New to MIDI & MIDI Recording

[lesp94]

Greetings!

I've been running Sonar Producer 7 with an Edirol UA-25 Audio/MIDI Interface for a couple years now and am very happy with the audio results.

Songwriting has driven me into creating my own drum tracks so after many months of deliberating, I purchased BFD drum software and a EMU X-Board 25 controller.

I don't need MIDI for anything else but drums - nor am I interested in drum loops. I want to build my rhythms one kit piece at a time, assigning one track per kit piece ... just like in the old days of analog tape recording.

How do I link the XBoard, Interface into Sonar and trigger my BFD drum kits to record?

 

[TetraFish]

You can either connect it to your existing interface with MIDI cables or to the computer direct with USB. I'd go the MIDI cable route just to keep the task list of the USB bus down.

I've never used sonar or BFD but I would imagine that you would add BFD as a VST Instrumnt, then you would create a MIDI track and select either the Audio/MIDI interface or the USB X-board (depending on whichj route you take to connect it) as the MIDI input for that track. The MIDI out would be the BFD VSTi. Again I'm only guessing but you can probably do all of the drums in one MIDI track and the BFD VSTi will split it into the individual pieces.

This is how it works in Cubase with EZ drummer so I'm sorry if this is bad info.

 

[lesp94]

I Need a Walk Through to Get This Thing Goin' .. PLEASE

I've been dropped to my knees by this MIDI stuff
I need to assign the keys on my E-MU XBoard 25 to my Sonar Producer soft synth (TTS-1) so I can input individual kit pieces to produce my own groove clips or rhythms.

Here's my stuff:

XBoard 25
Edirol UA-25 Audio/MIDI interface
Cakewalk's Sonar Producer 7
Drum Software is BFD (GM) and / or Cakewalks TTS-1 softsynth

I can easily drag, drop or import MIDI clips but this is NOT what I want. I need my keyboard linked to the correct note numbers of the GM drums.

Thanks

 

[c7sus]

When you open your track in Piano Roll mode you can see exactly what note(s) are sounding.

If you want to change octaves use the octave up/down on the keyboard to get to the range (drum sounds) you want. If you want to create custom kits you have to re-assign those notes through MIDI mapping, or use some kind of translator.

http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/whorld/Help/Playlists/MIDI_Mapping.htm

 

[lesp94]

Thanks folks but ... no go. The piano roll shows the drum kit pieces and when clicked with the mouse, the kit piece would sound off. The problem is, when I hit the keyboard key to activate sound, nothing happens. Even though the keyboard shows up in my Sonar software, I wonder if it's a driver problem??? I have the latest and greatest from the E-MU website. The octave thing gave me nothing and E-MU's manuals and online support are very disappointing.

 

[TetraFish]

Is the input on your MIDI track set to use your keyboard? Or do you have an option like "All MIDI Inputs"?

 

[c7sus]

Echo input on the MIDI track.

I can't believe how many times this issue comes up!