First of all, I have been following these forums for the last 4 weeks or so... I am a songwriter, and kind of grew sick and tired of having to rely on producers to flesh out my ideas, so about a month ago, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and try and learn how to produce my own records.. I am happy to say that finally, I am posting a question in the forum that is more related to creativity than being technical.. So I want to preface my question with thanking everyone in this forum that have directly helped me get going going with my equipment/software -- and also, thank you for all those who have posted questions and carried on discussions and left them up for people like me can scour through them and get some knowledge...

Okay to my question.. I am not the most technical person -- my creativity is kind of fueled by improvisation and quickly (AS FAST AS POSSIBLY) laying down my idea so that I can get to the next part.. So far, I have been learning how to drum program in Logic Pro X, and I must say, I am finally coming along to the point where I am starting to find myself able to recreate what I hear in my head (and on the radio)... But, now, I am trying to take it a step further.. Been studying drum programming tutorials because I want to learn how to program trap hip hop style drums, as well as EDM/Pop type stuff... and when I see these tutorials, I see these guys FLYING through their programs -- almost instantly.. Yes, a big reason for their speed is the fact that they have been doing it a long time.. But, another big reason, I can just tell... They aren't using Logic -- and these different drum modules they are using are more suited towards drums... (For instance, a lot of them are using the DAW Fruity Loops, where they can just draw their ideas down very quickly)..

But I am not looking to change my DAW.. I am wondering which drum VST-AU is super easy and for newbies... something that that I can record to on a grid... but also, something that doesn't marry me to the grid (so that I can come back and take my patterns and humanize them)... and also very important, I am looking for something where i can take some of these drum kits (with more than 25 samples to them) and easily drag and drop in an instant... (exs is good for that, but again, logic piano roll just seems like it is not the most efficient for speed while drum programming)..

Thanks in advance

(and sorry for the long message )
Pnitty

 

As far as drum plugins go there are a lot out there. Forgetting the differences in sound engines (samples vs. drum synths etc) it sounds like you are looking for something like fruity loops where you can just click in boxes very quickly on the fly and get a good loop going.

There are a many plugins out there that meet that criteria. I'm fond of xfer nerve.

To me nerve is intuitive to use. Easy click system, easy automation system, tons of fx, individual control over fx per sample or add fx to whole kit at once, drag and drop. Comes with 2gb of samples. You can go very deep with it too. You can drag and drop samples quickly, though you are limited to 16. You can humanize by copying the pattern from the internal sequencer onto the midi track and then using logic to humanize if you feel that need.

I'm sure others will chime in on their preferences.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2016

If you are trying to avoid logic's piano roll for midi drumming, you will need to use a drum plugin that has its own roll. The only two I can think of right now are Native Instruments Maschine and FXPansion Geist. Although Maschine was designed to work with the Maschine controller, you can use it (quite easily) without the controller. Geist is also pretty good.

 

FL Studio used as a VSTi or rewired. And yes, Maschine, Geist, and Nerve, as mentioned above, are great options.

Ableton Lite, rewired into Logic? Not too thrilled w/ Live's roll mode, though.

FL piano roll has really spoiled me - ever since FL implemented a piano roll, it's always been the best, imo (for writing & sequencing).

 

Thanks all! I started fooling around with Maschine.. It appears to be perfect for what I am trying to do... Only thing, there doesn't appear to be a quick way to copy and paste ... If I could sync up the midi to logic pro X, so that when I start working on certain part of a scene in maschine, it goes to that exact point in Logic Pro .. that would be perfect... meaning, I push space bar in maschine and it starts over at one point in maschine, while logic pro x starts over at the beginning... lm sure there has to be a way to sync them.. right?

 

Are you using Maschine standalone or as a plugin?
Make sure you're using it as a plugin.

Another simple and fast option could be DM1 for Mac.

 

geist is the best option for you as you don't want to change DAW. As for me, it's changing to Ableton and buying Push 2 for drum sequencing. Huge improvement to my workflow!