GetGood Drums is a virtual drum sample library made for Kontakt and Slate Trigger 2. The instrument plugin features meticulously recorded drum samples that sound amazing in any mix.
All libraries from GetGood Drums are available for instant download at Sweetwater.
Drum sample libraries are not to be confused with drum machines which use a step-sequencer to program grooves. Virtual drum libraries require MIDI programming in a digital audio workstation. GetGood Drums was recently included in our article on the best drum sample libraries available.
GetGood Drums Overview
GetGood Drums was founded by Adam “Nolly” Getgood, Matt Halpern, Misha Mansoor, and Derya Nagle, three of whom make up the band Periphery. They all share the same vision for their production work: amazing drum tones. And that’s exactly what you get with GetGood Drums.
The company currently has three separate sample packs available:
- Matt Halpern Signature Pack – A sample library created from the drum tones from the band Periphery.
- Modern and Massive – A drum library created for heavier music, but not so heavy that you’re treading into metal territory.
- Invasion – Quoted as “the most extreme drum sample library.”
The man behind the superb tones you hear within this sample pack is Adam “Nolly” Getgood. He is an extremely talented record producer who has worked with bands like Periphery, Animals As Leaders, and Devin Townsend.
The man behind the sampling, of course, is world-renowned drummer Matt Halpern, who is one of my favorite drummers of today.
The Matt Halpern Signature Pack
I purchased the Matt Halpern Signature Pack from GetGood Drums over a year ago and they have made it onto every one of my demos with my band (and one official release).
This is my favorite sample pack they have released thus far, and there’s a reason why: it sounds so great. GGD created the Matt Halpern drum library for their own needs in mind. With a band like Periphery, virtual drums are an integral part of the songwriting process.
They couldn’t find a drum sample library that fit their needs, so they created it themselves. The sample library was recorded at Magpie Cage Studios (a fantastic drum room) with a collection of Mapex Saturn IV and V drums along with Meinl cymbals.
GetGood Drums has a full range of articulations with perfectly tuned drums for any style. The details are so perfect that even the lightest snare tap has multiple velocity layers.
GetGood Drums does not require the full version Kontakt, so you can use the free Kontakt player to load this library. If you use Slate Trigger 2, you won’t need to worry about that.
I use GetGood Drums with Kontakt because it allows me to write my drum parts (or play them on my electronic drums) on one MIDI channel and still process everything separately as if it was a real drum kit with many microphone channels.
The Interface
Here’s what the interface looks like in Kontakt.
In the interface, you have complete control over each instrument and their respective microphone volumes.
You have access to panning, phase flipping, solo, mute, routing, and channel volume. As I was saying before, I love using GetGood Drums with Kontakt because I can route everything out of Kontakt into Cubase and mix this thing as if it was a real drum kit.
I can process just the overheads, slam the rooms, and not affect the tom microphones. Comparing this to Superior Drummer 3 or EZ Drummer 3 is an absolute joke, at least for metal or hard rock music. This library wins hands down every time in comparison.
Depending on whether or not you wish to either program your parts or play them in real time is up to you. I suggest a mini MIDI controller if you aren’t a drummer. If you’re a drummer, GetGood Drums works fantastic with electronic drum sets and the samples are better than any kit pre-programmed in a module.
Samples of the Matt Halpern Signature Library
Modern and Massive
I checked my one morning in 2018 to an email announcing a brand new sample pack from GetGood Drums. “The Sound In Our Heads” shows an incredible demo of the new sample pack and what sounds to expect.
As far as the drums go, there’s quality in every sample. The Matt Halpern sample pack is one of my go to’s these days and I’d imagine this one will get just as much use. Here are some of the demo samples from Soundcloud.
GetGood Drums includes nine snares, six kick drums, fourteen toms, and ten cymbals from a wide range of drum companies. The drums were meticulously tuned to perfection for the recording session. Each sample is perfectly phase-coherent for layering.
In addition to a new sample library, this pack introduces a new player and can be used with Kontakt’s free player. The new player features a new UI, built-in groove player, built-in processing, a special drum reverb, and a cymbal and snare bleed matrix.
I love the sound of the cymbals in this pack especially. Meinl is quickly becoming my favorite cymbal manufacturer. There’s such a great wash of sound across every cymbal.
The Invasion Sample Pack
I’m not too well-versed in metal music to truly give an accurate opinion of Invasion, but it does sound great to my ears. Personally, I don’t work on metal music at all, but I can see many metal producers getting great value out of the pack.
Alternatives to GetGood Drums
While GetGood Drums has great drum samples, no can deny that they only use one sample library. In recent months, I’ve been using Addictive Drums 2 almost exclusively. I love the user interface and the easy routing within my DAW.
Sending the individual tracks to separate busses in Kontakt is a little annoying, so I’m happy when I have a solution with great sounding drums and ease of use. Superior Drummer 3 is also a great drum VST plugin that you can route super easily if GGD doesn’t meet your needs.
But what do you think? Let me know in the comments down below what you think of the libraries from GetGood Drums. Thanks for reading!
