The closest would surely be C&V. From memory, the only older rock stuff that TMF has is a Bonham-style kit and a KISS-syle kit. Other than that, TMF very much has ‘a sound’ (due to the tuning used) and it would certainly be far from the Beatles in my opinion. Others will tell you that TMF can be used for all sorts of musical styles, but C&V would have you closer to begin with.
Then, using C&V, you could be creative in the way you mix the drums in order to get more of that Beatles vibe – such as panning the kit to one side and using less of the mics.
The earlier Beatles drums were higher pitched and ringy.
I haven’t heard it, but the Jazz EZX might cover that sonic territory.
Nothing exactly like that in C&V.
Certainly for a cheaper option the Vintage Rock EZX has a later Beatles sound, thick Ludwig.
The Gretsch kit in C&V, plus the damped Slingerland toms cover the deader final period Beatles sound.
Here’s my take of a 60’s-ish Beatles sound (maybe late 60s).
It uses the Ludwig Keystone kit from C&V, Gretsch Roundbadge (damped) toms, and the 18″ McCartney Tour Ride and a 20″ Medium Thin Crash – 1960s an 13″ hats.
No processing except for an EZmix Mastering preset on the 2 bus.
BTW, the MIDI isn’t very Beatle-like but it’s classic rock-y
Ack! lost my post!
In short… gave C&V, TMF, Vintage Rock, and Jazz a try and C&V easily came out on top, despite Whitten’s modesty about his own SDX.
My picks for that kit with a Beatlesesque sound via matching it against “With a Little Help From My Friends” are…
Kick: 14×24″ Ludwig Keystone – 1960s
Snare: 8×12″ Tamburo Stave Shell Piccolo
Toms 1/2/Floor: Camco Oaklawns
Hat: 16″ Zildjian A – 1960s
Didn’t try out too many of the cymbals, but the McCartney Tour Rides in there are certainly pretty sweet.
And I have no idea what The Beatles actually used, so those picks are all just based on sound and the fallibility of my own ears (and I hadn’t read Scott’s post before doing my picks either ).
I like it actually.
Good job.
It sounds realistically 60’s.
If you go with a different bass drum and snare, I would at least keep a mix with these sounds as they are credible IMHO.
The ringy sounding drums from the 60’s were a jazz hangover. So that’s why I keep mentioning the jazz ezx.
However – I HAVEN’T HEARD IT, so that’s a whopper of a caveat.
NI’s Abbey Road drums sound decent, but I find them too restrictive in that you’re basically stuck with one kit or the other and have no ability to customize it, short of changing snares (and even that’s rather limited). Mind, it was NI’s libraries that made me realize that there were better sounding drums than what I had.
Get all the latest on new releases, updates and offers directly to your inbox.
Note: By clicking the 'I WANT IN' button, you will not be creating a Toontrack user account. You will only sign up to get our newsletters, offers and promotions to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time from a link at the bottom of each email. If you want to learn more about our privacy policy, please find detailed information here.
