Programmed Drums vs Real Drums - The Ultimate Test!

Can you really get label-quality productions using only programmed drums?
I decided to answer this question once and for all by re-recording and re-mixing a song using only MIDI drums and amp sim plugins. Hear the results for yourself!

*Mentioned in this video*

[IakuaPunKaRecords]

The best benefit of midi drums Is that you can make your own solo project easily! (If you're not a drummer...). To me this is great

[kadenstevens]

As a drummer who lives in an apartment, midi drums are a lifesaver. I can record my performance using an inexpensive electronic kit and transfer the feel and dynamics of my performance into a recording I can be proud of without having to go bankrupt.

[CrushingAxes]

Back in the 90´s I used to program drums for a few demos, even using fruity loops people started to ask me who was the drummer, nowadays a lot of the drums is replaced with samples, there is a certain feel about the real drums, nothing can replace that, but most people can't tell the difference. And most people who claim the real drum is a lot better can't tell the difference in a blind test.

[Zechariah]

Damn I'll admit the programed drums do sound amazing, but those real drums just gave me a feeling that the samples couldn't

[baritonecult]

Midi drums are in every genre of music and definitely here to stay.
Fact is real instruments are fun to play and record.
I stay in my own lane and do what makes me happy
Cheers from Michigan

[borndrumming]

Your average Joe just enjoying the music will never know the difference.

[MikeLuke]

Great video, thanks for this. I would have recommended to do the following though: Play both mixes A/B and then let the people guess which one is which. We listen with our eyes and we have confirmation bias. If you wouldn’t have revealed beforehand, people would have wildly guessed on this.
Secondly, I feel there‘s always a huge misconception when it comes to VST like Superior Drummer 3. People still think those sounds are somewhat artificial, because it‘s always like „REAL drums vs. programmed drums“. Truth is though that Superior Drummer ARE real drums, recorded with real preamps, real mics into a real console and sampled by real human beings with real sticks. ;) The problem I witness when mixing a song for a band who uses VST: the drums often sound TOO good for the rest of the band and therefore the drums doesn‘t seem to fit.

[jkf]

The instruments sound good in both mixes, but you can hear the acoustic space and dynamics better in the real-instruments mix. The real-instrument mix doesn't necessarily sound better, but it sounds more rock n' roll.

[ColdSleep]

The one with real drums definitely sounds better. The groove of his playing makes it more unique and just a more enjoyable and memorable listen. The programmed drums makes it a bit more cookie cutter sounding. Although both mixes sound fine just from a technical production standpoint.

[adrummingdog]

Long time drummer here and I've been recording midi drums with a roland ekit, keeps the feel of my playing with the options and ease of the samples, and they sound super good. Great video

[acidhendrix]

Generally only musicians and engineers will hear the difference of well programmed drums vs real drums. Average music listeners won't. They may "feel" the difference but not consciously know

[MrBikboi]

For someone who just makes music for a hobby and isn't a drummer, the GGD libraries are by far the best my "drums" have ever sounded, Ez Drummer is great for the libraries, but Modern and Massive and the P5 kit have been worth the investment for me, easily.

[uglukman]

I prefer old mix but cannot tell if the new mix is done with drum software or not. And anyway, both mixes are excellent!

[mapex]

7:49 - yep thats the big differentiator i think with MIDI where people say it doesn't sound realistic. Any real acoustic drummer will tell you that you don't hit the drum exactly the same every time. You're not a robot....so velocities will be different. One of the biggest things I spent time on with midi editing to make it sound human. I can always tell when it's midi with the rapid fire machine gun tom hits all exactly the same. Really detracts from the song even if it's quantized perfectly. That said, I do prefer the sound of the old drums. BUT if you were to blindfold me and play both, I don't think I'd be able to tell which is midi or not. Good job.

[artpereira]

There are a lot of comments like "the average person won't know the difference". That is not the point. You should be producing music for the people that will notice it because if that is achieved then the average person will get a better experience. Aiming low gets you low.

[joemarta]

To me the thing that gives it away are ride and crash cymbals. Big washy crashes especially sound like a continuous sound when you ride on it in real life, and in midi it sounds like a bunch of completely discrete hits chained together. Also marching snare type parts don't get the right ratio of snare sizzle to top hit in programmed drum suites in my experience. I haven't used the latest gen superior drummer tho.

[gabrielnowacki]

Finally someone with good approach. The more you know about the process of recording real instruments the better you can use digital tools which are at their peak right know. I'm 100% sure that right now it's finally possible to have realistic sounding drums that would fool even pro engineers out of your PC. And the best way to achieve that is to have a drummer and record his performance on eDrums in a MIDI format.

[iamjiroe]

I think we do not have an issue with Kick, Snare and Toms. The problem is always on Cymbals (crash, hihat, etc). The micro dynamics from a live drummer are very noticeable to the expert ear. To the general public? nah. They can even listen to one dynamic and they'll be fine haha. But it's not about the public, it's about the artist's vision. Anyways... my favorite is usually a blend if budget allows.

[sonitusstudio]

Great video! I'm a huge fan of ITB music.
I deal 90% of the time with programmed drums and I agree, new mix sounds better, although the old one is good too. I never had the chance to track real drums in my studio so I started with programmed drums and I sticked with them. I do heavy music most of the times but I gotta say that midi drums work on other softer genres too. It's all about programming and it's not just about saving time or money; it gives you the chance to test and tweak the drum parts during the process of creating, recording AND mixing too, it's just a higher degree of freedom when it comes to produce songs. It sounds as good as a real one also because it's just samples of a real drum :) You just have more control on everything and once you figured out how to program the midi to make it sound musical, realistic, dynamic and groovy (depending on the genre), you got it!
Here's an example of a song that i produced entirely in the box, literally with 1 mic-preamp of an Apollo Twin.


This song has Midi programmed drums (SD3 and additional samples) midi programmed bass (Eurobass II), programmed orchestra and synths, Amp sim guitars, mix and mastering 100% ITB. I think it works perfectly without sounding fake at all.
You got a new subscriber btw 🤘

[AdamIronside]

TLDR: Its definitely getting much better!

I grew up with programmed drums. The only one in my area into similar kind of music I HAD to do everything on my own.

As I've got more into production and recorded real drums the main difference I find are the cymbals. Cymbals ring, FOREVER. In a blind test I can't always tell the difference but with the software the cymbals always tail off pretty quickly. Sometimes a couple seconds, sometimes a little longer, but when you hit a ride cymbal, for example, it just rings and rings and rings forever. It isn't always super audible but there is just this 'air' that lingers behind the rest of the beat. The amount of RAM / processing it would take to playback loads of these 'forever' cymbals probably puts that kind of software beyond the means of many at the moment.
Its hard to explain, but I'm sure you know what I mean?

That said, the actual drums / shells sound just as good if not better in many instances.

It is also VERY genre dependant. It works in many genres but when it comes to things like jazz (the brush libraries never sound anywhere as near good as the stick libraries) or blues or anything requiring that 'live vibe' (whatever that is) it doesn't quite compare yet.

Sorry for the long boring post. Thanks for always breaking the wall and not hiding behind typical production metaphors.