Best software/samples for basic percussion sounds?

[roygbiv]

Any suggestions for (relatively cheap) samples/software that have a good, varied collection of basic percussion sounds?

By basic I mean tamborine, cowbell, woodblock, sleighbells, handclaps, chains, etc.. With lots of variations for each.

(NOT djembe, tablas, rainstick, oud, marimbe, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

I just want to try out some "classic" (i.e., 60-80s style) post-recording spicy sounds, to see how they fit, before I invest the time (and cost) of finding, buying and recording the real percussion instruments, or if they are good enough, just leave them as is.

I assumed I'd be able to find some good sounds on my various iPad apps and/or basic SampleTank. Instead, what I'm finding is lots of cool exotic sounds, but surprisingly few basic "meat and potato" percussion sounds. And when there is one, there are not many variations of that sound (think multiple pitched cowbells).

Of course one can also pull up various drum kits, but those have the same problem, usually one cowbell, one tamborine sound, etc. per drum library.

Anyone else run into this problem, and if so, how did you deal with it?

PS Maybe this should be in the software section, but the emphasis for me here is on the usefulness of the sounds for recording.

[Nick Sevilla]

Korg M1 soft synth.

Avid (Digidesign) XPand2.

Cheers

[roygbiv]

Hi Nick

Thanks for the tip - I'll check out the Korg offering (I looked into the Avid as well, but it appears that only comes in RTAS, and I use Reaper, which apparently doesn't do that.

roy

[roscoenyc]

EZ Drummer with the Latin Percussion expansion pack works great. Sounds great.

[ashcat_lt]

EZ Drummer with the Latin Percussion expansion pack works great. Sounds great.

+1. I know you're looking more standard sounds, but the Twisted Kit EZX is fun too. It's even got various body sounds, a jacket zipper, and some other crazy crap.

SuperiorDrummer is a bit more expensive, but much more powerful. It'll load the EZDrummer expansions. Better yet, it will let you pick and choose pieces from mulitiple kits and map them anyway you want across the keyboard.

[roygbiv]

Hey guys, thanks!

That is exactly what I was looking for! Great sounds and enough variations. Plus, the purty pictures and limited scope help keep my wandering mind anchored to what sound idea I was thinking of (instead of randomly tripping through all the sounds presented by a Rompler without a trail of breadcrumbs).

Plus, I already have EZDrummer. so it was a no-brainer - went ahead and bought the Latin Percussion kit (there are some sales at ToonTracks right now, only $40 for expansion packs)

(BTW, that's the second time roscoenyc's advice has helped me out - several years ago upon his recommendation on this very board I bought a Yamaha S03 for cheap bar gigs - perfect solution for that scenario).

Also, thanks for the tip about Superior Drummer ashcat - that would be pretty handy to be able to re-map and group all the sounds I want/need right next to each other ( I already own the Twisted expansion set, so with that and the latin percussion set I should be able to completely horrify the guys in my band next time we all get together).

One more question since you guys seem to have experience with this product - any suggestions to increase playability/grooveness? Do these percussion setting tend to work better with weighted keyboards? Should I consider getting some cheap eDrum/piezo trigger thing and using sticks?

Thx guys, this sort of thing is what I love about TapeOp

[mindsound]

I suggest you the cheapest Native instruments bundle Komplete elements 8.
There is the abbey road drums (60's) that sound fantastic plus orchestral percussions from the vienna library. It cost 59$!!!

But check with n.instruments to make sure. That was the bundle I got at the time of version 7.

Cheers

[apropos of nothing]

One more question since you guys seem to have experience with this product - any suggestions to increase playability/grooveness? Do these percussion setting tend to work better with weighted keyboards? Should I consider getting some cheap eDrum/piezo trigger thing and using sticks?

This is something I've reflected on a lot, being a keyboardist with a big yen for percussive sounds.

My suggestion is twofold:
A) Think idiomatically. Don't make your drummer grow extra hands if you can avoid it. Spend a bunch of time listening to specifically percussion tracks you love, and hear how the sounds fit together. If you have availability, spend time playing an actual drum kit and hand percussion and see what it feels physically to play grooves. Upbeat kicks and downbeat snares really like to be at a standard velocity -- everything else you probably want to play with open velocity for feel.
B) My path through synthetic percussion triggering has gone through the steps: keyboard percussion, electronic drum kit, Kat DK-10, drum kit with mics, MPC-1000 most recently. Of these, I really like the MPC (and the drum kit, obviously!). So my suggestion is it my be worth a trek to banjomart to check an Akai padcontrol, or the like. It's a pretty nice interface.

Finally, swing-quantize is your great friend. Get to know it!

Thx guys, this sort of thing is what I love about TapeOp

+1, man; +1.

Good luck, and have fun!