Is Anybody using Pro Tools to "create a fake drummer"???

[The Zone]

I am in the middle of trying to use PT to play drums for my songs. There aren't any drummers aroudn that I want to use for my songs and I've corrected enough drum parts to think that I can probably do it without ever having a guy play the songs in the first place.

Is anybody doing this? I'm trying to use the "Grid Mode" to set things up and then I'll add embellishments as it develops.

My main source of confusion is the tempo situation. Is there a way to dictate the tempo so that I may speed up or slow down my "song" the way ACID does? I prefer the layout of Pro Tools and I'm just getting started building loops from absolutely nothing.

Any tips? This is gonna be a trip. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[tele_player]

Sounds like you want Reason and ReCycle, or Ableton Live.

[Calvin]

By using "Markers" you can change the tempo of a song in the middle of it. Just press "ENTER" on your Numpad to put a marker in.

[tele_player]

That won't do what he wants - changing the tempo that way won't affect the timing of audio tracks.

Originally posted by Calvin:
By using "Markers" you can change the tempo of a song in the middle of it. Just press "ENTER" on your Numpad to put a marker in.

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[The Zone]

Okay, let me attempt to clarify what I am asking: Let's say my tempo is 114 BPM . . . and I put that in as the tempo, in Pro Tools.

I am assuming that will affect the layout of the "grid", as I will be more or less creating loops, and they've gotta conform to some kind of time code.

So my question may be stupid, I'm not sure if I'm asking it correctly. I want the "grid" to change as the tempo demands. I have programmed drum machines before and it worked that way, even though I didn't have the beautiful ability to actually LOOK AT the layout of the rhythms.

By the way, I DO have REASON . . . I often get frustrated with it. I have also become very well versed in the Pro Tools program over the last few years and simply feel like that would be a great way to do what I'm trying to do.

[The Zone]

By the way, my "drum-song" consists of a bunch of stereo wav. files that are all the length of a single strike on the given drum or cymbol that I'm using at the moment.

I may not even understand how the "tempo" is dictated. I'll be damned if I can get it to make any difference whatsoever.

I have been recording into PT like it's an analog recorder that you can actually see. How do you even get it to MATTER what the tempo is?? I see no difference and hear no difference, no matter what I set the tempo to be.

[soundsurfr]

If you're only using one-shots (single hits) for your drums, then you can change the tempo as indicated by inserting a tempo change wherever you need one. IThere are a number of ways to do this - right click in the tempo toolbar is one). Usually, we don't refer to that method as using "loops", we usually say we're using drum samples or one-shots. As soon as you insert an actual drum "loop" into the song (a sample of a drum riff or drum pattern), then you're into a different situation because the drum loop tempo will not change when you speed up or slow down the tempo in Pro Tools.

By the way, here's an example of using a combination of drum loops and one-shots in Pro-Tools to create a drum track:

http://www.soundsurfr.com/CIMD.mp3

Good luck!

[soundsurfr]

If you're only using one-shots (single hits) for your drums, then you can change the tempo as indicated by inserting a tempo change wherever you need one. IThere are a number of ways to do this - right click in the tempo toolbar is one). Usually, we don't refer to that method as using "loops", we usually say we're using drum samples or one-shots. As soon as you insert an actual drum "loop" into the song (a sample of a drum riff or drum pattern), then you're into a different situation because the drum loop tempo will not change when you speed up or slow down the tempo in Pro Tools.

By the way, here's an example of a song using a combination of drum loops and one-shots in Pro-Tools to create a drum track:

http://www.soundsurfr.com/CIMD.mp3

Good luck!

[The Zone]

The drums are really good on that song . . . did you do that all in Pro Tools? I never would have even thought about it at all. Very nice.

[soundsurfr]

Originally posted by The Zone:
The drums are really good on that song . . . did you do that all in Pro Tools? I never would have even thought about it at all. Very nice.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Thanks. Most of it is loops that I set the tempo in Acid, then imported into Pro-Tools and arranged, chopped, cut and pasted where I wanted them. Some of the fills were done in Reason, then imported into Pro-Tools.