Educate me about drum software (vst questions)

[Lefty Geek]

I have a simple mission: get a software based drum-machine to practice at home and help with songwriting. I don't need to record entire tunes by myself at home. I want to practice, not program beats, so I need a program that has tons of patterns already installed. But I also want to edit the beats if I have something in mind!

So I tried a couple of standalone drum software like Beatcraft, FruityLoops, RhythmRascal and Hydrogen, but I didn't care for any of them. Beatcraft would have been perfect if it had premade patterns. I had no idea what was going on in FruityLoops.

So now I am looking into VST drums. I don't have any DAW software, so I am not pleased having to spend money on software I don't need. I already use Audacity for simple recording. But how do VST drums work? Are they just MIDI grooves that trigger drum samples? All the sequencing is done in the DAW? If you change the parameters (such as mic placement), what gets altered: the sample or the MIDI? If I have some DAW software and a drum VST, can I use any MIDI pattern I have?

Any online info or tutorials on VST, specifically drums?

What is the cheapest DAW just to use as a host for VST drums? I found Reaper which is $40. Good enough?

Sorry for the basic but vague questions!

 

[hunta]

Yea the VST programs are basically samplers with drum libraries that are triggered by midi tracks in your sequencer of choice. Toontrack's ezdrummer sounds kind of like what you're looking for, but not sure if it's in the price range you want. The basic package is like $160. It has a bunch of preset patterns you can mix and match to make parts.

If you change the parameters (such as mic placement), what gets altered: the sample or the MIDI?

It's contained within the VST software. Like with Battery you can have say 10 different samples for a snare drum in one of the preset kits, all triggered by different velocities in the midi track. So if you modify something like that it's saved in the VST settings for that audio project, or you can save a new kit preset and use it with another song. None of the samples or audio files are ever altered.

If I have some DAW software and a drum VST, can I use any MIDI pattern I have?

Yes although you will have to change the notes so they correspond to the proper drum in your VST software.

What is the cheapest DAW just to use as a host for VST drums? I found Reaper which is $40. Good enough?

Never used it, but it sounds like it would work. Anyone got experience with it? I'm a Cubase man.

You may want to look into something like Acid and some drum loop CD's. That's the quick and easy way to have drums to jam on, and loop CD's can be like $10-$30 I think. VST drum software is generally used for programming your own beats. It's a steep learning curve to get what you want out of your drum parts as well I keep doing more and more drum programming and I'm always learning. It's a time consuming process even if you're really good at it: Finding the right kit, programming each individual drum hit, tweaking sounds, possibly doing beat slicing (Recycle)...

 

[Lefty Geek]

You may want to look into something like Acid and some drum loop CD's. That's the quick and easy way to have drums to jam on, and loop CD's can be like $10-$30 I think.

I downloaded Sony Acid Music Studio 7 last night and I have been playing with it. I found editing patterns in a music roll very tiresome, especially since I don't want to program beats. Acid drum loops are just audio files, correct? That means they can't be edited. How do they react to tempo changes?

MS7 is only $60, worth it?

VST drum software is generally used for programming your own beats. It's a steep learning curve to get what you want out of your drum parts as well I keep doing more and more drum programming and I'm always learning. It's a time consuming process even if you're really good at it: Finding the right kit, programming each individual drum hit, tweaking sounds, possibly doing beat slicing (Recycle)...

That is precisely what I want to avoid. Not only do I not have the time to program beats, but I don't know anything about drumming! Well, besides kick on the 1,3 and snare on the 2,4.

 

[hunta]

Acid drum loops are just audio files, correct? That means they can't be edited. How do they react to tempo changes?

MS7 is only $60, worth it?

Yea they're just audio. AFAIK they react well to tempo changes. I tried Acid a long time ago, realized it didn't do what I wanted, and haven't used it since. $60 is probably a good deal for it if it does what you want. For practicing purposes I think of Acid as just a drum machine with really good preset beats, that you can mix and match.

I can't say I know a whole lot about drumming either I started out doing programming by just diddling around until I had something that sounded reasonable. If I wanted to do something in a different style and I couldn't make it work, I'd play along with a CD and my midi keyboard until I got the feel down. My housemate now has an electronic drumkit I really need to mess around with and learn how to play properly

 

[chrisp2u]

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[jenderfazz]

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Seconded. Easy to use and sounds pretty good.