Can you write drum tracks on this program?

[Megadeth4Life]

Im a new N-track user and I just wanted to know if it is possible to write drum tracks on this program and if it is possible, how do you do it?

[Gidge]

what do u mean by "write" drum tracks?...if you mean build them with samples, youll need something like Fruity Loops....
www.fruityloops.com

[TimOBrien]

Sure, you could open up a MIDI track and draw all the drums hits you want. Or use a MIDI keyboard or drum pad. Not my cup of tea, tho...

I use FruityLoops or ACID and then import the .wavs into N-Track.

[Motorbreath]

Mega,

I give full credit to my buddy Nate V. in NC for this. YMMV, depending on your soundcard and such. But the principles should be the same. I hope it helps!

Tony "Motorbreath"


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Open up n-track and pull down the "Track" menu. Go down to "Insert bank track". It will give you a choice of audio or midi. Click on midi. The "MIDI Track Properties" dialogue box will pop up.

For Drums:

1)Pull down the "Program" menu and scroll down to "119 - Synth Drum". Select it.

2)Then pull down the channel menu and select channel 10. This is always the drums channel. They won't play on anything else. Once you have done this, click on "Piano Roll." Close the dialogue box.

3)You should see a grid with a keyboard on the left. Right click on the keyboard and the "Note Names" dialogue box will pop up. Pull down the "Note names sets" menu and select "general midi drums" or "Roland GS Standard set." The names of all the drums and percussion will replace the key board.

4)Click the grid box on the tool bar to make sure it is selected. Then hold down the control key and click on it again. You can then select how you want your grid set up.

5)Then on the left side of the tool bar, select the musical note. That will allow you to fill in the grid to make the drum beat you want. To make it easy, I get a beat started and then copy and paste.

For Bass:

Same principle. For step one, select a bass guitar you want. (I use '34 - Electric Bass [Finger]). For step two, the channel doesn't really matter. Skip step three. do steps four and five.

Eventually, you will have to mix them down into a wav file. On my
computer, I have to run from the line out of my sound card to the line in. Set the level and then record it. For help on this, pull down the "Track" menu. Select MIDI, and then select "Convert MIDI tracks to a wav track." It will walk you through it. Hint: mix down bass and drums separately. That way you have more control over each in the mix.
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[Gidge]

If God wanted us to do midi drum tracks he wouldnt have invented Fruity Loops.....

[Slackmaster2K]

I would prefer MIDI actually, if I could find some sort of software sampler. But how do you get the software sampler to work with n-Track....a plugin perhaps...hmm....now you've got me thinkin here!

Slackmaster 2000

[Gidge]

As far as the programming goes, i LOVE midi.....but soundwise, it kinda blows.....get to work on that plugin!.......

[Slackmaster2K]

It only blows soundwise if you use a cheap synth...what I want is a *sampler*, hence I could trigger my own samples. MIDI is more standard than say fruity loops, plus being able to edit drum tracks right in n-Track...oh boy! I'll see what I can do.

Slackmaster 2000