Midi drum newb.

[Omniscient]

Hello everyone! I was wondering what the best way to record midi drums would be? I'm using a m-audio midi controller, DFH, and Sonar 4.

I have no experience with midi drums and was wondering if I would set the channels up like I would if I was recording real drums with separate micing for the snare, bass, cymbals, etc. I'm assuming that's what I would be doing so I could adjust everything in the mix as usual.

What would be the best sequencer to use to record the drums? Just use DFH as a plug in with sonar?

I've been playing around with it and I can't really seem to get a good blastbeat down with the snare and double bass. Is they're certain things I can do to increase the velocity or triggers?

As you can see I have no clue what I'm doing, just ideas I'm going on from what I've researched here.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[DavidK]

I have no experience with midi drums and was wondering if I would set the channels up like I would if I was recording real drums with separate micing for the snare, bass, cymbals, etc. I'm assuming that's what I would be doing so I could adjust everything in the mix as usual.

Well, the midi drum channel is Channel 10. You can make different TRACKS, but it's all going to use one midi channel. I make a midi track for snare, kick, toms, hi-hats etc. I then record them to seperate audio tracks. At some point I will bounce them all to one stereo track simply to save room. If they are on different audio tracks you can process each instrument seperately i.e. certain reverbs on the snare and kick, etc.

What would be the best sequencer to use to record the drums? Just use DFH as a plug in with sonar?

Midi features in Sonar are very good.

 

[ssscientist]

set the channels up like I would if I was recording real drums

With midi you don't need more than one channel, but you do need to set the drums up on their individual notes so that one drum corresponds to one key. For example, the kick could be assigned to both C1 and D1 with the snare on E1.

so I could adjust everything in the mix as usual.

Keeping each drum on an individual note will provide you with all the separation and mixability you'll need.

Is they're certain things I can do to increase the velocity or triggers?

Not sure what that means, but let me give you a quick rundown on how I record drum parts in real time. First I set the metronome as close to the intended tempo as possible and make sure I can hear it clearly over the drums. Then I start a beat on the keys and record at least 16 bars and sometimes far more if it's a tough part. Then I play it back and pick out the good bars --- the ones that are candidates for cutting and pasting. I may need to fractionally adjust the first kick so that it lands within the bar frame, but aside from that I try to select parts that don't need any time correction.

And that's all there is to it.

Tapping out drum parts on a keyboard is kind of like learning a new, easy instrument. But don't expect miracles or to be 'blastbeat'-ing away right off the bat.

Take your time and, as with every instrument, there's no substitute for practice.


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[Omniscient]

hmm very interesting. I've set it up like you guys said now I'm just going to mess around for a while and get the hang of this.

 

[BRDTS]

They're not free, but I've used these for a lot of years and have always been happy with the results. Really easy to use and involves much less time than making midi drum tracks from scratch. If you want to jack the velocities of individual drums up or down for sections or entire tracks, just do that within Sonar while you're triggering whatever drum sounds you have called up. But, there are already a ton of dynamics and lifelike playing in these things so I don't usually do much tweaking except normal volume adjustments in overall mixes. That first link down there is one of the pages with demos triggered from the midi drum tracks.

I'm not big on grooves because they take me too long to assemble, but I notice these guys also have Zoomgrooves for BFD (since they're also a BFD dealer). Haven't tried the grooves. Only the full drum tracks. The drum tracks themselves will work with any drum source and I've used about everything there is.


http://www.trycho.com/trychostore/bPERCUSSION-IN-STOCK-b-W67C285.aspx

http://www.trycho.com/trychostore/DRUMS-DRUMS-DRUMSfor-midi--C14.aspx