A Few Stupid Questions--Session Drummer

[Chris Long]

HI All
I use Sonar 1. I use it just infrequently enough (in fits here and there) that I forget some things in-between uses...this is one of those times.

I have an Audiophile 24/96 card, and I cannot use the Session Drummer plug-in with it--I assume because the 24/96 doesn't have MIDI capabilities. I've always found the Session Drummer app to be hard to use, so maybe I'm screwing it up somehow, but when I open it up, I don't even see the patterns displayed, just the 2 demos. So I assume that it's because I now use the AP 24/96 (I installed it since the last sessions I did with the Session Drummer).

My motherboard (Asus P4S800D-E) has onboard sound--a 6-channel Soundmax codec. Here's a stupid question: can I get the Session Drummer to work, using that onboard sound chip? Do they usually have Midi capabilites built-in? How can I set that up to work, if so?

Rest of my computer is fine: Pentium 4 3.2, a gig of ram, lots of drive space, etc. I mostly use it for video work. Sonar works like a charm on the system, just not the Drummer.

Is there another alternative to the Session Drummer I might want to look at? Are there MIDI modules that I could hook up to the AP 24/96 that would do the job for me? Is any of this stuff inexpensive? Shouls I get a cheap SB card for the MIDI?

Too many questions, I know. Just pick one you're happy with and have at it...and I apologize in advance if I have misworded something here or there. Please don't pick it apart semantically--I've done my best.

All this for a simple little Bossa Nova piece...

Thanks so much!

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by Chris Long

Here's a stupid question: can I get the Session Drummer to work, using that onboard sound chip? Do they usually have Midi capabilites built-in? How can I set that up to work, if so?

Yes, onboard sound cards usually have built in midi synths, and yes you should be able to get it to work with SD.

However, using a DXi would be soooooooo much simpler. Set up an audio track and patch a DXi to it, such as the Edirol VSC. Then set up a midi track and patch SD to it. Route the output of the midi track to the Edirol VSC and bingo - drums!!

The other advantage of this approach is that it does not need to be recorded to audio in order to export to a wave file.

Of course the downside is you are limited to the sounds inherent in the Edirol. A better idea is to get yourself a DXi that allows you to import different sound samples (e.g., a sound font player, or Kontakt/Kompakt, etc.).

[gullfo]

sure - use sfx and soundfonts to change your sounds more than just using the VSC or the TTS-1 synths (of course there are also dedicated drum synths like Drumatic, and more).

once you get the pattern defined - save a copy in the session drummer (in case you need to modify later) and also "Apply MIDI" so you have the MIDI and can make other adjustments...

[Chris Long]

Thanks, some of this is coming back to me now lol but not all of it. Hang with me a sec here, if you will--

When I patch SD through VSC, I open up the SD pane and there is nothing but the 2 demos. No patterns that I can find--there used to be all sorts of patterns in there when I used it before--

That is--I look under the Style pane and there is only Demo 1 and Demo 2 listed.

What might I be missing?

Thanks--almost there...

[dachay2tnr]

Sounds like it is probably looking in the wrong folder.

Click the settings button in SD and set the content folder to the folder where your patterns are stored.

[Chris Long]

It's looking in a folder called SONAR 1/Drum Styles. Weird--I hardly ever change any of the default folder settings for these things...what are the patterns called--I mean, what extensions should I search for?

If I can't find them, I have to assume that they somehow were deleted. Might need to re-install?

Sigh.

[Chris Long]

Wait--I think they might be .sdx files. I'll look, but I'm willing to bet they got booted somehow...

[Chris Long]

Hmm. All the patterns are in there (in the Drum Styles folder) but they don't show up in the SD pane. And I can't seem to paste them in, either.

[Chris Long]

Any ideas? I'm completely stumped.

The pattern files are all in the proper folder, and Session Drummer is set to look in that folder, yet the styles and patterns don't show up when I start a session of SD.

[dachay2tnr]

Not a clue. The drum patterns are midi files (.mid). Assuming that is what is showing in your Drum Styles folder, I don't know what the problem could be.

I don't recall if Session Drummer can be installed/unistalled separately from Sonar, but if so, you might consider a reinstall.

[Chris Long]

Thanks, dachay2tnr. I was afraid of that.

Yup, they're midi files, they play when you click on them, but they just don't show up. I'll look into a re-install (something I've been leery of)--but while we're on the siubject, is a complete reinstall of Sonar (which is what I might have to do) a destructive thing? Or does it just leave existing data alone? Not looking forward to backing up that stuff (I know, I know...)

Thanks for the reply, though!! I can move on to the next step. Maybe even get HS Version 2...

[dachay2tnr]

A reinstall of Sonar will not impact any of your audio files. The only thing it should affect is any tweaks you have done to Sonar - changes in latency settings, default directory settings, etc.

If you want, you can backup your "aud.ini" file to preserve these settings; however, that could be the source of your problem.

Now, even though I said a resinstall of Sonar should not impact anything else, don't forget Murphy's Law. It might be a good idea to back your audio up anyway. In fact, you should already have your audio backed-up regardless of the reinstall.

[gullfo]

check C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\SONAR <version>\Drum Styles