Drums & Drum Machines

ZenOvertone

What are you all using for drum tracks for songwriting, loop based options or drum machine?  

octatonic

If I can't play acoustic drums for some reason then I sequence it in Superior Drummer.

ZenOvertone

Does Superior Drummer have a VST into your DAW of choice?

MagicPigDetective

I quite fancy a Teenage Engineering PO12, a calculator sized drum machine to produce simple beats for pedal board playing and looping.
This video's a good example of it being used:

https://youtu.be/U3oy7FNeRaU

spark240

I had AD drums from ages,....just couldnt get on with it...trying EZ drummer 2 now which seems much more user friendly

Musicwolf

Superior Drummer 3 in Cubase.

octatonic

ZenOvertone said:

Does Superior Drummer have a VST into your DAW of choice?

Yes.

stratman3142

I've got a variety of drum VSTs each with their own loops, but a great addition is Groove Monkey Megapack which works with all of the well known brands. 
https://groovemonkee.com/

Sometimes I program from scratch. I've also got a book called Drummer's Bible which is good for copying ideas for programmed parts.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drummers-Bible/dp/1937276198/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Bill_S

This is a free and therefore a “no risk” option. I have a number of the higher end drum VSTs including BFD3, but this often gets the job done. I love the fact that fills are matched with the first three bars automatically:

https://www.powerdrumkit.com/

Strangefan

I use a tr8s  truly a power house of a  drum machine 

ZenOvertone

Thanks all for the info, I have an old Roland TR606, Boss DR5 and a Zoom RT323 but want to go down more of the software route now for speed :-) 

Fuengi

MagicPigDetective said:

I quite fancy a Teenage Engineering PO12, a calculator sized drum machine to produce simple beats for pedal board playing and looping.
This video's a good example of it being used:

https://youtu.be/U3oy7FNeRaU

I've just bought a Volca Sample for this very thing. Works great either through my looper or straight into the amp on the second input. 

MagicPigDetective

Fuengi said:

MagicPigDetective said:

I quite fancy a Teenage Engineering PO12, a calculator sized drum machine to produce simple beats for pedal board playing and looping.
This video's a good example of it being used:

https://youtu.be/U3oy7FNeRaU

I've just bought a Volca Sample for this very thing. Works great either through my looper or straight into the amp on the second input. 

Very interesting.... I have been looking at Korg monotrons, but the Volca looks a step up. I want some thing to make simple lofi/ambienty beats to play along to an loop. How easy/complicated is it to figure out? 

Cirrus

BFD3

Strangefan

ZenOvertone said:

Thanks all for the info, I have an old Roland TR606, Boss DR5 and a Zoom RT323 but want to go down more of the software route now for speed :-) 

Have you thought about the arturia spark,, vst and has its own controller so much faster than on screen only 

WiresDreamDisasters

I use BFD3 of course. But also Superior Drummer 3, Native Instruments Battery and Polyplex, and also Reason 10 which has a ton of drum stuff in it - REDRUM is a classic for me.

Fuengi

MagicPigDetective said:

Fuengi said:

MagicPigDetective said:

I quite fancy a Teenage Engineering PO12, a calculator sized drum machine to produce simple beats for pedal board playing and looping.
This video's a good example of it being used:

https://youtu.be/U3oy7FNeRaU

I've just bought a Volca Sample for this very thing. Works great either through my looper or straight into the amp on the second input. 

Very interesting.... I have been looking at Korg monotrons, but the Volca looks a step up. I want some thing to make simple lofi/ambienty beats to play along to an loop. How easy/complicated is it to figure out? 

That's exactly what I want it for. The sequencer is dead easy, even a luddite like me can work that out. I'm getting into song mode which is slightly more complicated but still just some button pressing.

Basically, if you've never used one of these things before - as I hadn't - you call up a preset sound, alter it with a few tweaks of some knobs then put it in a 16 step sequence as many times as you want. Add more sounds and set it playing.

The trickiest thing was making sure my guitar loop was spot on with the beat otherwise they start to drift apart. I bought a 3.5mm to 1/4 inch adapter so I could take it into my amp or pedal board. 

Brilliant fun. The Drum or the FX also look good for this type of thing and all cost less than most pedals. 

MagicPigDetective

Fuengi said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Fuengi said:

MagicPigDetective said:

I quite fancy a Teenage Engineering PO12, a calculator sized drum machine to produce simple beats for pedal board playing and looping.
This video's a good example of it being used:

https://youtu.be/U3oy7FNeRaU

I've just bought a Volca Sample for this very thing. Works great either through my looper or straight into the amp on the second input. 

Very interesting.... I have been looking at Korg monotrons, but the Volca looks a step up. I want some thing to make simple lofi/ambienty beats to play along to an loop. How easy/complicated is it to figure out? 

That's exactly what I want it for. The sequencer is dead easy, even a luddite like me can work that out. I'm getting into song mode which is slightly more complicated but still just some button pressing.

Basically, if you've never used one of these things before - as I hadn't - you call up a preset sound, alter it with a few tweaks of some knobs then put it in a 16 step sequence as many times as you want. Add more sounds and set it playing.

The trickiest thing was making sure my guitar loop was spot on with the beat otherwise they start to drift apart. I bought a 3.5mm to 1/4 inch adapter so I could take it into my amp or pedal board. 

Brilliant fun. The Drum or the FX also look good for this type of thing and all cost less than most pedals. 

 Sounds ideal. Another item on the gas list, thanks man! 

andy_k

SSD 5.5 is a free demo version, good sounding basic kits. I think some loops are included.

Wonky

I use both Superior Drummer 3 and Native Instruments Abbey Road (all variants).  The NI stuff sounds great with very little messing, but the SD3 sounds better, but with a lot more messing.

pintspiller

At the moment I use the free MT Powerkit VST, but may try Spitfire LABS or Slate Drums which are either free or have a limited free version.

For a long time I used to steal drums off midi files and play them in Synthfont, exporting them as a wav. Which was far too involved for me.

Back in my four-track cassette days I recorded the drums from a Yamaha keyboard I had.