I've been using drumtrax and twiddly bits to trigger drum seqences from my Korg synth or Boss Drum machine but am finding many of the loops outdated and limited. Has anyone found a good midi file drum program that is recently developed? I can't go the sampler route just yet. Thanks Jepse

I've read and understood your last sentence, but...do go the sampler route!! I mean, if you don't have the money yet, be a little patient, don't waste your money on a sound module. Unless you're doing Techno, you might want to get "real drums"; only a sampler can do that.

Mr.T. I have a Mac G4 400 with almost 500 Ram. Do you know if software samplers provide a cost effective alternative to emu, akai etc. or would I be losing too much in sound quality. Thanks for your reply.

Thanks Mr. T. I am waiting to hear the verdict on digi's soft samplecell, but if I can get a good used hardware sampler I think I'll go with your advice. Thanks for your help.

I dont know how big ebay is abroad, but in the US at least there are emu esi 2000's going for as little as $350. The akai s3000 is the best budget choice though as its easier to use and has 8 outs standard. But if all you want is drum hits even an electribe s would be just fine. A good drum module otherwise is rolands r8 rev. 2.

spectrasonics has some cool sample cd's. best service has some more affordable cd's you can get that will have a ton of drum sounds. That will work for more maintsream sounds, but I prefer creating my own drum sounds using synthesis and sampling as well as processing myself drum sounds from sample cd's. Sample editing is where the sounds come together. Grm tools bayby!!!!! It all depends on your programming chops and what your after. If you want a real drum sound I suggest you start practicing drums. if you_need_ midi drums theres the yamaha dt express for $999. If your lazy and want zero credibility use pre made loops in acid. I think it would be more fun to make your own loops though. Thats sort of the whole point of midi and beats that it allows you so much sound design freedom. Also, if you have lots of cash elektrons machine drum is probably the best drum machine ever made aside from the r8 rev. 2. [ August 21, 2001: Message edited by: ernesto ]