Looking for Drum VST recommendations/experiences

[(blacklight)]

Hi,

Looking for suggestions & input about people’s preferences on drum VST’s

I’m looking to create acoustic drums tracks for playing guitar (prog/folk/krautrock/Motorik/70’s rock style) with and also for creating my own acoustic drum breaks for looping but being able to create variations which is something I struggle with making sound authentic.

I’m no finger drummer so appropriate grooves & midi would be a huge help and happy to get additional packs if someone has a good range.

I’ve got various plugins (like XLN’s excellent XO) that seem to cover off the Drum Machine side of things.

I’ve got Komplete 12 with Studio/Abbey Road drummer so would be interested in what people make of the rest of the range vs things like EZdrummer for example.

Many thanks

[LocalTrack19]

I have XLN Addictive Drums 2 VST and very happy with it. I have the Reel Machines (classic 80s drum machines) but also the Funk and the Studio Rock ADPaks, they provide me everything I need

[(blacklight)]

I have XLN Addictive Drums 2 VST and very happy with it. I have the Reel Machines (classic 80s drum machines) but also the Funk and the Studio Rock ADPaks, they provide me everything I need

Thanks for this, AD2 seems very well respected but I wasn’t sure about the interface but I’m sure this is something I could learn to live with. Do you feel there is enough in the Paks to keep things fresh and varied through songs?

[LocalTrack19]

I have XLN Addictive Drums 2 VST and very happy with it. I have the Reel Machines (classic 80s drum machines) but also the Funk and the Studio Rock ADPaks, they provide me everything I need

Thanks for this, AD2 seems very well respected but I wasn’t sure about the interface but I’m sure this is something I could learn to live with. Do you feel there is enough in the Paks to keep things fresh and varied through songs?

For me yes. XLN Audio also sells MIDIPaks, there are some pretty good loops and grooves in there. I do not do a lot of finger drumming myself but I usually program it manually or use the step sequencer in my DAW Studio One

[fese]

I only have addictive drums 2, which I think has a rather good interface, at least way better than any of those Kontakt drummers. I usually start with one of the provided base grooves and continue from there with editing.
I had an EZdrummer lite version several years ago, but I felt that AD (version 1 back then) was better. That might’ve changed, dunno.

[Ah_Dziz]

I've been using AD since it came out and I'm very happy about it. If you own kontakt then there are many very good kits for it that allow for vast manipulation of the sound. Drum drops is one of my favorites.

[simmo75]

You’ll find cheap AD licenses here in the buy and sell section too

[Halonmusic]

MT Power Drumkit
https://www.powerdrumkit.com/

[morelia]

I have or have had nearly all of them. I'd say save some time and get Superior Drummer 3. IMHO it is the full beast mode drum sampler and is relatively easy to use considering what is possible. Or if you want something easy to use for quick drum tracks that great get Addictive Drums. They both have a ton of drum packs so there is a pretty good chance you'll find what you want. Maybe check out the add ons to see which one might have the best range for your needs. I use AD for getting good sounding backing tracks together really quickly. For my own music I use SD so I can get the drums sounding exactly how I want.

[SLiC]

I have or have had nearly all of them. I'd say save some time and get Superior Drummer 3. IMHO it is the full beast mode drum sampler and is relatively easy to use considering what is possible.

I am the same, have a lot of DM's (XO, Drum Computer, STiX, Maschine etc) and SD3 is the one that gets used most. The others may be more fun and experimental, but SD3 gets the job done if you want a drum track from orchestral to electro!

[(blacklight)]

I have or have had nearly all of them. I'd say save some time and get Superior Drummer 3. IMHO it is the full beast mode drum sampler and is relatively easy to use considering what is possible. Or if you want something easy to use for quick drum tracks that great get Addictive Drums. They both have a ton of drum packs so there is a pretty good chance you'll find what you want. Maybe check out the add ons to see which one might have the best range for your needs. I use AD for getting good sounding backing tracks together really quickly. For my own music I use SD so I can get the drums sounding exactly how I want.

I had seen SD3 and thought that might be overkill for me? (Especially with a 250GB install - or is that installing *everything*). I’d been looking at EZDrummer which looks like a nice balance and I like the idea of the separate song arrangement and how they group by intro/chorus/verse etc

[Burillo]

to create realistic sounding drum tracks, you don't just need good sample library, you need to drive it with a good MIDI track. that's where Jamstix comes in - while it has its own sounds, you can pretty much disregard them, and concentrate on the fact that it allows you to very easily create life-like drum performances. i use it with SSD5 free version, and it simply sounds amazing.

Here's an example of what it can do: https://hearthis.at/guitar-jam.ru/02-tooling-up/

And this is not even me trying very hard, this drum performance was created literally in five minutes that i had inbetween tracks.

[(blacklight)]

to create realistic sounding drum tracks, you don't just need good sample library, you need to drive it with a good MIDI track. that's where Jamstix comes in - while it has its own sounds, you can pretty much disregard them, and concentrate on the fact that it allows you to very easily create life-like drum performances. i use it with SSD5 free version, and it simply sounds amazing.

Here's an example of what it can do: https://hearthis.at/guitar-jam.ru/02-tooling-up/

And this is not even me trying very hard, this drum performance was created literally in five minutes that i had inbetween tracks.

That’s a really great shout! I’d not come across that one at all and I like what you are saying about life like drumming. Currently everything I come up with is ‘static’ which is how I’ve came here for advice.

Also that’s a hell of a track you’ve shared there and I’ll check out SSD5 alongside Jamstix. Really appreciate that.

[Burillo]

no problem, Jamstix doesn't get nearly enough praise for what it is, and part of it is that the learning curve is so steep and it's so powerful and deep (i've been using it since version 2, so around ten years at this point...), and it has its fair share of rough edges. the alternative for Jamstix would be something like MeldaProduction MDrummer, but honestly i could never figure that one out.

[pdxindy]

If you happen to use Logic... Logic's Drummer works well for easy and responsive drum tracks.