Does anyone know where I can get pre-made MIDI drum patterns for pop/rock? Doesn't have to be free...thanks

The usual suspects:

http://www.groovemonkee.com

http://www.smartloops.com

I've bought midi packages from both places and think they are great value. It's fun to do your own programming, but it's also a good thing to have another person/programmer/performer in your stuff, I think.

And programming always makes me a bit paranoid - "is this really grooving, shouldn't I move this hit a few ticks forward/backward..?"

Sometimes it's more relaxing to start out with a file and just listen and forget about it. You can always tweak it/move stuff around later when things progress. I always do.

Vamtech Drumtrax ($50). Best deal out there for realistic midi grooves.

http://www.drumtrax.com

I use these in Drumcore. Speaking of Drumcore, it has some good midi grooves. Not really "song construction" grooves, but many of them are compatible with a bit of creativity and effort. There are about 700 "song" grooves that you will recognize as, say "Rosanna" by Toto or "Freeway Jam" by Jeff Beck. Kind of expensive for just the grooves, but they are good and plentiful.

I was totally unimpressed with the free downloads from Groove Monkee.

Maybe they save the good stuff for those that actually purchase the product, but if the free downloads are teasers that are supposed to entice a potential customer ... well ... I was turned off.

Smart Loops looks intriguing. I had never heard of them. I'll have to check that out. The price is definitely nice. Thanks for the link!

just listened to the drumtrax demo and thought the same thing. sounds very stiff and sterile.

Compared to what?

that's the million dollar question. i don't know. so far just compared to the stock bfd sequences. some of the bfd groove sound cool. looking for some more rock options.

Compared to a good real drummer who might subtly slow down/speed up during the course of a song, etc., ALL of the midi solutions based on snippets or loops will sound inferior. But some seeem to sound more stiff than others.

I ask because, acknowledging this limitation, IMHO, Drumtrax sounds like one of the more realistic.

That is subjective, of course, but an objective measure is to examine the midi data. For some products, you will find kick, snare, etc. hits quantized exactly on the grid, eg. snare on position 1.2.1.1. Others allow the drummers' imperfections in timing to remain, e.g. 1.2.1.7 (7 ticks deviation).

i agree completely.

i think some of these libraries don't quantize at all, but rather just capture live playing on v drums. seems better that way. another thing you can do is play around with swing and randomization. part of the problem with the demo tracks i heard is that they seem to be playing back some non dynamic drums.

i just don't know if you can really get life out of midi triggers. these groove will work better for some things than others. tight pop would be better suited than jazz. all the latin stuff i have heard is horrible.

hope...
if you want something rather interesting for midi patterns check out the demo of band in a box as used by thousands around the world/college music courses etc.
(pgmusic.com for demo.)
its a rather unique product that this evening i'm just too busy to go into.
basically it comes with oodles of different styles (and there are third parties like nortons music that sell add on styles. everything from jazz/rock/blues ...basically
every style of music you could think of. or you build your own styles.

one interesting aspect is it will also generate melodies and soloes (different each time) thus its used to generate ideas for new songs.
if you doubt its goodness learn more on the biab user forum at pg or thru yahoo groups i think is one user group.
sorry dont have more time. too long to explain.

Hi,
I've created a drum website with drum lessons and free midi loops to download.
Drum Beats, Drum Lessons and Midi Loops, let me know what you think of it!

See this previous thread:

Best MIDI Drum Groove Libraries (played by a real drummer)

We're running a sale on our MIDI Groove libraries through the end of the month.

Cheers,

Rail