Recording Midi from GGD

[lrsmithiii]

I am using GetGood Drums for my drum production, I am currently routing the inst track to an audio track and recording audio that way, but I want the midi from the "grooves" (midi files) I am triggering in GGD to be recorded, instead of the actual audio.

I am seeing a lot of videos/articles where people say to;

-insert an inst track
-insert the vst
-record arm/enable the track and your transport
-trigger/play the midi pattern in the vst
-press play on the transport
-midi notes are being "recorded", or populated on the inst track

When I follow these steps, I get nothing. The meter for the instrument channel shows signal, you can hear the drums playing, but the inst track has no midi information being written or recorded.

I can import the "grooves" (midi files) directly into the session, but the map is all over the place... kick is on nothing, snare is on tom, etc. I can fix, but every time I pull in a new "groove" I have to fix again, the workflow is lacking.

What am I missing here?

Thank you!
-Lawrence


For anyone having the problem I describe above, I found the answer to my question in a video on YouTube entitled; "Getgood Drums Midi Pack Installation and Walkthrough - GGD tutorial", skip to 4:15. This is the only video I can find about exporting the midi, midi out options. Hope it helps someone else a few hours of scrubbing the internet!

[albee1952]

I have to admit that I am confused on a few things here.
1-what is a "vts"? If you mean "VST", that is a plugin format which Pro tools does not use. If you mean a virtual instrument plugin, then "VI" would be the correct acronym.
2-where are these midi grooves coming from? If they are part of GGD, then I would look to that company for support/troubleshooting because their grooves should work correctly with their plugin sounds.
3-You might consider changing to EZDrummer3, Addictive Drums or Superior Drummer as those all work very well(check some videos on their websites to see it in action).
4-If you still want to use GGD(which I have never heard of before), go to their website or youtube and look for some tutorials on how to use it

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by lrsmithiii

I am using GetGood Drums for my drum production, I am currently routing the inst track to an audio track and recording audio that way, but I want the midi from the "grooves" (midi files) I am triggering in GGD to be recorded, instead of the actual audio.

I am seeing a lot of videos/articles where people say to;

-insert an inst track
-insert the vts
-record arm/enable the track and your transport
-trigger/play the midi pattern in the vts
-press play on the transport
-midi notes are being "recorded", or populated on the inst track

I suspect none one of those videos you are talking about show details of recording the MIDI from the VI MIDI editor or library into the DAW.

When I follow these steps, I get nothing. The meter for the instrument channel shows signal, you can hear the drums playing, but the inst track has no midi information being written or recorded.

An instrument track is internally a MIDI track joined to an Aux track. The MID track feeds MIDI to a plugin that then plays the audio out on an AUX track. The plugin reads MIDI and outputs audio. There is no way for it as a normal plugin to go backwards in the signal chain and just write MIDI to the internal MIDI part of the instrument track. This can be done however - drum, sampler, or similar VIs can do this by output MIDI back into the DAW MIDI input path. For example Toontrack Superior Drummer and EZDrummer plugins do this when you enable "Enable MIDI Out" in their settings. You can then set a MIDI (or Instrument) track in Pro Tools to record that MIDI (and arm that track it etc. to actually record it just like any other live MIDI signal).

If Get Good Drums can output MIDI like this I have no idea, if it can I expect them to talk about that in the documentation.

I can import the "grooves" (midi files) directly into the session, but the map is all over the place... kick is on nothing, snare is on tom, etc. I can fix, but every time I pull in a new "groove" I have to fix again, the workflow is lacking.

Are you using some export of the MIDI file from the VI or are you just grabbing it's raw MIDI files it uses? There is no assurance that different MIDI files will share the same instrument mapping. But if an VI has a way of exporting that MIDI file I expect it to deliver the same mapping as when playing within the VI within the DAW. Many drum VIs will let you control the mapping... but you should not need to do this if the VI plays OK and then you export the MIDI that was playing OK and are then importing it onto the same instrument track.

Worse case you can always use a third party utility if you need to remap MIDI files. I would focus on where you want to compose/create. I have never seen GGD but if you like it, the editor and clips then work in it mostly and worry later about moving MIDI to Pro Tools, going backwards and forwards between environments is likely not a good workflow. I do get the impression it has a weak MIDI editor, (and Pro Tools does as well) and that would also push me towards Toontracks Superior Drummer or EZDrummer (both of which I do own).

[lrsmithiii]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I have to admit that I am confused on a few things here.

1-what is a "vts"? If you mean "VST", that is a plugin format which Pro tools does not use. If you mean a virtual instrument plugin, then "VI" would be the correct acronym.

Yes, I meant vst, typo.

2-where are these midi grooves coming from? If they are part of GGD, then I would look to that company for support/troubleshooting because their grooves should work correctly with their plugin sounds.

they are midi files from GGD, and they work fine with the instrument.

3-You might consider changing to EZDrummer3, Addictive Drums or Superior Drummer as those all work very well(check some videos on their websites to see it in action).

I've tried the free versions and found GGD to sound best for my demos.

4-If you still want to use GGD(which I have never heard of before), go to their website or youtube and look for some tutorials on how to use it:

Yeah... that was the first place I looked, eventually found the answer to my question hidden in a video about installing the midi packs

[lrsmithiii]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

I suspect none one of those videos you are talking about show details of recording the MIDI from the VI MIDI editor or library into the DAW.

When in Pro Tools, yes, you are correct, the ones that show it actually recording are Logic, I believe...

An instrument track is internally a MIDI track joined to an Aux track. The MID track feeds MIDI to a plugin that then plays the audio out on an AUX track. The plugin reads MIDI and outputs audio. There is no way for it as a normal plugin to go backwards in the signal chain and just write MIDI to the internal MIDI part of the instrument track. This can be done however - drum, sampler, or similar VIs can do this by output MIDI back into the DAW MIDI input path. For example Toontrack Superior Drummer and EZDrummer plugins do this when you enable "Enable MIDI Out" in their settings. You can then set a MIDI (or Instrument) track in Pro Tools to record that MIDI (and arm that track it etc. to actually record it just like any other live MIDI signal).

If Get Good Drums can output MIDI like this I have no idea, if it can I expect them to talk about that in the documentation.

Gotcha, I am not sure if GGD has the "enable MIDI OUT" function, I will have to read their manual. I was able to find an "export" button in the plugin that aloud me to drag the "groove" out of the plugin and onto the inst track as a four bar loop.


Are you using some export of the MIDI file from the VI or are you just grabbing it's raw MIDI files it uses? There is no assurance that different MIDI files will share the same instrument mapping. But if an VI has a way of exporting that MIDI file I expect it to deliver the same mapping as when playing within the VI within the DAW. Many drum VIs will let you control the mapping... but you should not need to do this if the VI plays OK and then you export the MIDI that was playing OK and are then importing it onto the same instrument track.

I believe I am importing these MIDI packs into Kontakt through GGD. When I went to file import and imported them onto the inst track the mapping was all over the place.

Worse case you can always use a third party utility if you need to remap MIDI files. I would focus on where you want to compose/create. I have never seen GGD but if you like it, the editor and clips then work in it mostly and worry later about moving MIDI to Pro Tools, going backwards and forwards between environments is likely not a good workflow. I do get the impression it has a weak MIDI editor, (and Pro Tools does as well) and that would also push me towards Toontracks Superior Drummer or EZDrummer (both of which I do own).

GGD has no MIDI editor, that I can find at least, which was essentially my entire problem, how do I get the midi loops/grooves out of the plugin, but match the current kit I have loaded, and be able to edit the pattern. Thankfully I was able to find that answer buried in a GGD video on how to install the MIDI packs.

[Darryl Ramm]

Gotcha, and I see their whole Kontakt plugin play and not doing an editor.

It's still weird to me that they can play one mapping in the VI and the exported MIDI clip is another. The VI might be mapping to what it assumes Pro Tools wants... I'd hope there is a way of setting what format it outputs the MIDI clips in. Ask GGD folks and/or play around and see. Worse case again you can manually work out the mapping and if needed correct it with a mapping utility. But I'd expect something in the plugin lets you fix this.

Pro Tools itself is annoyingly simplistic in what it can do with MIDI. So say no build in MIDI mapping, no drum editor, etc. A lot of folks here might use other DAWs like Logic Pro (in my case) or Ableton Live for laying down stuff.

[lrsmithiii]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Gotcha, and I see their whole Kontakt plugin play and not doing an editor.

It's still weird to me that they can play one mapping in the VI and the exported MIDI clip is another. The VI might be mapping to what it assumes Pro Tools wants... I'd hope there is a way of setting what format it outputs the MIDI clips in. Ask GGD folks and/or play around and see. Worse case again you can manually work out the mapping and if needed correct it with a mapping utility. But I'd expect something in the plugin lets you fix this.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. When I load a "groove" in GGD I am able to drag and drop a four bar midi loop from the "export" button in the UI of the GGD on to an inst track in Pro Tools, and it is correctly mapped to the kit I have loaded in GGD. Crisis averted on that front.

Pro Tools itself is annoyingly simplistic in what it can do with MIDI. So say no build in MIDI mapping, no drum editor, etc. A lot of folks here might use other DAWs like Logic Pro (in my case) or Ableton Live for laying down stuff.

I've heard this from a few people now, and what you said previously about Pro Tools not being that great for Midi editing. I will have to look into a DAW/VI that works a little better for my current workflow. Just using what I have invested in at the moment. I will look into Logic, and I've heard great things about Studio One. I will also have to check out the paid version of ToonTrack and EZDrummer, see if those work better for my writing process. thank you for all the help!