Virtual MIDI cable latency, Drumagog MIDI out

[mesaone]

Internal MIDI is actually working in the first place, so no workaround is needed. I was mistaken.


Hello everyone, I've got an annoying little issue going on here.

Background: I'm doing some drum replacement with Drumagog 5 Pro in Pro Tools 11. The Pro version can't host third-party virtual instruments itself. The included libraries do not have the exact kind of sounds I'm looking for.

Goal: Recording the MIDI output of Drumagog onto an instrument track. I'm going to be using either Reason 6.5 (rewired) or Structure 2 on that instrument track for the replacement drums.

Problem: Drumagog's MIDI output doesn't function in Pro Tools. It's a known issue, and the suggested workaround is to use a virtual MIDI loopback. I have successfully set up loopbacks with LoopBe, and also with LoopMIDI (each is separate, I wanted to test which one worked better). It turns out that both have latency, with LoopMIDI having much less latency than LoopBe. The problem is that the amount of latency changes from take to take (23 to 200 samples) and so I can't set up a MIDI offset that will consistently compensate for this latency. Quantize is out of the question for this project, even with groove templates.

So... What I've been doing is manually nudging after each take (I'm doing this in 8- to 16-bar sections). It's not so bad - trim MIDI clip to first note, tab to transient on the audio, then spot the MIDI clip to playhead. But I would like to make this more efficient, if possible. I can physically loopback a cable from one of my hardware MIDI I/O, but I'd like to avoid having that extra cabling going on (and potentially feeding back later on)

Is anyone out there versed in Drumagog with PT? Is there a better way to do this?

[albee1952]

Having just gone to Drumagog 5, I'm not sure how some things are done yet, but I was under the impression that some plugins like SD2 or BFD could be accessed directly from inside the Drumagog window(so maybe youtube or the Drumagog site would have some tutorial help).

Having used Drumagog 4 for several years, I recorded single hits of all my favorite Drum VI sounds and made my own samples that are usable directly in Drumagog4(so they SHOULD also work in ver. 5).

[mesaone]

Thanks, albee.

I have the Pro version, which doesn't have plug-in hosting. The Platinum version can, though. Really the goal is to have MIDI in my project, so I can use all my VIs and Reason, or work further with the project on a rig that has a more extensive VI selection than I currently own. At the time of purchase, I was not aware that a workaround was needed... Understandably, it's not something they advertise up front.

I did actually try Massey DRT v2, but I'd prefer to work in Pro Tools 11. As long as I can manage to fix the latency for this loopback, or figure out an alternate workaround, I have what I need with Drumagog.

If you feel like sharing the GOG files you have created, that would be great (if not, I understand - everyone has a "secret sauce")

[albee1952]

I didn't actually create "gog" files. I simply save folders of wave files. Record the audio from the drum VI to an audio track. Use Tab to Transient to find and cut at the leading edge. Advance to a point where the sound has dies out enough(longer on toms, shorter on kick and snare hits). Add a fade and consolidate, then export. Drumagog 4 allows loading wave files(and hopefully they kept that functionality in 5). I haven't done much with drum replacement lately so I will need to find time to dig in a bit(but I do have the Platinum version in case it makes a difference).

[mesaone]

Ok, I'm an idiot. Internal MIDI is actually working in Pro Tools with the latest version of Drumagog. I didn't bother to try it because, according to Wavemachine Labs, a workaround is needed.