Songwriters Pack!

[Kip Count]

… I bought it immediately after getting the Toontrack News...

… I bought it immediately after getting the Toontrack News email this morning.  It’s awesome.  Perfect in fact.  Can’t wait to actually put it to use (right now I’m just listening to the grooves at work on EZD Pop/Rock.)  Good job on this release.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

… I bought it immediately after getting the Toontrack News email this morning.  It’s awesome.  Perfect in fact.  Can’t wait to actually put it to use (right now I’m just listening to the grooves at work on EZD Pop/Rock.)  Good job on this release.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

Topic

[Ale]

i don’t have any program/drum sampler..so i have to use it with another program?it is not a stand alone program..i thought it was another kind of program that i could use alone and mix togheter different drums to create a song..something like riffworks instant drummer..i know the drum programs from toontrack are really good but what i don’t like is to play drums with keyboard, i find it difficult for different reasons..

[Juicy]

This will do exactly what you are wanting.

Get ezydrummer you will find it comes with Midi loops (similar to the drumpack) AND
the sound sampler set up ready to be played instantly by the midi loops with no programming needed.Then you can add extra Midi packs after your familiar.

You just drag a loop that you like into your DAW and build from there.
The shorter 2bar,4 bar loops do have hi hat,cymbal variation and fills so it isnt to hard.Its all logical.

With The Drumpack they have basically got the same thing but its 16 bars of this and 32 bars of that approach.
So its midi is just chopped into bigger sizes but results are similar,Perhaps quicker .

Either way the all fit seamlessly together and you will believe its real.

[Ale]

is there a video that shows exactly how it works with and without midi keyboard what you can do and can’t do?

[Martin]

This vid would be good for starters:

http://www.toontrack.com/tv.asp?channel=tutorials&sort=addeddate&way=DESC&item=40#2

Martin Kristoffersson
Sound Designer

[Ale]

i sill have some doubts but ez  seems great and to do what i need and i have the chance to edit each groove,and have more control with a midi keyboard..right?so is there a demo version that i can dowload(free) to try the program just to have an idea of the basic functions?

[Juicy]

No Demo just many users who have totally moved forward from any doubt whatsoever.

[Ale]

thank you guys,i think i’ll buy ez drummer..it seems cool..i still have some questions

-is it possible to play in ez drummer with other drum stick,for exaMPLE BRUSHES…i mean can i pick a groove that i like and replace the normal drum stick with brushes?
-is it possible to play on the edge of the snare?
-in songwriters pack i know there are alot of complete songs..so can i take for example the verse of a song and the chorus of another song and match them togheter?

Does songwriters pack provide more realistic sounds since the drums are played by a real drummer?

thank you!!

[Juicy]

The Songwriters Drumpack is MIDI performances taken from a live drummer captured via a E kit ,The Midi being the Product
Then that midi is the used to TRiGGER the SAMPLES in SD2 or EZY.
Since midi is just Note Numbers of on/off and velocity info, it can be chopped,repeated as you want and yes if you select a Drum Sound Sample that is a Brushes Hit for your snare and or toms,the same midi will then play the sound of a Brush drum(s) currently selected .

“Does songwriters pack provide more realistic sounds since the drums are played by a real drummer? “

Songwriter pack give you realistic performances played live so once you understand the whole concept the Whole answer again Yes.
Live played midi grooves Plus the Great Engine and samples in EZy combine to give you what you are wanting.

[jpoprock]

I’m late to the party here, but I’ll chime in. I purchased the Songwriters Pack as well as the Fills. And while I’m not disappointed per se, I’m not all that blown away either. Reason being… lack of variety. Personally, I feel like too many times, midi loops are “stylized” too much. It’s almost like “Gee these would be great.. if I were writing a song in this style, but I’m not”. For instance… Songwriter Pack 1 has very few variations for the “Verses”. Like 4-8 loops to choose from. The verses are the meat of the song next to the chorus! Yet, there are gobs of fills (which I can understand) and useless “pre-Chorus” loops or bridges. It seems like more times than not, the Pre-Chorus/Bridge loops are double time!

I wish that someone would listen to AOR/Modern Rock/Pop hit songs on the radio, and make loops based off the structure of those songs. More times than not, the most “usable” loops are the most straight forward. High hat variations, etc are all important to mixing it up and keep it from getting boring. But to suddenly launch into double time? Not practical!! I’m going to buy SW Pack 2, but I sure hope it’s more usable than the first one.

I will say this much though…I do like it that the loops are laid out in long measures with variations through out the loop. I think that was a great idea. And there are some really nice intros and super great fills. So, for $20, you can’t go wrong really. I just sorta wish that TT would do a midi loop pack of more “straight” grooves. Sort of a hybrid hip-hop/john bonham/Everclear/Sublime/John Mayer/Anything released by Disney artists type set. I’m not talking about Lady Gaga beats that are super colored and “effected”. I could easily put together sections of hit songs that illustrate what I’m trying to say. But so far, I’ve not really found that “home run” type midi loop set.

EZD, Sup 2.0, C&V SDX, EZ Drummer, DKH Multi, Pro Tools 8, padKontrol, OSX 10.5.8

[Tom]

Not blown away by Songwriter’s pack either. The midi that comes with C&V suits me better.

Anyway, I tend to end up with Jamstix. Get started with some midi loop for the song. Then let Jamstix read it and add variation and fills.

[jpoprock]

Intersting. I’ve heard of Jamstix, but thought they were midi drum stick controllers or something? HA! I just watched some vids and it looks awesome and much easier to use!! BUT, they don’t make it for Mac!! I can’t believe it. But that software seems to sorta mesh the concept of a drum machine with midi loops. I don’t like EZPlayer at all and never have liked that type of song contruction. I’ve thought of buying Guru, but it seems complicated. I also looked at some other types of sofware (can’t remember the names), and decided to do NOTHING for the moment. But yes… the thing I hate the most about EZPlayer is that it’s hard to keep track of what your piecing together. I have C & V, but I don’t think it’s loaded on my machine anymore. I bought it with the first version of Superior, but I thought Superior was a massive mem hog. Now it’s much better, so maybe I’ll reload C & V. Back then, I remember thinking that C & V was pretty sweet sounding though. I think there is an update for it in my download area. I just never grabbed it.

EZD, Sup 2.0, C&V SDX, EZ Drummer, DKH Multi, Pro Tools 8, padKontrol, OSX 10.5.8

[Tom]

It’s the upgrade version of C&V that has the midi, played by Withen.

[Torstein Lindaas]

Most of the midi I have heard in my life has bad to mediocre time. This midi pack from Toontrack has some of the best time I’ve ever heard! So stop whining, to get drum tracks that sound alive and “in the pocket” is something that’s always been frustratingly difficult to achieve with midi drums, but here with this drum pack Toontrack has actually made it possible.

[JVShadow]

Hello everyone, my question is for ez drummer 2.

I would like to know if we can do the same things with drum midi pack than a songwritings midi pack ?
Do i have intro , verse etc with midi pack ?
Tap to find your groove, it is search into simple midi pack as well as songwritings pack ?

I will buy EZ drummer 2 today so sorry i can not try it for now.

Thank you and sorry for my english.

JVShadow

[John]

Hi JVShadow,

if you are asking about the included MIDI in EZdrummer 2, the answer is yes. Different song parts and full Search functions.

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Author]

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