Drum machine for odd time signature stuff

Tahoebrian5

Fractal Fanatic
Can you guys recommend a good drumming program for writing metal with odd time signatures ala dream theatre or tool type beats. Ideally it would have a great library of beats and fills that could be used as well as the ability to easily create custom beats.. And of course sound good.
 
Still looking. Was not ver impressed with the XLN intro vids. EZdrummer looks cool but I'm not sure if it would work for complex off time beats. I'm thinking I will need a sequencer to get what's in my head into a drum track. Thoughts?
 
Still looking. Was not ver impressed with the XLN intro vids. EZdrummer looks cool but I'm not sure if it would work for complex off time beats. I'm thinking I will need a sequencer to get what's in my head into a drum track. Thoughts?
:encouragement:
That's probably right. I've tried to find patterns in EZD2 without much luck, so i imagine odd time signatures would be even harder to find.
I find it about as easy to play the drum parts into a sequencer (Sonar) using keyboard or D-Drums.
 
Still looking. Was not ver impressed with the XLN intro vids. EZdrummer looks cool but I'm not sure if it would work for complex off time beats. I'm thinking I will need a sequencer to get what's in my head into a drum track. Thoughts?

EZ drummer 2 can do whatever you want it to . what about it makes you think it wont work ? if your running it as a VST it will follow your DAW ,so its only limited by that .

whatever you get you'll need to program from scratch for odd stuff

if you want more sound options go superior drummer
 
I've spent quite a bit of time checking out ezdrummer 2. It looks pretty darn good and I'm going to definitely use it. But the one thing that seems to be missing is the ability to export the beats into a full featured step sequencer, or build your own bests this way. I'm wondering how to set this up so I can maybe use another program for when I need the step sequencer. And also, should I pick a daw and use this as a plug in? Or use it stand alone and import beats when I'm ready? I've been using Auria on my iPad which is pretty nice actually but I think I'm going to switch over to a work station. Anyway, just rambling now.. Let me know what you guys think.
 
You'll need to use it with a DAW or else install an ASIO driver (asio4all works well for me) to use it standalone. Otherwise the latency will be horrible [emoji22]

You can export and import midi files, so I think you should not have a problem using some sort of other midi sequencer software for that.

You can "play" beats into it via a keyboard controller or some other midi input device... But doesn't sound like that is what you are after?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
One of the coolest features about EZDrummer2 is that you can simply drag and drop the grooves you've created directly to a track in your DAW
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Full disclosure: I work for FXpansion.

But try BFD3 and the BFD Oblivion expansion pack. I was part of the team who recorded the pack (I tuned, played the drums, and engineered one of the processed kits!) - we were aiming it at prog-metal type stuff, and I'm a *massive* Tool fan (keep the jokes to yourselves!)

In BFD3, you can program beats very easily, in any time signature you like, and we have a groove library which you can edit to your hearts content and then drag to your DAW as audio or midi.

There is also a cool feature in the groove editor called the rudiment tool - great for creating fills and polyrhythmic stuff!
 
Full disclosure: I work for FXpansion.

But try BFD3 and the BFD Oblivion expansion pack. I was part of the team who recorded the pack (I tuned, played the drums, and engineered one of the processed kits!) - we were aiming it at prog-metal type stuff, and I'm a *massive* Tool fan (keep the jokes to yourselves!)


Thanks for the heads up. I've done a bit of searching. Do you have any links to videos showing how the rudiments tool works? I'd like to see the work flow and sequencer in progress too. Sounds really cool.
In BFD3, you can program beats very easily, in any time signature you like, and we have a groove library which you can edit to your hearts content and then drag to your DAW as audio or midi.

There is also a cool feature in the groove editor called the rudiment tool - great for creating fills and polyrhythmic stuff!

Sounds really cool. Do you have a link to any videos showing the rudiments tool and sequencer or general work flow for building songs?
 
Alright, after many hours of scouring the interweb, I think bfd3 is the ticket for me. I tried the ezdrummer2 demo. While it's probably great for mainstream stuff, it's not even close to versatile enough for what I have in mind. There wasn't even a single 7/8 beat so the first thing I tried to do.. Instantly shut down. I'm pretty sure I'll need to sequence most of my beats from scratch to get close to what I'm hearing in my head. Next task... Decide on a daw. So many choices it's overwhelming.
 
EZDrummer2 has an odd time midi pack. People who struggle to find tons of beats have to realize that there are only so many included with the program (although that is a lot!!!) the key is having the various midi packs that are available. Here's a link with sound samples etc. and there are 7/8 grooves. Also any grooves you have from any supplier can be put into the program as well.

https://www.toontrack.com/product/monster-midi-pack-2-odd-meters/
 
Can these midi packs also be used with bfd3? I like the idea of being able to use recorded midi bears because I'm sure they will be better than anything I can sequence, but I really need the sequencer too for the really specific parts. Being able to use a combo of both seems ideal
 
Can you guys recommend a good drumming program for writing metal with odd time signatures ala dream theatre or tool type beats. Ideally it would have a great library of beats and fills that could be used as well as the ability to easily create custom beats.. And of course sound good.

You might want to check out OddGrooves for great MIDI beats and Drumasonic2 for real drum sound.
 
Can these midi packs also be used with bfd3? I like the idea of being able to use recorded midi bears because I'm sure they will be better than anything I can sequence, but I really need the sequencer too for the really specific parts. Being able to use a combo of both seems ideal

They can be used with BFD3, provided you use the correct key map layout within BFD3. I use EZD2 and BFD3 together quite a bit, grabbing beats from EZD2 and dragging them to the timeline, and then directing the midi at BFD3.
 
They can be used with BFD3, provided you use the correct key map layout within BFD3. I use EZD2 and BFD3 together quite a bit, grabbing beats from EZD2 and dragging them to the timeline, and then directing the midi at BFD3.
Great, thanks Andy. Awesome looking product you've got, and the rudiment tool looks really awesome!
 
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