Drum VSTs - how do you program your MIdI??

So I use Steven slate and the metal foundry (Sd2) for the most part and now that I am switching to Ableton Live 10 as my DAW I want to know how you guys program or compose your drums?

do you write them in tandem with your riffs and instrumentals, or do you factor them in later ? Or perhaps maybe you don Them first?

how do you program? Do you drag and drop grooves together ? Do you use a midi keyboard or drum set? Or do you manually type out using piano roll?

which drum VST is your favorite for metal and hard rock? I really love the metal foundry but XLN is really the best. I just couldn’t figure out how to get my DAW to stop crashing so I stuck with SD2 (metal foundry) and I also use Steven slate drums.

anyway please share your drum VST and Daw experience
 
I mainly use EZDrummer2 and will be upgrading to SSD3 soon. I bought GetGood Drums recently and while I love the sounds, Kontakt is way too unstable to use. It completely stopped allowing me to export 16 channels and will only give me a Surround option, despite whatever it is I select. I don’t have time to dick around with that when I already have something that I can open and start programming in seconds. Not to mention, their MIDI mapping (regardless of map setting) does not line up with the MIDI files I have. I’m primarily doing metal stuff.

When I write, I have a template in Logic I open, with several guitar tracks opened and an instance of EZDrummer. While I have TONS of drum MIDI’s, I 98% of what I do is written drum hit by drum hit and I only use the MIDI files for fills. Sure, it’s tedious, but finding a MIDI with the kick pattern I need is almost always a hopeless case. I’ve played drums almost as long as I’ve played guitar and actually enjoy playing drums more than anything else.

I use two monitors, one for Logic’s main tracking screen and the other is a bigger monitor I use for the piano roll where I write everything. Most everything starts off with a guitar riff or progression and then I’ll program the drum part for that section. More often than not, I’ll do the fills as I’m going, but occasionally I’ll finish an entire song with just the main beats/grooves then go back in after I’m done and write the fills (or drag them in from EZD). While EZD does have a section to add the drum tracks, I prefer to slide them right out of EZD’s browser and into the EZD track in Logic because I can then edit them in the piano roll immediately if I have to.

Once I’m done writing the whole song, I switch EZD from a stereo output to a 16 channel multitrack output and then bounce every drum to it’s own track so I can EQ/add effects to them individually. While the sounds are pretty decent on their own, I prefer to tweak most of them on their own.
 
I mainly use EZDrummer2 and will be upgrading to SSD3 soon. I bought GetGood Drums recently and while I love the sounds, Kontakt is way too unstable to use. It completely stopped allowing me to export 16 channels and will only give me a Surround option, despite whatever it is I select. I don’t have time to dick around with that when I already have something that I can open and start programming in seconds. Not to mention, their MIDI mapping (regardless of map setting) does not line up with the MIDI files I have. I’m primarily doing metal stuff.

When I write, I have a template in Logic I open, with several guitar tracks opened and an instance of EZDrummer. While I have TONS of drum MIDI’s, I 98% of what I do is written drum hit by drum hit and I only use the MIDI files for fills. Sure, it’s tedious, but finding a MIDI with the kick pattern I need is almost always a hopeless case. I’ve played drums almost as long as I’ve played guitar and actually enjoy playing drums more than anything else.

I use two monitors, one for Logic’s main tracking screen and the other is a bigger monitor I use for the piano roll where I write everything. Most everything starts off with a guitar riff or progression and then I’ll program the drum part for that section. More often than not, I’ll do the fills as I’m going, but occasionally I’ll finish an entire song with just the main beats/grooves then go back in after I’m done and write the fills (or drag them in from EZD). While EZD does have a section to add the drum tracks, I prefer to slide them right out of EZD’s browser and into the EZD track in Logic because I can then edit them in the piano roll immediately if I have to.

Once I’m done writing the whole song, I switch EZD from a stereo output to a 16 channel multitrack output and then bounce every drum to it’s own track so I can EQ/add effects to them individually. While the sounds are pretty decent on their own, I prefer to tweak most of them on their own.
Thanks for such an incredibly detailed and step by step post.

Do you have experience with other DAW’s or are you mainly only using Logic Primarily?
 
Thanks for such an incredibly detailed and step by step post.
t
Do you have experience with other DAW’s or are you mainly only using Logic Primarily?

First DAW I used was Sonar 7(?) back in the mid 00's, then Pro Tools for a couple years. I was frequently using GarageBand for throwing ideas down as I never had my own Pro Tools set up and when I decided to start recording on my own I figured I'd give Logic a shot because it was cheaper than Pro Tools and I was already used to a lot of the features. I love it and it'd be really hard to get me back to Pro Tools for my own studio.

Oh yeah, I just use a mouse or trackpad to program drums. Hopefully buying some V-Drums this year because I miss playing drums so much and it'll put an end to one-click-at-a-time programming.
 
Ages ago, I used Fruity Loops.

5 years ago, got the iMac and Logic, still poking things together in the piano roll.

Last year sometime, I discovered the AI drummers built into Logic. Still getting the hang of it, but it deffo sounds better than 90% of what I had programmed. Gotta find a way to convince one of the AI drummers to do a surf beat for one tune, but digging it so far. You can have it 'listen' to and follow a particular track, which really helps the track sound tight.
 
I really want Logic but I doubt my Mac can handle a DAW buffering recording

fruity loops is actually not bad either, but I’m definitely seeing some really unique things in ableton so I’m giving it a shot since I actuaply have a paid license hehe

I’m trying to use real time keyboard drumming on the drum pad of my keyboard and then going back to adjust , along with dragging and dropping mixed grooves

hey
Can anyone perhaps upload Th e grooves you have for metal/hard rock?( Like just midi ? If possible , please ?) that would be great really.

thanks

also bfd2 used to have automation for drums. Does anyone know how to have a DAW automate fills or different alternate grooves ?
 
Still a work in progress but I have gotten a bit better. I’ll usually start with a guitar riff idea and record it over a hi hat only. Then I’ll use ezdrummer and try tap 2 find to see if I can find a beat that works. If I do I’ll edit it a bit in ezdrummer, then drag it into reaper and finish dialing it in on the piano roll. If I can’t find anything close I’ll build one from scratch but they almost always sound better if it is “played“midi.
 
I've been more playing guitar lately, not much VSTs, but when I do the band in my head thing, I do drums on a keyboard mostly. I have a Korg PadKONTROL, but I never got to know it super well, and the pads are stiffer than I wish. I even have TrapKat setup (showing my age I know), but while I think I'm a decent pants-leg and tabletop-fingers drummer, turns out I totally suck at the whole multi-limb coordination thing.

Gotta sell some stuff.
 
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I “program” with sticks and pads. Dynamics are far better than pressing keyboard keys, pushing buttons or mousing around. In my opinion you can’t click and drag feel - well maybe you can but it takes too long.
 
I “program” with sticks and pads. Dynamics are far better than pressing keyboard keys, pushing buttons or mousing around. In my opinion you can’t click and drag feel - well maybe you can but it takes too long.
I am so coordinated I often trip over the pattern in carpet and fall up stairs, so programming via sticks and pads is a dog that just won't hunt.... :D
 
The bass sounds incredible on that first track. I wonder what he used?
I really want Logic but I doubt my Mac can handle a DAW buffering recording

hey
Can anyone perhaps upload Th e grooves you have for metal/hard rock?( Like just midi ? If possible , please ?) that would be great really.

Does anyone know how to have a DAW automate fills or different alternate grooves ?

You can tweak the buffering in Logic very easily to accommodate a lot of issues. I’m using a 2012 MacBook Pro (upgraded the RAM to 16G) and don’t run into any issues.

As far as uploading MIDI files, I’ve purchased all mine through the years and like IR’s, I’m not going to upload a product I paid for. However, if you do a Google search for “Free Drum MIDI files” you should come across a good amount.

I’m not sure if the last bit is possible.
 
I use a combo of things: keyboard, drum pad controller, and writing on piano roll. rarely use a midi loop and when I do it's more for inspiration and I modify it for fills and such.

When I first got started with midi drums, ages ago, I read a few books "drum patterns for musicians" and it taught me a lot.
I freq go on youtube and watch drum tutorials and try to either write what I hear on the piano roll or tap it out on the drum pads and massage it after.
I feel like learning drums has taught me a lot about guitar/bass. certainly makes me think about the kick drum for bass guitar.

afa sounds... kontakt, bfd, ezdrummer... the usual suspects. I like the ezdrummer stuff for metal, but hard to beat the kontakt kits for softer stuff.
 
You can tweak the buffering in Logic very easily to accommodate a lot of issues. I’m using a 2012 MacBook Pro (upgraded the RAM to 16G) and don’t run into any issues.

As far as uploading MIDI files, I’ve purchased all mine through the years and like IR’s, I’m not going to upload a product I paid for. However, if you do a Google search for “Free Drum MIDI files” you should come across a good amount.

I’m not sure if the last bit is possible.
Ok ill give it a shot
i really am starting to like ableton 10
i think its getting up there close to pro tools now
 
I use a combo of things: keyboard, drum pad controller, and writing on piano roll. rarely use a midi loop and when I do it's more for inspiration and I modify it for fills and such.

When I first got started with midi drums, ages ago, I read a few books "drum patterns for musicians" and it taught me a lot.
I freq go on youtube and watch drum tutorials and try to either write what I hear on the piano roll or tap it out on the drum pads and massage it after.
I feel like learning drums has taught me a lot about guitar/bass. certainly makes me think about the kick drum for bass guitar.

afa sounds... kontakt, bfd, ezdrummer... the usual suspects. I like the ezdrummer stuff for metal, but hard to beat the kontakt kits for softer stuff.
Bfd2 had an automation writer tool

does anyone know more about it and if they exist in the new version ?
 
I program drums using the piano roll and the mouse, and I take my time modifying dynamics 'cause I don't have an electronic drum kit and I suck at drumming! :p

I use SSD5.5, the last update was pretty cool!
 
mostly played on pads/keys. sometimes i'll piano roll it. The new step sequencer in Logic is pretty sick, tbh, i've been playing around with it quite a bit
 
I’m using mostly slate and superior 3. I must say the Akai MPD changed my life. Far better than a piano to tap out drum parts. I have an entire bank dedicated to high hat articulations and it’s mapped out for the easiest performance. Took a little doing and learning but I’ve completely stopped using drag and drop and now the drums are written to the song and not vice versa.
 
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