I have a few of the Groove Monkey sets here, also quite a few of the EZX expansions. But you can do quite a bit with just the basic set that ships with EZDrummer, as David mentioned it is very easy to tweak the existing patterns to add or remove hits.
I've used it exclusively for a year or so. I really like being able to split the drums out so that each piece of the kit is on a separate track in my DAW, makes it very easy to have separate processing for each piece.
I've used it exclusively for a year or so. I really like being able to split the drums out so that each piece of the kit is on a separate track in my DAW, makes it very easy to have separate processing for each piece.
Dave, having each drum on a separate track is how I like to work also. Sometimes I will merge the toms, the hi-hats and the other cymbals so the same effect will be equal to those tracks. YMMV
Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up. Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Keep in mind I'm working backwards - I'm looking for the drum to inspire musical ideas, not fit a drum track to a song. So it's probably a bad use case for JamStix.
Keep in mind I'm working backwards - I'm looking for the drum to inspire musical ideas, not fit a drum track to a song. So it's probably a bad use case for JamStix.
You get a lot of drum kits and you can make your own kits.
On the plus side the all of the kits sound great. You also get a lot of different sounds like ride bells, hitting a cymbal at its edge, center and bell, etc. GrooveMonkee's MIDI loops will work with no problems.
On the down side the kits are not GM, so you will have to convert BiaB drums to the SSD-5 format. What I do is to put each BiaB drum on a separate track with GM drum mapping, place SSD-5 on that track, and find the same drum/cymbal. It doesn't take that long and the resulting drums sounds are well worth the effort IMHO. YMMV
HI Mario, Do you happen to know of any good instructions for incorporating SSD 5 for use with BIAB?> Also, is SSD better to use than Trigger 2 from Steven Slate? T2 is a drum replacement and SSD is more a drum creation tool if I am understanding correctly. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide - Rich
Re midi drum traks. Assuming your on pc check out lots of neat ways of creating midi (and audio drum ) traks using realband that comes free with biab…you can do things like… ..generate drum traks ..generate drum fills ..create the illusion of 2 drummers or more playing together. ..lots of further crazy things to be discovered by experimenting.
In PARTICULAR go to RB BARS VIEW and discover ease of moveing/copying/pasting bits of or whole drum midi traks around...you can use vst/vsti plug ins etc etc.
Much as i love reaps and have been a user/advocate from nearly day 1 of the product…there are some neat features to discover in building traks in realband. I could go on for pages…but gotta keep this short…cant write an essay..lol...just read rb manual etc etc...lots of midi info. plus experiment with bar markers to create drum fills.
Years ago i used to enjoy showing friends in big studios, and watching their jaws drop , when i demoed how to build drum tracks in realband , and before that powertraks.
I suspect some new pg users might not realise the neat things one can do in realband. I encourage you to experiment in realband building drum tracks…particular genning and use of bars view... and various editing features.
HI Mario, Do you happen to know of any good instructions for incorporating SSD 5 for use with BIAB?> Also, is SSD better to use than Trigger 2 from Steven Slate? T2 is a drum replacement and SSD is more a drum creation tool if I am understanding correctly. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide - Rich
SSD5 drums do have a mapping feature that is very easy to use; I just learned how to do it in order to answer your question!
Open SSD5 and click on map; note a drum kit does not need to be open. Google/Bing GM drum maps to get the GM note for a drum, lets say B0 for a kick drum. In SSD maps right click on B0 and select the kick drum you want. Do this for all of the GM drums then save the preset. When you load SSD5 into BiaB you would also load the GM drum map into SSD5, that is unless you name the GM drum map as the default map. Then it would load automatically.
A word of caution; GM drums contain also percussion instruments. Drum kits do not. You would only get the drums and cymbals of a given kit. I use the Brio Percussion Ensemble https://www.indiginus.com/brio-percussion-ensemble but there are others, some free, available.
I have no experience with either Trigger or using SSD5 drums in BiaB. I do all of my drum work in my DAW Studio One Pro because I can add MIDI drum loops if needed and, more importantly, separate each drum on individual tracks. That way I can process each drum separately.
I hope this helps.
{edit} I see om posted just prior to me. If you have a PC your have RealBand. You should be able to do in RealBand what I do in Studio One Pro 5. A DAW does offer a lot of options not available in BiaB. I do not use RealBand so others would have to help you.
Last edited by MarioD; 05/06/2202:11 PM.
Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up. Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Jamstix..... back in my Cakewalk forum days I was almost an expert in the use and programming of JS. For whatever it's worth.....
I had started programming drums by mouse.... one hit at a time.... build a measure..... copy and paste.... build the verse, build the chorus..... but it was not what a decent drummer would play. Then I found JS. It created the measures for you and allowed a semblance of control and the ability to edit and change the kits as well as the drummer and style. I used it for quite a time but again.... still not like a real drummer would play. One of my drummer buddies called it to my attention. Dude, that's not real.
Then I found BB and RT's and now.... well, lets just say, I haven't loaded JS in forever.
If I was going to want to use a specific kit, or synth, I would use BB to create the drums in midi or convert it to midi and use that to drive a synth running a sampled kit. That's how I'd do it if I wanted to go that route. I'm generally perfectly fine using the Real Tracks drums and adding EQ and Compression to pull a bit more out of the track.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
This may be repetitive of some stuff before, but I will share what I enjoy doing.
One of my favorite tips is that for most BIAB Real drums you can save the drums to a midi (as I guess others have stated). If you see a drum notation, you can solo that drum track and do a save as midi from BIAB.
I have had a lot of fun importing midi files this way into Session Drummer 3, an oldie but goodie still free in Cakewalk I believe.
Anyway, you can select numerous drums sets, such as a Steven Slate, and create your own stems, by going to the mixing board and silencing everything you don't want.
You can mix these stems with Real Band drums to get lots of variety, and you can record crashes, and rolls and all kinds of fills with your mouse to spice up the real drums tastefully.
I have had much fun and much success doing this and have not spent an extra dime.
P.S. The Real Band screenshot shows one track of Real Drums, and one track of something I generated in Session Drummer that can be edited, mixed, and sampled to provide an infinite variety of percussive extras. That second track was created by simply inserting the midi I created into the Session drummer track.
P.S.S. If you have the input to Session drummer set to your keyboard, you can play that Session Drummer kit with your fingers on the keyboard and CAPTURE your own midi that can then be sampled through any kit you like, including the one you were listening to when you created it. (A sample kit is on the last screenshot.)
This will work for all the virtual kits, but I like and use Session drummer. The sounds you can produce and sample like this are limitless, and it is also a whole lot of fun.
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
As mentioned by several, I have learned a lot by just reviewing the midi of drum tracks I like whether they started as real drums or as midi. There are plenty of source files out there that can give you a lot to learn from. Once you see it laid out it starts to make more sense.
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
I guess Cakewalk magically integrated that from my Sonar folders then.
Lucky I guess.
Yes, those of us lucky enough (or unlucky?) to have bought Sonar Platinum before Gibson destroyed the company get to keep using all the goodies we had when they (Cakewalk) went bust. As a matter of fact you can still use the download manager, Cakewalk Command Center, if you ever lose anything and need to get it again. At least last I checked you could.
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean