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How do you add, say a cowbell, or other of the many drum sounds to an existing drum track? Would you go in to Pref/drum kit/ and substitute a playing hi-hat for cowbell, or tambourine? I'm guessing that it would be possible to MIDI only.

Also, should I have BB and RB configured to the same MIDI out? MIDI mapper or MS wave? Because I keep getting this error window thing where it says the midi out is being used by another program, would you like to use an alternate. . . Even though no other program is running?

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Assuming you use a Real Drums track, you don't hear the MIDI drums, so you won't have direct control of those auxiliary percussion instruments. However, if they are there in the MIDI style, what I like to do is Save to MIDI and include the MIDI drum part, then open everything in a sequencer where I can edit the MIDI drum part. Pretty much every low note in the MIDI drum part must get stripped out, leaving just cowbell, triangle, and/or congas - whatever was in that style. Then I often add a few manual MIDI cymbal crashes at key points, including the ending. You could manually add other percussion too.


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Ok, thank you Matt. I will try that friday morning. I am glad there is a way to do that. I am trying the vocal thing tonite for the first time. I am going directly into my soundboard because I don't have lots of external hardware right now. I am assuming there is no way to HEAR your vocals when you go direct in. It makes it hard to hear oneself over the music playing. I tried the harmonizer and it sounded like I'd been inhaling helium. I will have to experiment a bit more.
Thanks. . .

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Quote:

I am going directly into my soundboard because I don't have lots of external hardware right now. I am assuming there is no way to HEAR your vocals when you go direct in.




A lot of built in soundcards will let you hear yourself by turning off the MIC input muting in the Playback mixer (that's the first mixer you see when you doubleclick on the little speaker icon near the clock in your taskbar). The default is usually Muted to prevent audio feedback between mic and speakers. Plug in the headphones first to prevent that problem.


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Mac;

Oh, thank you. Singing without hearing is really difficult. I will give that a try. Ok, I am using Vista, and when I click on what you said I get a volume mixer box. The left side says "Device, speakers" with a chance to mute; and right side is "applications" windows sounds, with a chance to mute. Since I always use headphones, maybe I could mute the speakers? Is this what you are meaning?

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I'm not familiar enough with the Vista setup to tell ya what's up there, my friend.

Likely depends on *where* in the signal chain the headphone output is derived or connected. Typically the same amplifier that is used to drive the Line or Spkr output is used to drive the headphones. In that case, muting it would also mute the cans.

Try it and see.


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The easiest solution and not to expensive is to buy a small mixer like the behringer 802 and attach it to the sound card and monitor from there. That is what i do and it works great.


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Mac;
You nailed it, it mutedd the cans. Not help there. I am experimenting with the harmonizer today, and sofar sounds like a remake of Alvin and the Chipmonks! I guess the sliders are sensitive.

So Robh;
I have a small mixer already, how do I hook it? Use line out from the computer into the mixer, and use the headphones out from the mixer for the vocals? I just have a lap top right now with MIC IN, and HEADFONES OUT. I lost my good studio in a recent divorce. Now making it all work from a laptop is a drag. However, the music I am getting now with BB/RT is far superior to what I had. Just the vocals are a problem. I used to have one of those Boss(?) harmonizers. It would follow you by just putting in the key, MIDI and all.

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Yes, connecting the headphones to the mixer will let you hear your vocals -- but you should also connect the earphone output of the laptop to two of the line inputs L and R of the mixer using a proper Y breakout adaptor so that you can hear the backing tracks in the cans too.


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That sounds perfect! I have that stuff. Sometimes I get so frustrated trying to make a "bare bones" system do everything I am used to, I forget about "audio chain 101"! Thank you for thinking clearly for me.

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