Total confusion?!?!? = Need a solution!

[cannollyj4]

Ok - so I am certain to go for the mac and audio interface you've recommended.

I am also going to get the adaptor and some speakers as I am fed up of mastering on headphones.

A mate has agreed to give me his novation launch key which I hope to use as a MIDI controller (not that I've ever used MIDI before)

My only questions now are -

1 - My Roland TD9 drums are outside in a shed - what will I have to take out to record them? The audio interface and mac I am assuming?

2 - I am a reasonable drummer - and usually record to a click track - but still find I slip out of time occasionally. Is there any way I can correct this with Pro tools to make sure my drum tracks are perfectly in sync? I dream about recording breaks with drums then layering percussion over the top!!

3 - If I buy a MAC why not just use garage band? I am a beginner and it looks easier to learn than pro tools.....

Thanks people!!!

[albee1952]

1 - My Roland TD9 drums are outside in a shed - what will I have to take out to record them? The audio interface and mac I am assuming? Pretty much. Once you set up the midi under the Setup>Midi>Midi Studio menu, create a stereo Instrument track and insert your drum VI plugin of choice(EZDrummer, Superior Drummer and Addictive Drums all work great for this).

2 - I am a reasonable drummer - and usually record to a click track - but still find I slip out of time occasionally. Is there any way I can correct this with Pro tools to make sure my drum tracks are perfectly in sync? I dream about recording breaks with drums then layering percussion over the top!!
Easy editing for this. You can drag midi notes to the grid(or close if you wish to let the performance "breath" a little), or highlight the rough spots and use the Quantize options under the Events menu.

3 - If I buy a MAC why not just use garage band? I am a beginner and it looks easier to learn than pro tools.....
Easier to learn? probably. But why waste your time learning a beginner's app when you could be learning what the pro's use? GB is a dandy little program, but for making serious production, you need(want) a serious(full-featured) DAW. Now Pro Tools is not the only game in town, but it IS a good game Cubase and Logic may have an edge regarding midi, but drums are so easy to do in PT that I never feel like I am cheated by working in PT

[cannollyj4]

Thanks for the response - its very helpful.

I agree. Might as well go straight in at the deep end and get to grips with PT rather than messing about with GB.

My understanding of plugins such as Ez drummer etc is limited. The video's I've watched on YouTube seem to suggest you can't create your own drum patterns from scratch but merely make altercations to existing patterns.

That's no good for me - I want to be able to make my own drum/rhythm tracks from scratch. I'd play the drum myself so I can have my own fills and rhythms and augment that with percussion. I'd like to be able to treat the drums and percussion with effects.

So I'd have to take the laptop and audio interface out to my shed to record them?

Also - another question I'd really like help with if people can give me a pointer.....

Is it possible to use pro tools to sync a synth pattern to a track? You know some of the pre set sounds on a synth have their own rhythm or play in a certain time? Can they be stretch or shrunk to fit the rhythm of a track I create?

Sorry if I haven't explained that very well!!!

[VRW]

As most of the questions have been answered already let me just add 2 things.

1) Pro Tools is for sure the best DAW for editing live sources and it sonically offers the best quality when recording live instruments.

2) As you are recording with E-drums you are going to need a sound source like EZ drummer, Superior Drummer etc.
If you already have got such a drum app/plugin you are fine. If not, however Garageband+Logic Pro X may be an alternative for you
as both (even Garageband) already come with a build in drummer app which provides you the needed sounds without having to buy
any additional stuff. You just could plugin your drums, select your drum sounds and you were ready to go.
So for you as a beginner it actually could make sense to start with Garageband as it is much simpler to use and to start with than those
fully featured DAWs.
If you would want to get more serious later you could buy Logic Pro X for $199.- which would give you a massively equipped, professional
DAW but you would not lose what you would have learned in Garageband because Logic Pro X is only the big brother of Garageband and it
is the almost the same only more advanced and with much more features.
Because you are using E-drums which finally means to use Midi, Garageband/Logic even may be the better choice as Logic Pro X is even
better with Midi stuff in general than Pro Tools.
Particularly if you are talking about quantizing, synchronizing and editing Midi-drum-tracks, this is where Logic shines.
I use both DAWs on my system, Pro Tools 11 and Logic Pro X and both are great programs which have their advantages.
Pro Tools for sure shines when it comes to recording, editing and mixing live instruments and it´s sonic quality is outstanding.
However Logic is the better choice for doing a lot of Midi stuff, Midi quantizing, Midi-recording (like recording E-drums for example) creating
and playing with synth patterns etc.
And it´s not only better and easier for that than Pro Tools, it also already comes with all the synth plugins and VIs, the drummer plugin with
all the sounds etc. which you would have to buy extra if using Pro Tools.

You see there are things to consider.
If you would have said to record live drums I instantly would have recommended to use Pro Tools only.
If you are going for E-drum-recording which means a lot Midi to do, to have the need for virtual drum sounds and if you are asking for synth
patterns and all that stuff, believe me, the Garageband/Logic Pro X path will be the much better way to go.
It´s all there already in Garageband/Logic Pro X what you are looking for.
In Pro Tools you will have to buy a lot extra stuff for your needs, many things you intend to do are more complicated in PT and finally you even
will not really use all the crucial advantages of Pro Tools.

Finally it´s all up to you of course. What feels better to you personally.

Yes, you only will have to get your laptop, your audio interface and your headphones to your shed to record your drums.


The best of success to you,


VRW





Mac Mini i7Quad, 16GB Ram, MBP Mid 2012 2,5GHz i5, 16GB Ram, Mac OSX 10.10.3 Yosemite, Apogee Quartet+Duet 2
Genelec Active, Yamaha NS10, Pro Tools 11.3.1, Logic 10.1.1, Waves, MCDSP, Duende Native, HOFA, IK Multimedia, NI etc.

[cannollyj4]

Ok - thanks for your response - there is a lot to consider there. Firstly I want to say thank you. Your advice is invaluable and could be saving me a lot of time and money (not to mention my sanity!). So I really appreciate it!

So firstly - what are e-drums? Stupid question probably but I really don't know!

Beats are important to me - but I'll principally be using my Roland TD9's for my drum tracks then augmenting then with percussion, synths and effects to get good rhythm tracks.

The music I write is based on a traditional set up - guitar, bass, drums, keys - I just like to make things a bit more funky (think a blend of guitar music and dance like Screamadelica).

What's your stuff like?

[albee1952]

Why not bring the Roland kit into the house? Actually, I remember reading that you CAN import your own midi patterns into EZDrummer, but I don't know how to do it(youtube and the Toontrack site are great sources of helpful videos). You can also audition tons of included patterns, as well as find something remotely close, and then edit the midi(super-easy to do on the piano roll). As another alternative, buy something like the M-Audio Trigger Finger Pro and then you can tap drum parts in with your fingers(saving you dragging the Roland kit around). The key to getting the most from the Trigger Finger(or any pad device) is to create a custom page of pad assignments where you have PAIRS of pads triggering the snare and toms. Doing fills with 2 pads per sound allows you to get much better nuance, dynamics, speed and variation (and its shocking how few people think to do this).

As for sync to tempo, there are a few ways to make this happen but you will need to dive in. Elastic Audio allows you to stretch clips(a piece of audio) to fit a different tempo. Midi(like you would have for your drum tracks) will follow tempo changes to a session anyway(so if you decide your song at 120 bpm would be better at 115 bpm, just change the tempo and the midi notes move to follow. Elastic Audio(with your audio tracks in "Ticks" mode, can do the same with audio. How good the result is will depend on how big a change you are attempting.

I can't comment on Logic as I run PC, but truthfully, all the major DAW programs are very capable, and you can do pretty much anything, with any one.

[cannollyj4]

I'd love to bring the drums into the house - but there is no room unfortunately! And my wife has strange ideas about not wanting the kitchen to turn into a studio!

Plus I began as a drummer and really enjoy playing. Its one of the principal reasons I make my own tracks. I wouldn't want to take away the fun of playing along to the tracks I've recorded - I just want to be able to refine/tinker and enhance the drum tracks I've recorded. I want to take things further than just your average indie rock thing and use unusual, funky and rhythmic sounds.

[VRW]

Originally Posted by cannollyj4

Ok - thanks for your response - there is a lot to consider there. Firstly I want to say thank you. Your advice is invaluable and could be saving me a lot of time and money (not to mention my sanity!). So I really appreciate it!
So firstly - what are e-drums? Stupid question probably but I really don't know!

No problem. Glad to help.
E-drums are "electronical drums", means not the traditional "acoustic drums" which produce their tone only by skins and shells
through out to the room and have to be captured by microphones like these
http://pearldrum.com/products/kits/d...erworks/#shell
whereas "electronical drums" means that the tone is only produced artificially by samples via an electronical device/sound module like
with your Roland TD9.
http://www.roland.com/products/td-9sx/

The advantage with e-drums is that you can record your drums as Midi track very easily into any DAW and that there is only very low
noise in the room (only the hitting noises but no actual drum sounds). So it´s perfect for home recording.

You of course can capture even acoustic drums as Midi tracks by triggering each drum additionally to their natural room sound but that
is a much more advanced task to get this to work properly.
And you also can record the audio output of an e-drum sound module but honestly the sound quality of most of the drum plugins is just
better nowadays imo (besides the editing options of Midi tracks).

So with your kind of drums (e-drums) Midi recording and playing the sounds of a drummer app/plugin like EZ drummer or Garageband/Logic´s
internal drummer app makes the most sense and gives you the best editing capabilities afterwards.

Together with my best friend who is a drummer too I have recorded all kinds of drums through the years, from acoustic sets (2 mics to 16 mics)
to e-drums with a lot of different drum apps as a sound source many times.
At the moment however I work on my own (as for drums) using mostly Logic´s ingenious drummer app to create drum tracks (used standard Midi+
Fxpansion BFD in Pro Tools prior to that).
Sometimes just using Logic´s internal sounds, sometimes triggering Slate´s SSD4s. Depending on the style of the individual song.

I´m still convinced as to your description regarding your future plans that Garageband/Logic Pro X will be the best fit to your needs but actually
you also can use Pro Tools or any other DAW to tinker and enhance your drum tracks/beats.


Anyway the very best to you and whichever DAW you decide to work with lots of fun!


Cheers, VRW



Mac Mini i7Quad, 16GB Ram, MBP Mid 2012 2,5GHz i5, 16GB Ram, Mac OSX 10.10.3 Yosemite, Apogee Quartet+Duet 2
Genelec Active, Yamaha NS10, Pro Tools 11.3.1, Logic 10.1.1, Waves, MCDSP, Duende Native, HOFA, IK Multimedia, NI etc.

[cannollyj4]

Hello -

I've ordered my Mac book pro and have decided to go with logic pro x, the focusrite pro 24 and a novation impulse 47 key midi controller. With the small amount of money left I am planning on buying a desk to put this stuff on and a pair of m-audio BX6's.

I just wanted to post to say that although I haven't gone with pro tools I've had some very good, helpful and friendly advice/responses from the forums here.

Big thanks to VRW in particular.

Cheers. Happy mixing all!

[VRW]

Cool !
Thats all decent, good quality stuff. I am sure you will be satisfied.
If you are new to Logic there are very helpful straight forward yet nicely detailed tutorials available via this site.
http://www.groove3.com/str/logic-training-videos/
You of course can get help by You Tube videos as well but these tutorials are well made and cover a lot of stuff.

Lots of fun,

VRW