The Loop » Drums

∞ Review: BFD Eco drum software instrument

Jim Dalrymple — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:26:51 +0000

I’ve been using BFD Eco for the last few weeks as my main drum software instrument. Eco is FXpansion’s scaled down version of BFD 2, the company’s flagship product and one that I have used for many years.

Typically when someone says scaled down, people automatically think crippled. In a lot of cases, you would be right, but not so with BFD Eco. I was very impressed with the features, interface and the way the software worked for me in Pro Tools 10 [...]

Steven Slate Drums 4.0

Jim Dalrymple — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:55:35 +0000

Steven Slate:

Imagine having 100 of the world’s best sounding drumkits at your disposal. From punchy tight rock kits, to fat and sizzly vintage kits, and just about everything in between, Steven Slate Drums 4.0 Platinum is the most complete drum instrument on the planet.

At the heart of Steven Slate Drums 4.0 is the SSD Player, a state of the art Mac/PC (VST, RTAS, AU) Drum Sampler built from the ground up by the award winning development team behind our TRIGGER drum replacement processor. The SSD Player is extremely easy and intuitive to use. Loading kits, customizing kits, mixing kits, loading and auditioning MIDI grooves, customizing MIDI maps, and routing discretely to your workstation are all a breeze with the SSD Player. It even lets you load your own drum samples to mix in with the Slate drumkits.

I have used Steven Slate Drums since they were first released and love them. One of the best drum samplers on the market. I’ll definitely be upgrading.

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∞ Slam Tracks hard rock MIDI grooves

Jim Dalrymple — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:06:48 +0000

The Slam Tracks Hard Rock Grooves Pack 1 features 527 MIDI files divided between 10 different groove genres. All grooves come with multiple variations, allowing users of all popular virtual drum instruments like BFD2, EZdrummer, Superior Drummer, Addictive Drums, Cakewalk Session Drummer to create quickly and easily complete hard rock and rock drumtracks. This library also includes multiple drum fills as part of the groove phrases — a dedicated collection of Hard Rock MIDI drum fills can be found in our Slam Tracks Hard Rock MIDI Drum Fills Pack 1.

Nice sounding grooves at the bottom of the page.

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∞ Metal Essentials EZmix Pack from Toontrack

Jim Dalrymple — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:38:39 +0000

The in-your-face-factor is essential in metal. Ask Jason Suecof – one of the essential producers on this side of the millennium and creative mind behind the sound of Trivium, All That Remains and The Black Dahlia Murder. He’ll tell you that, yes, it is essential indeed. So, we simply asked him to bag his most essential tricks for an EZmix Pack, one we’d like to call: Metal Essentials EZmix Pack.

The Metal Essentials EZmix Pack comes with exactly what its title implies: instant and essential presets for your metal productions! One click and you get Jason’s take on how to beef up your guitars, drums, bass, vocals and overall master. Essentially easy.

Metal Month continues at Toontrack. You’ve got to love a company that celebrates Metal releases for an entire month.

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∞ Metal Month at Toontrack

Jim Dalrymple — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:45:55 +0000

Testament, Megadeth, Arch Enemy, Exodus, Killswitch Engage and Devildriver all call the same man to lay the final hand on their albums: Britain’s Andy Sneap. This highly in-demand producer/engineer has worked on numerous Grammy Award-nominated albums, is known worldwide for having produced some of the heaviest releases this last decade and has had an instrumental role in shaping the sound of metal music as we know it in the new millennium. Now Toontrack is proud to present the first ever drum sample library to bear his unmistakable seal; Metal Machine EZX.

This is what I love about Toontrack. They go out and get the best engineers and drummers and work with them for their drum packages. As users, we end up getting the best sounding drums that Toontrack can provide. That’s commitment to its customers.

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∞ ∞ Just bought from Toontrack

Jim Dalrymple — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:00:57 +0000

Songwriters Drumpack 3:

The original Songwriters Drumpack drummer Ricard “Huxflux” Nettermalm is back with another stunning MIDI pack: Songwriters Drumpack 3! Intentionally picking up where the other two packs left off, the new one focuses more on the up- and midtempo end of the scale. This is a must for all you songwriters out there looking for great, pro drum tracks, organized as different songs and in need of full

∞ ∞ Avid offers Eleven LE, Strike and Velvet free with Pro Tools purchase

Jim Dalrymple — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:40:55 +0000

If you’re looking for a Digital Audio Workstation, this might be a good time to look at Pro Tools 9.

∞ ∞ Review: Yamaha DTX-950 Digital Drums

Daniel East — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:56:11 +0000

It may be difficult to get over being skeptical about digital drum kits — and it was — until a friend, and well-known performer, recommended (and, in fact, insisted) investigating the Yamaha DTX-950. His point was simply that they are not like anything else on the market and that playing them would remove any skepticism. As a drummer, audio engineer, and a technology writer, the mission was to be impressed.

∞ ∞ Great video on programming drums from Groove3

Jim Dalrymple — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:37:53 +0000

There are a lot of great drum samplers out there these days, but making the drum hits sound good with your song is not the easiest thing in the world to do. If you are having trouble with this, you should get the new tutorial released by Groove 3 on how to program drums in Pro Tools. The foundation of the lessons will work with any drum sampler and every DAW.

Programming Rock Drums in Pro Tools |

∞ ∞ Toontrack releases Songwriters Drumpack 3

Jim Dalrymple — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:42:46 +0000

Toontrack on Tuesday released Songwriters Drumpack 3, a new collection of MIDI drum grooves for musicians.

These MIDI grooves aren’t like the old hand programmed grooves of years ago. These are played by a real drummer in the studio and captured for use with ToonTrack’s Superior Drummer and other drum samplers.

Read the rest of this story

∞ ∞ It's Metal month at Toontrack

Jim Dalrymple — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:11:14 +0000

Okay Metalheads, if you’re looking for some drums, MIDI grooves, and engineer presets, November is Metal month at Toontrack.

∞ ∞ BFD Jazz Maple expansion pack released

Jim Dalrymple — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:15:08 +0000

FXpansion on Monday introduced BFD Jazz Maple, the newest expansion kit for BFD2 and BFD Eco drum sampler applications.

∞ ∞ Beta Monkey releases Drum Werks XVIII: Piccolo Grooves

Jim Dalrymple — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 22:02:34 +0000

Musicians and songwriters are always looking for great drum grooves to put in their songs. Beta Monkey just released a new set of grooves in its popular Drum Werks series.

∞ ∞ Drum Werks XVII delivers AC/DC style drum grooves

Jim Dalrymple — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:58:44 +0000

Beta Monkey on Monday released the third installment in its L.A. Rock Essentials Sessions. The newest bundle of drum loops focuses on some of the greatest classic rock bands.

∞ ∞ Beta Monkey releases Rock Essentials drum loops

Jim Dalrymple — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:54:20 +0000

My favorite drum loop company, Beta Monkey, released two new drum libraries for Rock musicians and engineers.

∞ ∞ FuzzMeasure audio and acoustics measurement tool updated

Jim Dalrymple — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:40:14 +0000

There are a lot of things to consider when setting up a studio, home theater, stage or auditorium, not the least of which is the actual space you will be using.

∞ ∞ NAMM Video: Interview with Godsmack's Sully Erna

Jim Dalrymple — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:44:49 +0000

I had the chance to speak with Godsmack’s Sully Erna after he finished his demo of the Yamaha drum kit this morning. Truly a great moment for me.

∞ ∞ NAMM Video: Godsmack's Sully Erna demos Yamaha drum kit

Jim Dalrymple — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:38:26 +0000

I attended a Yamaha event this morning where the company unveiled a new drum kit. As with most companies, Yamaha had a demo of the kit and brought out Godsmack’s Sully Erna to do the honors. Really, nothing else has … Continued

∞ ∞ NAMM Video: BFD Nano Demo by FXpansion

Jim Dalrymple — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:17:04 +0000

One of the best drum companies on the market is FXpansion with its BFD series. The company introduced BFD Nano at NAMM, which is a new version of the sampler targeted to the beginner user. We stopped by and got … Continued

∞ ∞ NAMM: Sonic Reality introduces EpiK DrumS, A Ken Scott Collection

Jim Dalrymple — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:12:18 +0000

One of the first people I ran into at NAMM on Wednesday was legendary recording engineer, Ken Scott. I had a chance to speak with him about his new project with Sonic Reality, EpiK DrumS.