PC Drummer - .wav export problems

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Badfinger

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Good day. I am brand new to the home recording scene and recently purchased a Tascan 2488MkII. For now, I am using PC Drummer. I like some of the sounds and it has a fair bit of flexibility.

The problem is this: I have a pattern which sounds great when I play the song start to finish. I played along with it playing on my computer and everything is right where it should be.

However, when I export the files--in this case 7 individual files, 1 for each instrument--all of the files are exactly the same size except for the snare drum. When I import and play them on the Tascam, all is fine until a point near the end of the song, and all of a sudden the snare skips a beat and throws everything out of time!

I went back to PC Drummer and exported the song as a single file, i.e. all instruments in one file, and the same thing happens!!!! The snare is out of time near the end. And yet, when I play along with the song playing "live" on PC Drummer on the computer, it is, again, just perfect.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Your help would be most appreciated. Thank you.
 
I really like PC Drummer 5 and once you wrap your head around it - it proves to be worth every penny. I've written and copied a number of drum tracks so far with no issue...

Until last Saturday.

I am having the exact same issue and it's got me good. I spent 4 hours trying different things and I got nowhere:

When playing the drum line (song) in PC Drummer it's on time. I export it as a .wav file (mulitple files) and import it into pro tools LE and play it. A double snare hit happens at the first "intro to chorus". The rest of the beats are fine but the snare track is jacked.

I thought it was pro-tools converting it like that...so I converted the snare .wav file to mp3 and gave it a listen. Nope, PC Drummer is exporting it incorrectly.

So what I did was exported the drum lines as one file - I hate it because with multiple I like to control where the drum parts are in the mix.

For shits and giggles I imported the jacked snare line and other drum parts and played them together to see if there were any other issues.

I found that the kick drum during the fill that sets up the "intro to chorus" starts slowing down, this is where it starts to go off time. 2 measures later is when the double snare hit happens and really throws the entire song into a tailspin.

I recorded the song rest of the song with all of the drums on one track.


Let's just say that recording session was doomed from the start:

I found that my vocal mic was peaking and I didn't realize it until I had finished, duplicated and doubled up the vocals.

I ended up scrapping the entire song in frustration.

My time to record is precious and I blew away an entire Saturday afternoon...I'll be back at it though when I get some time.

I'm going to email PC Drummer 5's technical support to see what they say about it.
 
Oh wow...the problem described above is almost exactly what happened to mine. Except I have yet to successfully export a single song. It sounds like your program has been infested with the same electro-gremlins as mine.

I, too, have e-mailed PC Drummer with no reply as yet. (Perhaps they don't respond to Canadian e-mail addresses?) If you get a response I would more than appreciate your sharing it here.

Thanks for replying.

--Badfinger
 
Badfinger said:
Oh wow...the problem described above is almost exactly what happened to mine. Except I have yet to successfully export a single song. It sounds like your program has been infested with the same electro-gremlins as mine.

I, too, have e-mailed PC Drummer with no reply as yet. (Perhaps they don't respond to Canadian e-mail addresses?) If you get a response I would more than appreciate your sharing it here.

Thanks for replying.

--Badfinger
Click to expand...

Really? You haven't exported a single song yet? I've written at least 10 and this is the first time I've had an issue.

I haven't written a drum line since. I'll try and write one, export it and see if it's a reoccurring issue now.

I will definitely post here if PC Drummer 5 contacts me.
 
PC Drummer .wav export problems - UPDATE

I actually received an e-mail from the PC Drummer folks with a suggestion to simply upgrade to the latest version, which you can access through the 'Help' section of the program. Giddy with anticipation, I installed the new version and tried to export the tracks, only to find the same problem: One of the files was just slightly diffderent in size than all the others, and the track was messed up. I was heartbroken.

So today at work (I have the program installed on my work computer as well, where I can spend a few minutes with it on my breaks) I upgraded the program and exported the files again. Lo and behold, let the bells ring out and the banners fly, it seemed to have worked. I checked it exporting not only the individual instument tracks, but also a file of the entire song, whihch came out okay.

However, I must keep from getting too excited until I try to load it into the recorder this evening. As I know you are all waiting in breathless anticipation, I will let you know what happens.

Acoustic-Fury: try this and let me know what happens. By the way, I listened to some of your tunes, I found them to be both acoustic and furious.
 
Hey BadFinger!

Thanks for the update...I'll try that when I get home from work.

I appreciate the feedback on the songs - lemme know when you get up and running.

You got a myspace account?
 
PC Drummer .wav export problems -- Update

So far, so good. I have used the updated version of the program to load in tracks on a few songs and all seems well so far. The sounds on the new version are, in some cases, noticeably different, the acoustic snare in particular.

The only thing I've noticed is the .wav files are quite hot, and once I load them into the Tascam 2488MKII I have to run the faders very low. It has since occurred to me that I cold go into PC Drummer and lower the output levels for all of the instruments. (Unless maybe someone here can think of an easier way....?)

I'd be curious to hear from other users of PC Drummer.

And Acoustic-Furious: I don't have a MySpace page. I haven't really thought about it, that is defninitely something to consider for the future.
 
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