what kind of music do you play? what are your purposes? scratch tracks? demos? you need to be more specific

A variety of music: Folk, blues, reggae, some rock.
I guess you would call these demos. If I were to seriously market the songs I think I would hire a real drummer.

I use Drumagog for some drum replacements and so far so good. The plugin has a fixed latency version as well and the whole thing is really easy to use with lots of samples. With some tweaking and EQ they sound real as all get out! Kinda pricey but worth it.

I have used a few different drum programs (Acid Loops, Cubase SX packaged software, etc). I sometimes record drums acoustically but that takes a lot of space, mics and hours of eq, envelope and compression work in the mix.

I have been researching software out there and the two that look to be the best value for the money are either BFD or XLN Audio's "Addictive Drums". I think I have decided to go with Addictive Drums because it sounds great, has a great interface and is only $199. Here is a link with video demo's and sounds: update

good luck

the best program for drums is bfd 2

mixingaudio wrote: the best program for drums is bfd 2

You've got a LOT to learn my young newbie!

Addictive Drums is superior to bfd...
Steven Slate Drums is also leaps and bounds better.

for starters.

Johnny_B wrote: [quote=mixingaudio]the best program for drums is bfd 2

You've got a LOT to learn my young newbie!

Addictive Drums is superior to bfd...
Steven Slate Drums is also leaps and bounds better.

for starters.

Come on? Leaps and bounds... :roll: I hardly doubt that over statement! BFD 2 is far from a slouch. Its definitely world class samples and extremely real. I haven't heard the other two but BFD 2 is nothing short of amazing. If they are that good though, I think I'll do some homework.

Carry on...

i bought the steven slate library just recently and i really like it.

is it better than bfd or addictive drums? it depends...

the difference between bfd/addictive and steven slate drums is that the first two libraries have more or less raw, unprocessed samples, which you can/have to process yourself to fit your needs. the steven slate samples are already processed by steven slate with high end analog and digital gear so that you can use them immediately and have great sounding drums. (though it doesn't mean you can't process them further)

so if you like to treat your programmed drums like you would treat live recorded ones the first two libraries will probably suit you better.
if you like good drumsounds without having to do much tweaking then the latter may be better for you.

Check out the company smartloops. They have some awesome multi-track drum loops for many different formats. It may be easier than programming your own drums

I have tried EzDrummer, BDF, and addictive drums.
and in my opinion ez drummer takes the win.
i was using it with a electronic pad kit, it had the most natural sound/feel.
of course the best virtual drummer, is one thats virtually there.