Users can also simply drag MIDI beats into the "MIDI Drop Zone" that rests directly below "Tap 2 Find" for similar results. EZDrummer 2 then quantizes the beat and provides a list of grooves that show a percentage as to how closely they match what you're looking for. Clicking "Tap 2 Find" opens up an interactive drum image that allows users to play their desired beat via mouse-click (or with a MIDI controller, if that's how you roll). The search feature is a great, intuitive addition, but things get even more awesome when you factor in the "Tap 2 Find" feature on the upper left of the search screen. Once you choose your search criteria, the remainder of the search screen populates with results, each indicating the intensity of the groove and a suggested tempo.
The top part of the search screen provides a six selectable criteria lists: library, genre, groove type, play style, power hand, and musical sign. This problem is remedied by clicking on the "Search" tab and opening up the search screen. The browser is easy enough to use, but it's not always to quickest way to find the perfect groove that your song so dearly requires, and things can quickly get out of hand when you have years of acquiring MIDI expansions under your belt.
This also opens up the ability to dust off that old digital recording device you stashed away in the closet and completely break free of finishing your song in front of a computer, since you can easily import WAV files onto just about anything. Naturally, you're still going to need a DAW for the remainder of your recording sessions so this may seem like faint praise, but consider this: not all DAWs have VST support, and those that do support virtual instrumentation tend to cost a pretty penny compared to less powerful multi-track options. EZDrummer 2 introduces a built-in sequencer of its own, and to make matters even sweeter, it gives users the option to export their newly created drum tracks as WAV or MIDI file, which single-handedly eliminates the need to open it as a plug-in. Opening the original version without a DAW gave users access to a deep library of MIDI grooves, but without a separate MIDI sequencer, they had nowhere to go.
This first thing you'll notice about EZDrummer 2 is that it is completely and absolutely useful as a stand- alone program, and this is because of one amazing key feature: the software acts as a music creation system. Well, they were close enough, at the very least, and in my mind (at the time) not a single piece of drumming software was capable of doing what EZ Drummer did at such an affordable price point.ĮZ Drummer 2 works great as a stand-alone program Freedom from your DAW Yes, it was true: my digital MIDI percussion sounded like actual drum tracks.
I was totally hooked after figuring out how to use the software, and from that day onward my demo recordings never again suffered from overt fakeness.
Then after one fateful day in the spring of 2007, we crossed paths on Musicians Friend, and I purchased EZDrummer purely on impulse.
Before that wonderful virtual drum plug-in had come along into my home recording rig, my songs were plagued with the type of amateurish percussion one would expect from cheap MIDI drums: unsatisfying digital "pang," lifeless transitions, laughable breakdowns-you name it, they had it. Seriously, it was borderline unhealthy-but I had good reasons to pursue romantic endeavors such as this. I was deeply in love with the original Toontrack EZDrummer.