I came across this “infinite demo” drum kits:
I haven’t tested it, but I thought about sharing it, since this might be a good option for people that are starting finger drumming on a tight budget and want good (they sound good on YouTube) drum sounds to start rockin those pads.
Beware that you might need to creat an iLok account.
thanks so much for this!
After installing SSD 5.5 Free I believe I have a bunch of samples that need to be loaded into a DAW…? Can I use GarageBand as my DAW? If so, I think I need to save the SSD files where GB can find them…then when I can open the SSD plugin in GB I do the midi learn config as discussed here. Do I have this right?
Oh, I just found What gear are you using? - #61 by Roel. I’ll try nanohost.
Ack, nevermind here’s GarageBand info for SSD 5.5.
Hopefully you can get it to work, I quite like the samples.
I liked the free kits so much I bought the full thing during the black Friday sale.
Every so often I play the free kits and wonder why I bought the full thing: the free version sounds great.
Robert or anyone have intress to make pad layout for SSD free kit 
?
I can kinda manage somehow similar sounds on right spots but they are named differently so I would like to see how someone better trained would layout them.
Do you mean that SSD calls a Low Tom a “Floor Tom” and stuff like that?
Well pretty much like that
What sounds would be closest to ones that QFG uses? (Or atleast that I get right instrument in right pads, since now they aint :D)
So, the problem with creating a pad layout preset is that it depends on what controller you use and how that controller is configured. That’s the reason I do not make presets that assign the right sound to the right pad. If you have a Maschine mk3 the notes that the pads send out might be different from let’s say a Launchpad, or a Nektar Aura.
Therefore, if I provide folks with a preset that’s supposed to configure their controller for them, I will screw myself over because 50% of the time something will be off and then I have to help those people figure out what went wrong. And that could be a lot. Different controller, different note assignments or even an accidental switch of the pad banks and all of a sudden stuff will break.
Therefore, I rather teach a man how to fish and explain them how to set up the controller themselves.
My guide for using Midi learn with SSD 5.5 can be found over here: (log in first) I updated it a couple of days ago!
https://questforgroove.com/course/beginnercourse/exceptional-situations/other-drum-software-besides-ad2/
I’ve been trying to use SSD 5 Free with GarageBand. I can make its plugin window with the nice drumset image appear from within my software instrument track. When I click on the bass drum I can see the pedal animantion, but I get no sound. I haven’t figured out why. I was thinking of trying Reaper next. Maybe SSD 5 Free doesn’t work with GB…I’ve seen that it doesn’t work with GB on Big Sur, but I’m still on High Sierra…
I’ve started writing up my step-by-step process for SSD with GarageBand, which I’d be happy to share…if I can get it working! 
I may eventually buy Addictive Drums Custom. Do I understand correctly that this is a standalone application that doesn’t require you to use it in a DAW as a plugin?
I got it sorted. SSD 5 Free does work with GarageBand on MacOS 10.13. I just didn’t understand the SSD interface. I’ll try to post my notes later in case it helps other newcomers.
Hey I also added the pad layout with the names SSD5.5 uses to the lesson about mapping SSD5.5 drums!
Here’s a screenshot of the basic QFG layout with the correct sounds as named in SSD5
In the free version of SSD 5.5 I think not all of the above sounds are available. You’ll see some that say “no loaded:”
Here’s as close as I could get with the free version:
I already after all your hard work uninstalled SSD and moved back to AD.
But I believe that not loaded in SSD means just that they are not in use currently?
Someone smarter can correct me
If you try to map it, does it work?
I also have the free version of Steven Slate drums and I used all of those samples. I think that not loaded indeed means not assigned to a midi note. Not that they’re not available.
I can check again tomorrow but I’m 99% sure this is what I’m using.
I figured it out. You have to load a kit preset (by clicking on it) which then loads that kit and the samples.
If theres no kit loaded, or a different kit using different sounds it will sayb “not loaded” in the mapping menu because that sound does not exist for that specific kit.
But with that said, all the sounds I mapped are included in one of the three kit presets that come with SSD5 FREE.
Concerning the basic QfG pad layout (and this particular SSD5 layout of course), I am just wondering, if it would be more practical, the floor tom to be on the right side and the high tom to be on the left, like a real drum kit.
I don’t think you get a huge benefit either way. Maybe as a drummer it might be good to flip things around if that’s what you’re use to already, but keep in mind you can always flip stuff around also for one particular song.
For example if I need to play a groove that has a particular tom together with an open hihat all the time, I just put that tom above the open hi hat pad for that song.
A good rule of thumb is this: you usually want to keep the core of the kit in place, (kick, snares and hihats) and you can swap the cymbals, sidestick and tom sounds to whatever suits you.
It’s not like I always a have a china on the right bottom. Sometimes it’s another type of crash, or something like a vibraslap if that’s what I need 
I think this video explains my way of thinking quite well, tlking about the “essence” of all the sounds and where they’re placed on the pads. If you keep that in mind, you’ll probably feel more free to move tings around a bit whenever it suits you.
Thanks a lot for the extra detail. I’ve got your recommended layout working!
In case other noobs like me struggle:
In the Create section. click on kits to the right of Library, then double click each of the 3 items in the Kit Preset column:
In the Map section below Create, scroll to find each sound. With your pad controller connected via USB (and in MIDI mode), click the Midi Learn button followed by the desired pad on your controller.
