# Bulb - Toontrack Progressive EZX Demo



## bulb (Nov 2, 2015)

Tomorrow, Toontrack is announcing their amazing new Progressive EZX kit which was masterfully engineered by Forrester Savell. (samples were played by Steve Judd!) If you want to hear it in action, check it out below!


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## Erockomania (Nov 2, 2015)

Nice... kick sounds great! Been wanting for a killer kick drum. How are you liking the snares?


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## larry (Nov 3, 2015)

you will end up composing for several major motion pictures... the finished version of this demo will resurface in one of your academy acclaimed works..


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## bulb (Nov 3, 2015)

Erockomania said:


> Nice... kick sounds great! Been wanting for a killer kick drum. How are you liking the snares?



The snares in the EZX took a little work for me to get where I wanted it because there was nothing QUITE doing it for me source tone wise, however the SDX apparently has a ton of them, and I know I'll find something I like in that!


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## RileyTucker (Nov 3, 2015)

It's awesome that Steve played the samples. I've always felt that he's an underrated drummer, but if toontrack picked him up, he must be receiving some credit.


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## KingAenarion (Nov 3, 2015)

It's definitely better than the Asymmetry Drum sound 

Definitely getting this, I reckon with Metal Machine it'll be a great tonal pallet for proggy stuff!


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## Clocks (Nov 3, 2015)

Do you know when the sdx is coming out?


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## vividox (Nov 3, 2015)

Oh man. I told myself no more EZX expansions, but I might need to grab this one up the next time they are running a special... Looks/sounds great!


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## FifthCircleSquared (Nov 3, 2015)

Clocks said:


> Do you know when the sdx is coming out?



It's out right now - https://www.toontrack.com/product/the-progressive-foundry-sdx/


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## ikarus (Nov 3, 2015)

As soon as i come home I will buy the midi pack, I am only after the grooves...


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## Chokey Chicken (Nov 3, 2015)

...., there's an SDX too? I foresee myself going broker than broke in the next few minutes.


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## ikarus (Nov 3, 2015)

Chokey Chicken said:


> ...., there's an SDX too? I foresee myself going broker than broke in the next few minutes.



If an SDX is a midi pack with grooves then yes. 
It costs 25...


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## USMarine75 (Nov 3, 2015)

Will you be available for programming at a modest charge?


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## p88 (Nov 3, 2015)

those drums sound amazing. im really impressed with this pack. i probably wont buy it though because a pack is only as good as your mixing and production skills...and mine suck haha!

but more importantly...that song is INSANE! please please please let spencer loose on that track, for the love of god!
i can just hear his voice in my head as im progressing through the latter part of the song.

as amazing as that song is on its own, in my (irrelevant) opinion, he would help unlock its full potential...


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## Chokey Chicken (Nov 3, 2015)

ikarus said:


> If an SDX is a midi pack with grooves then yes.
> It costs 25...




I'm more thinking this:
The Progressive Foundry SDX | Toontrack

17 snares? Yes please.


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## illimmigrant (Nov 3, 2015)

watched the making of the SDX and was impressed. I just got Metal Machinery though, since it was on a pretty good sale. That'll keep me occupied until Progressive goes on sale too haha. Off the bat, though, it does seem to sound really good. I never got along with Metal Foundry.


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## jerm (Nov 3, 2015)

I wonder how Progressive Foundry compares to Metal Machinery.


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## Masoo2 (Nov 3, 2015)

Hey Misha, would you recommend the SDX over the EZX?

I know it comes with quite a bit more, but is the price difference worth it when I could purchase the EZX and one of the SDXs on sale for the same price?


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## sakeido (Nov 3, 2015)

p88 said:


> those drums sound amazing. im really impressed with this pack. i probably wont buy it though because a pack is only as good as your mixing and production skills...and mine suck haha!
> 
> but more importantly...that song is INSANE! please please please let spencer loose on that track, for the love of god!
> i can just hear his voice in my head as im progressing through the latter part of the song.
> ...



the SDX comes with presets. you don't have to mix anything. just scroll a little ways down the page and you can hear em all 

The Progressive Foundry SDX | Toontrack


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## bulb (Nov 3, 2015)

Masoo2 said:


> Hey Misha, would you recommend the SDX over the EZX?
> 
> I know it comes with quite a bit more, but is the price difference worth it when I could purchase the EZX and one of the SDXs on sale for the same price?



Yeah, I would. I only got the EZX because thanks to the SDX's 64GB size they couldn't get it to me in advance. But that is on its way now and I'm excited.

I'm speculating, but I actually believe that the only difference between the EZX and SDX samples and routing wise is the selection of drums. With the EZX you get a choice of 3 vs 17 for example haha. The mixer and setup seems to be very much like an SDX, for example the kit I built for this demo is about 1.6GB which is SDX sized (EZX kits tend to be in the 3-400mb range). So I imagine I should be able to use the same routing and settings with the SDX. I don't imagine the samples are processed too differently, they aren't overly baked in with EQ/comp on the way in on the SDX.


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## bulb (Nov 3, 2015)

RileyTucker said:


> It's awesome that Steve played the samples. I've always felt that he's an underrated drummer, but if toontrack picked him up, he must be receiving some credit.



He is absolutely one of the best drummers that not enough people know about, I'm glad he was involved with this, and I'm sure Forrester being the producer is the reason Steve was chosen.


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## bulb (Nov 3, 2015)

jerm said:


> I wonder how Progressive Foundry compares to Metal Machinery.



It's pretty different honestly in sound and aesthetic. I think the Progressive foundry is supposed to be the spiritual successor, but honestly I just never really dug Metal Foundry that much for what I do.



USMarine75 said:


> Will you be available for programming at a modest charge?



Haha thanks for the offer, but programming is such a pain even for my own stuff!



p88 said:


> those drums sound amazing. im really impressed with this pack. i probably wont buy it though because a pack is only as good as your mixing and production skills...and mine suck haha!
> 
> but more importantly...that song is INSANE! please please please let spencer loose on that track, for the love of god!
> i can just hear his voice in my head as im progressing through the latter part of the song.
> ...



Maybe if the band digs it? This happens sometimes with demo songs, I'm kinda going for whatever and not expecting much, but sometimes the ideas have potential, so we will see.



illimmigrant said:


> watched the making of the SDX and was impressed. I just got Metal Machinery though, since it was on a pretty good sale. That'll keep me occupied until Progressive goes on sale too haha. Off the bat, though, it does seem to sound really good. I never got along with Metal Foundry.



Metal Machinery is pretty damn amazing honestly, they are both great libraries. I have been using Metal Machinery as my main library since I got it for what it's worth. Might switch to Prog Foundry just to change things up a little.


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## elkinz (Nov 3, 2015)

Man that's pretty sick, I just bought Made of Metal a few months ago and im really digging that. The kicks seem a lot clickier in comparison to MoM - which is really nice. 

Maybe ill just have to scoop it up and mix match the kits again 

Thanks for the wicked demo dude! On your demo, is that just EZX mixing or are you running it out multi to plugins?


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## vividox (Nov 4, 2015)

64GB, haha. That's ridiculous.


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## bulb (Nov 4, 2015)

elkinz said:


> Man that's pretty sick, I just bought Made of Metal a few months ago and im really digging that. The kicks seem a lot clickier in comparison to MoM - which is really nice.
> 
> Maybe ill just have to scoop it up and mix match the kits again
> 
> Thanks for the wicked demo dude! On your demo, is that just EZX mixing or are you running it out multi to plugins?



I'm actually using S2.0 to route everything and I mix everything in Cubase.


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## Vres (Nov 4, 2015)

In this thread: how to enable djent kids again and make them sound exactly like Periphery or Tesseract.


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## KingAenarion (Nov 4, 2015)

Crescendo said:


> In this thread: how to enable djent kids again and make them sound exactly like Periphery or Tesseract.



You think you're being clever, but you actually are just talking out your ass.

You're also barking up the wrong tree. It might enable them to EMULATE *Karnivool* (considering this kit is literally emulating the 'Sound Awake' sound intentionally). However, sounding 'exactly' like Karnivool (or Periphery and Tesseract) involves the ability to write good music and know how to produce it well.

It also involves studio drum sounds these days. Hell, even Plini had Marco Minnemann play drums for his last EP.


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## Vres (Nov 4, 2015)

The description only said it featured a producer of bands(?) like Karnivool which has nothing to do with what I said anyways so I don't get the "barking at the wrong tree" part. Nobody was being clever either.


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## KingAenarion (Nov 4, 2015)

Crescendo said:


> The description only said it featured a producer of bands(?) like Karnivool which has nothing to do with what I said anyways so I don't get the "barking at the wrong tree" part. Nobody was being clever either.



Forester Savell - Producer Karnivool's first 2 albums.
Steve Judd - Drummer of Karnivool

"I was first approached by Mattias about recording some drums for Toontrack. Said he really dug the drum sounds on Karnivool's Sound Awake" - opening quote from making of short.

You = Hurr Durrr drum samples, hurr durr, Djent kids Periphery and Tesseract


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## Vres (Nov 4, 2015)

"which has nothing to do with what I said anyways", this part was crucial, but you decided to dismiss it and go on about what might have sparked the idea of making the pack.  My critique here is that this particular demo is flogging the dead horse, the Tesseract/Periphery sound, which somehow still attracts people who try to copy it (see: this very board), and people will get this pack based on this demo alone even though there are walkthrough videos which give a better sense of what this pack is capable of. Unless you're making covers, it's counterproductive.


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## Drezik27 (Nov 4, 2015)

At the end of the day, does it even matter? 

If Toontrack wants to enable djent kids to sound like Periphery or Tesseract, good.

It's not my cup of tea, but the more people that have access to better sounds the better in my opinion. I'm tired of everyone's elitist attitudes towards music.


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## Desolate (Nov 4, 2015)

Dang son thats beefier than anything on the wendy's menu. Using waves sterf on the kick?


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## bulb (Nov 5, 2015)

Crescendo said:


> "which has nothing to do with what I said anyways", this part was crucial, but you decided to dismiss it and go on about what might have sparked the idea of making the pack.  My critique here is that this particular demo is flogging the dead horse, the Tesseract/Periphery sound, which somehow still attracts people who try to copy it (see: this very board), and people will get this pack based on this demo alone even though there are walkthrough videos which give a better sense of what this pack is capable of. Unless you're making covers, it's counterproductive.



Relax, pal. It's going to be okay, none of this is worth getting your jimmies so rustled over, so just take a breather and think about happy things!


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## bulb (Nov 5, 2015)

Desolate said:


> Dang son thats beefier than anything on the wendy's menu. Using waves sterf on the kick?



I'm not familiar with Waves Sterf unfortunately, what is it?
I'm using MH Channel 3, Fabfilter Pro Q2 and Slate VTM on the kick, it works nicely!


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## Desolate (Nov 5, 2015)

Waves sterf is a plugin that will completely change your outlook on the kick drum kid. Throw it on and watch your kick come to life. -Patent Pending


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## vividox (Nov 5, 2015)

Hey Misha, what's the groove content like in this thing? Is it a lot of the same 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 stuff that is in the metal SDXs, or does it offer some out-of-the-box odd time signature grooves this time around? I'd kind of expect some 5/4 or 7/8 in a "Progressive" pack, but I'm not seeing any details about it anywhere. Thanks in advance.


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## bulb (Nov 5, 2015)

vividox said:


> Hey Misha, what's the groove content like in this thing? Is it a lot of the same 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 stuff that is in the metal SDXs, or does it offer some out-of-the-box odd time signature grooves this time around? I'd kind of expect some 5/4 or 7/8 in a "Progressive" pack, but I'm not seeing any details about it anywhere. Thanks in advance.



Unfortunately, I don't think I have ever really examined that aspect of any toontrack product in detail, I always program from scratch so it's never been a feature that I make use of. But I remember seeing a video where the guy who tracked the grooves said he did some odd time stuff, seemed like a killer drummer too!


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## vividox (Nov 5, 2015)

bulb said:


> Unfortunately, I don't think I have ever really examined that aspect of any toontrack product in detail, I always program from scratch so it's never been a feature that I make use of. But I remember seeing a video where the guy who tracked the grooves said he did some odd time stuff, seemed like a killer drummer too!


Well, right after I asked, this hit my email inbox:

https://www.toontrack.com/product/the-progressive-foundry-midi/




I typically program from scratch as well, but sometimes I'll cycle through the grooves to see if anything hits/inspires me. Was just thinking some odd meter grooves might be kinda cool for that.


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## ikarus (Nov 5, 2015)

vividox said:


> Hey Misha, what's the groove content like in this thing? Is it a lot of the same 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 stuff that is in the metal SDXs, or does it offer some out-of-the-box odd time signature grooves this time around? I'd kind of expect some 5/4 or 7/8 in a "Progressive" pack, but I'm not seeing any details about it anywhere. Thanks in advance.




hey, there are 4/4, swing 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/8 folders. Each of these folders contain sub folders intro, verse, prechorus, chorus, bridge and fills.

edit: oh so you got the mail with your answer in it.


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## russmuller (Nov 5, 2015)

I'm really excited for the SDX library here. Sound Awake has some of my favorite drum tones, and that's typically what I'm trying to emulate in my own music. I'm excited to see so many pairs of room mics in the walkthrough. Seems like there's a lot of flavor to be had from this pack.


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## Escalus_Black (Nov 5, 2015)

Wow, yea the kick sounds awesome, definitely gonna get myself this for xmas. the toms also sounds really nice


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## Chokey Chicken (Nov 5, 2015)

Managed to scrape together enough stuff to sell to fund a purchase. The SDX is now mine, and now I've gotta be patient and wait for it to come in the mail.


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## Taylord (Nov 5, 2015)

Crescendo said:


> In this thread: how to enable djent kids again and make them sound exactly like Periphery or Tesseract.



k


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## Lach Rae Dawn (Nov 5, 2015)

Quick question.

Does the "progressive foundry midi pack" come with the Progressive EZX pack for EZDrummer 2?

Or would I need to get it separately?


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## ikarus (Nov 5, 2015)

Lach Rae Dawn said:


> Quick question.
> 
> Does the "progressive foundry midi pack" come with the Progressive EZX pack for EZDrummer 2?
> 
> Or would I need to get it separately?



I guess it is included like it is included in the superior drummer pack


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## chamelious (Nov 6, 2015)

Wheres the best place to purchase this? Digital version is fine


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## vividox (Nov 6, 2015)

I just buy them all directly from Toontrack's site.


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## chamelious (Nov 6, 2015)

Maybe i'm being blind, but are there no presets that include processing? I can only find the kit presets like "defualt DW, crunchy" etc

The base sounds are tasty, but obviously not really usable in a mix.


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