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I'm pretty much lost when it comes to drums. I know there is a big one with a pedal and some others that surround the big one. And I know there are cymbals on stands strategically located. Finally, I know some drummers even have a cowbell (Mississippi Queen, you know what I mean!) But I really don't know much about all of these percussive thingies nor when to use them.

So, BIAB RealDrums have been somewhat of a godsend to me. I just choose a style and usually use the suggested drums and they just work. But I am trying to expand my horizons into the land of MIDI drums by finally using Studio Drummer and other kits that came with Kontakt/Komplete I purchased a couple of years ago and never really touched.

My biggest challenge is related to my lack of knowledge about drums in general and MIDI drums in particular. So I would welcome any advice or point me to resources you think would help me. I'll warn you in advance, I don't really want to learn deeply about this topic. I'm admittedly lazy and spoiled after using RealDrums and I'd like to get "serviceable" asap!

As an example of what I am asking, below is my workflow and where I get kinda stuck.

  • I create new Reaper project set to 130BPM
  • add virtual instrument track to my Reaper project
  • assign Kontakt / Studio Drummer / Garage Kit - Full to track
  • set MIDI to omni (thanks Pipeline!)
  • set mixer to Indie Rock
  • click Grooves to open Groove Browser
  • click Indie Rock folder
  • click the first subfolder at 130BPM (02 Groove 130BPM) and get the following options,
  • - 01 4th Hat Closed.mid
  • - 02 8th Hat Closed.mid
  • - 03 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 04 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 05 4th Hat Closed.mid
  • - 06 8th Hat Closed.mid
  • - 07 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 08 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 09 4th Hat Closed Toms.mid
  • - 10 8th Hat Closed Toms.mid
  • - 11 8th Hat Both Toms.mid
  • - 12 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 13 4th Ride Side.mid
  • - 14 4th Ride Perc .mid
  • - 15 4th Ride Perc.mid
  • - 16 8th Hat Closed Cym.mid
  • - 17 8th Hat Both.mid
  • - 18 4th Hat Closed Toms.mid
  • - 19 4th Ride Perc.mid
  • - 20 8th Hat Both.mid
  • I can drag these onto my track and they play great
  • I also have a couple of other folders with 130BPM files and I guess I can actually use other BPMs if they sound OK to me
  • then I notice I have several 130BPM Fills folders with files like this
  • - 01 Variation.mid
  • - 02 Variation.mid
  • - 03 Variation.mid
  • - 04 Variation.mid
  • - 05 Variation.mid

I know I can drag these onto my track in Reaper but how do I know which ones to use in which sections of my songs?

I also bought some MIDI from Groove Monkee because they actually have their drums marked as intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outro so that seems like it will make this easier but I'd still like to know what sort of standards should I apply to choose the best drums directly from Studio Drummer?

Also, I kinda get the idea of fills but where do they go? At the end of sections like intro and verse? And do they go in the bar instead of what would have already been there?

Thanks in advance for any tips, guidance, links, etc.

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Some drum basics.

A drummer has 4 limbs, typically used as follows:

  • Right foot on the kick drum, playing on beats 1 and 3.
  • Left hand playing the snare on beats 2 and 4.
  • Right hand playing the eighth notes on the hi-hat (during a verse) or ride cymbal (during a chorus).
  • Left foot on the hi-hat opening and closing to give the ride cymbal some variety.

The hi-hat is typically played on the verse, and the cymbal on the chorus.

Of course, there's a lot of variations, but this is the bread and butter drum part.

Should the hi-hat be open or closed? It depends on your song, and the amount of energy you want. A closed hi-hat will be quieter, and and open hi-hat will be louder. In actual use, a drummer will typically open and close the hi-hat during the measure to make the pattern more interesting. There's also "half-open", and they can "splash" the hi-hats together with their foot without having to stick the hats.

When a song moves into a verse or chorus, the drummer will typically hit a crash cymbal with the stick in their right hand on the first beat of the new section.

Fills are typically placed in the measure just before changing to a verse or chorus. They can be a single beat long, or can fill the entire measure. A fill is typically played with the right hand hitting the toms or the snare. A fill replaces what would normally be played at that time.

Simple fills (such as an added hit to the snare or tom) are often added to the fourth bar of an eight bar verse or chorus. It helps remind the listener where they are in the song, and add a bit of variety.

Here's how it fits together with a simple song:

Verse 1
measure 01: Play on the hi-hat throughout Verse
measure 02:
measure 03:
measure 04: Short fill here, signalling halfway through the Verse
measure 05:
measure 06:
measure 07:
measure 08: Longer fill here, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Chorus
measure 09: Crash on beat 1, switch from hi-hat to ride cymbal throughout Chorus
measure 10:
measure 11:
measure 12: Small fill at end of measure, signalling halfway through the Chorus
measure 13:
measure 14:
measure 15:
measure 16: Longer fill at end of measure, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Verse 2
measure 17: Crash on beat 1, switch from ride cymbal to hi-hat throughout Chorus
measure 18:
measure 19:
measure 20: Short fill at end of measure, signalling halfway through the Verse
measure 21:
measure 22:
measure 23:
measure 24: Longer fill at end of measure, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Chorus
measure 25: Crash on beat 1, switch to from the hi-hat to the ride cymbal throughout Chorus
and so on...

Last edited by dcuny; 12/08/20 02:54 PM. Reason: Snare on beats 2 and 4.

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In order to learn MIDI drums why not save the RealDrum Track as a MIDI Track. Then apply that into a MIDI drum player. It is a way to see roughly how different drum patterns are created. Then play around with them to make the changes you want.

Just a thought.

Tony


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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Some drum basics.

A drummer has 4 limbs, typically used as follows:

  • Right foot on the kick drum, playing on beats 1 and 3.
  • Left hand playing the snare on beats 3 and 4.
  • Right hand playing the eighth notes on the hi-hat (during a verse) or ride cymbal (during a chorus).
  • Left foot on the hi-hat opening and closing to give the ride cymbal some variety.

The hi-hat is typically played on the verse, and the cymbal on the chorus.

Of course, there's a lot of variations, but this is the bread and butter drum part.

Should the hi-hat be open or closed? It depends on your song, and the amount of energy you want. A closed hi-hat will be quieter, and and open hi-hat will be louder. In actual use, a drummer will typically open and close the hi-hat during the measure to make the pattern more interesting. There's also "half-open", and they can "splash" the hi-hats together with their foot without having to stick the hats.

When a song moves into a verse or chorus, the drummer will typically hit a crash cymbal with the stick in their right hand on the first beat of the new section.

Fills are typically placed in the measure just before changing to a verse or chorus. They can be a single beat long, or can fill the entire measure. A fill is typically played with the right hand hitting the toms or the snare. A fill replaces what would normally be played at that time.

Simple fills (such as an added hit to the snare or tom) are often added to the fourth bar of an eight bar verse or chorus. It helps remind the listener where they are in the song, and add a bit of variety.

Here's how it fits together with a simple song:

Verse 1
measure 01: Play on the hi-hat throughout Verse
measure 02:
measure 03:
measure 04: Short fill here, signalling halfway through the Verse
measure 05:
measure 06:
measure 07:
measure 08: Longer fill here, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Chorus
measure 09: Crash on beat 1, switch from hi-hat to ride cymbal throughout Chorus
measure 10:
measure 11:
measure 12: Small fill at end of measure, signalling halfway through the Chorus
measure 13:
measure 14:
measure 15:
measure 16: Longer fill at end of measure, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Verse 2
measure 17: Crash on beat 1, switch from ride cymbal to hi-hat throughout Chorus
measure 18:
measure 19:
measure 20: Short fill at end of measure, signalling halfway through the Verse
measure 21:
measure 22:
measure 23:
measure 24: Longer fill at end of measure, because the next measure changes from Verse to Chorus
Chorus
measure 25: Crash on beat 1, switch to from the hi-hat to the ride cymbal throughout Chorus
and so on...

WOW! David, thank you so much for this! I feel like I actually learned a bit tonight. Can't wait to try it with the MIDI drums. I truly appreciate this!!!

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Originally Posted By: Teunis
In order to learn MIDI drums why not save the RealDrum Track as a MIDI Track. Then apply that into a MIDI drum player. It is a way to see roughly how different drum patterns are created. Then play around with them to make the changes you want.

Just a thought.

Tony

Thanks Tony! Great suggestion.

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Originally Posted By: Teunis
In order to learn MIDI drums why not save the RealDrum Track as a MIDI Track. Then apply that into a MIDI drum player. It is a way to see roughly how different drum patterns are created. Then play around with them to make the changes you want.

Just a thought.

Tony


Tony beat me in answering as I would. I would also create a song(s) using your GrooveMonkee drum patterns, there you will see the changes between verses and choruses as well as those small and sometimes subtle fills in verses and choruses. It might be easier in GrooveMonkee as the intros, verses, etc are already labeled.

Using MIDI drums is much easier then other MIDI instruments. All you have to worry about is velocity and volume. There are other MIDI controls you can use in drums but for the most part those are for advanced sound control, something most all of us don't need.

Good luck.


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Originally Posted By: MarioD
Originally Posted By: Teunis
In order to learn MIDI drums why not save the RealDrum Track as a MIDI Track. Then apply that into a MIDI drum player. It is a way to see roughly how different drum patterns are created. Then play around with them to make the changes you want.

Just a thought.

Tony


Tony beat me in answering as I would. I would also create a song(s) using your GrooveMonkee drum patterns, there you will see the changes between verses and choruses as well as those small and sometimes subtle fills in verses and choruses. It might be easier in GrooveMonkee as the intros, verses, etc are already labeled.

Using MIDI drums is much easier then other MIDI instruments. All you have to worry about is velocity and volume. There are other MIDI controls you can use in drums but for the most part those are for advanced sound control, something most all of us don't need.

Good luck.

Thank you Mario!

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Save up for EZ drummer, and after you are addicted to it, buy Groove Monkee midi drums to supplement the habit. Do NOT quantize those tracks after you pay for them.

Take it from someone who chased midi drums for a good 15 years.

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Originally Posted By: rockstar_not
Save up for EZ drummer, and after you are addicted to it, buy Groove Monkee midi drums to supplement the habit. Do NOT quantize those tracks after you pay for them.

Take it from someone who chased midi drums for a good 15 years.

Thanks! I own and like their keys but kinda hate to get on their merry-go-round of buying the base program and then having to buy a bunch of overpriced add-ons to get different drum styles.

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I really like Steven Slate's SSD-5 drums:

https://stevenslatedrums.com/ssd5/

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

PS - right now SD-5 is on sale for $59 USD. That is a lot less then what I paid for it a few years ago.


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Thanks so much for this Dave! I just started to test out MT Power drums. So your short essay on drumming is very timely.
I did not know that Real drums could be exported as MIDI tracks.
So many fun things to learn.

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Great topic. I also have chased drums for a good number of years. For me EXDrummer 2 has always eluded me in terms of getting what I wanted. Too many bits and pieces to start with, and that thing JJJ referred to about buying more and more drum EZX and midi just don't work for me. Then I found Jamstix and its workflow and AI just seemed to work better for me. Worth checking out, it has a free demo you can try.


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Originally Posted By: MusicStudent
Then I found Jamstix and its workflow and AI just seemed to work better for me. Worth checking out, it has a free demo you can try.

Still a fan of JamStix?

They've got their annual sale going on, with the full version and all the paks for $120. After years of being on the fence, I just might buy it this year. I'm this close to pulling the trigger.


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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Originally Posted By: MusicStudent
Then I found Jamstix and its workflow and AI just seemed to work better for me. Worth checking out, it has a free demo you can try.

Still a fan of JamStix?

They've got their annual sale going on, with the full version and all the paks for $120. After years of being on the fence, I just might buy it this year. I'm this close to pulling the trigger.

I'm interested as I love the idea of buying a complete set! You said all the paks included but I see 14 on their addon page and only 6 shown on the product comparison. What am I missing?

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Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn
I'm interested as I love the idea of buying a complete set! You said all the paks included but I see 14 on their addon page and only 6 shown on the product comparison. What am I missing?

There are 9 "MiniPaks".

Confusingly, it's not obvious from the Online Shop page that the "Jamstix 4XL" (and most other upgraded versions) contain the "XL Pak" until you look at the Compare Versions chart.

In any event, "Jamstix 4 Ultimate" appears to contain everything.

To my ear, the kits don't sound that great in comparison to... well, just about any other drum kit on the market. But they're inexpensive! wink

And there are no roto-toms in the sound libraries, so if you liked the sounds of those toms on the JamStix demo, you'll need find your own roto-tom library, as it's not included. Rayzoon suggests this free library: RoyoToms


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Quote:
And there are no roto-toms in the sound libraries, so if you liked the sounds of those toms on the JamStix demo, you'll need find your own roto-tom library, as it's not included. Rayzoon suggests this free library: RoyoToms


These are in my current project and I love them. I will upload ~ 16 bars of the drum track so you can hear them. I think they are really lovely. I will come back in a and add a link.

And yes, I am still a fan of Jamstix.

Sorry, computer issues and I can't record a rendering of the audio. Stay tuned I will fix this tomorrow.

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I decided that I'd finally bite the bullet and purchasing JamStix this evening.

I was typing my credit card number on the PayPal screen when I was struck with a feeling that I was about to do something I'd regret - more so than the usual buyer's remorse. sick

So halfway into entering in my address information, I thought I'd do a quick check through my email.

Ooops! shocked

I actually purchased it late Sunday night, but was still waiting for the code from Rayzoon. (It can take up to 24 hours for them to send the code after purchase).

But Monday was super-hectic at work, and then I spent the rest of the day in the ER with a family member. So it completely slipped my mind. crazy

It's downloading right now, so I'm looking forward to playing with it whenever Real Life gives me a chance!


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David, do you also have EZ Drummer? I am quite impressed with EZ Keys but as I mentioned I am annoyed that buying the addons is an endless money sink and I am reluctant to add another addiction. But, although I liked the idea of the JamStix Everything Ultra Plus PAK, I was unimpressed by their website and you mentioned something about the drum sounds not being as good as others. So, after you mess around with it I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. The value. Quality of sounds. Ease of use. Etc. Thanks!!

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A few things I would add to the conversation...

Is there a specific genre of music you typically do, or predominately are shooting for? That makes a difference on multiple fronts.

I personally love rototoms, but I wouldn't go into this thinking a ton of songs use them. I guess another way of saying that is, by far, most songs don't have rototoms. Just thought you should know, so don't get hung up by that.

You might want to watch a complete starter drum video on youtube. Pick like a 10 minute one that walks through what the parts of the drum set are. It might make you feel a bit more confident. Don't spend a bunch of time here. I know you well enough to know you'll pick up on it really fast.

I would also recommend, rather than studying BIAB drum styles (which are not custom to a specific song), buy a few midi's from a place like karaoke-version(.com)[I have no affiliation with them] and study things like how the drums work with the bass. Especially the bass and kick drum (the one that uses a foot pedal). Those fills will be specific to what's goin on in that specific song. It gives you an idea of the how the puzzles fits You will also see see things like where the hi-hat is when. When the ride cymbal comes in. How to accent on a cymbal. There are other professional midi sites as well. I just wouldn't go for the free midi stuff. It's usually poorly programmed; so you would be learning how someone else did it wrong. wink

Hope it helps.


Chad (Hope that makes it easier)

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Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn
David, do you also have EZ Drummer? I am quite impressed with EZ Keys but as I mentioned I am annoyed that buying the addons is an endless money sink and I am reluctant to add another addiction. But, although I liked the idea of the JamStix Everything Ultra Plus PAK, I was unimpressed by their website and you mentioned something about the drum sounds not being as good as others. So, after you mess around with it I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. The value. Quality of sounds. Ease of use. Etc. Thanks!!

Yes, I've got EZ Drummer 2, and a bunch of EZX. So I'm not lacking in drumkits.

I rather like EZ Drummer, and have built a number of songs starting with the drum tracks. I wish that they EZXs came with a lot more MIDI, but there's some inspiring stuff in there.

I also like the ability to modify MIDI within EZD by spinning knobs to increase/decrease the number of hits a piece of kit gets during a bar. That's a pretty intuitive process for me.

The big decision was whether it would made more sense to buy JamStix, or just get a bunch of MIDI files and stick with EXD. I went with JamStix mainly because I'd put it off for so long, and this year I could actually afford it.

But I'm not yet sure it's the right choice.

With EZD, I find I do the same sort of thing that I do in BiaB - I go searching through the various styles until I find something inspiring, and then refine that.

With JamStix, it feels like I'm trying to turn fairly vanilla patterns into something more interesting. And most of the patterns are - for me - much less interesting than the ones I find in EZD.

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.

JamStix also seems to be more focused on straight-up rock songs, which is also less what I'm looking for.

What finally convinced me to go with JaxStix was the Neo 60 drummer - it didn't have the same generic lock-step kick and snare sound.

As for the various JamStix drumkits, I'd say that they sound more "live" and much less processed than EZD kits. The quality is less disappointing than I initially thought, and I don't think I'd have any issues adding the drums to my tracks - especially after a bit of post-processing with Neutron or EZ Mix.

At this point, it's just too early for me to form a fair opinion about JamStix. I really need to use the software as it was intended before complaining too much. I'd like to figure out how to give it a more loose feel - it's much to mechanical - and a more relaxed style, as it tends to machine-gun through the tom fills.

Last edited by dcuny; 12/10/20 12:22 PM.

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Thanks David! I really appreciate the education you are providing here!

I tend to use BIAB in much the same way you described. I have been inspired to write a song more than once upon hearing a new style with RealTracks!

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Hi David,

Groovemonkee has many MIDI drum loops available. They are not quantized and they are in EZ drummer format as well as many other formats.

Groovemonkee.com

PS - I do not work for Groovemonkee, I just like their products.


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Originally Posted By: MarioD
Groovemonkee has many MIDI drum loops available. They are not quantized and they are in EZ drummer format as well as many other formats.

Thanks, Mario! smile

They were the main sellers I was looking at, and they had some really tempting Black Friday sales!

I haven't ruled out picking up some MIDI files from them yet.


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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.

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Originally Posted By: BlueAttitude
.................

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


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Originally Posted By: dcuny

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.


I got inspired to record this https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9236401 after hearing the demo of jamcusion. Just played guitar over it and that was it.


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Originally Posted By: CeeBee
Originally Posted By: dcuny

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.


I got inspired to record this https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9236401 after hearing the demo of jamcusion. Just played guitar over it and that was it.


Nicely done! grin


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Originally Posted By: MarioD
I really like Steven Slate's SSD-5 drums:

https://stevenslatedrums.com/ssd5/

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

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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.


Hth.
om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 05/06/22 01:57 PM.

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Originally Posted By: Rich R

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; 05/06/22 02:11 PM.

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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.


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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.

smile

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.

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David,

Session Drummer 3 is not included in Cakewalk by Bandlab.

Session Drummer 3 was included in certain editions of Sonar. All 64 bit Sonar accessories will work in Cakewalk by Bandlab.


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I guess Cakewalk magically integrated that from my Sonar folders then.

smile

Lucky I guess.

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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.


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Originally Posted By: David Snyder

I guess Cakewalk magically integrated that from my Sonar folders then.

smile

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.


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