Dr. Drum VS. BTV- The Complete Review
Dr. Drum VS. BTV- The Complete Review
Search online and you will find a lot of reviews outlining the differences and the similarities between Dr.Drum and the BTV beat making software. I discovered that a lot of these reviews are incomplete and not providing enough details of the most important features in making your decision in buying a beat making software. I have done my own comparison of the two products and they are as follows:
Sequencer
A sequencer can be a hardware or software that serves as a sound library for a musical instrument. This is where all the sound effects and previous tracks you have created are stored and ready to use for future customization or editing. Both Dr. Drum and BTV sets the bar high in this category. They both provide a 16- track sequencer that includes an extensive library with thousands of sound effects. BTV provides additional editing tools whereas Dr.Drum also provides additional editing tools along with a 12 Pad Drum Machine which will be discussed further in a different category. Therefore, Both Dr.Drum and BTV comes with a very good sequencer and there really is not a winner in choosing one over the other in this category.
Drum Machine
Within a beat making software a drum machine allows you to work with many different sounds or recordings you can say simultaneously with each tracks that you are working on. The Best Beat Making Software should have such a feature. For Example, Dr. Drum comes with a 12 Pad Drum Machine. Each pad is a kit which allows you to pull up 12 different sounds to work with along a track or multiple tracks. So twelve pads can give you a multitude of 144 different sounds to work with the 16 different tracks the sequencer provides at the same time. Why is this important? The drum machine allows a better screen layout and encourages maximum editing and creativity. Everything is more organized and it also time efficient. BTV does not provide a drum machine with their program. With BTV You will have to go back and forth between the sound library and the track that you are working with. Therefore, because Dr.Drum provides a 12 Pad Drum Machine Dr. Drum is the sole winner in this category.
1 or 4 Octave keyboard
An octave is a range of low, medium, and high notes within a melody. A 1 Octave keyboard such as the one the BTV beat maker provides restrict your melodies to a confine range of pitches. who wants to be limited to a specified range of pitches with the tracks they are working on? A Four Octave Keyboard on the other hand should allow the user to switch between instruments such as guitars, strings fx etc. A Four Octave Keyboard should provide you with a range of low and high notes to toggle with in the same melody. Dr.Drum comes with a Four Octave Keyboard that gives you those flexibility and possibilities. It is obvious that a 1 octave keyboard like the one BTV provides limits your creativity and the productions of the sounds that you are working with. Therefore, because Dr.Drum comes with a Four Octave keyboard it is the preferred choice in this category.
MIDI Cable
MIDI stands for Musical Instruments Digital Interface. It describe a series of interface and connectors that allows a variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. A lot of beat making software allows you to connect an external device such as a keyboard via the MIDI to supplement the sounds within their sequencer or library. You will see that Dr.Drum boast that there is no need for an MIDI interface with their software. Your experience with Dr.Drum will dictate the same. In the same comparison, the BTV software gives you the option of using an MIDI along with their software. With the BTV you will make use of that option because of the deficiencies that I mentioned above that comes with the use of a 1 octave keyboard. Therefore, I will let you decide the winner in this category. Please visit the MIDI Association for more information on this exciting subject. That association is one of the best communities that exist on the internet.
Price
You can purchase the BTV for $37 or you can buy Dr. Drum for $39. The price for both BTV and Dr.Drum are very reasonable. Therefore, the prices are not a big difference.
Ability To Upload Into Social Media
Dr.Drum comes with an automatic Youtube uploader. BTV on the other hand comes with an export quickly button that you can share with others via many different channels. Therefore, you can say that both software are very gracious in this category.
Tutorials and Support
Both Dr.Drum and BTV come with video tutorials that enable even a novice to use their software. With Dr.Drum you can even e-mail them for support and they will reply to you as soon as possible. BTV goes a little further than that by providing live support with one of their technicians. You can call them directly and someone will answer the phone or return your call to answer any questions you have or they can actually give you consultation on something that you are working on. I myself have call them and had such an experience. Therefore, BTV is the winner is this category.
To conclude, BTV did very good and sometimes better than Dr.Drum in a lot of areas such as the sequencer, price, the ability to upload and the tutorials and support. However, Dr.Drum provided a 12 pad Drum Machine and a 4 Octave keyboard both which enhances and encourages creativity, and at the same time gives you a more organize and efficient program to work with. I already discussed above how BTV restrict you potential to be as creative as you can be by not providing these features. As much as the competition is in the music industry we got to have the edge on everything that we are doing and we definitely do not want to be limited in our creativity and the way we want to express ourselves. Therefore, Dr.Drum is a better beat making software than BTV.
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