instead of repeatedly surfacing similar groove families.
A Variation Range control could move from close matches to increasingly adventurous rhythmic interpretations.
It should also learn from rejection. If I keep skipping a certain type of groove, show me less of it.
2. Real-Time Ensemble Mode
Create a shared environment where EZdrummer, EZbass, EZkeys, and future EZ instruments can listen to the musician, listen to each other, and perform together like a real band.
The virtual musicians should respond in real time to changes in rhythm, dynamics, sections, stops, buildups, breakdowns, and endings.
But they should also know when not to react. Sometimes the right decision is simply to keep doing what they’re already doing while the artist adds something new.
The artist should be able to give spoken directions through a microphone, such as:
The whole jam should be recordable, including performances, spoken commands, tempo changes, and arrangement decisions, then turned into editable material afterward.
3. Adaptive Band Intelligence
The virtual band should improve over time through machine learning.
It should learn the artist’s tendencies, preferences, rejected ideas, dynamics, common arrangement choices, rhythmic habits, and which interactions between the virtual musicians tend to work best.
It should also learn when restraint works better than variation.
The goal is not repetition. It is better judgment.
Controls could include:
The system should use learned preferences as context, not rules.
Best for the song first. Always.
4. Reference-Guided Performance
Allow users to provide a reference song, drummer, or performance so the software can understand the general approach they want.
It could analyze things like pocket, groove density, syncopation, kick behavior, fills, cymbal use, dynamics, restraint, aggression, and push/pull against the beat.
The goal should be direction, not copying.
Essentially:
“Listen to the feel of this. That’s roughly where I want to go.”
5. True Generative Performances
Bandmate should be able to create genuinely new drum performances instead of relying mainly on existing MIDI matches.
Generated parts could include new kick/snare patterns, fills, ghost notes, cymbal choices, tom movement, dynamics, and rhythmic variations.
Existing Toontrack MIDI should remain available alongside generation.
6. Full-Song Analysis and Tempo Mapping
Let users drop in an entire demo or old recording and have EZdrummer detect:
This would be especially useful for recordings that were not made to a click.
EZdrummer could either follow the natural performance or export the tempo map to the DAW.
7. Better EZX and MIDI Access Before Buying
Let users audition unowned EZX kits inside EZdrummer using their own MIDI.
The preview could disable exporting, bouncing, and saving until the expansion is purchased.
An optional All Access subscription could also provide temporary access to the wider EZX and MIDI catalog while permanent purchases remain available.
8. Stronger Electronic and Drum-Machine Tools
EZdrummer could go much deeper into electronic and hybrid production.
Useful additions could include:
This would make EZdrummer much stronger for electronic rock, industrial, synthpop, post-punk, alternative pop, and live backing arrangements.
9. Selective Regeneration and Smarter Search
Let users lock parts they already like and regenerate only what needs changing.
Examples:
Groove searching could also use more musical filters, such as:
10. Live Performance Mode
Create a live environment where sections can be triggered by MIDI controllers, footswitches, or spoken commands.
Examples:
Changes should occur at musically appropriate points so the performer does not need perfect timing.
This could connect directly to Ensemble Mode, allowing the virtual band to remain flexible onstage instead of forcing the artist into a rigid backing track.
A chorus could be repeated, a solo extended, a section skipped, or an ending called in real time.
The bigger idea
EZdrummer should remain simple.
I would not want it turned into a smaller Superior Drummer or a complicated engineering environment.
The opportunity is to make the musical intelligence, interaction, generation, learning, rehearsal, and live-performance side dramatically deeper while keeping the workflow immediate.
The ideal future Toontrack ecosystem could become:
pick up an instrument → call in the band → jam → give direction → learn from each other → know when to change → know when not to → discover the song → build the arrangement → rehearse → record → perform live
A real band develops chemistry.
A great band also knows when not to do anything.
Best for the song first. Always.
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