Computer Drums

[Serge...]

Ok.. here's how it is. I'm a guitarist and I want to record some of my songs on my computer, but the only thing stopping me is the lack of drums. I need some kind of program I can get free that's time signature/tempo change friendly. I'd appreciate any recommendations. Thanks.

 

[MorphineChild205]

Get Guitar Pro 4 off Kazaa.

 

[Serge...]

That's what I've been using, but I can't get the MIDI drums onto cakewalk, because for some reason, the MIDI doesn't work in cakewalk.

 

['Shuggah]

I've been using Cakewalk for about a year now. It's pretty much worked for everything for me. (After I created a new midi drum kit from scratch. )

 

['Shuggah]

The only problem with cakewalk is that it isn't free unless you're willing to bend some rules.

 

[shred faster]

I just got guitar pro 4. How do you program the drums for it?

 

[rockmanxpr]

I first did the MIDI drumming thing with a program called Musicalwizzard, before cakewalk. On both I just downloaded a nice soundfont for the drums and used that. From there I made them into MP3's and jammed along

 

[Sado God]

http://www.modplug.com - Mod Plug Tracker

Anyone remember when people did loads of tracker music? Well, when programming drums a tracker program becomes damn handy. You can do whatever you want. Do a song that has different tempo and time signature in every riff, everythings possible. It's even faster to operate than a real drum machine. All you need is just a bunch of samples in .wav format.

EDIT: and the good thing is that you can forget about all the hussle with MIDI. Really, you don't need anything else than the program and the samples. Couldn't be easier...

 

['Shuggah]

A tracker may be just fine in the hands of someone who knows them inside-out, but I've found the usual mouse-driven sequencer-style editing much more comfortable.

Can you record a guitar part in a tracker while playing back the drums in the background?

 

[DestrwidoR]

That's what I've been using, but I can't get the MIDI drums onto cakewalk, because for some reason, the MIDI doesn't work in cakewalk.

In Guitar Pro 4 you can export the midi as wav, he will continue sounding as midi however the format of the file will be wav, then you import the wav in Cakewalk.

 

[Zax666]

@DestrwidoR - How about downloading a software synth from Harmony Central?

 

[DestrwidoR]

@DestrwidoR - How about downloading a software synth from Harmony Central?

hmm, sounds better...

 

[Zax666]

Nah, just did it, some drums are descent, hammonds are relatively useful, pianos are so-so, guitars STILL suck, although a lot less... orchestral stuff is so-so, but if you note it right, it can fool someone...

If you have a descent sound card, it won't be a big improvement.

I'll continue downloading the drum machine.


p.s. The software synth I used was NovaStation, and it did NOT work on my WIN200, it DID work on Win98, though...

 

[SevenString]

i've been using the Steinberg LM4 virtual drum machine with a traditional audio/midi sequencer. i find that i get the best results by composing and tweaking each measure by hand, and the LM4 is versatile enough that I can put together some great, natural sounding kits, and can easily route and group the individual instruments of the kit.

the problem with a lot of trackers is that they're designed with 4/4 dance music in mind, so if you eventually want to get into odd-meter prog-metal territory, these aren't the best way to go.

here's a couple of samples so you can see what's possible with a sequencer and the LM4...

http://www.lesliespring.com/seaofstars.mp3

http://www.lesliespring.com/ancientsigns.mp3

 

[Serge...]

Well, thanks for any replies, and on a totally unrelated subject, 'Shuggah, your hometown sounds cool. I wish English had vowels with dots and circles over them.

 

[Space Rabies]

I use Cakewalk guitar tracks pro and Fruity loops 3.56. Check the link in my sig to hear my stuff!!