For those of you thinking about getting it, I say go for it...maybe...
It is quite a challenge if you are not already familiar with running plug-ins on your computer. But it is definitely worth the effort if you can do it.
Software Compatability
First things first...EZdrummer is not a "stand-alone" program. This means that you don't simply click on the EZdrummer icon on your desktop and start making beats. It is MIDI software that imports into your recording suite just like a VST plug-in. If you are like I was and have no idea what that means, please read my short post on VST plug-ins.
I personally use Cakewalk's Music Creator 3; which is probably one of the cheapest and most under-rated recording software programs out there. I have also heard it works well with Sony's Acid suite. The only programs I have had trouble getting it to work with are Cool Edit Pro 2.0 and Adobe Audition.
Hardware Needs
EZ Drummer is a heck of a system hog. You will need to have at least 512MB of memory; I would recommend a 1GB if you plan to run other plug-ins in addition to this one. Here are the spec's from their website:
- 1.5 GB Hardrive space
- DVD Drive
- Plug-in Host
- 512MB RAM
- Windows XP or Vista, PIII / Athlon 1,8 GHz with 512 Mb RAM -or-
- Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, G4 1 GHz with 512 Mb RAM
A few things they do not mention needing:
- A heck of a soundcard (if you come crying to them about it not working very well, they tell you to upgrade from you crappy onboard soundcard)
- MIDI capabilities with your soundcard
- A very good, fast processor (I'd recommend nothing less than a Pentium 4 processor)
- ASIO drivers (a very good, free ASIO driver can be found here). If you're not already using ASIO, go ahead and upgrade for free, it is well worth the five minutes even if you end up not using EZ Drummer.
One thing I found when I finally got EZ Drummer up and running: my sessions were always garbled, distorted sounding. It played back much slower when I loaded EZ Drummer. It honestly sounded quite awful. When I mixed down my audio, it sounded ok though. I wasn't 100% sure of what the solution was, but I figured the really old, crappy soundcard I had in my computer probably wasn't helping.
So, I splurged. I got the M-Audio DELTA 1010LT. This alone fixed my problems with all sound distortion issues I was having while recording. This card will set you back $200; but if you are serious about making good quality recordings, you will not regret this investment. Unlike the cheaper audio cards in the DELTA series (which would probably run EZ Drummer quite well), the 1010LT has two XLR inputs meaning you can plug a microphone or mixer directly into your soundcard.
How does it work?
Its got hundreds of beats pre-programmed into it. If you're like me though, you'll enjoy making your own custom beats, or simply tweaking the ones they have already made if you're stuck. Making your own takes a few minutes, but you can get the sound of a profressionally recorded drumset in your songs...its quite nice.
Summary
Overall, I would say getting EZ Drummer is definitely worth it. It caused my recordings to take a huge step in quality. I had been recording with acoustic drum parts, and I only had two decent microphones. Needless to say, my drums weren't as powerful as I wanted them to be.
It will require some time and work, and maybe a couple hundred extra bucks to get things flowing smoothly; but sometimes you simply get what you pay for. I focused a bit on the negative in this blog; but I wanted to touch on issues that I had while installing in hopes that it will help someone out there. Feel free to send me a message if you want help or have any comments. I'd love to hear about other software out there.
Click here to hear me using EZdrummer .
EZ Drummer help, how to, troubleshooting; is EZ Drummer good? worth purchasing? How do I setup EZ Drummer? Does EZ Drummer sound good?
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