Ultimate Studio Drums II: The Sequel - GB Discussion Thread

[Squids]

We lowered the price of the next threshold to $109 instead of $119 just to make it feel that much sweeter when it gets there in just 4 people away. Then $105 and then $99. You can do it! The sooner you do the more bonus extras can start kicking in.

[looseidrummer]

am torn between getting the rest of the SSD expansions for the awesome price of $30 apiece (so $150 total) or getting these two GBs ($200 total). Anyone with pros or cons either way? I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

the SSD price is tempting but soundwise i see no comparison. Its cool that the Slate drums have some kits that mimic particular sounds but overall, from the demo's, they sound very "fake" i.e like electronic drums (imo) In contrast the drum masters and especially the ocean way drums sound super fat and real and can not only be tweaked to get a metal sound or whatever but many hybrid patch's are included that have already been tweaked, eq'd, effected and etc for a more processed sound. Not to mention the level of direct feedback and help you get from Squids is pretty much unprecedented. I recently got the new yamaha DTX-12 multi pad and when i had questions and problems and posted on the official yamaha dtx forum for that product do you think i got a response from anyone who even works for yamaha, much less the owner of the company!!!! i got no help but if you have a problem or question with the group buy Squids is seemingly on here 24/7 to help

[Sampleconstruct]

So we are at 99 now. Who wants to be in at 100? Come on everybody, get those Kits!

[Squids]

am torn between getting the rest of the SSD expansions for the awesome price of $30 apiece (so $150 total) or getting these two GBs ($200 total). Anyone with pros or cons either way? I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

the SSD price is tempting but soundwise i see no comparison. Its cool that the Slate drums have some kits that mimic particular sounds but overall, from the demo's, they sound very "fake" i.e like electronic drums (imo) In contrast the drum masters and especially the ocean way drums sound super fat and real and can not only be tweaked to get a metal sound or whatever but many hybrid patch's are included that have already been tweaked, eq'd, effected and etc for a more processed sound. Not to mention the level of direct feedback and help you get from Squids is pretty much unprecedented. I recently got the new yamaha DTX-12 multi pad and when i had questions and problems and posted on the official yamaha dtx forum for that product do you think i got a response from anyone who even works for yamaha, much less the owner of the company!!!! i got no help but if you have a problem or question with the group buy Squids is seemingly on here 24/7 to help

Thanks. I appreciate the appreciation and each person is entitled to their opinion... naturally yours is in our favor so to fully show my true objective point of view I can say the following about SSD:

1. Steven and his team seem to be very good at responding directly to customers on forums too and Steve is the owner of his company. He might not be AS nuts as I am posting like a madman but he is accessible and personable. His support team with guys like Alex seem to be really great. I don't know from firsthand experience but just from what I've seen they are cool in that way.

2. It is true that the approach is different in that the sounds are already processed as opposed to the approach of Drum Masters where they are really kept as unprocessed as possible and OWD where the processing - if any - is very minimal and natural so that one could have an album quality sound AND a lot of flexibility to add processing. But, there is also a benefit to having samples that are already processed with cool outboard gear in the studio... it's also convenient. It's not the same having an already compressed kick and snare vs. a real time compressing kick and snare though. But it is also a matter of taste... some people prefer a sampled kick and snare already compressed and consistently punchy vs. the squeezing variable sound of real time compression... I usually prefer the second myself and I agree that is more like real drum sessions in the studio... but these days records are made all sorts of ways and the pre-processed drum replacement sort of sound is something that Steven is really into (they even made a cool drum replacement software for it) and that too is done on a lot of albums so... it's really a matter of taste. Less natural and more IN YOUR FACE. True, the natural kits with some savvy or hybrid kits with processing can be BOTH but and thus giving wider diversity but still at the end of the day the benefit is still going to be DIFFERENT flavors... afterall they are recorded by different people in different places with different gear.

So, to sum up, we're offering SSD because, well for one thing people do like it (as evidenced by the popularity of it... and of course at these prices I am sure they like it even more!) and it offers more flavor and more variation to choose from. It's all highly subjective so if people like what they see and hear, like the price (hard not to like that) then it's just another option. We're happy to be able to offer it! Know what i mean? But each person having their opinions about it... that's great. One thing for one person may not be the same for someone else.

I do like to see that people understand the benefits of the natural unprocessed approach though. I did that at a sacrifice of flash (except now we have that flash back in through presets with built-in effects... even if Kontakt's effects are not as good as the outboard gear of a good studio though... or not as good as T-RackS 3, Waves or UAD plug-ins... but the beauty to me IS using it as a SOURCE for use with that stuff... and is what I personally prefer over everything). But, us carrying other products one might think are competing shows that we don't think of it that way at all. We didn't do the natural approach to "one up" our competition with more flexibility. We did it simply because that's how we like to do it... and mostly for my own use how I would want it. If that's how you like it too then cool! We have plenty more of that coming too!

I think that was a very fair way to put it.

[luddite]

thanks thenumber23 for explaining how to get these pesky downloads - much appreciated!

Jeremy
esoundz jdavies

[thenumber23]

No problem, but I thank Allen at Sonic Reality who emailed me that information less than 11 minutes after I called asking the same thing

[Analyst69]

We lowered the price of the next threshold to $109 instead of $119 just to make it feel that much sweeter when it gets there in just 4 people away. Then $105 and then $99. You can do it! The sooner you do the more bonus extras can start kicking in.

I was procrastinating about ordering it (had full intention, just being slow), but saw the post above, and saw the group buy was at 100 so had to put my order in, be buyer 101 and push it into the next threshold. Now it's down to $109!

Obviously I'm amused by simple things (like being 101), but I'm in

[Squids]

Alright so I will tell a good story that is Jerry Marotta's. He's one of the drummers who is in this bundle so even though I've told this story before it will be new to some of you so here it goes. One of my faves. Jerry played for years with Peter Gabriel for most of his solo career. He played on albums like Security (with Shock the Monkey, Rhythm of the Heat...) and "Plays Live" which is a great live album classic and the earlier albums. But, Jerry being a session drummer had played on all sorts of other albums with other artists from Hall & Oats to 10,000 Maniacs to Dream Academy to Sarah Mclaughlin to the band ORLEANS which he was in (and has been voted one of the worst album covers ever... basically 4 or 5 shirtless men and he was one of them!!! There is a great book of bad album covers that is hilarious and I saw this one and laughed... and had a go at him for it and he laughed and said "Well...").

Anyway, Jerry also played with Paul McCartney (and apparently the conflict of touring with Paul and Gabriel needing him was one of the reasons he no longer plays with PG... but of course Manu Katche is also fantastic so Peter was never short on great drummers to work with either). So, the story is one that Jerry told me where he was at Paul's studio and messing around on an electric piano - I think perhaps a Wurly. He was working out something he was creating himself in between some sessions or something. No one asked him to. He was just drumming but on his own he was playing something and Paul came over and said "No, no man don't do that. Go to this chord" and picked up a guitar and worked on it with him for a few minutes suggesting different changes and bits. Then he pats Jerry on the back and says "That one was for free" and walks out of the room. Jerry was so excited and overwhelmed that he went off to go celebrate and later on he COMPLETELY forgot all of the parts! Not only the part Paul came up with but even his own were a mystery. So he says to me "Here I could have had a song co-written with Paul McCartney and I forgot it!!!!!". I just thought that was hilarious. There's a difference between playing drums with an artist you admire vs. actually sitting down and writing music (even if it is for 15 minutes) with that artist! That's even more rare... Also, Paul could have just said "No, no, get off my Wurly and get back on the drums!" but instead was really cool and made his day! But... guess it wasn't in the cards to have co-written a track with him. Then there's the question of who would have recorded it and released it anyway...

Speaking of that I will segue into something that reminds me of. Years ago I worked on a record with L. Shankar - Peter Gabriel's double violinist (he also played with Mahavishnu Orchestra, Phil Collins on Face Value... and many others). There's a very funny story about me sampling an album for that but I will only tell that if you want to hear it because I have told that story at least 5 times before... but it is one of the better sampling stories I've got. Instead I was just going to say that someone like L. Shankar who plays on other people's albums has some good connections to get people to play on HIS and on this album that I did drum programming and keys there was also Ginger Baker, Bono, The Edge and Phil Collins. So even with all of THAT the album didn't sell nuthin'. Released in utter obscurity. Good luck finding it. Even I don't have it and I was on it. I saw it in a record store once and should have bought it... I've never seen it again and couldn't even tell you the name. Maybe "Life" or something. Anyway, my point was that even if Jerry DID remember the song he wrote with Paul for 15 minutes doesn't mean it was going to be HEY JUDE... good chance it would have been released into utter obscurity too. But since it was the fish that got way I didn't want to burst his bubble. Better he think he almost had Sgt Peppers pt. 2 within his grasp in his mind.

In any case, I think Jerry is one of the best drummers in the world in terms of style and feel. Very organic and tribal. His kits in the Drum Masters collection are really unique and they have THREE snares in the kit. One of them is a Peter Erskine signature snare actually. That's included in this SEQUEL bundle. Also played with BRUSHES which I think are very nice sounding personally.

[bronxsound]

0-20=========== $149.00
21-50========== $139.00
51-100========= $129.00
101-150====== $109.00 <--- We are here
151-200======== $105.00
201 +========== $99.00
Number Currently Enrolled: 106
>>>>>>>JOIN HERE<<<<<<<
refer me @esoundz: lukianowicz

[standalone]

109

16 joined during the last 24 hours!.

[Reverend Rhythm]

I check the GB thread this morning... it's morning here. Anyway,I check the thread, and get some great surprises! First of all, 109 people signed up! Secondly, a cool price drop! And then a SquidsStory!


Looks like a nice day ahead.

[Squids]

Alright if you guys really want this thing to kick into high gear then let's collect any posts made outside of KVR that you've made. We're going to have to start making this more and more fun here.

Speaking of posts outside of KVR this thread has some interesting stuff in it: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/group-bu ... ost5146664

[hoth]

But, us carrying other products one might think are competing shows that we don't think of it that way at all. We didn't do the natural approach to "one up" our competition with more flexibility. We did it simply because that's how we like to do it... and mostly for my own use how I would want it. If that's how you like it too then cool! We have plenty more of that coming too!

I think that was a very fair way to put it.

Thanks Squids for taking the time to post. I'm in for both ultimate sets as the deal is just too great to pass up. I agree that after hearing everybody's opinion the two products don't seem to be in direct competition, but when your dollars are limited every purchase is competing with every other possible purchase. Anyway, big thanks to you and Esoundz for really caring about your customers.

[Squids]

But, us carrying other products one might think are competing shows that we don't think of it that way at all. We didn't do the natural approach to "one up" our competition with more flexibility. We did it simply because that's how we like to do it... and mostly for my own use how I would want it. If that's how you like it too then cool! We have plenty more of that coming too!

I think that was a very fair way to put it.

Thanks Squids for taking the time to post. I'm in for both ultimate sets as the deal is just too great to pass up. I agree that after hearing everybody's opinion the two products don't seem to be in direct competition, but when your dollars are limited every purchase is competing with every other possible purchase. Anyway, big thanks to you and Esoundz for really caring about your customers.

Thanks Hoth. Yeah, I mean, when there's a blow out for $20 it starts to make everyone get spoiled for a minute that this could somehow be reality but really that is just one of those shock value things and before you know it the price is back to normal (which is $99 for that! More realistic). As you can imagine there is a certain cost of creating these kinds of products and if a product like say Ocean Way Drums Gold is a thousand bucks it isn't made up out of nowhere or just to upcharge someone. Weeks spent at that studio alone cost a fortune and the only way we could even think of affording to do something like that was to do it in partnership WITH the owner of the studio himself, Allen Sides. In fact, he came to us instead of the other way around because I would never have thought he'd do it - especially engineering and even mixing the presets AT Ocean Way still with his incredible monitors and everything. So, just the fact that we have a DL Edition for $199 let a lone this one off opportunity to have done the $99 deal is amazing and also rare and temporary.

Drum Masters in a different way is just as crazy. There isn't one studio that is that posh but there are studios all over the world used for that one. Miami, Nashville, London, LA, New York... So to sell that for $99 is also not entirely realistic but there are upgrade paths to the rest of the series and Multitrack versions... overall somehow it works. But the value... no one should think this stuff can be done and just be $20 or even $99 necessarily... not without cutting some important corners which we just don't do here at SR (we don't record it on a cheap console instead of a Neve, API, EMI or other chain, we don't record it with regular everyday condenser mics instead of the best mics one could afford for a session... that defeats the whole purpose because we're not just doing this for the money as a business but we're also wanting to capture the real deal stuff I would want and others I know would and ask for).

Anyway, all of that is fine and good but I do realize that many people who are on a TIGHT budget need to just get whatever deal they can when it is offered and squeeze it in (or past their wife or husband). So, if someone is in that situation I am more than happy and glad we're able to offer great deals for our stuff and for others like OWD and SSD. I want everyone to be able to use our stuff and make music.

[Reverend Rhythm]

In the last year or so, it seems that $99 is a limit for most people. I remember paying a good bit more than that for a soft synth! But anyway, that's seems to be the current situation.

But with esoundz GBs we get so much more stuff for that $99! Value added for sure! And really, we're getting a "high end" product. I played one of the kits for a friend, and he exclaimed, "I can even hear the beater hitting the bass drum head!" You will be amazed at the quality.