What program is best for making a "drum skeleton" for a song?

[PlatinumSamples]

Check out FXpansion BFD2 and/or Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0

Rail

[RussMaGuss]

umm if you're running logic or a DAW that has a drum creator similar to "ultrabeat" then you can easily create a skeleton.

going forward and assuming you have access to such a program, what you do is, you create a beat in ultrabeat and then when you have that part worked out, you drag the audio into the arrange area where you can loop it and do whatever. then you just keep creating new beats and repeating it until you have the entire skeleton worked out.

[outofphase]

Addictive drums!!

[Tomstein]

If you check out Toontracks Superior Drummer make sure to take a look at the Custom & Vintage Edition. If you're a little bit skilled in programming and mixing (because the sounds are very HQ but not processed they need to be treated) you perhaps end up with don't feeling the need for real drums on some of your tracks anymore. It's quite a little work but is worth the effort.

It contains some really sought after sounds and some of them can even be played with rods and brushes. There are very good choices regarding microphone-control too.

If you are more into "naturally" sounding music-styles and like the drumsound of the seventies (the sounds are recorded strictly with equipment that was regarded as hi-end in that decade) this would be your best choice I guess.

If you don't want to mess with mixing and need some fire & forget-sounds you have to look elsewhere - but of course you won't get such convincing results then...

Greetings,

T.

[C Heat]

Skeleton = EzDrummer.

[bigfurry]

I love using Drumcore for that very reason- a song "skeleton". i can fly with it. It's only later, after I've fallen in love with the drum part that I get grumpy, because it's great drummers playing a 2-mix. It's easy swapping out stereo loops to build the song skeleton, but mixing a whole song with the drums pre-mixed is a drag. That's when I get into pain in the ass Drumagog work, to mult out the individual parts

BUT, for a song skeleton that's quick and with great real drummers doing their thing, I can't recommend Drumcore enough.

Good Luck!

[Oldone]

I track in EZ drummer and then apply Superior 2.0 for the sounds. EZ is easy, fast to get a decent tracking sound and doesn't get in the way if you need to move fast.

[SANDS]

I have used fruity loops and it works fine, i open it up either in cubase or in fl, depends on what i'm doing. i usually use toontrack loaded in cubase, that seems to make work flow the fastest for me.

[chrisso]

Originally Posted by Tomstein

If you check out Toontracks Superior Drummer make sure to take a look at the Custom & Vintage Edition.
.......the sounds are very HQ but not processed they need to be treated)
.......like the drumsound of the seventies (the sounds are recorded strictly with equipment that was regarded as hi-end in that decade)

Thanks for your kind words, however you are passing on some incorrect information.
Processing?: The sounds have some EQ, and there is a compressed room channel (Helios F760 compressor).
Seventies equipment?: The sample set isn't aimed at a '70's Sound', and therefore high-end equipment from all decades was used, in fact high-end equipment that's highly regarded today
The drums were recorded in a small room, which you could link back to a 70's mood, however the main aim was to offer great sounding drums (from no particular time frame) that contrasted the overwhelming presence of bombastic ambient drums in the virtual drum market.

For sketching out drum parts quickly i would probably recommend EZdrummer (and it's expansion packs).