Realistic drum set? Am I missing something?

hi, there's an old Emagic 24bit stereo kit included - originally part of the wizoo library afair. 24bit does make some difference the the highs on the cymbals etc.

you should try the nomaf factory Analog series plugs.
just been using their channel strip on some tracking with DFH.
nice and subtle and can reduce some of the top in a nice way.
great mid band detail on the eq. for once, i can hear detail from snr hits while the mix is up. good price too.

Hi Jack (well, that's stopped me getting on any planes for a while...)

I'll agree with those talking up BFD - FXPansion get my money for those beauties. Oh, they already have. Their expansion kits are good too, and they all allow you to split each instrument mic out to separate Aux tracks (Logic 7.2.2.3.2.1.2.3.3 or whatever we're on now even lets you mix it up with the dual kit option of BFD - cool). What this all means is you can EQ and effect kick in and out, snare top & bottom, room, overheads etc etc and BFD even allows you to move the position of the overhead and room mics. Pretty cool stuff in all. Just don't ask me how to do it all right now 'cos I've been working my preverbial off today at my real job and my head feels like it's floating somewhere over the Atlantic and considering I've taken nothing to get it there, something ain't cooking right in my kitchen.

Oh, back to topic, BFD sounds good too.

Has anyone done a head to head between BFD or DKFH, and the Drum refill that comes with Reason, how they match up sound wise, easy of use, cpu usage etc. etc. Of course you can rewire Reason into Logic and work from your own arrange screen, and I think you can rewire BFD, I'm not clear on DKFH.

Les Beshears

in the content that came with logic there is an esx folder (open an esx instance) and i think the folder with the esx stuff that comes with logic is called 'factory'. its in there. doesn't sound half bad i must say. put some SD on it and blend it in to a mix. sounds really good.

TOTALLY!

and it works well, but...........when you add reasons cpu use to what the average logicpro user uses......well, it's pretty high..

that is the ONLY reason I don't have the drum refill.........if it was a "plug" instead of rewire, I'd be on that flight for sure!

There are some really really intuitive/realistic things about the reason version...........

Unlike reason, NOT UB'S yet.......

no true release date set..........

If they go UB, they are a great option!

Yeah,

for ub's, again, you'll rule out any toontrack for the time being.

Now, BFD works really well in UB, and it's really the best for sitting in the "Mix" I guess what I mean by that is if you listen to it on it's own.......it may not sound as good as the dkfh stuff.........but........usually (and this has been echo'ed by many many many) in a mix, it sound fantastic! But, it's a monster......it required patience, and cpu and ram, and time...........ok, that's not the "popular" answer.......but it is a great program.

Now, reason's refill is just sick. But again, there is the cpu issue cause it's rewire.......so......I'll try to make sense of this.......it's the logic stuff/cpu PLUS the reason rewire stuff! It's pretty taxing......

Someone mentioned RMX. This is a really good choice. Oh, it takes some time to get the hang of the power.......but it's nicer on the cpu in most instances. I use almost all the time now since it's .....well.....easier! And yes, backbeat and retrofunk are the ones to start off with. Although, for 25 bucks, if you do RMX, get the katrina relief pack.......it's worth allot more than that. Just remember, RMX is rex file based, it's not for everyone:)

BTW, sorry to have confused you with the original poster, just noticed after last post you are NOT ub's........

DKFH or custom/vintage are the most tweakable/fine tuneable Vdrums available. Also, they include brushes (and maybe even rods.....can't remember that fo' sure) where as you have to get jazz/funk or XFL with bfd to have those.

Cpu is high, as with all of the vdrums.........

You'll get about a 50/50 split with one side being bfd, the other being dkfh........I'm not sure where the reason refill sit's with "insiders" lol.........IMHO, it should sit pretty pretty high.........

To sum, it's like this. If you have reason, the refill is a no-brainer. With the combinator and the users "knowledge" of reason, it's a great addition to ANYONES setup:) If you don't have reason......

dkfh breaks down on it's own. It has brushes and esoterik sounds included.....and it PLUS cust/vint would be about the same as buying bfd and an add-on.

BFD seems to be the studio choice. It never fails to blow my mind at how it sounds "in the mix" Sorry, it's harder for me to explain than to "hear" You'll have to get an addon for brushes/etc.......BUT, I believe fxpansion to be a very very very VERY accessible group. Maybe because I've beta tested for them I'm biased.......but I believe they are better at the "human" eliment personally.

imac 2.0 cored Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1.5 ram/motu traveler

I'm a DFH Superior user. It rocks, but the install is scary.

I think eZ Drummer from Toontrack seems to have sorted out that problem.

All these CPU hoggers need either lots of RAM or serious disk streaming.

Playing/Programming without V Drumkits

1) You have 4 limbs. Program accordingly!
2) Start by programming the hats, live, to the click. If you're a slow player then do it to a slower tempo and speed it up.
3) Put the Kick and Snare in next, at the same time. Important: If you are doubling up on the hats then you need to delete the hat as the snare is played, otherwise you'll end up sounding unrealistic. Do this in the matrix afterwards.
4) Add more cymbals than you think you need, remembering to delete the hats that 'coincide' for the reasons stated in 3). Cymbals on the snare are just as powerful as the 'standard' cymbal/kick at the beginning of a bar.
5) Stay away from quantize if you can - Let it give you inspiration, but go back and record it again if you like the groove. Small errors in timing go a long way towards making it sound real (within limits!)
6) Finally - Go back into your finished Drum track via the matrix and make sure that everything lines up - I don't mean rigid quantization here, I mean that a REAL drummer might be loose, but the cymbal/kick, kick/openhat, snare/cymbal combo will occur at the same time, so make sure they are glued to the same point in time.

Hope that helps!