Steven Slate Drum sample Review!!

[Jake 2.0]

Steven Slate Drums Review

The Manual was short and sweet and right to the point.
I don't know about you guys but i usually skip any kind of read me/manual type of book lit that comes with every product these days from Microsoft word to to our own steven slates (amazing, phat, brilliant) Drum Samples. Not this time, i read every word and steven slate was right on in explaining what the drums samples consisted of and what came with the package. He didn't miss a beat. Right on point as always. I also find manuals (when i do actually look something up) tend to be cluttered with repetition and useless information that isn't of any help. Steven Slate put together a solid read on all things drum replacement with some tips and suggestions on replacing your drums on any given track.

As if the amazing mix ready ready samples aren't enough steven has even offered free upgrades for gogs, sampler maps, and a future cymbal add on. Thats real customer care. You buy once and your family. Waves should take a lead from steven with their waves update (rip-off) plan, FREE UPDATES

Now to the drum samples. I love the fact that this collection doesn't take up up 149 GB's of space like my BFD collection does. I mean i don't really use the 129 or so velocity layers that bfd and other collections supply you with so it really just takes up valuable space on my external HD. I generally just grab a few of the hardest samples and call it a day. This being that i really only blend in and replace drums when bands want that polished radio sounding drums. If i were doing jazz i wouldn't replace the drums anyway. so i don't need all those velocity layers. So thank you to steven once again for breaking it down and giving us only what were gonna use in our mixes. Oh and also saving me hard disc space at the same time (;

My favorite samples so far if i had to pick one kick , snare and tom would be.....

The z1's and the z2's are the ambient zones included in this sample collect that i have been sticking to for the most part.

KICK 6- its got the perfect bass drum sound that i love and adore, and sounds so natural and at the same time really fat and punchy, your not gonna find any muddy low end in any of these kick drums people.

Snare 5- Im obviously a sucker for maple and i just have always loved the sound of that wood its so beautiful sounding!!

ALL THE TOMS- both sets of toms are just set and ready to compliments to the chef, so full and punchy i cant say enough about these guys, i stuck both in a mix just to hear how they sounded and they both just fit in so well with 0 tweaking.

Steven put in months upon months tweaking the samples to perfection for the sole purpose that their mix ready and that only little or no tweaking would be necessarily in your mix

I had a really hard time choosing samples to try out in my mixes , simply because their all dam good and there is such a nice variety. There is a sample here for every mixers taste from pop to metal and everything in between. If you want to tweak them there so flexible and you can do whatever you wish. If you would like to use them as is , load the samples into drumagog and you have amazing sounding drums at your finger tips ready to rock!

This is THE drum sample collection you don't want to miss out on.

STEVEN SLATE DRUMS

Price to purchase: $199

For further info and to hear samples in action check out SSD's website @ these guys will not let you down in sound and quality.

Steven Slate Drums


Thanks for putting out one hell of a product steve!!!

[Bang]

What a smoking review!! Thanks Jake! Hope to hear some of your stuff with the drum hits soon!

[rewt_]

Originally Posted by Bang

What a smoking review!! Thanks Jake! Hope to hear some of your stuff with the drum hits soon!

i haven't really dug into my copy yet, but i threw some hard and medium hits at drumagog recently in a faders up mix of the band i'm tracking, and they sounded relentless right out of the box. based on that quick experience, a quick browse through all of the samples, and the demo's on steve's page, i can tell that these things are going to get a HELL of a lot of use with me. steve, ya done good.

[Bang]

We're very psyched! Keep the reviews coming! We have some new things coming as well, some updates, the cymbal pack is in production, and of course, the GOG upgrades will be flowing soon.

[joelgtrnut]

I've had my SSD CD for like 3 weeks now. They kick some serious ****n arse. Highly recommended. I use them daily in mix.

[Torwald]

Sounds impressive. I've been looking around for a good sample collection for a while.

Is it mostly rock and metal sounds? I'm sure gonna have a closer look when I get home!

[PhilR]

I've used them on a few sessions now, both metal and pop-punk & hardcore. They've really proved their worth as far as making our £250 studio drumkit sound 10x better.

[dillweed]

anyone having problems with the toms?

they seem to sustain forever....especially when tuned down. trying to gate them, but they dont sound real and sometimes the gate is double triggered.
usually when i have a recorded tom i can draw in the gate/fadeout. can't do this with samples. i guess you could record them and go back and do that (just though of that while writting this

[Bang]

Hey Dillweed, good news for ya. I have some presets I can give you for a bunch of different RTAS and VST gates that will cut the decay off the toms. I'll be in the studio soon and I'll whip them up for ya. Also on V2 we're going to have a B version of all the toms that is pre gated. We've had a lot of guys have a lot of luck gating and manually fading them. They are quite punchy and once you get the decay right, I think you'll really dig them.

[BigJunk]

Originally Posted by dillweed

anyone having problems with the toms?

they seem to sustain forever....especially when tuned down. trying to gate them, but they dont sound real and sometimes the gate is double triggered.
usually when i have a recorded tom i can draw in the gate/fadeout. can't do this with samples. i guess you could record them and go back and do that (just though of that while writting this

I actually think the toms are under rated, I'm surprised more people don't talk about them since I find them really punchy, but I guess its not as popular to replace your toms. As steven said its all about the gating. I didn't really know that much about gates but the toms forced me to learn. For one thing, keep the attack at fastest and then depending on the song tempo, mess with the hold and release times. Then adjust the threshold. I'm actually glad he kept all the decay on because I just mixed my friends song and it was REALLY slow and I needed almost all of the tom decay so it worked out. I think though it will be useful to have a pregated version on the next update so good idea steven.

[dillweed]

Originally Posted by Bang

Hey Dillweed, good news for ya. I have some presets I can give you for a bunch of different RTAS and VST gates that will cut the decay off the toms. I'll be in the studio soon and I'll whip them up for ya. Also on V2 we're going to have a B version of all the toms that is pre gated. We've had a lot of guys have a lot of luck gating and manually fading them. They are quite punchy and once you get the decay right, I think you'll really dig them.

Cool!!!
Thanks!!!!
Evolution of a product....love it.
I like the pregated idea. would save alot of time.

I'm one of the dinasoars who still actually mixes on an SSL and the gates are'nt working for the toms. my last mix the client accused me of added an 808 after the tom hits.

I really like the sound of the birch toms, but the drummer of the band is hating them. I think it's a drummer thing. alot of them spend a ton of money on their drums and are adamant that they hear their drums.

[Ice]

I, too, have been in love with the Slate samples. They've found their way in all sorts of personal and demo projects whether it be blending or completely replacing. I've have had the woes of crazy tom sustain, but once gated, they rock for sure! The pregated toms would also be cool. I'd be interested to see your gate settings Steve. I'm sure a professional has much better sounding methods. Any news on the arrival of the update?

Regards,
Daniel

[andremattos]

SSD is the best IMO!
I love all the kicks and the snares!

great work!

[Jake 2.0]

Let me say as the orginal poster i still very strongly and still have the same opinion about bangs samples, thier still punchy as hell, more often than not i do blend in my orginal drums together with samples , being a drummer and an engineer i know how alot of drummers feel about thier 3 grand drumsets and how they want to hear some of it, the drums sound more relistic when thier belnded an not 100 % replaced, all though i have replaced 100 % and it sounded badass, its just my preference to blend in hits, as far as the tom decay goes ive gated with much success. Steven puts out one hell of a product in my opinion and updates are on the way as far as what im reading on gs, and no i don't work for steve, just a fan of his work and his samples.

[8BallProductions]

I am Deffinatly going to buy these samples ASAP , great review

[Jake 2.0]

Thanks man. good idea to pick them up, bands love how i record my natural drum sounds , but when I'm competing with the Chris lord alge's of the world these samples really help( okay maybe a lot more than a help) thicken up the original drums and more "radio" like . I do what the artists want and i have got a great number of clients after using these samples in my mixes. Have fun with it, Blend a few of Steven snare, kick, tom etc samples to make a tasty and punchy as anything drum mix. Go crazy! the options are endless !

You will make back the money you spend on this really fantastic product at a really reasonable and may i say it bargain price tag . I'm surprised Steven hasn't upped the price to 500 $ or even more.

Buy um! Use it live it and love it. (Or set it and forget it ) I tend to be a more tweak kinda guy, i own Drumagog but insert all samples manually in pro tools using beat detective to cut up the kick, snare , tom tracks and then using tab to transient and then pasting in each sample .


Jake-

[Geoff Duncan]

I got mine about 3 weeks ago, and I am **Loving** them.

Perfect for every track I've pulled them up on.

Can't wait for the cymbals!!!!!!

thanks SSD!!!!


Geoff

[AKCSTUDIO]

Steve is a drum master.

[Trance183]

I see Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. If I get volume 2 (which is more expensive), does it come with everything that Vol. 1 has? Or you have to buy both?

[kankzzzativo]

I love ssd samples , and toms are killer specially the fatoms!!!

[alonsomosley]

I've had mine nearly a week now and am still astonished by them. I can't imagine needing anything further for my modest drumming endeavours (except, perhaps, better technique on my part).What i particularly appreciate about the Steven Slate drums is the attitude to their customers. Down-to-earth, accomodating, friendly-exactly the things i consider good business practices.
Splendid stuff.