Hi there. I have a dilemma. I am using midi loops with the free NS-7 drum soundfont at the moment. My music hovers in the middle of the road Pop/ rock area. Nothing too aggressive such as metal but could write a few ballads.
A song I recently posted here elicited the comment- mechanical sounding. There are 2 components to the problem. One is to replace the drummer- I am reviewing Jamstix at the moment. The other is to replace the drums. Options appear to be BFD, NS-7 (complete paid version), DFHS, Sonic Implants fonts or Jamstix add on pack.
This is really hard to evaluate. Everything I read suggests that BFD is amazing but expensive. I also am not a drummer and don't care to choose between 20 snares, 20 BD's, etc. I will pay for BFD if I have to. However, I am really looking for a balance between simplicity and quality.
- does anyone have any sample music I can listen to that uses the above products (or products not listed) that I can listen to?
- for higher end products such as BFD and DFHS, is the premium worth it if you don't want endless options that you will not use?
Any help with this would be appreciated.
Help needed choosing drum samples
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- KVRist
- 428 posts since 13 Apr, 2003
In my opinion, BFD offers that simplicity, comes with a lot of grooves, and ain't that hard to get a good result with. For $329 it's a real steal when it comes to what you get 
I'm a Jugga Nut!
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 195 posts since 6 Mar, 2005 from Toronto
Would you bother with Jamstix or are the included loops cool. Would not like to drop the a fortune for two products.safeaim wrote:In my opinion, BFD offers that simplicity, comes with a lot of grooves, and ain't that hard to get a good result with. For $329 it's a real steal when it comes to what you get
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- KVRAF
- 4216 posts since 10 Oct, 2002 from Nashville, TN USA
All the NS stuff sounds nice and musical to my ears. I bet it's the programming more than the sounds. People don't pay enough attention to hats and rides, nor do they often take much care with ghost notes on the snare. And then there's the odd cymbal crash without a kick to back it up. I hear that a lot and have been guilty of it , too.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 195 posts since 6 Mar, 2005 from Toronto
Hmmm. Maybe I need to try Jamstix on its own first without splurging on new kit sounds. By the way, I found a new product from the people that make DFHS at this site. They claim that it is DFHS lite which is all I really need. I might wait for this before investing heavily.Shane Sanders wrote:All the NS stuff sounds nice and musical to my ears. I bet it's the programming more than the sounds. People don't pay enough attention to hats and rides, nor do they often take much care with ghost notes on the snare. And then there's the odd cymbal crash without a kick to back it up. I hear that a lot and have been guilty of it , too.
www.ezdrummer.com
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- KVRAF
- 4216 posts since 10 Oct, 2002 from Nashville, TN USA
Yeah, that might be the wisest course of action. There's more than enough subtlety within NSkit for rock and pop. In fact, there's probably more going on with the NS snares than you would normally hear in a typical basher rock drummer's approach.Zaman wrote:Hmmm. Maybe I need to try Jamstix on its own first without splurging on new kit sounds. By the way, I found a new product from the people that make DFHS at this site. They claim that it is DFHS lite which is all I really need. I might wait for this before investing heavily.Shane Sanders wrote:All the NS stuff sounds nice and musical to my ears. I bet it's the programming more than the sounds. People don't pay enough attention to hats and rides, nor do they often take much care with ghost notes on the snare. And then there's the odd cymbal crash without a kick to back it up. I hear that a lot and have been guilty of it , too.
www.ezdrummer.com
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- KVRian
- 1001 posts since 6 Sep, 2005 from london
also try our VA drums - sounds as good as BFD, but there's no loops and patterns etc. its simple and effective.
there are audio demos here..
http://www.soniccouture.com/pages/drums.htm
there are audio demos here..
http://www.soniccouture.com/pages/drums.htm
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- KVRAF
- 6478 posts since 16 Dec, 2002
As the author of these http://kingstondrums.bombsquad.org/ ballsy drumkits, I couldn't recommend fxpansion BFD more than I already do. 
Seriously, right now drums just doesn't get any better than BFD and it's worth the investment.
Seriously, right now drums just doesn't get any better than BFD and it's worth the investment.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 195 posts since 6 Mar, 2005 from Toronto
Do I need to buy a sampler such as Kontakt to run these? I currently only have SFz free version for soundfonts. Otherwise I have the sampler that comes with GPO but I do not think that it accepts other samples.soniccouture wrote:also try our VA drums - sounds as good as BFD, but there's no loops and patterns etc. its simple and effective.
there are audio demos here..
http://www.soniccouture.com/pages/drums.htm
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- KVRAF
- 3384 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
BFD rocks, from everything I've heard, and I looove the sound of the free demo from CM. I lust to buy it one day. But -- It IS expensive. Also pretty demanding of your hardware.
I'd encourage you to get JamStix, including the add-on packs (especially the Brush Pack), if you're doing rock or pop. You're going to eventually need it anyhow, if you want realistic, non-programmed-electronica-sounding drum tracks. And it has maps for BFD, if you decide to take that plunge. They sound amazing together.
I hate to sound all dogmatic, but it's an absolutely essential tool if you're trying to sound 'real', and don't have the expertise or patience to program every single hit of your drum tracks.
Then, take a look at DK+. Extremely inexpensive, has a plethora of great-sounding add-on packs that are ridiculously cheap or free, as well as free downloadable mappings for NSKit, and -- the ability to easily load your own sample collection as velocity-layered full kits, as well as having even more built-in patterns.
And plays well with JamStix. Together, unless you just have an emotional need to spend lots of money, they'll keep you going for several years.
Take care,
GreyLion
I'd encourage you to get JamStix, including the add-on packs (especially the Brush Pack), if you're doing rock or pop. You're going to eventually need it anyhow, if you want realistic, non-programmed-electronica-sounding drum tracks. And it has maps for BFD, if you decide to take that plunge. They sound amazing together.
I hate to sound all dogmatic, but it's an absolutely essential tool if you're trying to sound 'real', and don't have the expertise or patience to program every single hit of your drum tracks.
Then, take a look at DK+. Extremely inexpensive, has a plethora of great-sounding add-on packs that are ridiculously cheap or free, as well as free downloadable mappings for NSKit, and -- the ability to easily load your own sample collection as velocity-layered full kits, as well as having even more built-in patterns.
And plays well with JamStix. Together, unless you just have an emotional need to spend lots of money, they'll keep you going for several years.
Take care,
GreyLion
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 195 posts since 6 Mar, 2005 from Toronto
Sorry- what is DK+GreyLion wrote:BFD rocks, from everything I've heard, and I looove the sound of the free demo from CM. I lust to buy it one day. But -- It IS expensive. Also pretty demanding of your hardware.
I'd encourage you to get JamStix, including the add-on packs (especially the Brush Pack), if you're doing rock or pop. You're going to eventually need it anyhow, if you want realistic, non-programmed-electronica-sounding drum tracks. And it has maps for BFD, if you decide to take that plunge. They sound amazing together.
I hate to sound all dogmatic, but it's an absolutely essential tool if you're trying to sound 'real', and don't have the expertise or patience to program every single hit of your drum tracks.
Then, take a look at DK+. Extremely inexpensive, has a plethora of great-sounding add-on packs that are ridiculously cheap or free, as well as free downloadable mappings for NSKit, and -- the ability to easily load your own sample collection as velocity-layered full kits, as well as having even more built-in patterns.
And plays well with JamStix. Together, unless you just have an emotional need to spend lots of money, they'll keep you going for several years.
Take care,
GreyLion
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- KVRist
- 38 posts since 1 Dec, 2005
I'm not trying to take away from the power of good samples (and I admittedly don't have experience with Jamstix, BFD, etc... so I don't know how powerful the "groove creation" tools or whatever are) but I think that almost undoubtedly, the biggest problem is the drum programming, and not the samples you're using. I think that trying to learn to "think like a drummer" and getting better at programming drum tracks as opposed to just spending a bunch of money, hoping to alleviate the problem.
A well programmed track using one of the really good free kits out there is going to sound very good. I won't say that it will sound AS good as BFD, DFHS, or a real drummer, but clever/solid drum sequencing skills go a LOT farther than most people would probably imagine.
That said, if Jamstix, or the built in groove stuff in something like BFD is very good, then using that will give you a very huge, immediate boost in quality. I still think though, if you're going that route, that learning more and more about programming/sequencing is invaluable.
As for actual samples: if you poke around here, you can find a nice selection of good free kits. The sonicimplants kits (some of them) actually sound fairly convincing, if you want to give those a shot... don't exactly break the bank.
As for BFD and DFHS, I've been torn on that decision for months, and have been listening to demos non stop, reading reviews, etc. If and when I do end up picking one of them up, it will almost certainly be BFD. Both seem to be pretty sweet though.
A well programmed track using one of the really good free kits out there is going to sound very good. I won't say that it will sound AS good as BFD, DFHS, or a real drummer, but clever/solid drum sequencing skills go a LOT farther than most people would probably imagine.
That said, if Jamstix, or the built in groove stuff in something like BFD is very good, then using that will give you a very huge, immediate boost in quality. I still think though, if you're going that route, that learning more and more about programming/sequencing is invaluable.
As for actual samples: if you poke around here, you can find a nice selection of good free kits. The sonicimplants kits (some of them) actually sound fairly convincing, if you want to give those a shot... don't exactly break the bank.
As for BFD and DFHS, I've been torn on that decision for months, and have been listening to demos non stop, reading reviews, etc. If and when I do end up picking one of them up, it will almost certainly be BFD. Both seem to be pretty sweet though.
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- KVRAF
- 3384 posts since 21 May, 2004 from Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas
Yes, learning to program is good, but --- if you don't want to spend the many hours necessary *before* you can even make a good drum track, JamStix will do 99% of the work for you.
And, you can check out DK+ beginning here - http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1507.html
It's $38, fer cryin' out loud. Your kids can skip a few meals, right?
Their support forum is on KVR here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29
Both programs are easy to use at the beginning, sound excellent, work well and are stable, and reward you for learning to dig into their hidden powers.
And, you can check out DK+ beginning here - http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1507.html
It's $38, fer cryin' out loud. Your kids can skip a few meals, right?
Their support forum is on KVR here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29
Both programs are easy to use at the beginning, sound excellent, work well and are stable, and reward you for learning to dig into their hidden powers.