Drums - Midi Controller
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Posted on Apr 10, 2010 03:50 pm
Jovhato
Music is everything
Member Since: Apr 01, 2010
OK guys, need your opinion again.
My choice for drums will either be;
Toontrack EZdrummer
or
XLN Audio Addictive Drums.
I'm leaning toward Addictive drums unless someone here has had a bad experience with them.
Also, what do you all use for a good, simple midi controller? I was thinking about a keyboard version, but this looks pretty cool for mostly drums, Akai Professional MPD18 USB MIDI Pad Controller.
www.guitarcenter.com/Akai...409-i1448782.gc
Any thoughts or other ideas? I'm looking for something decent but I'm just starting out and don't want to spend too much right away. These two should be my last two purchases for now :)
Thanks again,
Jovhato
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Apr 10, 2010 04:04 pm Not really sure on the software, i haven't used either really. (i use Toontracks superior drummer 2.0 however, really dig it!). But with some quick bored research, Addictive drums do look pretty friggin sweet though. And compared with EZD, definitely looks better. More kit options, has plenty drag and drop midi included as well. Ya, i'd say go addictive. They look pretty nice.
Controller, eh. I'd say get a keyboard simply because in the future, years down the road even, you'll be able to use it for more than just drums. VSTi's are only getting better. But for right now, that pad controller will be a little more intuitive and easier to work with, and for the price, you wouldn't be able to get that great of a MIDI controller anyway.
Thats my 2c
cruxTypo SzarMember
Since: Jul 04, 2002
Apr 11, 2010 04:26 am
My experience with both toontrackz and addictive is that addictive is more geared towards dance/hip hop, more synthesized drums wehre toontrack r more focus on realism. So thats the cal there, but seriously i hear so much toontracks nowadays i wouldnt get it personally just so i wouldnt have my recordings sound like everyone elses.
If ur lookin to get serious with ur programming then pads will definitely help, most ppl learn how to play them to the point of actually becoming pad drummers so that could be a cool skill
my 2 pence
J-botByte-MixerMember
Since: Dec 04, 2007
Apr 12, 2010 01:04 pm I've got both a keyboard controller, and more recently, a Korg PadKontrol ( great little drum pad controller) Reportedly, the PadKontrol is a little more responsive than the MPD line, (or was it the MPC pads?) particularly around the corners of the pads. Supposedly, Korg has Square-shaped sensors for the pads, where as Akai's sensors are circular, which would make sense for lack of response near the edges/corners of the pads.
Again, that's just hearsay, I don't know if it's true or not. But I'm definitely liking the PadKontrol. I just can't do drums on keyboard. :P
My main keyboard is an xboard 61, which in my opinion has great feeling keys. They should be relatively affordable what with the shortboard and longboard keyboards now being on the market. The xboard accepts both sustain and continuous (expression) pedals. At least I've got it working nicely with my EV-5 since I mapped the pedal to cc11.
The AKAI MPK keyboard controllers have built-in drumpads, which might work well for you. I think the pads are the same as the ones used on their MPC line of drumpad controllers. I'm not sure how responsive they are though. I've heard some minor gripes about them, but they might just be picky.
For software, i'm using Jamstix 2. (3 is coming out later this year) Great software, has a built-in AI which you can use to completely construct the grooves, or you can build your own from scratch as well. or you can supply a basic groove, and have the AI build off of that. Great software, but there's a bit of a learning curve. It can also act as a VST host for other drum software. (such as EZDrummer, FXpansion, etc.) So there's a lot of flexibility there. It's cheap too, being less than $100 Though it's geared more towards the acoustic drumkit sounds, you can run an electronic kit/VST through it if need be.
So there's a few more options for ya there. :)
JovhatoMusic is everythingMember
Since: Apr 01, 2010
Apr 13, 2010 07:43 am Thanks for all your inputs. I'm glad I found this forum and glad there are people willing to help others. I'll post my equipment once I'm done building, or at least once I'm done with my first build, since I doubt I'll never stop building :)
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Apr 13, 2010 12:19 pm Yep, heard a lot of good about jamstix. Don't overlook that one, they have a demo to try. I followed someone's tutorial to create a whole song (intro 2 bars, verse 4 bars, chorus 2 bars, etc) and it turned out pretty nice. You pick the drummer from the list, and they use their own style. Then you can edit their style too (more this, less that, etc).
I wouldn't have figured that part out on my own, so it's helpful to look through some tutorials to get acclimated.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Apr 13, 2010 12:21 pm Oh yeah, jamstix can host other programs drums sounds.
So for instance, some people would buy the steven slate kits, then use jamstix to run the AI brain stuff, but use SSD sounds, or AD sounds, etc.
Apr 13, 2010 12:24 pm Jamstix is awesomely fun.
Apr 21, 2010 11:10 pm I use toontrack superior drummer 2.0... For me it has more realistic sounding drums compared to other softwares I listened to... but keep in mind there is not many different drum sounds and you only get avatar studio samples ;)
For triggering I use yamaha ydd60 which is not bad but makes you feel limited when it comes to the number of triggers. I used to use a keyboard for playing drum tracks but for me i found it easier to play when u use a drum-like trigger... try one out and see how it feels :)
