Jamstix

I have several good, and even great drum VI's, both free and paid. But Jamstix surpasses them all. Jamstix enables you to make drum tracks for all types of songs, and not have to buy bunches of MIDI packs. Or spend eternity on editing.

Jamstix is awesome for turning static MIDI loops & patterns into dynamic, realistic drum tracks. You can manipulate every aspect and nuance of a MIDI loop in every way imaginable. Easily add fills of any sort, hi-hat patterns, tom fills....on and on. You can make sections busier, or more sparse. You can play with the dynamics at will, and even play with that elusive "pocket feel" (nuanced timing in the beat, basically) It's very difficult to explain all it can do in a compact way.

Jamstix can emulate the playing style of many different drummers, and you can even mix and match their styles- per kit piece. Also, there are many different styles/music genres to pick from. The flexibility and versatility is the best I've ever come across, by far. And you can build whole songs, fast- once you get the hang of a few things.

Now, there IS a bit of a learning curve. Sometimes it's tricky to know what exactly Jamstix is going to do with a loop, at first. But after 2 or 3 days of tooling around with it, I have it doing more than any other drum VI that I've used in the past. Already.

I personally do like the included drum kits (and mixer), but if you have other drum VI's whose sounds you want to use, Jamstix can easily drive those.

The interface is very unique. I really like it, but certain people pass on Jamstix because it's a bit different than most drum VI's. I say, let these people miss out! I don't want them to have access to my secret weapon anyway.

There are many great to excellent drum VI's out there, but Jamstix is definitively my top pick.