MIDI Drum Tracks in PT

[NormCouturier]

I've got PT5.0 MixPlus. I would like to lay down some reasonable drum tracks as foundations for some tunes I'm constructing. I own and can play all the other instruments I need (don't want a drum kit - I have a drummer already). I'm also quite comfortable with PT and have been recording "real" instruments/people for several months. Just no MIDI exposure. I do understand the basic concepts of MIDI.
I assume I should have a sequencer so I can arrange my own tracks. What about PT's MIDI capability? What do I need to get setup to record some MIDI drum tracks on it? I would like to use "real" samples in my arrangements (i.e. GigaStudio sample CDs). How would I use these samples in PT? Do I need a sequencer outside of PT? What about a MIDI interface?

Pardon my MIDI "Rookie"ness. I'm a guitar player. I've been a musician/sound engineer in the "audio" world for years, but have not been a "MIDI" guy. I'm sure it's pretty straightforward. I would like to buy the stuff I need and not the stuff I do not.

Thanks a bunch for any good advice.

Norm

[DonaldR]

I use PT midi capabilities for my midi drum tracks.

I bought a Roland TD5K (drum pads + stands + drum sound module) so my drummer can play like a real drum (almost!!!). I have the feel of a real drummer and it's no way comparable to a drum machine played on a keyboard.

I record midi information on a midi track and audio L-R on two audio tracks for alignment later on. I then split the single midi track to 8 new midi tracks to have each piece of the kit on is own track (pretty easy as each one is a single note).

From that point you can easily direct each track to whatever sound module/sampler you want. You can also correct/align/wathever each note before mixing.

When I'm ready to mix, I record audio from midi tracks. They're comming out of sound module/sampler. I align each track to previously recorded L-R audio tracks to get rid of midi timing.

I't a simple solution that save CPU power (I have Digi001) until mixing as midi tracks are not using any resources (except if your using soft synth).

Regards.

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Donald Robidoux
President
Design Relationnel inc.
www3.sympatico.ca/design.relationnel