One of the most common questions I see regarding electronic drum sets of any brand is how to get not only more, but better sounds. If you’re bored with your e-kit’s sounds, and no amount of tweaking is scratching your sonic itch, there’s one very simple, pretty much universal way of upgrading to some world-class drum sounds in almost an instant: Toontrack’s EZDrummer 3 software. The even better news is that Thomann’s Cyber Weekend sale sees EZDrummer 3 reduced to just over £100, you can have it up and running today - no waiting by the door for a courier to arrive!
With around 15GB of drum samples included, all us drummers need is a electronic drum set with a MIDI connection (check your module for a MIDI port or USB), and you can play EZDrummer 3’s incredibly impressive library from your electronic kit.
The EZ Drummer 3 library was captured at the world-renowned HANSA Studios in Berlin by producer Michael Ilbert (Coldplay, Adele, The Weeknd). Every drum and cymbal is recorded at multiple playing levels, with multiple microphones placed around the kit and in the room. So, when you play these sounds from your kit, you’ll hear album-quality drums with real room ambience - just as you would if you recorded an acoustic kit in a studio.
The dynamics available go far beyond those that are on offer inside most drum modules, because the resolution of the data is so much greater. Hit your snare drum lightly and EZDrummer will play back a snare sound that was recorded with a light hit. Hit it loud, and you’ll get a hard hit, recorded by a real drummer. It’s not just the same couple of samples played back at different volumes - these really are organic, authentic drum sounds, and it still blows our minds that they’re available for EZDrummer’s already-low regular price.
Go even deeper with over 60% off EZX expansion packs!
By purchasing EXDrummer, you’re not only getting the included library - it puts you in the EZ Drummer ecosystem, which means you can continue to expand your sound collection with Toontrack’s EZX expansion packs.
These are add-on sound packs that load within the EZDrummer software, tailored toward specific genres. Toontrack has nearly 70 EZX expansion packs in its current catalogue with something for every style you’re likely to need, and Thomann also has some chunky reductions on its EZX packs, in some cases nearly 70% off. With prices set at under £25, this is your chance to grab a smorgasbord of amazing drum sounds for an ultra-low price. Here are a few that caught my eye:
• Toontrack EZX Duality I - was £75, now £24.50
• Toontrack EZX Duality II - was £75, now £24.50
• Toontrack EZX Seventies Rock - was £44, now £24.50
• Toontrack EZX Number 1 Hits - was £44, now £24.50
• Toontrack EZX Traditional Country - was £44, now £24.50
Not just for drummers
EZDrummer provides some amazing drum sounds for its low price tag. But it’s not only for drummers, far from it in fact. Some of its standout features are aimed at song-writing guitarists, bassists, keyboard players and producers who are looking to put pro-sounding drum parts together quickly and, (ahem) EZilly.
EZDrummer 3 and every EZXpansion pack comes with a collection of MIDI grooves and fills –– all played by pro session drummers –– that can be dragged and dropped to build a drum track in minutes.
But as well as this, EZDrummer 3 can work intelligently to craft the parts to your needs, with complexity, dynamics and even grid-editing all on hand.
By using the built-in Bandmate function, you can even import an audio file and let EZDrummer make up its own part that’s stylistically suitable for your song!
