Starting Drum Programing - Total Newb

JeffTD

JeffTD

Senhor Testiculo
Sep 29, 2004
12,545
10
38
Los Angeles, CA
www.jeffdunne.com
Alright guys, time for an uber newb question...

I'm rather sick of putting up with crappy drummers and not having a drum machine for my own recordings and whatnot, so I was looking at some drum machines. I shot Matt Smith a PM, and he suggested I go with a midi-based system like Battery or DFH. I'd like to get started doing this, but have no idea what I need.

What I currently have is Cool Edit Pro for recording, a V-amp2 for guitar sounds (upgrading to a POD later), and a Yamaha PSR-300 keyboard, which has a midi in/out. I'm assuming I could use this as my controller? What I'm basically wondering is what do I need from to start programing drums. What do I need to buy, and what programs/setups work best?

Thanks a bunch!
 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=122/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/705531/

If you just want a basic tool that's really easy to use, go with the above link, the Alesis SR-16. It's inexpensive and reall easy to write with. If you want something that is more appropriate for recording then go with the one's you mentioned...

I havent used Cool Edit but I would assume it can handle midi tracks. You can always create your own tracks with midi as well, all on your computer, supposing that your Yamaha has drum sounds on it. Write the drums in midi then have the computer send the notes to the keyboard then back to the computer. For convenience, I'd say just get a drum machine tho.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm going to stick with the midi route.

Alright, I found out, and tell me if I'm wrong, that to do all this, I essentially need a midi controller, someway to hook it up to the PC, Battery, and a recording program that supports it. Ah, and drum samples, of course.

I got Battery 2, and unfortunately, Cool Edit doesn't support it, so I have a copy of Cubase on the way. So now, all I should need is a midi interface for the keyboard, and some samples, right?
 
NOTE: I started writing this before you made the post just above, so I'm sorry if it's speaking in hypotheticals, even after you've confirmed you're going this route.

Well, for the record, Cool Edit can't handle MIDI tracks. As far as I'm aware, it can import and playback MIDI files, but it can't sequence or alter MIDI information.

If you're going with the Matt Smith suggestion, which I wholeheartedly second, you'll need a MIDI sequencer first of all. Alot of software DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) have integrated MIDI support these days, so if you can get your hands on Cubase, Nuendo, Cakewalk etc. (usually what most newbies start with) you can use that to sequence the MIDI information.

You would connect your Yamaha PSR-300 via its MIDI out into your audio interface's (soundcard's) MIDI in. That would allow you to use the Yamaha as a controller to play in the actual MIDI information.

So from this point on, let's just assume you're using Cubase SX (which I'm familiar with). You'll have your MIDI track in front of you in Cubase. On the left, on the inspector panel, you would see a 'In' and 'Out'. You would set the 'In' to correspond with your soundcard's MIDI in.

You would then hit F11, which would bring up the VST Instruments panel. You would then click a blank slot then choose 'Battery' (provided Battery is installed correctly). Battery should automatically pop up. Now in Battery you'll see a virtual drum matrix. Into each one of the boxes, you can import a certain amount of drum samples. So for instance, say you want C1 to be 'kick', you would import a bunch of samples into that box (or 'cell' as it's called in Battery) and then you would alter the 'velocity' range of each sample to correspond with values all the way from 1 to 127. So if you have a very dynamic range of bass drum samples, you can assign the weak ones to the lower values, and the harder hits to the higher values. These values from 1 to 127 would correspond to how hard you press the keys on the Yamaha when you play the drums in, to give you more humanization with your drum track.

Alright now, feel free to minimize or close the Battery window. You're back in the arrange page (I think that's what it's called). Look to the left on your inspector panel. Now set the 'Out' value of your MIDI track to 'Battery'. Now whenever you play C1 on the keyboard, it will correspond to the kick drum samples in the C1 cell in Battery. Thus, if everything is properly configured and connected, you should be hearing those kick samples played back to you every time you hit the key.

That's basically the rundown that I wish I had been given back when I'd started. Hope you find something that works for you.
 
That explains everything perfectly! Thanks!

I figured that was what went down, but I just wanted to make sure.

When recording with this, is there any way to have the drums in one big track, as to not eat up as much RAM? If not, I assume you could just record the drums as a seperate session and then import the file into one track?

Also, and forgive my ignorance, but the same sound can be applied to more than one key, for easier rolls and whatnot? Double bass runs is my main concern for this.

And lastly, I've heard of people saying that some programs fix most timing errors; would Cubase do this automatically, or do I have to configure it in some way?

Thanks for that rundown, that really does help alot. Now all I need is a midi interface to hook the controller to the computer, and to snag some of my brothers MPC samples.
 
Cubase has a 'quantization' function which can bind all your hits to the nearest beat. That's quite handy if you're not Mozart.

As far as programming things like double-bass runs... you don't need to play them in. You can use the draw tool in Cubase to 'draw' the beat in. Since I have no controller, that's what I do.

I think the controller thing is mainly for sequencing actual harmonic music, not beats. At least, I haven't found any practical use for a controller whilst sequencing drums yet. But regardless, yes the same samples can be bound to more than one key.

In terms of dealing with the drums as tracks... well during sequencing you'll only need the one MIDI track to control the whole 'kit'. But what I normally do is export the individual 'components' as stereo files.

So I'll roughly get the levels right, and do my panning whilst sequencing, then I'll export a file called 'kick'.... 'snare'..... 'hat'..... 'crashes'...... 'ride' etc. etc.

It's not the most versatile way to do it, but with my current system that's all I can afford to do.

Hope that helps.
 
Helps quite a bit. I'm still waiting on the Cubase copy, so I'll try drawing out everything first, and then see if I need the controller.

I didn't know it controlled it as one track, that's good. I can understand about exporting the individual pieces, though.
 
Yep! I blended in a bit of the snare with the NSkit one and it helped it cut through a bit more, because the NSkit snare is a bit too flat and warm for metal stuff. So I'd definately second that suggestion.
 
Alright thanks, got those downloaded and working, but theres one major problem...

All the sounds are extremely distorted, and sometimes barely resemble the sample at all. They play fine on Itunes, but not in battery.

Any ideas?

*EDIT* Fixed that by changing it to ASIO from Direct Sound. Only now, there's quite a delay from the time I click the sound to the time it plays.
 
Alright. You need to make sure that you've selected the ASIO driver that comes with your soundcard. Then you need to open up the ASIO control panel (I think it may be accessible from Cubase) and set the latency down. I normally set mine to 5ms.
 
Alright... I tried doing that, it's in Battery itself, but whenever I have the ASIO selected instead of Directsound, I can't adjust the latency at all; it's stuck at 749ms with no slider or knobs or anything to adjust it with.
 
Ah I see. This might be a good time to check on whether your soundcard actually supports ASIO drivers. I had to upgrade mine to be able to use Cubase effectively, because it's cornerstone is basically the ASIO drivers, which allow you to reach low latencies by bypassing the Windows Kernel.
 
I doubt mine does...it's a Creative USB soundcard that I got for 40 bucks at BestBuy because my integrated one broke on me. What would you suggest for a soundcard that supports ASIO drivers, perferably cheap?
 
The cheapest one I've been able to find is a Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS. In terms of recording, all it really offers you are the ASIO drivers and MIDI-in. It's solid enough for amateur recording, but if you're ever tracking and need more than one input, then you're out of luck.
 
I'd recommend M-Audio cards to anyone on a budget. seriously you can even use their version of pro tools with even the budget level ones now.

I learnt the error of my ways with soundblaster the hard way, SB is ok for very basic tracking as moonie says, but for similar money you can get the m-audio audiophile 2492 which is superior in every way. \m/
 
DSS3 said:
Alright guys, time for an uber newb question...

I'm rather sick of putting up with crappy drummers and not having a drum machine for my own recordings and whatnot, so I was looking at some drum machines. I shot Matt Smith a PM, and he suggested I go with a midi-based system like Battery or DFH. I'd like to get started doing this, but have no idea what I need.

What I currently have is Cool Edit Pro for recording, a V-amp2 for guitar sounds (upgrading to a POD later), and a Yamaha PSR-300 keyboard, which has a midi in/out. I'm assuming I could use this as my controller? What I'm basically wondering is what do I need from to start programing drums. What do I need to buy, and what programs/setups work best?

Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...

for drums drumkit from hell ( yeah DFH ) is really, really good.
i use dfh2 ( the worst of them all ) but it kicks ass
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

xmidihcx
v-kit into battery with DKFH. . . questions. .
Replies
0
Views
392
Andy Sneap
xmidihcx
X
Radd
E-drums midi to drumagog?
Replies
17
Views
2K
Andy Sneap
006
0
Wolfeman
Midi Grooves/Beats for DFH/DFH2/DFHS/BFD
Replies
0
Views
1K
Andy Sneap
Wolfeman
W
S
Question regarding Drumagog
Replies
5
Views
873
Andy Sneap
cobhc
C
W
Drum sampler - any alternatives to Battery/Battery 2?
Replies
10
Views
966
Andy Sneap
weemies
W
Top Bottom