Reaper/Addictive Drums - best way to use 'em

dinologic

dinologic

New member
I think this is more of a general question about how to use AD but I use Reaper so I'm asking it relative to that software.

Usually what I do is insert a new "virtual instrument" track which basically sets up the track with AD as a plug-in. When that happens Reaper gives me the option to add multiple tracks to the project - one for each part of the AD plug-in - Kick, Snare, HiHat, etc. Now, I assume the idea here is to route each output from the plug-in to a separate track so I can control and separate each one using the Reaper interface as opposed to the UI provided by the plug-in. My questions are:

1) How do you do it?

2) Is there a benefit to doing it? I assume so since separation is always a good thing. I'm hoping it'll help me managed the drums a bit easier since they have a tendency to take over.

Perhaps this should be in the newb forum... :confused:
 
I prefer to do it that way as well. Then I have a visual reference for the different virtual microphones on the drum kit along with the rest of my project. I can adjust the balance of the kit pieces without having to go into the sampler's mixing console. Also I can apply VST effects to each of these tracks without having to rely on the integrated effects of my drum sampling software.

I also like to create a folder track that contains all of the individual drum kit tracks, so I can control the overall volume of the drum kit with one fader, or apply a VST effect to the kit as a whole.
 
Hi Tadpui. You seem to have missed one of my questions - how do you get the different parts of the kit to route to different tracks? When I add the plug-in it creates the multiple tracks but they don't have any affect on anything. The "Addictive Drums Master" is the only track that actually has any affect.
 
"How do you do it?" Theoretically, you click "yes" and it does it for you, though I wonder...

I don't use AD, but I use EZD and Superior Drummer, which I think are similar. In these, the individual mics are not by default assigned (in the VSTi itself) to individual outputs. So, click "yes" and Reaper makes as many tracks as the plugin has outputs, but you still only get sound on 1/2 until you go into EZDs mixer and assign the individual mics to individual plugins. I think, anyway, I've never really tried it...

More important I think it to understand how to use Reaper's routing to do it yourself. I never let it build multiple channels for me, just let it set it up in stereo. Then if I need individual mics on separate faders I route them myself to wherever they need to go. It's actually completely possible to add different effects to different EZD mics on one (multichannel) Reaper track with careful use of the various plugin I/O pins. Not super convenient all the time, but I have had ocassionaly where it just works better than sending them all out to separate tracks.

Get the Reaper Guide and read the sections on audio routing. It's the most powerful and flexible system I've seen in a DAW, and it's a real shame to waste all that power and just settle for the automatic "quick fix".
 
dinologic said:
Hi Tadpui. You seem to have missed one of my questions - how do you get the different parts of the kit to route to different tracks? When I add the plug-in it creates the multiple tracks but they don't have any affect on anything. The "Addictive Drums Master" is the only track that actually has any affect.
Click to expand...
You ninja'd me!

I touched on this above. Read ADs manual to figure it out. It probably happens in the (plugin's) mixer window.
 
Yeah, I definitely don't get the whole routing thing. I've tried reading up on the subject in the past but it just doesn't seem to sink in. I'll give it another shot. What you described seems to be exactly what I would like to do. I want more control over the individual parts of the drums.
 
ashcat_lt said:
You ninja'd me!

I touched on this above. Read ADs manual to figure it out. It probably happens in the (plugin's) mixer window.
Click to expand...

Exactly, check the mixer console in AD. In EZD, it's very...well...EZ. Click on one of the tracks in the mixer console and select "Multi", and it automagically assigns all of the kit microphones to the various output tracks. In SSD4 it's more complicated (yet ultimately more flexible). So in AD there will be some sort of option of where to route each mic or kit piece.
 
I don't get how the routing thing is even that tough to understand. Basically, each strip in Reaper's mixer can have up to 64 channels of audio running in parallel through it. Every plugin -like any hardware unit - is built with a certain number of inputs and/or outputs. You'll see a button labeled something like XinXout - every one is different, unless they're the same... Click that button and you can connect any of the 64 parallel audio channels to any input. This will divert that channel into the plugin. Then you can assign any of the plugin's outputs to whichever channel you want. This will replace whatever else is happening on that channel.

Every send on the strip can also be told which of those 64 channels on the sending track should go to which on the receiving track.

You might start by letting it build the outputs automatically, following the first few steps in the video above, and then just dig into the track with the VSTi on it and see how it is done. What you'll find is that track is a multichannel track, with each of AD's outputs feeding a different channel (according to the video, 16 altogether). It then adds a bunch of sends to the individual tracks (and probably disables the Master/Parent send on this track). If you look at those sends, you'll see that for most of them it's actually sending some channel to some other channel on the receiving track. Now play with these various things. Change the output pins on AD and watch the different drums come up on different channels/tracks. Change the send settings and see what that does.

For extra points (just for learning purposes), stick a plugin (maybe a compressor, but preferably something that is super obvious, so you know that it's working) on the track with the VSTi on it, and use its routing pins (that XinXout button) to apply it to different drums. Want it on the kick only? Assing channel 3 to input 1 and output 1 back to channel 3. In practice, you might not ever use it that way (though, like I said, I kinda do on a regular basis), but it's just to get a feel for how and why these things work. Notice that you can really screw things up in here if you're not careful. If, for example, you only change the input pins and leave the output the same, you'll end up with the effected kick drum trying to go to that Addictive Drums Master track that he deleted and nothing on the kick track. If you accidentally assign the output to channel 4, you'll have the kick on the snare track, and the snare will essentially be muted. Notice also that you can "mix" things this way too. There's no reason you can't assign all of the audio channels to one plugin input. They'll get mixed together (everything at unity), go through the plugin, and come back out whatever output(s) the plugin wants.
 
Last edited:
One thing I have noted with EZD and Reaper - when you swap out kits from different EZXs, it messes up the track assigns, and you have to go back into the EZD mixer interface and reassign them to each MIDI channel.
Hoping I have enough time this weekend to d/l EZD2.
 
mjbphotos said:
...you have to go back into the EZD mixer interface and reassign them to each MIDI channel.
Click to expand...
MIDI no. Audio maybe. I'd imagine the new kit you opened includes a "mixer preset". I don't remember if you can save mixer settings seperatly in EZD, pretty sure Superior will.
 
Thanks for the responses, guys. I actually figured it out before I saw any of this but I will watch the video and I will try ashcat's suggestions. Figuring it out and understanding it are two completely different things.

ashcat_lt said:
I don't get how the routing thing is even that tough to understand.

...

every one is different, unless they're the same
Click to expand...
I think that's partially why. :)

The other part is that we're dealing with invisible shit here and I'm a visual person. I'm a programmer by trade so that may seem ridiculous but if I type response.write "Hello, world" into a program I will see Hello, world on the screen when the program runs. When I mess around with these channels and inputs and outputs and I don't get the expected results I realize that I'm missing some fundamental knowledge.

Again, though I'm going to check out the video and see what else is out there. I haven't really tried to learn anything about Reaper or recording in general in a few years so perhaps it's time I put some effort into it again.
 
ashcat_lt said:
MIDI no. Audio maybe. I'd imagine the new kit you opened includes a "mixer preset". I don't remember if you can save mixer settings seperatly in EZD, pretty sure Superior will.
Click to expand...

Right ...

Each MIDI 'mic' needs to be reassigned to a track Open up a 'classic' kit in the standard rock format template and it all defaults to track 1.
 
EZD only responds to one MIDI channel...or actually it responds to every MIDI channel you send to it as though it was one MIDI channel. Each drum gets hit by one or more MIDI notes coming in on that MIDI channel.

From that point on, it's all audio. MIDI has nothing to do with anything beyond this point unless you do something weird like sticking in a MIDI-controlled effect.

Each drum hit was actually (theoretically at least) recorded through every microphone on the kit. Each of those mics (the audio signal coming through them) can be assigned to any of the available audio outputs from the plugin itself. By default, they all come through 1/2 in proportions set in EZD's mixer. Each of the audio outputs hits Reaper as a separate audio channel on whatever track the VSTi is inserted. These audio channels can then be effected and/or sent any way you want via Reaper's audio routing engine.
 
I am no a Reaper guy, but it is still the same with EZD in any DAW. One MIDI track controls it. That is what you see.

EZD has a mixer internally that you can select where each drum is sent to as far as output tracks. Once that is done, you still edit from the MIDI track. The 'voices' are sent to the tracks you assign within EZD.

The issue I believe MJB was referring to is that any time you pull up a new kit, the defaults change back to the outputs going to one output. Stereo I would assume. Time to save presets and such for each kit. Not sure how that works with EZD as I have not used it in quite some time.

How to set that all up is different with each DAW so I will shut up from here... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top