HOW ARE DRUMCORE PRODUCTS SPECIAL?
Q: What are the basic differences between all your different products?
A: Below is a quick outline of DrumCore and KitCore products and who they target. Plus there is a DrumCore and KitCore Product Matrix PDF to help you decide between those products. Also there is a Comparison Chart for DrumCore 3, DrumCore 3 Deluxe & DrummerPack Content.
DRUMCORE 3 PRODUCTS
Audio loop collection and sampled drum kits in a VSTi/ RTAS/AU plug-in.
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DrumCore ($249)
DrumCore 3 is for songwriters and composers who need authentic beats in many styles. DrumCore is an audio loop collection and sampled drum kits in a VSTi/RTAS/AU plug-in. DrumCore includes 4 DVDs of content, with music and drumming styles spanning most music genres including rock, reggae, pop, Latin, jazz, urban, metal and more.
DrumCore provides a complete set of tools for creating great drum tracks. It is the only product that combines name-brand drummer content (in both audio and MIDI formats), with a unified search engine, letting you search, select and export files into your audio workstation in nothing flat. DrumCore even helps you manage your own loop libraries. It's perfect for producers and composers who need to find great drum parts quickly in a multitude of styles.
DrumCore 3 includes an AU/RTAS/VSTi plug-in (Mac and PC) plus the DrumCore Toolkit. The DrumCore Toolkit is a standalone application for adding your own loop libraries (WAV/AIFF/REX2/ACID) and/or drum samples (WAV/AIFF) as well as for editing descriptive metadata (like "Style", "Shuffle", etc.) and deep editing of drum pad data (sample layers, velocity assignments, velocity crossfades, etc.). DrumCore is tested and Qualified on Logic Pro 8, Cubase 4 and up*, ProTools 7.4.2 and up, Digital Performer 6, Live 6 and up, Sonar 8*, Tracktion 3, Acid 7, and Garage Band 09. (*32bit Version Only).
Included are 24-bit stereo recordings of well known drummers as audio loops, plus MIDI versions of those performances and their multisampled drumkits. These are well-known players for their genre and you get to choose what's right for your drum part - the dead-on realism of a recording or the versatility of MIDI. Drummers include:
Jeff Anthony (Sheryl Crow, Jeff Trott)
John Bishop (Ernie Watts)
Terry Bozzio* (UK, Zappa, Missing Persons)
Tony Braunagel (Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal)
Matt Cameron* (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam)
Luis Conte* (Clapton, Pat Metheny, Sergio Mendes)
Ned Douglas (Dave Stewart)
Sly Dunbar* (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru)
Gregg Keplinger (Herb Ellis, Carter Jefferson)
Stephen Perkins* (Janes Addiction, Porno for Pyros)
Michael Shrieve (Santana, The Rolling Stones, Pete Townshend)
Ben Smith (Heart)
Matt Sorum* (Guns 'N Roses, Velvet Revolver)
DJ Syze-up (UltraNat)
John Tempesta* (Testament, Helmet)
Alan White* (Yes, John Lennon)
Lonnie Wilson* (Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts)
Zoro* (Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown)
* Get much more content from the drummers marked with an asterix in their add-on DrummerPacks.
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DrumCore Deluxe ($599)
DrumCore Deluxe is the top of the line DrumCore product. It is a great value for the pro who needs the largest variety of music genres, drumming styles and sounds. It includes DrumCore 3 (plug-ins, Toolkit and content) plus 9 DVDs of DrummerPack expansion libraries. DrumCore Deluxe covers the most breadth of audio+MIDI content offered on DrumCore.com. DrumCore Deluxe includes DrumCore (value $249) plus these DrummerPacks:
AlanPack I ($79 value)
Alan White — drummer for Yes and John Lennon. Great grooves from prog to pop.
CameronPack I ($79 value)
Seattle drumming legend Matt Cameron from Soundgarden and Pearl Jam provides intense alt-rock plus surprises.
LonniePack I ($79 value)
Lonnie Wilson — country music "Drummer of the Year" and first-call Nashville cat.
LuisPack I ($79 value)
Latin pop percussion from Luis Conte, percussionist for Madonna and Clapton.
TempestaPack I ($79 value)
Face-melting metal beats, featuring double-kicking, faster-than-thou finesse.
MattPack I ($79 value)
Thunderous rock beats from Matt Sorum, the drums behind Guns 'N Roses and Velvet Revolver.
SlyPack I ($79 value)
Sly Dunbar — Bob Marley's stick mon and 1/2 of the legendary reggae "riddum twins."
TerryPack I ($79 value)
Terry Bozzio (Zappa, UK, Missing Persons) — 80's prog, pop and more.
ZoroPack I ($79 value)
Zoro has rocked and funkified the world with Lenny Kravitz. Get on up...indeed!
You will need around 30GB of disk space to install DrumCore and all the DrummerPacks in DrumCore Deluxe.
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DrumCore Free ($0)
DrumCore Free is a fully working version of the DrumCore AU/VSTi/RTAS plug-in. It does not time-out. Start writing music with it now. After you get a taste, you'll crave the additional content found in DrumCore 3. DrumCore Free offers less drum content than DrumCore 3 and no DrumCore ToolKit.
DRUMCORE EXPANSION
DrummerPacks ($39 to $79)
Expand DrumCore with DrummerPacks - audio recordings and MIDI grooves of famous drummers in many styles that can be used in your commercial and non-commercial recordings royalty free. DrummerPack content comes pre-configured with metadata for use with the DrumCore search engine. This provides quick access to grooves, fills, variations and individual drum sounds. Search content based on feel (straight, shuffle, etc.), time signature and tempo. You can even add your own search criteria. Content is arranged in "GrooveSets," which are a song-like collection of related beats, variations and fills that serve as a construction kit for song creation. GrooveSets include patterns to compliment traditional verse-chorus structures.
All DrumCore/DrummerPack audio loops and drumkit content are 48kHz/24-bit and performed and recorded in multi-million dollar studios using state-of-the-art digital (ProTools HD3) and analog (SSL, Neumann, Neve, etc.). DrumCore works with all the major audio applications and supports dragging MIDI (single or multitrack) or audio loops directly to tracks in applications that support "drag-and-drop" such as Acid, Audition, Cubase, Digital Performer, Logic, Nuendo, Pro Tools and Sonar. These expansion libraries work with DrumCore version 2 or higher (not DrumCore Free).
KITCORE 2 PRODUCTS
Sampled Drum Kits with MIDI Grooves in a VSTi/RTAS/AU plug-in.
KitCore and KitCore Deluxe represent a subset of DrumCore capabilities aimed at those who only care about great MIDI grooves and drumkits and don't require DrumCore's audio loop capabilities. They just want great MIDI grooves and kits at an amazing price.
KITCORE EXPANSION
KitPacks ($10-up)
KitPacks are add-on libraries of drum sounds and/or MIDI grooves for use in KitCore and KitCore Deluxe. Only available as downloads from drumcore.com
APPLE LOOP PRODUCTS
DrummerPack AL ($23 - $29)
DrummerPack AL is for users of GarageBand, Logic and other products that use AppleLoops. This is an extreme subset of DrumCore content that is in the AppleLoops format and can be used with AppleLoops programs without DrumCore, KitCore or other application. All you need is the ability to use AppleLoops in your recording application. If you enjoy the content, we suggest they purchase DrumCore.
DISCONTINUED: DRUMCORE 2.5 PRODUCTS
Now considered legacy product, DrumCore 2.5 was a ReWire client and standalone application. DrumCore 3 is new and improved, sports a new interface, over twice as much content and is now a plug-in (AU/RTAS/VSTi). DrumCore 2.5 users should upgrade to DrumCore 3.
Discontinued: DrumCore Rock
Now considered legacy product, this product is currently out of production. It included a full version of the DrumCore 2.5 application and an ample subset of the "Rock" content found in DrumCore 2.5. Content included audio loops, MIDI beats and MIDI drum/percussion sounds. DrumCore Rock users should upgrade to DrumCore 3
Discontinued: DrumCore LT
DrumCore LT was a FREE download designed for those who only want a few libraries and/or do a specific style of music. It was a play-only, "Lite" version of DrumCore 2 designed to play DrummerPacks. It did not let you build kits with your own samples or use DrumCore to catalog your own audio loops and MIDI files like you can with the DrumCore Toolkit included with DrumCore 3. It was only for use with DrummerPacks, but had many DrumCore features (searching/auditioning beats and sounds, MIDI drum instrument with multi-channel ReWire to all popular recording apps, etc.). It used ReWire to interface to the host application. It is not supported with Vista and Mac OS 10.5. It is recommended that all DrumCore LT users purchase DrumCore 3.
Q: I have most of the other drum programs. Why would I want DrumCore or KitCore?
A: To characterize what we hear from other users who "have everything" is:
-GREAT CONTENT/AMAZING PLAYERS
DrumCore content (i.e. what the drummers play) is inventive, surprising and makes folks try musical ideas they normally wouldn't try. Not unlike playing with a great drummer. This is like accessing the brain of a great player and getting access to how they approach a beat. You probably wouldn't have programmed it like they played it, since we don't all think the same way :^).
-AUTHENTIC GROOVES = GREAT PLAYERS + TEMPO + TONE
The content we provide (grooves and sounds) is based on the idea that real drummers play to a musical style, the song tempo and the sound of their instrument. To get the most authentic drum tracks you needs these as a unified whole. Of course we also let you mix and match (metal beats on hip-hop kits anyone?). But we want you to have that "real deal" to get authentic grooves on call whenever you need them.
DrumCore grooves and drum sounds are inspiring, inventive and can make you go into new musical directions. Not unlike playing with a great drummer! Our GrooveSets are like accessing the brain of a great player and seeing how they approach a song.
-EASY
The simplicity of our software is refreshing as there is no big learning curve. Plus there is not bunch of specialized DSP and processing to strain the computer. Songwriters and music for film/tv composers (DrumCore's core user base) don't have as much time for manuals and doing everything from scratch. They appreciate simplicity and great grooves immediately on call.
-ORGANIC SOUNDING
The sounds in DrumCore tend to the organic and individual more than other drum products. The way we record the drummers it is more about their music genre and style, rather than trying to make the playing and recording process fit into our audio engine requirements (isolation, etc.).
-VARIED MUSIC GENRES
From blues and reggae to hip-hop, our content covers alot of ground. Plus we have 3rd parties like Big Fish, Drums On Demand and Sonic Reality publishing content in our format.
-SONIC VERSATILITY
We don't just offer a couple of acoustic drum kits and force you to go to expansion packs for more sounds. DrumCore and KitCore Deluxe both deliver over 100 drumkits with acoustic, Latin and electronic sounds. You don't need another plug-in just to get a tambourine.
-WE PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS
Our beats and drumkits are General MIDI compatible (unless the kit is very specialized). So our content can work with a huge amount of other drum products, sequencers and control interfaces.
-BANG-FOR-THE-BUCK
Price-wise we are an incredible deal. You get thousands of grooves by name drummers and their multisampled drum sounds across a multitude of styles for what other products are charging for a few acoustic kits and MIDI beats.
Also when you buy our audio loops, they are not split across multiple formats as with most other loop libraries. So when you get see that "X" MB or GB in our specs those are all discrete, separate bits of audio loops and kit sounds. Not "X" divided by the number of formats the library supports (such as libraries trying to cover AIFF, WAV, REX2, ACID and AppleLoop formats).
SOUNDS
Q: How do I know what the content sounds like in your products?
A: To hear the content included with any of our products, go to that products' page (you can use the "Products" menu to get to there) and the audio player to the left will fill-up with content specific to that product. Some don't have *all* the GrooveSets represented, but most have a pretty good amount.
INTEGRATION
Q: Your samples are all at 24bit/48kHz, but most of my sessions are at 24 bit/44.1Hz. Can DrumCore accommodate that?
A: Yes. DrumCore can do sample rate, bit depth and file type changes on export. This is set in DrumCore "Settings". Our content works great when exported to sessions at sample rates and bit depths other than 24/48.
Q: How can I make your MIDI files play back on my other MIDI instruments *and* how can I interface my hardware controller (pads, etc.) to the DrumCore or KitCore MIDI instrument?
A: Put the instrument or controller into "General MIDI" (sometimes called "GM") mode. The way our MIDI files play on other softsynths and the way we can be interfaced to hardware controllers is that we are General MIDI compatible. This breaks-down with some of the tweakier kits (lotsa of misc percussion sounds like Latin, electronic kits, Terry Bozzio's "Big" kit), but we do try and keep the bread-an-butter sounds (kick, snare, hi-hats, etc.) on the same note assignments.