Drumkit From Hell question

[Markdude]

I've got Toontrack EZDrummer Drumkit from Hell and I'm running it with Sonar 6. I'm loving it so far, but I've got a question regarding dynamics.

When I sequence my MIDI with EZdrummer and create drum tracks, it seems that the snare hits they use are really inconsistent. To make it more 'human', there are obviously multiple samples that are randomly selected for each level of dynamic, but it seems like the volume levels vary too much to really be that useful. I've got just a typical part where the snare hits on beats 2 and 4 for a few bars, and some of the hits are just all over the place, even though they are all the exact same dynamic in my MIDI. There are some with a sharp "thwack" and some that just sound like a standard hit. I've tried compressing the track, but even though the actual volume level itself is a bit better, the tone of the snare still changes since the 'thwack' hits bring out a lot more high-end.

Is there any way to limit the program's dynamic range, or possibly de-select a certain sample that the plugin is using? This is pretty frustrating.

Btw, I have the same problem with all the snare drums that are selectable.

 

[kramer1309]

Try this:
Load two instances of your MIDI drum track, on one, load the EZD DFH and go to the mixer and mute the snare top and bottom (i hate this snare as well)
on the second track, load ezdrummer but keep the pop/rock kit on... Open the mixer for this and mute everything except for the snare top and bottom.
This usually works for me.
Hope it helps

 

[Markdude]

That definitely does sound a lot better, but there's still some inconsistencies that are driving me crazy. This time the tone is relatively consistent, it's just the volume that seems to change and then the snare starts getting buried in the mix. Perhaps I'll have to play with the compression some more.

Thanks for the tip though, it definitely does sound loads better than before with the DFH snare.

 

[kramer1309]

If you want that the snare sample used remain the same, try one thing - on the track that you put the snare on, turn off the humanize function : this will make EZD (pop/rock) use only one sample for the snare... You'll loose the variation and get a consistent albeit ,programmed sounding to some, snare sound.
Hope this helps

 

[Markdude]

I tried turning off the humanize function, and I swear I do hear a difference when I'm listening as the MIDI is playing, but when I export my snare track down to a .wav, I'm still getting inconsistent hits.

Ok, I looked at the MIDI piano roll and I see what's going on now. I'm making my beats in Guitar Pro, and even if I have a series of hits that are all forte, some of the hits will have velocities of 103 and some of them will have velocities of 79. Now, I know I could individually edit each velocity in the piano roll, but that would take forever. Is there any way to make sure the MIDI keeps the velocities consistent for each dynamic level, or am I just out of luck?

 

[kramer1309]

Sorry, cant help you there... Don't know whats wrong
I too make my beats in GP but my velocity comes out consistent when i use the same dynamic for the note.

EDIT::
Heres something stupid i came up with to show:

Snare (Humanized on) : http://www.adrive.com/public/0e4628efe3dc0b2c53f866a046a8bc30942ffe298c634a9f53a65c62c2dcdfd8.html

Snare (Humanized off) : http://www.adrive.com/public/a0b693fa28021e3d5f29a8d86da994f4271a67cb260bf15a031d79f221bd2377.html

 

[Markdude]

Aha, I got it!

Guitar Pro 5 has a little option in the MIDI settings for each instrument; 'beat accentuation'. That was on. I turned it off, and now the problem is fixed. Now I can have consistent velocities, but still leave humanizing on so I don't have the exact same samples.

 

[Markdude]

Here's a small taste of what I'm working on:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=555446&songID=6588932

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

If the snare is too dynamic adjust the velocity knob on the groove browser window. Whatever that's set to ( I think it goes from 0-127 ) is the lower velocity limit. I think default is around 70-80. When you drag the beat to the MIDI track EZ Drummer will assign he velocities based on where you set that velocity knob. There's usually a window that pops up asking you if you want to include time sig data from EZ Drummer.

RTFM

 

[006]

But he's not pulling grooves out of the player, he's importing MIDI from the drums he programmed in Guitar Pro.

Mark: Why are you using Piano Roll to edit the drums dude? Cubase has something called a Drum Editor and it's God's gift to drum programming. You have to load a drum map for the MIDI track though in order to use it. I have the maps for EZD Pop/Rock, DFH, Twizted and Claustraphobic, all of which can be had on ToonTrack's downloads section. Also, for future reference, you can select all of the MIDI notes and go to MIDI->Functions->Velocity and then add however many more levels you need every hit to be at. I use that on programmed kick drum parts when bands bring programmed drums to record with and bring all the kicks to 127 velocity, makes triggering and replacing it easier.

~006

 

[Markdude]

Well actually, the only reason I was using the Piano Roll was to check and see what was going on with the MIDI itself. I would hate to have to program drums in that thing, heh. If I'm going to edit them, I go back to Guitar Pro. I use GP because I usually tab out the guitar in my songs too and that way I can see how the parts sound with drums before I record it. I'm sure later I'll move on to something better, but I'm really used to GP and I can tab out stuff pretty fast. I figured out my problem though, there was a MIDI option for 'beat accentuation', where the program will automatically give higher velocities to hits that are on the down beat. I turned that off and my problem is now solved. Woot.