I’m not sure I understand your question. Could you explain what you mean by ‘choke cymbals’?
The ‘Crash Muted’ cymbal articulations work like any I’ve heard or used…a loud crash…then the hand stopping the ringing.
If you’re asking how to set a cymbal up so you can do a ‘manual’ crash mute, ie. hit a key on your MIDI controller and then hit another key/knob to stop the ring, it can be done by setting up aftertouch on your MIDI controller.
Personally, I use a Korg PadKontrol (for the moment) and I’ve set one of the knobs to manually choke my crashes when programming.
OK, for your needs (live guitar, bass, vox) I’d look into the http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FirewireSolo/ (I’m not recommending Sweetwater, it’s just where I found the info). It really seems to be made for the singer/songwriter/player…and has ASIO compatibility.
As for external sound devices. In this day and age, I would really recommend getting a small MIDI keyboard and buying some VSTis. You can go soooo far with it now that anything really external is so much more of a hassle than it is a help. Depending on your budget you can get something like NI Kontakt and a small keyboard added to your EZDrummer VSTi and be golden. The only limit would be on your end of things (playing, songwriting, etc.) and you wouldn’t be held back by technology.
There are plenty of offerings by RME, M-Audio, MOTU, Tascam, and EDIROL to name a few. Which one you choose depends on price range, features you need, and number of I/O required (digital, analog, etc.)
If you can give me some more info on what your needs are I might be able to guide you a bit more.
How are you running EZD? In which DAW? In Toontrack Solo?
If you’re using Solo (the standalone application for TT samplers) an ASIO soundcard is required for audio playback. The Realtek is not an ASIO supported soundcard.
