Best effective way to program grooves by hand in Superior Drummer 2/Pro Tools 8 LE?

[Tritono9]

I have used in the past the EZDrummer and DKFH modules. My way to comfortably program the drums note for note by hand was with the midi editor in Guitar Pro (it was like writing, very quick and comfortably) but at some point I understand that I was lost some possibilities. Now Im using Pro Tools 8 LE and Superior Drummer 2. I have running Superior 2 without problems but I found that programming Midi notes with the Midi Editor in PT is not comfortably. Some sounds are very distant . Im new in PT and in Superior 2. Im studying the midi options of PT, even Im thinking in get the dvd Midi Explained of Groove3 but if you can teach me something about your methods, it will be of much help.

The question is: How I can program my drums by hand with effectiveness and comfortably with Superior 2 and Pro Tools 8?

Any tip is welcome! :)

[wizayne]

patience and practice....


i came from programing drums in fl studio (which is much more instant gratification)

but once you get use to the midi editor in pt....you will love it...
everything is right there

[nst7]

You say the sounds are distant. What do you mean by that? Do they sound quieter? It could be that you're accidently doing something to change the velocity. Or it could be that the Superior Drummer room mics are too high up in the mixer.

[danander11]

make sure that you are writing them in at a consistant velocity.. if nothing else, highlight a section and use the event menu and change everything to a velocity more in line with what you are after.. It's actually very easy, once you get the hang of it..

The trick is to watch your writing and write your nuance in as you go.. (softer and louder notes), so that it doesn't sound wooden.

The same applies for timing.

[albee1952]

How you enter the notes can have a large effect. I often use an M-Audio Trigger Finger and find it works fantastic(but not on Win7/64 bit). On my XP setup, it works a treat. Plus I reprogrammed one page(of the 5 available) so that snare and toms are assigned to pairs of pads. With that, I can play fills and rolls that sound absolutely real (which is impossible with a single pad per drum). Grab your self some sort of pad trigger device(maybe even the little Korg Nano).

[Tritono9]

Hey! thanks for the help.

I will buy a Midi controller without doubt! but I dont have money yet. For now, Im writing all manually but I have a question. I saw the Midi Explained DVD of Groove 3. The teacher explain that using the Grid mode you can enter notes without need to be worried about where you click because the note will be aligned with the grid time, that you only need to click in the square that you want and the note will be place in the start of the square (for example, if you click in the middle of one square, the note will be put in the start of the square, not in the middle). That is very useful but I cant get that result. Im in grid mode, I can see the divisions but the notes falls in the part where I put the click and not in the start of the square, that is a problem for me because is difficult to make a perfect click.

What I need to do to get that result? Thank you in advance!

[lincol1]

Originally Posted by Tritono9

Hey! thanks for the help.
That is very useful but I cant get that result. Im in grid mode, I can see the divisions but the notes falls in the part where I put the click and not in the start of the square

Any chance you are in Grid mode in the Edit window and Slip mode in the MIDI window?

[albee1952]

I think you want Input Quantize. Using GRID mode while recording does not mean that all notes will align with the grid. Input Quantize will do this. If you drop midi notes with the Pencil AND are in Grid mode, those notes will snap to the grid. You can also set the velocity you want for penciled-in notes by choosing a default velocity.

[Tritono9]

Thank you lincol and albee.

Albee was right, with the Input Quantize option you can get that result! great to know it :), now Im more comfortable with the midi editor and PT in general. I like this Daw.

Hey albee, do you have some method to get good real sound with programmed drums with PT? do you use other options? what rtas plugins do you use in your drums? do you have some recommendations ? any tip is welcome :)

If someone want to share some knowledge about programming drums feel free to share it!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Tritono9

Thank you lincol and albee.

Albee was right, with the Input Quantize option you can get that result! great to know it :), now Im more comfortable with the midi editor and PT in general. I like this Daw.

Hey albee, do you have some method to get good real sound with programmed drums with PT? do you use other options? what rtas plugins do you use in your drums? do you have some recommendations ? any tip is welcome :)

If someone want to share some knowledge about programming drums feel free to share it!

The most important thing to do(to get "real" sounding drum tracks) is to think like a drummer I know that sounds trite, but remember that there are certain ways a drummer will play naturally, and some things you CAN do with midi, a real drummer could not do(like double kicks and open/closed hat at the same time, or snare hit, crash hit AND hat at the same time). Using dynamics is also really important(having every snare and bass drum hit at velocity 127 will not sound real at all). Adding ghost notes on the snare will add realism(tricky to do but worth it). You might consider installing ezdrummer so you get all those loops and patterns to help you with building your tracks. Then I work my own slant on mixing with EQ, buss compression and adding my own room sound(instead of using the included room mics). I also usually bus the drums out to separate audio tracks and print everything, and go back and reprint the overhead sound with the snare drum removed from the kit as the overhead tracks seems to always have more snare in it than I want(in the kit view, click on the snare selector and choose none).