Using ez drummer NOT recording into ProTools

[dr166006]

i guess what i'm trying to figure out is if i can program the nanopad in a way so that if i hit say, "square 1" on the nanopad then a "sound" will be produced that would be recored into pro tools. so each pad would work for a different "sound" from EZ drummer.. so then i could create drum beats by tapping different squares on the pad.

[flommer]

OK, do what I said in the part about making an instrument track and inserting EZdrummer. This will let you record the MIDI notes you play on the NanoPad. When you playback what you recorded, ProTools will again trigger the EZDrummer plugin to make the sounds.. The advantage of recording MIDI instead of the audio that is created, is that you can edit the midi notes very easily and you can change the sounds that are getting triggered by switching kits in EZDrummer...

Is this making sense? This is all very basic stuff that is covered in the manuals and in the Digi TV Accelerated Videos... If you haven't watched the ones about creating a template in ProTools, you should stop what you are doing and watch at least the 4-5 about making a template.

Here is the link to DTV. Check the Accelerated Videos:

http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...0&itemid=27606

[SixChurchStreet]

Originally Posted by dr166006

i guess what i'm trying to figure out is if i can program the nanopad in a way so that if i hit say, "square 1" on the nanopad then a "sound" will be produced that would be recored into pro tools. so each pad would work for a different "sound" from EZ drummer.. so then i could create drum beats by tapping different squares on the pad.

MIDI doesn't contain any sound. So when you record MIDI, you aren't recording sound. You are recording information about how you played, what key or pad you hit, how hard you hit it, how long you held it down for, etc.

Then Pro Tools uses that data to trigger EZdrummer, which in turn produces sound.

When you are recording, it passes on that MIDI data in real time. When you are playing back, it simply takes that recorded information (not sound) to trigger EZdrummer, which, again, produces the sound.

Every drum sound in EZD is assigned to a certain 'note' corresponding to a note on a keyboard. Each of your pads is assigned a 'note' as well, and I'm sure you can change those notes internal on your NanoPad. Not familiar with the NanoPad, but I'd gather you should be able to do that. In this way you can determine which pad triggers which piece of the drum kit.

[dr166006]

yeah this stuff is making alot of sense i appreciate you guys repsponding to me.. i'll check out those videos for sure too. But yeah what your saying about making it an instrument track and stuff i have done but without the nanopad and theres been no sound. so i guess when i get the nanopad all should work out well then right?

[soundboy35]

Toggle your MIDI Thru on and off in Pro Tools and see if that makes a difference. Also in your Instrument track, make sure that the input is assigned to the Nanopad, and the output is assigned to EZ Drummer at the top of the track. If you can drag the loops onto an Instrument track and hear the beats being played back, then make sure you're controller is setup and assigned in the AMS setup. As far as assigning the note numbers to your Nanopad, read their manual. I know that EZ Drummer is noit laid out in General MIDI form for sure, but in their help PDF, they lay out all the note assignments. I don't believe by mouse clicking the drums it will send MIDI info, but I could be wrong. Awesome program, and hopefully you get it going!

[flommer]

Originally Posted by dr166006

yeah this stuff is making alot of sense i appreciate you guys repsponding to me.. i'll check out those videos for sure too. But yeah what your saying about making it an instrument track and stuff i have done but without the nanopad and theres been no sound. so i guess when i get the nanopad all should work out well then right?

Like I said in my very first response to you, when you click on the drums in EZDrummer, it might just be a preview that doesn't really send out any MIDI info. I'm not sure about this, but it would explain why you couldn't record what you were doing, even though you were hearing drum hits...

I thought you had the NanoPad already... For my installation, all I had to do was plug it in to a USB port and it worked. Didn't need to assign it in Audio Midi setup etc...

BUT... If you want to be able to program which pad = which MIDI note, you need to download their editor, I think it's called KorgKontrol.

You already have EZDrummer "working" on an instrument track, right? SO use the pencil tool and draw in some notes. Make sure they are ones that EZDrummer will respond to. Once you do that you should just be able to hit play to hear the sounds.

If that works, then the only difference will be that when you have the NanoPad connected, you should be able to hit the pads and trigger and record MIDI notes instead of having to draw them in...

[dr166006]

alright thanks.. both those lasts posts really helped. and when i do click on the notes they do record so i think/hope that means that it all should work with the nanopad like you said

[zowalters]

It's been eight or nine months since anyone was discussing this... but I still have an even more basic question about the Korg NanoPAD. I just got it today from a Guitar Center, and the only cable they gave me is a mini-USB to regular USB. I'm guessing I have to get a mini-USB to MIDI cable so I can plug the Nano into my Digi 003 rack MIDI input. But I've tried to find cables like this online and don't see any really.

Am I getting warmer or colder? Or is there a cable like this that's just really hard to find? Any help would be awesome, thx.

[nod25]

Originally Posted by zowalters

It's been eight or nine months since anyone was discussing this... but I still have an even more basic question about the Korg NanoPAD. I just got it today from a Guitar Center, and the only cable they gave me is a mini-USB to regular USB. I'm guessing I have to get a mini-USB to MIDI cable so I can plug the Nano into my Digi 003 rack MIDI input. But I've tried to find cables like this online and don't see any really.

Am I getting warmer or colder? Or is there a cable like this that's just really hard to find? Any help would be awesome, thx.

Colder. You plug the Nano into your computer USB.

[zowalters]

Originally Posted by nod25

Colder. You plug the Nano into your computer USB.

Ah ok. Then what is the next step? Once I get into PTLE, I'm looking all over the place for how to start using the thing. If anyone has a simple scenario that they might be able to describe in some steps, that's a huge help. That's how I got as far as being able to assign different part of the kit in EZdrummer to aux tracks in PTLE... but then I realized I needed a MIDI controller.