MIDI drum editor

[Carl Kolchak]

Originally Posted by john1192

hey Carl, does this work on Instrument Tracks as well ?? or just Midi .. not in front of it right now .. thx john

Sure does!

[Carl Kolchak]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

Yeah - triggering Superior Drummer with a pad or similar can result in eg the hihat part being spread all over the keyboard, which is pretty cumbersome to edit. It would be nice to have the ability to have the "hat" track on one line, with maybe a number or note or something embedded in that track to denote which sample was being triggered....? Strike uses lines per drum (much like an edit page in Cubase on a 1990s Atari) but there doesn't seem to be any neat way of creating slightly more sample-complex patterns within each line. Maybe I'm missing something ...

Can't say I've spent much time with either Superior Drummer, or Strike, but that sounds odd to me.

Even if Pro Tools had the ability to re-map MIDI notes, I don't see how the implementation could work that way around (all the hi-hat triggers on a single note, being remapped to a spread of notes within the target VI) - how would PT determine which of the trigger notes got consistently rerouted to a specific sample note in the VI?

Whenever I create my own sample libraries, I'll either use velocity switching to trigger a different sample, or a round-robin function (if available) to cycle through the various samples each time the corresponding key is triggered.

Are either of those options available to you, to modify your current VIs?

Just having individual samples spread out across the keyboard is so archaic, I can't believe any vendor is still doing that (that's soooo mid-80's).


Edit :


It just dawned on me, that perhaps you were talking about using the individual plug-ins own in-built drum sequencer matrix, and using Pro Tools MIDI sequencer to trigger the notes that those sequences are assigned to.

If that's the case, you can usually either click on the particular sequences name, in the VI's list of available sequences, or in some cases it has to be the name of the currently loaded sequence in the VI's GUI, and then Drag & Drop in on to Pro Tools MIDI timeline.

That way you have everything triggered directly from the PT Edit Window (i.e the individual drums, rather than the notes that the sequences are assigned to), you can set up the MIDI tracks as I previously suggested (split by pitch to new tracks, display MIDI tracks as single notes), and you can tailor the sequences to your hearts content.

[midnightrambler]

Well I'm probably making SD sound a lot more archaic than it is, as it's actually quite sophisticated in terms of velocity layering but also that there are 6 or 7 samples per layer, so you never get the same sample twice and thus avoid the "gunshot" snare fill. And with the hat itself, you can use just the one F#1 note and open and close it using the mod wheel. But then each "slightly more" open hat is also covered on its own key (with corresponding velocities and multi-sample layering). It's just a drag to edit. I can't really think of a better way than using the keys though. BUT No one wants to really have to remap the samples for every single kit, which also makes moving between writers and/or computers that much more cumbersome.

[take77]

As regards re-mapping, Toontrack's EZplayer Pro works well.

[Carl Kolchak]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

But then each "slightly more" open hat is also covered on its own key (with corresponding velocities and multi-sample layering). It's just a drag to edit. I can't really think of a better way than using the keys though.

Well in that case, maybe using the "splitting by pitch, and copy to new track" function might be more hassle than it's worth.

Whilst it's great (combined with the "view single note" mode) for creating a drum matrix of sorts, it's a big step backwards in terms of lassoing a series of notes across several pitches, or stepping through them individually using the cursor.

[Kris75]

The best way currently is to use separate midi tracks for each part, and then route the output of the midi track to SD2.

There are so many articulations that are spread around the keyboard, mostly due to the fact that they are made for E Drums, that using the select/split notes action is useless.

Once you are happy, you can copy and merge to the individual instrument track if needed.

There is no other way that I am aware of currently.

[midnightrambler]

Yeah thanks Kris, that's how I do it. When you're recording a Roland v-kit it spills out all sorts of MIDI crap you then have to separate out into different instrument tracks. I mean it's fine, it's just messy and a bit time consuming. Guess that's why it's called work.

[Stephen Bond]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

Isn't it about time we had some sort of MIDI drum editor?

Agreed! +1111

I still miss the Cubase Drum Editor I got familiar with back in the early 90s!

Looks like it hasn't changed much



Stephen

[Kris75]

Originally Posted by midnightrambler

Yeah thanks Kris, that's how I do it. When you're recording a Roland v-kit it spills out all sorts of MIDI crap you then have to separate out into different instrument tracks. I mean it's fine, it's just messy and a bit time consuming. Guess that's why it's called work.

Dealing with "sympathetic" midi notes that come out of an E-Kit is a difficult balance. I sure hope that someone can create an E-Kit that will trigger properly. For now, the only way to deal with it is through scripting or coding on what to listen for, even though the notes are still there....

[john1192]

Originally Posted by Stephen Bond

Agreed! +1111

I still miss the Cubase Drum Editor I got familiar with back in the early 90s!

Looks like it hasn't changed much



Stephen

fully agree .. and cubase pro 8 still looks like this ... !!!