Oh, yes, we will!) and Mixer, which, as in the first EZdrummer, gives you access to a small mixing console. At the top of the GUI, there are now four tabs: Drums, which we just mentioned and is the software’s main interface Browser, which, just like on the first EZdrummer, allows you to browse the folders and subfolders of your grooves collection (finally with a “Preview Original Tempo” button) Search, which provides a multi-criteria search engine to find the groove you need (and to which we will come back later.
You can obviously ignore this feature and drag your grooves directly into your sequencer, but this tool is much more interesting than it seems in first instance, as we will see later.Īnother change that strikes you right away is the access to the different software sections. Toontrack added a zone similar to the one found on EZkeys: Just like on the latter, it will help you pre-build a drum track by adding your MIDI blocks there, before exporting the track to your sequencer with a simple drag-and-drop. So, now it’s possible to use the Nashville hi-hats with the Twisted Kit bass drum and the snare of the Vintage Rock kit.īesides this very nice evolution, there are also quite a few changes in the bottom part of the window, where the playback controls and time signature and tempo settings are. Two new features have found their way there, as well: A sort of rectangular pad to hear the dynamic register of the instrument (Two new features have found their way there, as well: A sort of rectangular pad to hear the dynamic register of the instrument (depending on whether you click to the right or left of it, you can hear softer and louder velocities), and, especially, a menu that allows you to access elements of other EZX libraries.
People familiar with the first version won’t be thrown off by the software, which greets you with photo-realistic depictions of two drum kits: Modern and Vintage.Īs always, each drum element is provided with a small arrow to access its editing options: Under the small contextual menu that opens up, you can replace a snare model with another one, but also define the pitch of the instrument and its volume, complementing what can be done in the Mixer section.
EvolutionĪvailable in VST, AU, RTAS, and AAX formats in 32 and 64 bits for Mac and PC, EZdrummer 2 can also be used as a standalone program, just like its predecessor.
It must also be noted that EZdrummer hadn’t had a major update in eight years, giving competing brands time to organize themselves and offer, for more or less the same price, very pertinent alternatives for the most part, while Toontrack applied the EZ concept to multi-effects ( EZmix) and pianos ( EZkeys).įor these reasons, we were curious to discover this new EZdrummer 2, which ─ I’m going to say it even at the risk of ruining the suspense of this review ─ marks an evolution of the virtual drums concept that we hadn’t seen since, well, the first BFD. Many years have gone by and many excellent new libraries have come out. But, for half the price, it’s an excellent compromise: Much lighter and easier to use, it provides pre-mixed drums to musicians looking for a ready-to-use solution.
Granted, EZdrummer doesn’t offer the detail nor the mixing possibilities of BFD or Superior, mainly due to its limited libraries (up to 1 GB, at best) and its reduced number of features. After having released Superior Drummer to compete with FXpansion’s BFD, Toontrack was the first to democratize the virtual drums concept with EZdrummer.