i'd highly recommend reason. its very intuitive to program beats and it's also very good for synths. what kind of music do you want to sequence?

Reason is the best way to produce Drums these days. You can help it a long too with a few of their Refills.

I take DRUMS to a diffrent level when it comes to MIDI drums.
Here is what I do with them.
First you need something like ACID or any recording softwear that allows you to snap lines and Drop in small samples/loops.

Either off the start or after a song idea is layed out using DUMMY drums. Ill go in and program each part of the KIT. I will start off with my KIKS and program all the variations of beats Ill need. Then move on to HH and Rides then to Snare and so on and so on. I will usually wind up with 30 clips to use when I am done. Also remember to make a SINGLE KIK or SINGLE snare or TOM. That way you can punch in small patches when you need. ( you will know why when you start editing )

Now I save all those to a folder with the reason file as a reference to the drum kit or sounds I used.

I use ACID to create my drum tracks because I can LOOP and edit pretty fast. Based on the loops that you have. You will lay them out in the best way it fits you song. Always remember to think like a drummer. A human only has 2 hands and 2 legs/feet. Apply the loops as if you are recording your DRUMER. Also because your digital file will simply STOP and produce a DUMP off you will need to go back to those single files you made and recreate the ORGANIC feel of a real life drummer. Cybles ring out as well as drums. So dont let them cut off. Apply the Single clip when a hand leaves that drum and moves to the next one.

When you are done you will wind up RENDERING or saving each indivudual track back in to the FOLDER. So you will render the KIK drums into ONE file and then move onto the SNARE tracks and Render those. When you are done you will have a full drum project as if you recorded a drummer ina studio. After 30 clips you will have your 6-8 drums tracks to use.

Now I will take these files and import them into SONAR and start a quick mix down to get some basic levels before I start rocking out. Now I have the ability to turn up or down any track I feel for the mix. I can even apply an EQ or effect to any part of the drum kit I like as well..

It sounds like a lot of work but it should take more then an hour once you get the hang of it. This is a lot less time then recording drums if you think about it. Plus you will have perfectly placed drums with perfect tones.

Always save your original work. You never know when you wan to go in and edit the Drum lines.

Hope this helps. Your drums will be original to your song now!

Groove Agent is pretty cool. It has some really good beats and it is inspiring.

The problem with going from loop based drums to MIDI based drums is the sounds. When you've got loops (and I'm assuming audio loops here) the loops contain the drum sounds. When to go to MIDI driven drum beats, all you have are the rhythms. You usually need a drum sound library to supply the sounds. You may want to look into something like BFD or DFH which include sounds and patterns/rhythms. Also you can use those sounds with other programs like Groove Agent.

Personally, I like writing drum tracks and find this method better. I have used and do use loops but I rarely use them as a full drum track.

If you are just looking for drums, I think Reason may be a little more (and a little less) than what you are looking for.

...Always remember to think like a drummer.

That's what happened to me. Our drummer stayed tore-up-from-the-floor-up...he used to play like he only had one arm!

Brien

thanx guyz, i'm using acid 4...and most of the loops i use are from the "drums on demand" series....don't get me wrong, they're quality loops, but i'm having issues with intros, outros and fills....kinda having to settle or rearrange songs around the drumloop.....not sure about reason...(checking up on it)....just thought it would be easier to program something, than play thru endless loops....

An old standard is the Alesis SR-16 drum machine. It's OTB hardware but is effective for having control over measures and notes, intros and the like...if you don't mind being out of the box. Also you might consider the DM5 with a keyboard/trigger controller. All midi applicable btw.

Brien

Have you considered EZdrummer? The cool thing about EZdrummer is that it's midi so you can easily edit it but it works with sampled drum hits so it doesn't sound artificial. Also, you get so many more midi loops on a cd than acid loops or any audio format.

www.e-studio-drumme…

check out http://www.e-studio-drummer.com
the real thing and a great player, great sonics, class A gear and a long track record.
It's made my life a whole lot easier, my music is better and I love the results

At the price of paying a drummer on the super cheap side; say $50 a song: after three songs you will have paid for ezdrummer. Editable midi drums using real sampled drums. Throw a little bit of groove(so-called humanizing) on that track and I doubt anyone could tell the difference.

Definitely MIDI over loops. Its all about flexibility for me.

I use EZDrummer and purchased extra MIDI grooves to use with EZD from groovemonkee.

Very happy with the sound. BUT with that said look around for the sounds you want. EZD has a number of packages to choose from based on your style.

And of course compare to other products. For me EZD was my choice because of perceived ease of use compared to other products I looked at.

Nice Post DRDLKS,

Thanks for that!