Toontrack EZdrummer 2

Toontrack EZdrummer 2 Review – With its intuitive interface and convincing sounds, Toontrack’s producer-friendly drum kit ROMpler EZdrummer has been a software studio staple for eight years now. EZdrummer 2 builds on that success with an impressive set of all-new features.

Toontrack EZdrummer 2, The über-popular virtual drum kit is back, aiming to be EZ-ier and “drummier” than ever before

Under the hood, the EZdrummer engine has been improved with the introduction of sample rate conversion, more hits for each sample layer to draw on, “improved hi-hat transmute” and “Multiple Hits Emulation (MHE) for smoother sequenced hits”. The core sound library (recorded at British Grove Studios, London) comprises five new kits, as well as a range of alternative kicks, snares and cymbals, and the redesigned mixer includes a preset-driven processing engine. The new features look set to make EZdrummer 2 both hard and easy to beat. Collectors of EZX Expansion libraries will be overjoyed to hear that EZdrummer 2 enables full mixing and matching of elements from all your installed kits – and the existing expansions are set to be updated in terms of graphics and presets.

The new Groove Library’s killer feature is Tap2Find: simply tap in a beat on any kit element using your mouse or MIDI controller and EZdrummer 2 lists its closest matching grooves in order of similarity. It also lets you record directly into the library, and songs can be arranged in EZdrummer itself using the new Song Track sequencer. Finally, Power Hand lets you drag your “leading instrument” (ie, your ride pattern) to any kit element, while the Amount and Velocity algorithms enable real-time adjustment of hit density and strength. EZdrummer 2 is out on May 6, priced £115, and we’ll be reviewing it soon. You can get it from timespace