Pro Tools 12.8 and Virtual Drum Machine.

[foza1000]

Hi.
I recently updated my old PT8 essentials to 12.8 with educational license. The main purpose of this upgrade was because I purchased a korg nanopad2 midi controller in the hope I could learn to tap my own drum lines for bass and guitar melodies already created. This is not for sampling and such. However I couldnt connect the nanopad to pt8, and Im still struggling with the best approach in pt12.

I think I need a virtual instrument drum kit? or does boom or xpand have the capability? is EZ or superior drummer what I need?

Can someone please help a begginer with how to have a virtual drum kit at the tips of my fingers that is attached to protools?

Thanks for any help

G

[amagras]

Pro Tools has already a drum machine called Boom, it also has Xpand2 which has a few drum patches to get you started. If you want more realistic drums then Superior and EZ are great upgrade options.
Now, to learn how to connect and configure the nanopad to your computer and make it work with Pro Tools you should read the documentation that comes with the device and install whatever drivers they recommend (if any).
It can be a tough process, specially the configuration of the pads to make them work where you want them, or at least that has been my experience with the brand I use (Akai)

[foza1000]

Thanks for your help my friend. I think an EZ upgrade will happen in the future.

Can you correct me if my thinking is misguided- Boom and Xpand are ideal for choosing pre-made drum segments to loop? sort of cut and pasting from a library of pre-made sounds?

Ill be head down in the manuals, been there before lol. Sometimes online help is the guidance needed for the simple questions :) even tho the answers are in the manual, the simple stuff can be hardest to find as a beginner.

Thanks for your help!!

[amagras]

You can use loops but also construct grooves with single shots on both Boom and Xpand2. Cheers

[albee1952]

Boom is fine for "beats", but if you want the sound of a drummer on a kit, EZdrummer or Addictive Drums will serve you way better(yes, there are other options, but these are my recommendations for getting started due to their ease of use and solid sounds). I did plenty of what you are describing years back with an M-audio Trigger Finger and have a handy trick that you should try(assuming the nanopad allows for more than 1 set of pad assignment). Tapping out straight patterns works dandy, but you will likely want to add fills, so here's the trick; setup a page of pad assignments that are all doubled up. What this means is, you assign the same sound(snare, rack tom, floor tom) to PAIRS of pads. Playing a fill on a single pad is essentially impossible. But when you have pairs of pads, you can tap out very real-sounding fills