Boss DR-01S vs EZdrummer generated tracks
 

Hi All!

I've been creating drum tracks for my acoustic guitar duo (we also use electrics .....its a guitar duo)

Have been using drum tracks that I've created using the EZdrummer software on my computer and exporting them to play with my phone or Ipod.

There are some nice beats and I like the idea of fills and changes in verse chorus...

but then I saw a video showing this drum machine...which is made for live acoustic music....which is what I want to use it for.

I sometimes think that while the drum tracks sound very full they are too much. Too bombastic for "acoustic music".The kick and snare are not always needed and possibly the various percussion choices I can get from the Dr. Rythm would be more suited for acoustic music.

We play mostly original pop and rock influenced by Beatles, Byrds, Beach Boys....60's jangly pop.

acoustic versions of these songs...it works well

https://sunrisehighway.bandcamp.com/...unrise-highway

Sometimes a standard 4 on the floor folk rock beat. A lot of shuffle's like in the song "Do You Belive In Magic" also Bossa Nova and some Jazzy pop like Bachrach and Steely Dan.

Any input is appreciated....and if anyone has one of these...what do ya think?

No experience with that, but am watching this thread with curiosity. I have a Boss DR-880 that I bought a couple of years ago. It's extremely capable, but I have yet to actually do anything with it beyond just playing around with it. Really been thinking about programming some latin percussion on it lately. I have a very nice DW cajon that I'd rather use live, but can't find anyone to play it!

I love my DR-01s and yeah it is really good for acoustics... However you can (with a footswitch) have only 2 switchable combination-beats

So no break, fills, bridge...

Sometimes I wish it was as versatile as EZ drummer.... Or that EZ drummer had acoustic-percussion beats.

Exactly. I have percussion instruments in EZ drummer...but to piece together the right combinations is too much trouble. On your recommendation I have to go to Sam Ash to try it out. Hard to believe they don't have ways to get those same sounds in EZdrummer?????

I love that kind of Latin guitar. I had the boss 660 and it wasn't that great. Didn't have the right beats for me. The one you have is probably much more advanced....but can it accompany an acoustic instrument as well as the new boss unit??? it should. Its 3 times the price.

I like the Indie Folk EZX with EZ Drummer for acoustic stuff. I guy who used to be in my band was the drummer who recorded the samples. You can also pull out individual hits in a track to simplify things a bit.

I've gigged with a drum machine and it gets boring pretty quickly.

I can see that. I kind of like having the fills and you can change the velocity and such. I got a bunch of 3rd party midi beats and have a huge choice....I used to use BFD2 with V drums but not now. With the boss unit having only 2 parts of a song and hitting a foot switch for a fill wouldn't be much fun. I'm surprised EZ Drummer doesn't have more acoustic friendly percussion midi packs?

You can also load the percussion drums from the Latin EZX and use the Songwriter midi packs for acoustic stuff.

I thought the drum patterns that came with EZ drummer were too aggressive. I bought some nice 3rd party beats...they don't work with song creator however. I remember checking out the toontrack midi paks library and didn't really find what I was looking for. Perhaps I will try the Folk one you suggested. I've also tried editing the midi blocks in my recording software (samplitude) I used to have trouble making the drum fills worse when I manually tried to create them. And I can play drums somewhat. That's why EZ drummer is so...easy to use. That's why it was created. I need to learn to merge tracks so I can layer the percussive instruments for acoustic accompaniment. I used to use BFD2 but it became too complicated for me.(that's when I had a pro drummer and a set of V drums).

I mention the Latin EZX because they have things like a cajon, congas, bongos, tambourines and shakers that work well with acoustic tracks. Don't necessarily use the Latin grooves. Use the Latin instruments in some other basic midi grooves like the songwriter packs or simple rock/country beats. It gets a more stripped down and simple feel.

I have shaker and tambourine and one shots that came with the program that are in the ezdrummer library....but they only play beats like 4thAcc 1234 8th Acc 2 4 ....but I can't seem to play those instruments with my pop midi beat blocks. Are the EZX midi beats or the actual wave files for the drumkits or percussion sounds that go into the sound library? I haven't purchased anything except a lot of midi beat loops. Do the other Latin instruments come up in the drum kit? Then how do I assign them to whatever midi notes for tracks I am building in the timeline I obviously need to learn more about the program....but more input will be appreciated. Thanks.