Tracks in Session not lined up for EZ Drummer VI

[phefner84]

So I can't take a click track, so after getting the tempo of the song on PT, I find a drum track on my keyboard that is the general grove I'm looking for and set the tempo and record it (zoom in move to the 1 measure so it is in time) and all the tracks. When I heard about and purchased EZ Drummer I was in heaven as all of the sudden my songs were more dynamic. The only problem is on a couple of the songs, the drums are out of sync with the tracks. It is really hard to find a drumbeat when the song isn't synced. Seems I heard of a way PT can do it itself through Beat finder or something. How do I line up the tracks with The EZ Drummer without rerecording everything? Thanks!

PS using PC with windows 7 and PT 10.

[albee1952]

So you didn't use a click or grid when you tracked the drums off the keyboard? Now you need to create a tempo map(but it should be easy since the keyboard drums will likely be solid as a rock....er...metronome. Best to search youtube for "create tempo map in pro tools"(without the quotes. This MIGHT save you some time: Make a group of ALL your audio/midi/instrument tracks. Using tab to transient, find the very first downbeat and cut there(separate region or separate clip). Now drag EVERYTHING to 00:00:000(show Bars:Beats on the counter). Now everything starts at the left edge. Turn off the conductor(Transport floating window) and highlight the BPM(which defaults at 120). Hit the space bar(play) and tap the T key in time for a few measures, then hit Enter. That will get the BPM close. If you can locate every first beat of a measure(should be easy on the drum track), then you should be able to fudge the BPM so the grid lines line up(maybe set GRID to whole note value for this). Once you get the session tempo/grid to match what you recorded, the ezdrummer loops will match the session tempo(you need to bring the 2 together).

[phefner84]

Well let me be a little clearer about what I do when I start a new session. This might make a difference in the answer. So I open up a new session and turn off the conductor in the transport window. Then I sing the song while hitting the T key watching the tempo. Once that is establish I set my keyboard drums to that tempo and sing the song making sure it is not too fast/slow. Once satisfied, I lay the keyboard drums to PT on an audio track giving 2 measures of click before recording. I let it play for 5min or so and lay the track down. Then I zoom in and cut right at the first down/1 beat. I then move the track to the first measure beat 1 and randomly click in the track to make sure that the drum track and click are sequenced. This one song they are not, or at least it is more apparent than the rest. Can't you click on the Events Tab-Beat Detective/Identify Beat and that will line the tracks all up, or something like that?

[phefner84]

obviously by the way if I adjust the keyboard drum tempo in the beginning I match the tempo in PT as well. SO basically the tempos are the same.

[albee1952]

Everything I said still applies Running drums from the keyboard without MTC locking the 2 together, is not accurate enough. Ultimately, I recommend a change in work flow. Choose your tempo in PT(tapping the T key is fine for this). Then create your drum track with EZ drummer(drag loops to the timeline in GRID mode, or pencil in notes on the piano roll). The EZ Drummer loops, be default, will lock to the tempo of the session. If you start with the right foundation, the rest is much easier to build on

[phefner84]

ok I get it. Now that I have EZD I won't use the keyboards drums anymore, that was only when I didn't have any other choice but a click track. Thanks!

[CPerry]

Protools question: So I recorded midi keys in Xpand that did not line up with traditional timing. Then tried to put a drum track down that would line up with the midi keys track. Cannot get them to line up in time. Any suggestions on how to get them to line up?

[albee1952]

Sounds to me like you are still doing things in the incorrect order To successfully work in midi, you are going to NEED the session to have the desired tempo and something to keep time with. If you can't stand a click track(which I understand completely), try using 1 or 2 bar-long drum/percussion loops. With the session set to GRID mode(F4), you can highlight a 1 or 2 bar loop and either do Alt-R and repeat the loop enough times to extend the length of the song, or hit Ctrl-D repeatedly to duplicate/paste. Without having Pro Tools working WITH the desired tempo, there is little chance of aligning(or quantizing) anything after the fact