I'm not Adam, but last year I got obsessed with drum software. I tried a demo of one of those programs and it was so much fun to play along with! I was suddenly jamming and practicing for hours, and in an engaged and enthusiastic way.
That first demo was Addictive Drums. The demo is not time limited -- it's just a very basic (but good sounding) 5 piece kit, that you can tweak in a million ways to make it sound how you want it too. The demo beats were limited too, but it was enough to have lots of fun with.
I then researched all the other brands/apps I could afford: EZDRummer, Kitcore (from Drumcore) and probably a couple more. This year the new budget kid on the block is BFD Eco.
I started by buying Kitcore, which is a very basic interface, but with a ton of pre-configured kits. It's not as customizable as the others, and some of the sounds don't appeal to me. But for the price, it offered a ton of variety for little money. And it had some latin and jazz grooves included, which I wanted very much. I had fun with it for a while.
Then I heard EZDrummer's Jazz expansion -- wow! I'm a jazzer from way back, and this was the most convincing automated jazz drumming I'd ever heard, so I snapped this up.
I've recently bought their Latin expansion too, and it's just as terrific! Very realistic -- both the grooves and the sounds.
I considered saving my pennies and getting Addictive Drums, but I was also pining for fxpansion's flagship BFD ($$$), which did everything Addictive Drums did, but also gave you an incredible, completely programmable interface. Design your own beats, import your own sounds -- it's the "ne plus ultra" of drum software.
Eventually I saw BFD on sale for $300 and bit the bullet. Love the program. Love some of the sounds. However, I have to say, I was surprised at how many of the drum sounds I don't like. The recording quality is beyond reproach. But a lot of them sound like they were chosen and tuned by technicians, not real drummers.
Anyway, I mostly stick to a couple of kits I've put together, and enjoy the hell out of the programming and mixing flexibility.
I also bit for Abby Road 70s drums -- nice convincing classic drums. But not so convenient for practicing, cuz there're no grooves with it.
Today when I practice I go back and forth between BFD and EZDrummer (for jazz and latin), and I'm a very happy bass player!
If I was independently wealthy though, I would probably pick up Ken Scott's Epik Drums -- the most luscious and realistic collection of classic (old style) drum kits and grooves I've ever heard!
