# EZdrummer 3



## shpence (Apr 19, 2022)

EZdrummer 3


Drum production software for songwriters.




www.toontrack.com





Not a ton of info out on it yet but I pre-ordered it immediately. I have the Superior stuff as well but tend to get more done with EZ so this looks awesome. Having a grid editor that was in Superior 3 is mainly why I purchased it as I hate MIDI editor in Reaper. Looking forward to finding out more about it!


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## Guitarmiester (May 3, 2022)

I bought the upgrade yesterday, downloaded/installed this morning and looking forward to giving EzDrummer3 a spin after work. I'm really curious to try out the bandmate feature. I always found Tap2Find to be clunky. I'm already seeing a lot of complaints about the updated Tap2Find. 

Anyone else buy the upgrade? I'll be driving in later tonight to put it to use.


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## shpence (May 3, 2022)

Guitarmiester said:


> I bought the upgrade yesterday, downloaded/installed this morning and looking forward to giving EzDrummer3 a spin after work. I'm really curious to try out the bandmate feature. I always found Tap2Find to be clunky. I'm already seeing a lot of complaints about the updated Tap2Find.
> 
> Anyone else buy the upgrade? I'll be driving in later tonight to put it to use.



I agree on Tap2Find being clunky. I always had to click "early" to get even close to where I wanted the hit to be. I eventually just stopped using it. The bandmate thing looks cool but I don't know how much I'll use it. Does sound like a better Tap2Find though so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Kind of a weak build-up to launch as far as info/videos go. Guess I'll just be reading the manual this weekend.


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## MetalheadMC (May 3, 2022)

I had about 10 minutes to mess with it earlier. As of right now, it's going to be quite an adjustment. 

The band member function is midi based. The mixer combines channels differently than 2 did. Not really excited about that yet. Also, all the songs saved on 2 won't convert to 3. They'll have to be saved as midi to drop into the new interface, unless I missed something. 

Probably the only worthwhile change I've seen is the grid editor. Other than that, time will tell.


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## MetalheadMC (May 4, 2022)

Video on the Bamdmate function that I should have watched before trying it.


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## gabito (May 4, 2022)

I bought it. Still messing with it, but I like what I see (and hear).

The bandmate functionality could help to streamline some stuff in my workflow. It'll take a few weeks (or months) to learn how to use everything.


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## shpence (May 4, 2022)

Attach files


MetalheadMC said:


> The mixer combines channels differently than 2 did.



Wonder if this applies to the multi-out function as well. I'll have to look into this!


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## MetalheadMC (May 4, 2022)

shpence said:


> Attach files
> 
> 
> Wonder if this applies to the multi-out function as well. I'll have to look into this!


I misspoke. Kick gets track 1/2, snare 3/4 etc. It's the same just labeled differently. Still not sure why it's labeled that way though.

The band mate function is still a loss on me. I tried a fast riff and got bullshit results. I'm thinking it may work better to tab something in guitar pro, and load that into it


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## Guitarmiester (May 4, 2022)

What kind of file did you use in bandmate? I finally had some time to mess with EZD3 today and had surprisingly good results with bandmate. It works really well with audio as long as it's in time and seems to work better with a clean DI rather than distorted or already ran through an amp sim.


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## MetalheadMC (May 5, 2022)

Guitarmiester said:


> What kind of file did you use in bandmate? I finally had some time to mess with EZD3 today and had surprisingly good results with bandmate. It works really well with audio as long as it's in time and seems to work better with a clean DI rather than distorted or already ran through an amp sim.


I tried both. One with distorted and the other with a clean signal. Still didn't really get the results I was hoping for, but I'll keep trying over time.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 5, 2022)

Is there a way to expand the kit with more toms beyond that which is available in the GUI?

I have SSD 5 and they don’t have a way to do that. Looking to build a kit with 4 rack toms, 2 floor toms.


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## bigcupholder (May 5, 2022)

MetalheadMC said:


> I tried both. One with distorted and the other with a clean signal. Still didn't really get the results I was hoping for, but I'll keep trying over time.


The demo says it works better with a DI. I haven't had time to try it yet (installed but haven't even opened it) but I anticipate needing to play a stripped down version of a busy riff to help it find a good groove at times.

I don't expect it'll be perfect but if it saves me from having to waste an hour searching through hundreds of midi files only to give up and draw out my own in a piano roll, I won't mind needing to give it a modified version of the riff. But we'll see.


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## Guitarmiester (May 5, 2022)

I'm really liking EZD3 so far. The new kits also sound great and cover a ton of ground. I've got a good amount of the expansions and finally considering selling a few to focus on a few of my most used. I do like having the extended drum samples anytime I'm layering drums/percussion. Not the end of the world to thin the herd. 



TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Is there a way to expand the kit with more toms beyond that which is available in the GUI?
> 
> I have SSD 5 and they don’t have a way to do that. Looking to build a kit with 4 rack toms, 2 floor toms.


Not that I'm aware of. The closest you'll get is using an expansion kit that has 3 rack toms and 2 floor toms. Many of them have that config. Outside of that, you can't add additional drums that aren't part of the kit.


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## MrWulf (May 5, 2022)

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Is there a way to expand the kit with more toms beyond that which is available in the GUI?
> 
> I have SSD 5 and they don’t have a way to do that. Looking to build a kit with 4 rack toms, 2 floor toms.



Its really hard to find a sampled kit from anyone that have 4 racks and 2 floor toms. Even with SD3 the most is 3 racks and 2 floor. If you want more you are gonna have to check GGD Invasion or Drumforge Bergstrand, since those have that much toms sampled.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 6, 2022)

What about the IK Multimedia Neal Peart setup. I can seem to find any aerial pics of the kit.


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## MrWulf (May 6, 2022)

Its like 2gb. Its not gonna sounds very good imo


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 6, 2022)

I’ve heard that you can add toms in BFD or DFH into the key map for building larger kits. Just not seeing it in any demo videos is all.


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## SamSam (May 6, 2022)

Superior drummer has a function where you can add extra samples to a pad on the screen adjacent to the kit. I cannot recall if ex drummer has that function though.

You could load an item and map it along with the loaded kit (pretty sure you could anyway). They would be visible to the right of the kit.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 6, 2022)

Ok, got word back from Steven Slate, they walked me through how to do this. You indeed can add more drums than the GUI will acknowledge per pad.
Look at this Video at the 1.00 mark. You have to ML "Midi Learn" from the editor window specifically, not the key-map window, then you can accomplish it. I re-do my key-map anyway, so all of my skins are on white keys and my brass (hat, cymbals, etc) are on black keys.
I now have a kit with 4 rack toms and 3 floor toms, along with my plethora of brass.


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## AMOS (May 7, 2022)

Has anyone tried the Toontrack Seventies Prog MIDI Pack? I haven't tried any MIDI packs yet, just the EZX Expansions. I'm guessing you need to assign your own drum sounds to the MIDI pack grooves?
​


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 7, 2022)

With midi tracks, you ideally just drag the groove from your clip list into you midi track.

I have a mixer template that I start every song on with all tracks loaded up with their relative plugins as needed ready to go, just like showing up to band practice and the mixer, amps, drums, etc are already there ready to power up and start playing. If you do the same in your DAW, then all you need to do is drag the midi file from the clip list and see if it works for you. If you don’t like it, cut it and try another.

I rarely use midi tracks anymore, but if I do, I use the above method. Last year I think I used a midi track for a bridge section of a song, and I trimmed it to fit just that one part, otherwise we create our own patterns and fills specifically for the song.


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## bigcupholder (May 7, 2022)

AMOS said:


> Has anyone tried the Toontrack Seventies Prog MIDI Pack? I haven't tried any MIDI packs yet, just the EZX Expansions. I'm guessing you need to assign your own drum sounds to the MIDI pack grooves?
> ​


You don't need to assign drum sounds. The midi channels are already correctly set. It's like selecting any other midi pack in ezdrummer.


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## AMOS (May 7, 2022)

bigcupholder said:


> You don't need to assign drum sounds. The midi channels are already correctly set. It's like selecting any other midi pack in ezdrummer.


What's the big difference between these and Expansions? besides the price?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 7, 2022)

Expansions add more drums, like new samples, such as the Steven Slate Drums expansion pack by Terry Date. I got this pack specifically for the Deftones White Pony snare drum, but it came with dozens of other samples and some midi grooves.


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## AMOS (May 7, 2022)

I have three expansions, I was wondering if MIDI packs worked the same way


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## MetalheadMC (May 7, 2022)

AMOS said:


> I have three expansions, I was wondering if MIDI packs worked the same way


The midi packs are just the midi files per pack, and the expansions are the drum set basically with how they were recorded with their own midi pack included.


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## jl-austin (May 8, 2022)

I don't like how it doesn't seem to be possible to get rid of all the automated stuff, I just want a basic drum program, I am not looking for an AI drummer. It seems this has taken a step down from being a serious program to being a program for novices who just want to play along with an AI drummer.


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## AMOS (May 8, 2022)

jl-austin said:


> I don't like how it doesn't seem to be possible to get rid of all the automated stuff, I just want a basic drum program, I am not looking for an AI drummer. It seems this has taken a step down from being a serious program to being a program for novices who just want to play along with an AI drummer.


Have you tried tapping in your own beats then checking out the similar patterns it gives you?


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## MrWulf (May 10, 2022)

jl-austin said:


> I don't like how it doesn't seem to be possible to get rid of all the automated stuff, I just want a basic drum program, I am not looking for an AI drummer. It seems this has taken a step down from being a serious program to being a program for novices who just want to play along with an AI drummer.


Stop yelling at cloud, old man. 

And lol its called EZDrummer. If you want a serious program then theres Superior Drummer. Its in the name.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 10, 2022)

jl-austin said:


> I don't like how it doesn't seem to be possible to get rid of all the automated stuff, I just want a basic drum program, I am not looking for an AI drummer. It seems this has taken a step down from being a serious program to being a program for novices who just want to play along with an AI drummer.




You know, you don't have to use their midi grooves. You can step edit every single pattern and fill as you develop the song as I do. I rarely use pre-produced grooves. I want my patterns to fit my songs exclusively. You can creat your own kit, then step edit everything in the midi editor (piano roll) of your DAW. It's tedious for sure, but it's exactly what you put in, specific to the song's needs.


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## Axe Cop (May 30, 2022)

Anyone else not happy with the toms? The bright room sounds great but the toms are so bongy. Any suggest on how to tame that?


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## ShredmasterD (Jun 9, 2022)

Axe Cop said:


> Anyone else not happy with the toms? The bright room sounds great but the toms are so bongy. Any suggest on how to tame that?


just upgraded to EZ3 and i thought the same thing, they even changed to sounds of the drums from EZ2 when you upgrade. there is no way to mute them or get rid of the ring bcuase those are the samples.


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## Aewrik (Jun 9, 2022)

AMOS said:


> Has anyone tried the Toontrack Seventies Prog MIDI Pack? I haven't tried any MIDI packs yet, just the EZX Expansions. I'm guessing you need to assign your own drum sounds to the MIDI pack grooves?
> ​


TT has been pretty meticulous before about making sure MIDI works between products. There are exceptions (libraries with odd configurations and/or unique instruments and "showcase" MIDI), but pretty much any library will work with the "Drum MIDI Packs" without having to change any bindings or anything (if it's at all possible in EZX). You can use the edit playstyle function to change articulations on the fly without hassle, too.


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## Backsnack (Jun 9, 2022)

jl-austin said:


> I don't like how it doesn't seem to be possible to get rid of all the automated stuff, I just want a basic drum program, I am not looking for an AI drummer. It seems this has taken a step down from being a serious program to being a program for novices who just want to play along with an AI drummer.


Yes, you can absolutely do everything manually if you want. You can do your own midi grooves, manually select all your kit pieces, turn off the effects in the mixer, etc etc.

The only thing you can't do in EZDrummer is multiple drum layers on a paritcular kit piece. That's only possible in Superior.


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## Backsnack (Jun 9, 2022)

Axe Cop said:


> Anyone else not happy with the toms? The bright room sounds great but the toms are so bongy. Any suggest on how to tame that?





ShredmasterD said:


> just upgraded to EZ3 and i thought the same thing, they even changed to sounds of the drums from EZ2 when you upgrade. there is no way to mute them or get rid of the ring bcuase those are the samples.


Maybe a multiband compressor or dynamic eq?


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## Backsnack (Jun 9, 2022)

MrWulf said:


> Its like 2gb. Its not gonna sounds very good imo


Lol 

Do you think you could do a blind test to discern bitrate of drum samples?


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## MrWulf (Jun 10, 2022)

Backsnack said:


> Lol
> 
> Do you think you could do a blind test to discern bitrate of drum samples?


Its not about bitrate. Its about the amount of round robin and velocity layers. Something like SD3 have more than a few round robin per layer to make sure all the hits are not gonna sound the same or have that machine gun effects. And that applied to every pieces.

For comparison, SDX Death and Darkness has 114 GB and 70 GB, GGD Invasion is more limited vs SD3 and even then it is 15 GB worth of stuffs. And sure you can probably point to EZD since they usually hovered around 2 or 4 gb but it is a severely limited pack for quick songswriting with lots of effects already prebaked into the samples.


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## ShredmasterD (Jul 1, 2022)

Just chiming in. I know this is a few weeks old but I am getting so much work done with EZ drummer 3. its so eazy <-- haha But really, the step editor is fantastic for tweaks and i just drag the customized midi file straight from from ez3 right onto my desktop name it and drag it into my DAW ( where ez3 is the vst instrument). It's so quick to build patterns with small variation for realism. I could not be happier. There are a few minor irritating quirks, but i can live with that. To scroll down sound variations for say a hi hat, the slider is all the way to the right rather thann next to the sounds...its often off the screen because there are other things open. If i need deeper editing i can bring the files into sd3, but ez3 sounds are good enough right now , at least in the writing stages. Very happy with EZ 3. It is so far the best environment for working in from the line. totally recommend it if you are on the fence.


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## NoodleFace (Jul 15, 2022)

I know absolutely fuck all about drumming but want to start making songs in my DAW. My friends all recommended EZdrummer. Is this ideal for a drumtarded person?


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## CanserDYI (Jul 15, 2022)

NoodleFace said:


> I know absolutely fuck all about drumming but want to start making songs in my DAW. My friends all recommended EZdrummer. Is this ideal for a drumtarded person?


Yes, it's pretty simple. Drag and drop for the most part, but the beats are editable if you want to accent certain parts or make them a bit more yours. The expansions get pricey, so maybe try to analyze the things that make a good beat and try to write your own outside of the prewritten midi.


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## gabito (Jul 15, 2022)

NoodleFace said:


> I know absolutely fuck all about drumming but want to start making songs in my DAW. My friends all recommended EZdrummer. Is this ideal for a drumtarded person?


Yeah, it's pretty easy and it sounds good. You could write entire songs using only the pre made grooves (I think they call them that?) and the AI helper if you wanted to. It's very easy to edit the grooves or write your own too (it can be tedious, though).


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## NoodleFace (Jul 16, 2022)

Thanks!

I'm not looking to make full production songs or anything, just writing stuff for the band and making the songs more solid rather than just sending riffs. I think this will fit my use case good. I had superior drummer at some point, but I found it difficult since I'm not smart with drums


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## bigcupholder (Jul 16, 2022)

NoodleFace said:


> Thanks!
> 
> I'm not looking to make full production songs or anything, just writing stuff for the band and making the songs more solid rather than just sending riffs. I think this will fit my use case good. I had superior drummer at some point, but I found it difficult since I'm not smart with drums


Ez drummer is awesome. I'm still lost on some features going from v2 to v3, but the new bandmate feature makes things crazy easy. I just tested it with a weird odd time signature riff to see if it was really making up new grooves algorithmically or if it was simply searching, and I can confirm it generates new ones, and they're very good


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## dmlinger (Aug 16, 2022)

I've been looking at getting EZ Drummer 3 and last night I saw that Toontrack offers a few bundles that include pretty solid savings. Some background on my drumming experience...I have none. I can tap out kick and snare patterns, but don't really know where to begin with toms, cymbals and hi hat. The music I write would be classified as heavy rock with a metal influence. I don't djent.

Toontrack has a bundle with the base EZD3 software plus 2 Expansion Packs for $269, and another with the base EZD3 plus 6 MIDI packs. Both save around $100 give or take a little.

My question is are these worth it? Necessary? If so, which is a better overall option?

Are the base tones/samples adequate, or are the expansion packs needed? Are the MIDI packs a good option? Does the grid editor make the MIDI packs unnecessary? Or are they a good resource to have as a starting point?

I know that's a lot of questions, but gives you an idea of the dilemma I'm in.


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## bigcupholder (Aug 16, 2022)

dmlinger said:


> I've been looking at getting EZ Drummer 3 and last night I saw that Toontrack offers a few bundles that include pretty solid savings. Some background on my drumming experience...I have none. I can tap out kick and snare patterns, but don't really know where to begin with toms, cymbals and hi hat. The music I write would be classified as heavy rock with a metal influence. I don't djent.
> 
> Toontrack has a bundle with the base EZD3 software plus 2 Expansion Packs for $269, and another with the base EZD3 plus 6 MIDI packs. Both save around $100 give or take a little.
> 
> ...


As someone who has spent a lot of money on both expansions and midi packs, and who also isn't a drummer: get the midi packs to start with. The bandmate feature can help come up with nice original patterns sometimes, but having more solid/realistic starting points is still better. Then use the grid editor mostly to add or remove a few hits that are out of place rather than trying to write patterns from scratch (unless really necessary).

The expansions come with some additional midi, but they're mainly about different tones. The base presets are fairly diverse and you still have the mixer (which also allows for adjusting reverb, compression, etc) as well as the ability to swap out specific parts of the kit. You could even send each part of the kit as separate tracks when you add EZDrummer to your project, which would allow you to add different EQs and effects to each part separately with whatever other VSTs you have. 

Unless you're really picky about drum tones, you should get a lot of mileage out of the base pack and not really need expansions, at least to start with. A bad drum pattern (i.e. that doesn't fit the song) is far more obvious than a bad drum tone, even to non-drummers and even if they have no idea how to fix it, because drums are felt as much as heard.


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## dmlinger (Aug 16, 2022)

bigcupholder said:


> As someone who has spent a lot of money on both expansions and midi packs, and who also isn't a drummer: get the midi packs to start with. The bandmate feature can help come up with nice original patterns sometimes, but having more solid/realistic starting points is still better. Then use the grid editor mostly to add or remove a few hits that are out of place rather than trying to write patterns from scratch (unless really necessary).
> 
> The expansions come with some additional midi, but they're mainly about different tones. The base presets are fairly diverse and you still have the mixer (which also allows for adjusting reverb, compression, etc) as well as the ability to swap out specific parts of the kit. You could even send each part of the kit as separate tracks when you add EZDrummer to your project, which would allow you to add different EQs and effects to each part separately with whatever other VSTs you have.
> 
> Unless you're really picky about drum tones, you should get a lot of mileage out of the base pack and not really need expansions, at least to start with. A bad drum pattern (i.e. that doesn't fit the song) is far more obvious than a bad drum tone, even to non-drummers and even if they have no idea how to fix it, because drums are felt as much as heard.


Thank you! That's what I was leaning towards, especially since I'm not a drummer. Probably going to pull the trigger on the bundle with 6 MIDI packs.


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## Stiman (Aug 16, 2022)

I have EZD 2, and I don’t really see a compelling reason to upgrade just yet, but if the upgrade goes on sale during Black Friday, I would definitely pick it up.


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## bigcupholder (Aug 16, 2022)

Stiman said:


> I have EZD 2, and I don’t really see a compelling reason to upgrade just yet, but if the upgrade goes on sale during Black Friday, I would definitely pick it up.


The grid editor is great. It's not just a "grid editor" really, as it gives additional options like changing the feel or increasing/decreasing the intensity towards either end of a pattern. IMO it's a solid upgrade that's definitely worth the cost.

I was not sure how long the upgrade deal would last either, so I jumped on it immediately.


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## Stiman (Aug 17, 2022)

bigcupholder said:


> The grid editor is great. It's not just a "grid editor" really, as it gives additional options like changing the feel or increasing/decreasing the intensity towards either end of a pattern. IMO it's a solid upgrade that's definitely worth the cost.
> 
> I was not sure how long the upgrade deal would last either, so I jumped on it immediately.



I tend to move things into the Reaper midi (and out of EZD) pretty quickly, not sure why, I guess I like seeing the midi in the main view. But maybe it makes more sense to leverage more of the EZD features within the VST.

You have me really curious now. I hope I won’t have any issues with existing projects that have EXD already in use. Meaning I can just upgrade, open my existing projects and it just works as before but with the new plugin.


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## bigcupholder (Aug 17, 2022)

Stiman said:


> I tend to move things into the Reaper midi (and out of EZD) pretty quickly, not sure why, I guess I like seeing the midi in the main view. But maybe it makes more sense to leverage more of the EZD features within the VST.
> 
> You have me really curious now. I hope I won’t have any issues with existing projects that have EXD already in use. Meaning I can just upgrade, open my existing projects and it just works as before but with the new plugin.


Unless I messed up my install somehow, it's not that simple. It installs as a separate VST. It's an "upgrade" in terms of sales, not in terms of the install process. You'll still have EZDrummer 2 after installing 3, so your current projects will load just fine, but you'd need to swap the VST


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## Stiman (Aug 17, 2022)

bigcupholder said:


> Unless I messed up my install somehow, it's not that simple. It installs as a separate VST. It's an "upgrade" in terms of sales, not in terms of the install process. You'll still have EZDrummer 2 after installing 3, so your current projects will load just fine, but you'd need to swap the VST



Awesome, good to know. I just bought the upgrade minutes ago.


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## stringsmatter (Oct 6, 2022)

I recently tried EZ3 and I loved it. In general, I don't like drum VSTs but this one sound cool.


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## jl-austin (Oct 10, 2022)

I have been using EZ drummer 3 since it came out. I pretty much use it as a midi loop player. I don't really use any of the new features of 3 over 2, but it does seem to sound a little bit better for some reason. 

I definitely love the upgradability of EZ drummer with all the sound modules and loop pattern packs. It's costly, but I definitely like the options available.


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## Necky379 (Yesterday at 3:21 PM)

Really loving EZd3 so far, I cut out the first snare hit from “Digital Bath” and now I can use that sound in the virtual kit. Haven’t tried the band mate feature yet but I’ll get there. Also glad to be able to easily resize the damn thing in Reaper now.


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