I've just switched from my good old General MIDI sequencer to FL Studio. However, it seems that the drum kits with which it is supplied are not to my satisfaction. I am in need of something with a wider range of instruments and a more natural and acoustic sound. Performing a search for 'VST Drum Kits' eventually found me this product. http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/DrumBassRig-main.html Can anyone tell me if this is a decent buy? Are there better products to be found, perhaps even cheaper too?

It's a little bit more money, but I've always liked Native Instrument's Battery 2 ($175). It has a good mix of acoustic and electronic drum kits. For good acoustic kit sounds, I've also heard good things about FXpansion's BFD, but that's more money than Battery ($300). Prices I got from zzounds, but you may be able to find some place else selling either of them for a little bit lower price.

I have also heard excellent things about BFD. I expect this is ideal if you just want good (excellent) drum sounds.

Battery 2 is great but is more of a sampler and from my experience, samples always need to be tweeked before they are usable. Ideal if you want more control.

[Edited by - tomatoSoup on January 14, 2006 9:37:37 PM]

Well, I only do this as a hobby and since I also do the programming, the art, hold a real job, etc... I don't have the time and skill to make my own samples or the money to buy a drum kit nearly half the price of the whole sound system! [grin]

I've decided to go with M-Audio's and hope for the best. I just really wish they could offer a demo version or something.

Thanks anyway you two.

You might snicker, but I think that Reason 3.0 is amazingly versatile for the price. Impressive not only in the amount of different drum samples that it has, but the quality of the drum sounds as well. Its pretty damn solid.

If budget it an issue then perhaps try this combo:

http://www.rgcaudio.com/sfz.htm
A well-recommended sampler. *free*

http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7free.html
A truly excellent *free* drum kit.
You will want the SoundFont version for sfz.

I myself use nsKit with Bettery 2.

Ah, thank you tomatosoup. The free version of nsKit seems a bit sparse. It'll work for now. But I take it the actual product is well worth the money then?


Slightly off topic:
I'm having some difficulty switching over entirely to FL studio. While the piano rolls are useful for tweaking, I much prefer using musical staffs. Right now, I'm switching back and forth between FL and Anvil to get the best of both worlds. Is there any kind of plugin or such that allows me to use FL with staffs?

Not as far as I know. FLStudio isn't really for the traditional composer, and adding in that sort of functionality would be a lot of work that adds nothing for most of its users. Perhaps developing in your other program and importing the MIDI data is the best bet.

I cannot comment on the $$$ version of nsKit but if you are interested, have a look on their forum for the user-submitted demos. They are very impressive.

I haven't done any detailed work with nsKit Free but I have had no issues with it so far.

Oh and if you want to use the Piano roll and the traditional music staff, try Cubase SX.
Cubase isn't as 'easy' as FL but once it clicks, I'm sure it will be to your satisfaction. Cubase SX 3 (or even 2) is really nice.
It doesn't come packed with plugins, samples and FX like Fruityloops but they can all be downloaded for free.

Try using a sampler channel and using the sampled sounds that come with FL. It can shift the pitch if you want, too.