# Any XLN addictive drums users..?



## Origins (May 8, 2009)

Hey,
I´ve seen that most of you guys use EZdrummer.
I tried it, but I think XLN addictive drums sounds better.
Any of you use it?
It would be cool to share some presets


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## Sang-Drax (May 8, 2009)

I do, though my PC blows and I can barely record anything. I still didn't have to time to figure out a decent snare sound, though.

IIRC, IconW's older recordings were done with Addictive Drums, and they all rock. I think he's currently using Superior 2.0, though.


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## orb451 (May 8, 2009)

I also use Addictive Drums, and am very happy with it (8+ months). There's a lot you can do with it and a lot of great kits that come stock. In the last email newsletter they sent out they were saying that there's still development going on for more percussion/latin/world instruments.

orb..........


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## DrewsifStalin (May 8, 2009)

Addictive sounds far more natural, but it just sounds too raw, almost badly recorded. AFAIC, I'd say Ez Drummer < Addictive Drums < Superior 2.0
Addictive simply because the snares are nice and natural, but seriously go with superior 2.0 addictive only lets you have 3 cymbals and a ride. superior lets you have as many as your RAM can handle


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## Origins (May 8, 2009)

DrewsifStalin said:


> Addictive sounds far more natural, but it just sounds too raw, almost badly recorded. AFAIC, I'd say Ez Drummer < Addictive Drums < Superior 2.0
> Addictive simply because the snares are nice and natural, but seriously go with superior 2.0 addictive only lets you have 3 cymbals and a ride. superior lets you have as many as your RAM can handle



I think I prefer quality than quantity you know.
I tried Ezdrummer once and it just sounded horrible to me, so fake.
It´s a bit more difficult to find a good sound with Addictive Drums ´cause there is so much settings that you can adjust. 
Usually I do it while the song is playing, to try to find a sound that cut through the mix.


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## 006 (May 9, 2009)

I was a big ToonTrack fan boy for a long time, since DFHS came out, and really wanted S2.0. But I checked out the demo of AD and was blown away. The problem with ToonTrack's libraries is they have this thin sound to them on the snare and kick. That, and they sound kinda cardboardy to me as well. AD is just killer, I could never get an EZDrummer snare to sound like that - GOOD. I've had several projects come through where the band has no drummer yet for whatever reason and they needed programmed drums, I feel sorry for the clients that came when I had EZDrummer lol. 

However, I do wish AD had more slots, but I think this is something they will remedy in AD2. Other than that I have had ZERO complaints about AD, yet I have lost count on how many I've had with EZD or DFHS. Now I know a guy that can get 2.0 to sound absolutely killer, but he's really talented and has been tweaking it over time.


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## Clydefrog (May 9, 2009)

I use AD for everything. Here are some of my tunes where you can hear it:









Might help to listen to them in stereo.


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## Meldville (Jun 2, 2009)

Ok, so I got this, but I'm having a hard time actually programming beats. Should I use an external midi sequencer first? I don't have a midi controller/keyboard, save for my actual keyboard, so trying to do them in real time (which is the only way I've figured out to program midi sequences in ableton live!) is out of the question completely, not that it'd be good either way. HALP?!


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## orb451 (Jun 2, 2009)

Meldville, if I were you I'd pick up a Korg padKontrol or the newest padKontrol lite (not sure of the name, but it's the same basic functionality in a very very small footprint).

Trying to program drums is a pain in the arse. A MIDI keyboard would definitely be another way to go, but maybe not as natural as pounding on a pad.

orb................


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## Origins (Jun 3, 2009)

I use a midi keyboard and it works just fine. It´s also quite cheap.
Programming drums is long, boring and the result won´t be the same.
With a keyboard, the velocity changes with the way you hit the keys, which makes it far more realistic 
It even makes me practice piano rhythmics at the same time


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## Sang-Drax (Jun 3, 2009)

Clydefrog, your clips are killer! Not to mention that the Mega Man 2 song you picked is one of my favorites from this amazing soundtrack! 

edit: I write all the drumlines in guitar pro myself


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## Meldville (Jun 3, 2009)

haha yeah, I think I'll probably just stick to programming in leafdrums and then using drumagog to change the samples/velocity.


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## Metalman X (Jun 6, 2009)

Sang-Drax said:


> Clydefrog, your clips are killer! Not to mention that the Mega Man 2 song you picked is one of my favorites from this amazing soundtrack!
> 
> edit: I write all the drumlines in guitar pro myself



Seconded!

My old band used to play that exact track, and the intro track to MM2 as well.....but fuck, we never got it sounding NEARLY that badass! 

I want the MP3 of that just so I can crank it on my way to work....that shit gets ya' moving


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## mnemonic (Jun 28, 2009)

i just recently switched to addictive drums (from superior 2.0, call me crazy if you must.)

personally i've never been happy with the kick sound i got out of superior, the whole kit in general seems to be more geared toward rock sounds than metal sounds, so its a real bitch to get right (imo). now that metal foundry is out, i'm gonna have to check it out, and if its better (which i hope) i'll probably be moving back to superior.

i used dfh in ezdrummer when i started, because thats what everyone else used, but that got old quick, because i always had trouble making ezdrummer sound real, and not to mention nearly everyone records with a pod and dfh at some point, so that combination is just so cliche it takes alot of post processing to make it not sound like everyone else's mix. (plus dfh was just so thin. the snares are thin and horrible sounding and the kick is dull and lifeless). 

addictive drums is super easy to get good sounds out of imo. the kick is dead easy to get sweet metal kick tones from, and the snare is easy to get a nice pop from, as they're really full sounding. after having it for like 30 minutes i got drum tones that i really liked. only things i dont like are the cymbals dont sound as good as superior, and i can only have 3 cymbals and a ride. i'm used to having like 6 when i used superior  

this the first (and so far only) clip i've done with addictive drums.
http://files.getdropbox.com/u/1377140/Test song AD full.mp3

unfortunately i only have my monitor headphones with me here on vacation (which dont have the most extended bass response), so i dont have anything else to reference from.

once i get back from vacation i'm gonna record like a madman hopefully now that i'm happy with how my drums sound.


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## TimothyLeary (Jun 28, 2009)

I use it sometimes, specially for rock/stone. It's good, but it will be better if we can add more cymbals.


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## Mn3mic (Sep 13, 2010)

I use AD for some time now and I was really happy in the beginning.

The sounds I get with it are awesome, especially the snare drum but the cymbals and toms tend to get crappy after a while.

What I really don't like are the cymbal swells (or the lack of the same) and fast tom fills suck...
What I am trying to do is use both AD and SSD together, cause I can't seem to find a better snare sound then the rimshot from AD.

SSD has great cymbal swells and great toms (I think Oceanos "depths" was triggered with it).

I'll drop some samples if you are interested.


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## defchime (Sep 17, 2010)

Hey all, I just recently got addictive drums and im lovin all the setting you can mess around with...im one of those "fuck with everything to see what it does" people, so this might be the program for me.

But, I am having trouble importing the midi drum files I made into Reaper (I use reaper). I write all the drums in guitar pro 5 and export to midi then import into Reaper, I was able to figure out the tempo issues (lol), but stuff like the kick was changed to the cowbell and the cymbals into toms creating the most ridiculous sounding thing ever. Obviously Im having trouble because GP5 lays everything out differently than addictive drums wants...so heres my question (finally)

How can I write drums (in GP5 or a program like GP5), export into Midi and import them into Reaper without these previous issues (if at all possible)? 

Is there some type of program I should use to change the velocity of hits?

I would prefer to be using GP5 to write my drums because I compose my entire songs in GP5, and even though the sounds in GP5 are garbage I still like to hear how my song will (structurally) sound like when they are done.

ANY help with Addictive drums, Reaper, GP5, or any other program is GREATLY appreciated...sorry if im kinda hijacking the thread, just PM me if too much here has nothing to do with addictive drums.

Thanks.


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## jaco815 (Sep 25, 2010)

I love Superior with Metal foundry for Metal and the Prog stuff I do, but Addictive Drums kills for all of the jazz and pop-type applications. It just sits right for everything else other than metal. I've had so many people ask where I recorded the drums since I'm a drummer and I sooooo want to tell them the name of some studio or something but then I have to be like "It's programmed" and they are always impressed. They can't tell it's programmed and that's what counts. It allows the music to speak for itself.


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## right_to_rage (Sep 29, 2010)

DrewsifStalin said:


> addictive only lets you have 3 cymbals and a ride.



I figured out that you can open several instances of AD in Logic, and route additional pieces to your piano roll by extending two cables from each additional AD channel strip into an instrument in the environment window. Then you just assign cable number 1 to the normal keys and cable 2 to your additional keys.


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## Despised_0515 (Sep 29, 2010)

I recently had this "AD or S2.0" battle in my head before biting the bullet... and buying S2.0 for half off. I'm dead sick of hearing S2.0 everywhere but to really get what I want out of either of the two, which is using MY own samples and getting a sound neither can get, I'd need something like Drumagog or Trigger.

So my decision simply came down to this... which of the two have more kit pieces? I also like all the mixing capabilities in S2.0 but man I can't wait to get the cash for something like Steven Slate's Trigger.

I've got time to collect samples 'til then.


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