Stylus RMX vs. Stormdrum

[Stagwall]

I know there are a few old threads about this from the time when Stylus RMX and Stormdrum were new. I thought maybe time has an ugly effect on loop libraries so here's the same question again:

I want cinematic drums and percussion and I'm very fond of those big booms. I have no other drum library so I plan to use whatever library I get with EWQLSO Gold, but I also want to be able to make other kinds of music than cinematic music. Which one would you go for? Stylus RMX or Stormdrums? For those of you that has both of them, which one are you using most?

The thing is, Stormdrum is on the summer sale on ~~~~~~~~~~~~-europe right now but getting both at the same time would maybe be overkill? After all, it seems like they are pretty much alike, sound wise.

[karmacomposer]

Apples and Oranges

Get both. Stormdrum is great for large cinematic loops and electronica loops as well as a myriad of one shots and drum kits - worth every single penny.

Stylus RMX is THE remix and groove creation station. You can massage individual instruments and pre-made combination grooves with the SAGE engine running all the time - makes it super easy to create amazing grooves. With the expanders you can expand from the more remix/electronic/dance/trance sound to a more rock/pop/jazz, etc sound.

The two products only share the DRUM category, but how you use each is radically different from one another.

However, you can use BOTH (just try not to groove and rock too much) in a single production if need be. Stylus for those "The Matrix" moments and Stormdrum for those "Being Chased" moments (for example).

Regardless, both products are about as good as you can get in their chosen genre. I can safely say that out of the two, Stylus RMX gets infinitely more use in my productions because it can morph itself into almost any genre I take on.

Mike

[Steve_Karl]

I have both.
Storm drum definatly has the big booms and also plenty of other percussion that is good for getting grooves going.
Stylus is really nice and makes geting a grove happening very quick and easy.
I don't use the loops in Storm Drum at all. I'd rather just play the parts.
A minor complaint about RMX is that sometimes I can't find clean enough sounds. RMX stands for "remix" or so I've heard and there's a lot of "hip"
contemporary sounds in it. ( I suspect that's what they are ... I really don't know what's hip. )

I've got more experience with Storm Drum. I'm glad I have both but if it were a choice between having only one it would have to be Storm Drum for me because of the type of music I do.

[Stagwall]

It seems like getting both is the way to go. Though getting both at once seems to be overkill for me as I am just starting out with all this (sample libraries and composing for media). I haven't yet composed music for anything of that cinematic nature so I guess Stylus would maybe be a good start since it has some cinematic booms and stuff as well. Then I can expand my horizons with Stormdrum when I feel the need for more.

If I may quote karmacomposer:
"Stylus for those "The Matrix" moments and Stormdrum for those "Being Chased" moments"

After all, it's just a matter of creating a mood, and to judge from the Stylus demos one can use Stylus for those "Being Chased" moments as well.

[JT3_Jon]

It seems like getting both is the way to go. Though getting both at once seems to be overkill for me as I am just starting out with all this (sample libraries and composing for media). I haven't yet composed music for anything of that cinematic nature so I guess Stylus would maybe be a good start since it has some cinematic booms and stuff as well.

Yes, getting both is the way to go, though if you are in need of those "big cinematic booms" stormdrum is the only way to go. I dont know if you can get a comparable "cinematic boom" in Stylus (though I am fairly new to it, and if I am wrong, please show me the light :)

Also note, East-West seems to have 30% off sales every other month, so do NOT buy stormdrum for full price. Just wait. I bet they will be having a fall sale or "halloween spectacular" in the coming months :)

Just listen to the demos and go with the sound you find more valuable at this moment. :|:

[karmacomposer]

That would be a Halloween SPOOKTACULAR

Mike

[Stagwall]

Indeed, it seems that they are almost always having a sale.

JT3_Jon: I believe Stylus has some booms in the sound menus, or am I wrong? I recall seeing something like a cinematic category as well when I watched the videos of Stylus RMX.

[Patthoven]

Bread and Butter,

or like another song says ,...." can't have one with out the oooother"

Seems to me all the above post are right on.

The two complement each other like no two other instruments out there, because they are both superb; not to mention.... so far ahead of the rest of the pack, it's not even funny.

They each cover their own ground with supreme deadly seriousnes, though RMX's GUI and feature set reign unequivocally superior to that of Storm drum and everything else; blowing them right out of the water for reasons that would take up far more space than I have time to write about, not the least of which is their fantasticly hyper flexible effects arsenal.

But make no mistake about it. Storm Drum covers alot of ground that RMX doesn't; and it appears to be ground that is very important to you. I would fight for either one of them. So if you can afford the stretch, you'll never regret getting them both, but as far as who comes first,...... that's a painful choice that is up to you!..... Ooooh the agony of it!!! :)

Good luck and have fun!

Either one of them is going to give you the longest orgasm you've ever had when you first load them up and start tinkering!

Except getting to that "nap afterwards" might take quite a bit longer!!!

[matto]

I also have both and agree that having both is the way to go. Considering they are both "Drum" application it's pretty surprising that there's almost no overlap between them. It's really a killer combo.
Previous posts have commented about the different focus of each, so deciding which on to get first will be down to what your most pressing needs are.

matto

[Stagwall]

You have all convinced me that both are worth having. I'm just lucky this is not yet my profession so I don't HAVE to have them both right now. :)
If you look at the price of Stormdrum it just seems to go lower and lower. Last year it was $400 and now it's "only" $200. So I guess I can wait for Stormdrum until I really need it for a project that requires that big, cinematic percussion (which is most likely never going to happen anyway). I like the sound a lot though.

Right now I just need something else to work with other than the orchestral percussion that EWQLSO Gold has to offer. Stylus RMX seems to be very easy to work with and it doesn't seem to take long to create a nice groove with it.

Though, some day I will have them both. :)

[Deigratia]

If you can only afford one, for your requirements, I would suggest getting RMX. It has a few of the big cinematic boom drums in the sound menus.

[karmacomposer]

Stagwell,

I do not know exactly what you're genre of music is, but check these demos out:

www.mfelkerco.com/products (http://www.mfelkerco.com/products)

Choose the media CDs (audio CDs) or just click on the big yellow NEW link at the top. Go down to the bottom and check out Vampire Culture (the CD, not just the title track). Nearly everything there is Stylus RMX and many of them have either KHSO Emerald or EWQL Silver or BOTH. They also feature Virsyn Cantor, M42 Nebula and Bela D Media Giovani - Voices of the Young.

Stylus RMX is just so killer that for the 1st week or so you just won't get any sleep. I cannot tell you how much FUN it is to tink around in Stylus and GROW YOUR OWN grooves. It's downright addictive. I just cannot see how I got along without it. And I tell you, it took quite a few people to convince me to plunk down that money (that and I traded in some of my gear to make it more affordable for me).

You just cannot go wrong with it.

Mike

[Stagwall]

karmacomposer: Those are some nice tunes! I think I am even recognizing a loop from Stormdrum in Dreamcatcher. :)

Hehe, I can imagine that Stylus is quite a bit of fun. I also hear it's quite inspiring, and that's what I need.
What I like about it is that it seems to be able to quickly take on many genres.

I think I will go for Stylus RMX first, and I will also have to sell some hardware to be able to afford it. :P Thank you everyone for your inputs!

[karmacomposer]

Stagwell,

Nope. All Stylus RMX for that project (actually, two songs don't use stylus. Night Flight used my KN7000 - which I no longer have - Vampire Culture (title track) uses my Korg Karma for percussion and some sounds) and "Intrusion" uses FL Studio mixed together with Stylus RMX to make it a MUCH bigger and techno-sounding track - and I use EWQLSilver and KHSO Emerald in that one too.

"Blood Battle", one of my favorites, is Stylus RMX, some soft synths and my voice.

he he he

See, it even fooled you. Stylus RMX is THAT versatile.

Mike

[Stagwall]

Cool, I could've sworn that I have heard that loop in a Stormdrum demo.

Listen to the Dark World demo from Stormdrum: http://www.~~~~~~~~~~~~.com/cd_mp3_demos/184600.mp3 (http://www.%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E%7E.com/cd_mp3_demos/184600.mp3)
And then listen to your Dreamcatcher.
I think those loops are almost identical. Both even have that little weird sound that comes after 4 bars (or 2 bars, I don't know what the loop is like). I think you know what I mean when I say weird sound anyway.

[karmacomposer]

Stagwell,

Okay. You are right. I opened that project up and I did, indeed, use BOTH Stylus RMX and Storm Drum for that piece.

Good ear.

Mike

[Stagwall]

I knew it! :) Hehe, oh well. Seems like both of them are worth the money then, eh?
Could you get something like that out of Stylus RMX though?

[karmacomposer]

Yes. For the most part you can.

Just takes some work.

Mike