Easiest way to sequence drums ?

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Cacophonous

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Hey there members of HR BBS! I think this is my first post here and, if it´s not, pardon me for getting old! :D I got your URL from Carvin bbs, if you guys are interested in cool guitars and bass and pro audio equipment take a look: www.carvin.com

Do you guys know if it´s possible to use the computer keyboard as a "midi controller" ? Let me explain, you press the DownArrow and it trigger the KickDrum, you press the UpArrow and it triggers the snare... is it possible? It would save me the hassle of having to buy a MIDI controller or insert the melodies or rhythms note by note on the sequencer, which is a pain in the ass to do... any suggestions?

I use Sonar for recording and sequencing.

Thanks! :)
 
I haven't used Sonar but back when it was called Cakewalk Pro Audio they had a feature called the 'Virtual Keyboard' and it allowed you to map the keyboard to different notes. Take a look in your help files or on the CD and see if you have that.
 
I don't know if you are going for a real time thing or not, but as far as I know, without an external keyboard I don't think you can do a real time drum thing.

I use Home StudioXL which os basically a stripped down Sonar and this is how I, and I believe the only way to create a drum track is to amnually sequence the notes. I use the keyboard btw which maps each key to a specific drum piece. Take a look at http://go-kustom.com/drummapping.html for a bare bones keyboard mapping. Of course be sure your track is set to channel 10 otherwise you will not hear drum sounds.

I don't know how much you know about drum programming but a little tip: program your kicks, snares, cymbals, hit hats and toms on different tracks. This will allow you to pan and effect volume changes individually. You don't want the whole drum kit panned the same way in the stereo field.

Also, if you are basically working with the same rhythm throughout the song, establish your rhythm -usually within the first 4 bars- and cut and paste for the rest of the song. You can then tweak away to your heart's delight, add fills, change a bar or two, add in an ending.

Maybe tedious, but the only way to get a somewhat realistic sounding drum track.

Good Luck
 
Sorry for not editing my reply. The first sentence :"I use the keyboard btw which maps each key to a specific drum piece":

SHOULD BE

"I use the Keyboard View btw which maps each key to a specific drum piece."

Sorry for the confusion.
 
hey rguagenti, thanks for your reply!

I just got a MIDI keyboard and hooked it up to the computer... I can play the drums and record it on Sonar, and then apply drum samples on it. But this way all the drum pieces are recorded in the same track... how could I do it differently? Is there a way to play the drums on the keyboard and each piece go to a different MIDI track ?

This keyboard I jost got doesn´t have a "pressure sensor" , do you know what I mean? It doesn´t differentiate on how hard you press the keys, thus changing "velocity", which could be a good thing, making the drums sound dynamic and adding a more realistic feel to it. Is there a way I can correct it after I record the midi tracks?

thanks
 
Hey C:

There is a way to separate your drum tracks. This is how I do it in HS I don't think Sonar is too different.

1) Record the drum track
2) Insert a separate midi track
3) Go to the Keyboard View and on the left hand side of the screen select the key on the keyboard that you want to split out.
4) Copy and paste it into the new MIDI track you created.

Voila, the track should be there on it's own.

Do this for each "key" and have fun. You may want to either keep the original full drum track and mute it(just in case) or you can delete it.

Once you are done tweaking you then just mix them all down onto on track.

I typically go to the staff view to change velocity on a note by note basis. Just right click on the note and change the velocity as you desire.

Again, I'm talking Home Studio. Hopefully Sonar is not different. Let me know how you make out.
 
rguagenti said:
Hey C:

There is a way to separate your drum tracks. This is how I do it in HS I don't think Sonar is too different.

1) Record the drum track
2) Insert a separate midi track
3) Go to the Keyboard View and on the left hand side of the screen select the key on the keyboard that you want to split out.
4) Copy and paste it into the new MIDI track you created.

Voila, the track should be there on it's own.

Do this for each "key" and have fun. You may want to either keep the original full drum track and mute it(just in case) or you can delete it.

Once you are done tweaking you then just mix them all down onto on track.

I typically go to the staff view to change velocity on a note by note basis. Just right click on the note and change the velocity as you desire.

Again, I'm talking Home Studio. Hopefully Sonar is not different. Let me know how you make out.
Click to expand...
In Sonar, you can use the "Split Notes to Tracks" CAL routine (Process-->Run Cal, or press CTRL + F1). It will ask you to identify your souce track and then split all midi notes to separate tracks for easy mixing.

_______
SteveD
www.5adayclub.net/music/
 
Hey Steve, thanks for the great input! This script is really cool... what if I wanted to do the opposite , that is, putting all the notes together on the same midi track again?

By the way, nice songs on your site... very tasteful.

see ya
 
Cacophonous said:
...what if I wanted to do the opposite , that is, putting all the notes together on the same midi track again?
Click to expand...

Select those MIDI clips, right mouse click, copy (or cut)...

Select destination track, right mouse click, paste. Make sure you tick the check box "Paste to one track"... that's it ;)

ps. instead of right mouse click, you can also copy, cut, and paste using Edit menu in Sonar's toolbar :)

;)
Jaymz
 
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