EZ Drummer 3 Pre-Order NOW LIVE!

[simon]

7 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

The basic factory kits in many of the better drum programs will let you swap out one drum for another IN THE INCLUDED KIT. For me BFD 1&2 were like that.

EZD3 comes with 8 different kits included (18gig of data) - if you buy EZD2 now and get the free upgrade then you will have an additional 2...giving 10 kits in total.  I don't think that's unreasonable ?  More than any of the competitors ?

8 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

Plus, I don't think everyone is buying a new drum program because the GUI was improved. Relearning a reengineered drum GUI might take time and time in the studio is important. If I worked well in the old GUI why would I want another one?

maybe not 'everyone' but I suspect most people who use EZD2 are really looking forward the the new GUI

I can't possibly decide if EZD is value for money for you personally - but IMO it does feel like very good value to me and the upgrade price seems pretty reasonable too.

[Tim Smith]

16 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

For those of you have ez2 and SD2 or 3, do you enjoy ezD because of the patterns? For me, I don't use the patterns,  I'm only focused on the included kits. Like Simon, I own a bunch of ezD kits and like them. Sure, they're not as extensively sampled as SD kits, but I  think they're really nice for what they are. I suppose I should start trying different ways of working,  as I simply just play a part in and if I like it I use it, if I don't I play it again.  But I have bad tendinitis and can't play very well anymore,  so I  should try editing. 

Well ur a drummer and hats off to you guys! Everyone has different ways they like to work. I am probably an odd ball out, if I ever use a pattern I almost never leave it as is. I seldom like the pre baked loops, so I'll just load up something to keep the beat and add my cymbals where I can imagine an excited drummer hitting them, and yes, sometimes it might sound like the WHO. 4 to the floor is about as exciting as watching grass grow for me. As a non drummer I get to actually pretend I can play drums! Man how fun is that? OTOH prebaked loops are someone else's interpretation of pop. Yes I am a bit of a hypocrite here because I have a shed load of midi drum loops. I only like maybe 1% of them though.

What is an "expansion pak"?  It's a durned sampled drum kit mated to a midi loop. Places like the loop loft and groove monkey are inexpensive ways to add more personality to a kit. I have a ton of em'. That's now I realized that either I have very poor taste in drum rhythm or they all make terrible loops. It's probably the first one.?

Edited April 9, 2022 by Tim Smith

[Tim Smith]

7 minutes ago, simon said:

EZD3 comes with 8 different kits included (18gig of data) - if you buy EZD2 now and get the free upgrade then you will have an additional 2...giving 10 kits in total.  I don't think that's unreasonable ?  More than any of the competitors ?

I appreciate you pointing this out. I guess the question here is 18gigs of what? Certainly not unreasonable. I mean how much does a drummer and set of drums cost rented for a few hours? This is a pittance.

9 minutes ago, simon said:

maybe not 'everyone' but I suspect most people who use EZD2 are really looking forward the the new GUI

I can't possibly decide if EZD is value for money for you personally - but IMO it does feel like very good value to me and the upgrade price seems pretty reasonable too.

Very possibly. It certainly IS a wonderful value, even for someone who only occasionally uses drums. My niggle isn't really with TT or anyone else. It has more to do with narrowing our selections so we can create. What is a guy going to do with three drum programs all using different complicated GUIs and each with many different drum kits and more loops than anyone can count in a day? Will he be creating anything or looking at drums all day?

The answer to this is probably just to pick one you like and roll with it. Maybe even pick one or two kits you like and learn to use them very well. Programs never made hit records. People did. How many "preset people" do we have sitting behind recoding desks who sit all day playing through presets? I guess that's really my point 

[simon]

1 minute ago, Tim Smith said:

I appreciate you pointing this out. I guess the question here is 18gigs of what? Certainly not unreasonable. I mean how much does a drummer and set of drums cost rented for a few hours? This is a pittance.

have you looked at their website ? (actually 7 drum kits an 1 percussion 'kit')

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezdrummer-3/

Engineered by Michael Ilbert and recorded in 3 different rooms at Hansa in Berlin (the one that David Bowie used for the Berlin albums).  Chance of them being 'rubbish' approximately nil

There are some audio demos there too.  

6 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

What is a guy going to do with three drum programs all using different complicated GUIs and each with many different drum kits and more loops than anyone can count in a day? Will he be creating anything or looking at drums all day?

only you can answer that question for yourself

7 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

Programs never made hit records. People did

that's only partially true - music has always been created hand in hand with technology - from the violin and piano, to the Beatles 4 track recorders to the Who's Hiwatt amps to Stevie Wonders synths......buying EZD3 isn't going to write a hit record for you but it's one of the few drum tools that will help you get out ideas quickly and easily.

 

[LAGinz]

I think 3 seems like pretty good value if you have 2. No one thing in there that says “wow” to me, but worth the $80 (which I otherwise could spend on a so-so dinner tonight).

[telecode 101]

what i would be curious about is does it integrate closer into the DAW.  I have EZbass.. and I dont like that I sort of have to working only within the EZ interface, and then when working on the DAW.. I can't see what the bass parts are without actually opening the EZ interface. It seems counter intuitive. I should be able to see the MIDI and be able to edit the MIDI notes in the combined MIDI editor in the DAW.

[kitekrazy]

 Anyone ever use the drums in Komplete? Ujam? I never discount using loops since many of them now separate the sections.  What I like about AD is when you buy a kit the engine is included.   There are some of us who are too stupid to make their own drum parts.  That's why they make these things.

[Bapu]

5 minutes ago, telecode 101 said:

what i would be curious about is does it integrate closer into the DAW.  I have EZbass.. and I dont like that I sort of have to working only within the EZ interface, and then when working on the DAW.. I can't see what the bass parts are without actually opening the EZ interface. It seems counter intuitive. I should be able to see the MIDI and be able to edit the MIDI notes in the combined MIDI editor in the DAW.

EZDrummer(2/3) allows you to drag and drop the MIDI from the Song Creator section to the DAW (just remember to delete from EZD so you're not playing the original and modified MIDI at the same time) Then edit the drums MIDI all you want. Simples.

With EZBass that's harder to do since EZBass has special articulations that will not reproduce in pure MIDI because (to date) they are only triggered in the EZBass UI.

[telecode 101]

1 minute ago, Paul Young said:

 Anyone ever use the drums in Komplete? Ujam? I never discount using loops since many of them now separate the sections.  What I like about AD is when you buy a kit the engine is included.   There are some of us who are too stupid to make their own drum parts.  That's why they make these things.

yup. i have komplete and use what in there. they are great for me. i use DrumLab the most. I just really like how it works and sounds. From Abbey road, I usually use just 50s and Vintage the most. I like them.

 

[abacab]

1 hour ago, Bapu said:

With EZBass that's harder to do since EZBass has special articulations that will not reproduce in pure MIDI because (to date) they are only triggered in the EZBass UI.

For example, I think that creates an issue say if you want to build a bass MIDI pattern in EZbass, then use that pattern to power a different bass such as MODO...

Any ideas on how to get those articulations to go along for the ride elsewhere short of buying every EBX made (obviously not a problem for you, LOL) and staying in the EZB UI?

Edited April 9, 2022 by abacab

[Bapu]

15 minutes ago, abacab said:

Any ideas on how to get those articulations to go along for the ride elsewhere short of buying every EBX made (obviously not a problem for you, LOL) and staying in the EZB UI?

IDK

[Tim Smith]

Most  drum programs will allow dragging of the midi part into a midi track in Cakewalk, same as you may have done with the drums in Komplete.

Changing bass shouldn't be an issue once in a midi track unless the bass is mapped weird. Simply copy the midi into MODO bass track. Click Ctrl and drag it over.  If the grid is different you can CTRL +A the whole thing and move it all around or just what you think needs to be moved.

Cakewalk's piano roll is great for that when expanded. Superimposing both the bass and the drum track over each other in the PR lets you line it all up.

The articulations are usually mapped to keys on the keyboard. Find them on the PR, write them in and you are in business.

[Bapu]

22 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

The articulations are usually mapped to keys on the keyboard. Find them on the PR, write them in and you are in business.

I'm surprised no one has done that yet and shared the info.

Me? I cannae be arsed to do it yet.

[DeeringAmps]

6 hours ago, Bapu said:

surprised no one has done that yet and shared the info.

Its located here EZBass Articulations

t

I've yet to become Articulate (see what I did there?)
I do have an EZ Bass Drum Map, if you are pulling the midi from EZBass to the PRV it might be usefull.
Couple things are sketchy, I can't get the "tapping" working, and Ghost Notes and Percussive Right Hand(Loud Mute)
must be transposed +12. Don't ask me why...EZ Bass.map

Edited April 10, 2022 by DeeringAmps

[jackson white]

On 4/9/2022 at 9:42 AM, Tim Smith said:

What is a guy going to do with three drum programs all using different complicated GUIs and each with many different drum kits and more loops than anyone can count in a day? Will he be creating anything or looking at drums all day?

-excellent- point. BFD is deep but very capable/flexible once sorted out and with great samples for my purposes. SD3 appears to offer similar capability with a different take on recording samples but is pricey and with fewer options for content. I understand EZD2/3 kits can be used in SD3 which might help (the DW kit in BFD gets a lot of use) but the TT site is longer on graphics than the specifics i'm looking for. 

can anyone comment on the usefulness of EZD kits in SD ?

Are they crippled/lesser in some way compared to a "full featured" SD3 kit? Specifically, do they have fewer velocity samples per kit piece? any other issues?

...

it appears i'm just going to have to buy SD3 and try it. the only "sales" i can recall are getting a free expansion when buying the core program at full price. any heads up on easing the pain would be appreciated.

tia. 

[DeeringAmps]

Just now, jackson white said:

can anyone comment on the usefulness of EZD kits in SD ?

I have both Legacy of Rock SD3, and Classic Rock the striped down version for EZD2.
EZD2 kits work fine in SD3, of course they are a smaller footprint so I'm sure they lack the "depth" of the SD3 kits.

[PavlovsCat]

2 minutes ago, jackson white said:

-excellent- point. BFD is deep but very capable/flexible once sorted out and with great samples for my purposes. SD3 appears to offer similar capability with a different take on recording samples but is pricey and with fewer options for content. I understand EZD2/3 kits can be used in SD3 which might help (the DW kit in BFD gets a lot of use) but the TT site is longer on graphics than the specifics i'm looking for. 

can anyone comment on the usefulness of EZD kits in SD ?

Are they crippled/lesser in some way compared to a "full featured" SD3 kit? Specifically, do they have fewer velocity samples per kit piece? any other issues?

...

it appears i'm just going to have to buy SD3 and try it. the only "sales" i can recall are getting a free expansion when buying the core program at full price. any heads up on easing the pain would be appreciated.

tia. 

ezDrummer kits in Superior Drummer play perfectly fine. They are simply less detailed drum libraries than the ones specifically made for Superior Drummer,  which are extensively detailed, with more velocity layers, round robins, ability to adjust the various levels, EQ and other settings for every drum, cymbal, etc. 

[DeeringAmps]

13 minutes ago, jackson white said:

it appears i'm just going to have to buy SD3 and try it.

I would demo EZD2, this would allow you to get a feel for how SD3 works (its similar).
I don't think the "kits" are nearly as important as all the additional Drum Groove libraries ($15 apprx if you by "6 packs")
As @PavlovsCat mentioned above the Mixer is not nearly as "powerful" as SD3's, BUT you can send everything into CbB
(I send 8 tracks) and then "massage" it all in Cake..

BTW I put up a demo here

t

Edited April 10, 2022 by DeeringAmps

[Cecelius2]

Just pre-ordered EZD3 upgrade.  This was a "no-brainer" for me.  EZD2 has been my goto for laying down preliminary drum ideas and it has had a low CPU load on my older DAW i5 and i7 computers.  I also use Superior Drummer 3, NI's Komplete Drum series,  Slate's Drums, and AD2 later in the process to tweak/replace the drums, but  EZD2 is so "easy" to use and quick.  I really look forward to EZD3 as it will have new kits and new grooves, and I trust TT will make a good product even better. 

[[FYI-off topic I know-- but yesterday I was able successfully to  upgrade BFD Eco to BFD3 for the $49 upgrade price--I have to say that the installation and authorization with their most recent version of the License Manager went perfectly smooth--no bumps no hiccups.]]

Like others here, I am waiting for TT to upgrade EZKeys to EZK2--it is long overdue.

C2

[Heath Row]

3 hours ago, Cecelius2 said:

[[FYI-off topic I know-- but yesterday I was able successfully to  upgrade BFD Eco to BFD3 for the $49 upgrade price--I have to say that the installation and authorization with their most recent version of the License Manager went perfectly smooth--no bumps no hiccups.]]

Just be aware, if you aren't already, when you install BFD3, it drops your License Manager back 1 version from the latest, 3053 I think, to 3052, you have to manually reinstall the latest 3053 to avoid any possible issues. But yeah, it's rock solid, I have 59 expansions and have 0 issues whatsoever.