Reaper - drum maps/sampler? - GuitarTalk Community

BMU · 2010-09-11T22:58:02+00:00

I'm seriously considering switching to Reaper due to Cubase's user interface clunkiness, bugginess and resource hogging. However, even Cubase Essential (the...

Reaper - drum maps/sampler?

shaundtsl

My 2c....

I have been using a vst with reaper called My Drumset. It is free and cool, probably pretty basic as far as these plugins go, but is working for me at the moment. Once I got my head around how it works I am really enjoying using it and the sound is not to bad.

Like I said, its free, but the down load is pretty big. ?

There are two different kits included.

Check it out here:
http://www.bluenoise.no/mydrumset.html

BMU

@Tomcat - yep, sounds good as I knew it would. ?

Got the Addictive Drum demo loaded. Hmm. I understand now re. GM drum map doesn't cover it; there's ten keys assigned to different snare hits alone. Messy. Very messy.

I think I'm becoming happier and happier with Cubase and the GM drummap I'm used to. Allows me to sequence in "placeholder" drums quickly, leaving 90% of time for playing guitars. The way nature intended.

@shaundtsl - thx, I'll check it out. That webpage looks awfully familiar, I must've stumbled across it before.

AlanRatcliffe

I'm looking at the Addictive drums now myself. So far so good, but I don't know if it will replace EZD and SD for me.

BMU wrote: I understand now re. GM drum map doesn't cover it; there's ten keys assigned to different snare hits alone.

You do need that variation for a pro drum sequence. That's where EZD's "Humanize" comes in real handy, as it handles that side of it. You tell it to play a snare hit and what velocity and it does all the subtle variation for you.

TomCat

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: I'm looking at the Addictive drums now myself. So far so good, but I don't know if it will replace EZD and SD for me.

BMU wrote: I understand now re. GM drum map doesn't cover it; there's ten keys assigned to different snare hits alone.
You do need that variation for a pro drum sequence. That's where EZD's "Humanize" comes in real handy, as it handles that side of it. You tell it to play a snare hit and what velocity and it does all the subtle variation for you.

I like the variety that having 10 hits for the snare gives you because you can have both a variety of velocity and tone to add realism to the sound. The MIDI profiles in AD allow for this variation depending on whether the electronic kit you are using allows for this. (I think the Roland TD-20 has the capability....not sure about the TD-12 though.)

I know the Yamaha we used on the weekend was very limited in trigger selection and sensitivity so we were quite limited in variation etc. to counter this somewhat I also use the humanize feature in Reaper's Midi editor which also allows for both velocity and timing variations.

Renesongs

Midi Drums are OK if you want to get a basic drummer-ish sound on your song kind of like guitar pro will give you a guitar-ish sound when set to RSE.
Sum midi Gm drum kits are better than other e.g. Edirol has a great GM kit in their Super Quartet module it is layered which means when you smack a symbol or a drum harder it doesn't just get louder it sample changes to well someone smacking the same drum harder. If you are really interested in making your drum track real then EZD and others dedicated software are the way to go. Sure it is a hell of a lot harder to program but as they say no pain no gain. IMO it is a lot easier to program EZD than it is to mike up a drum kit properly.

BMU

"I like the variety that having 10 hits for the snare gives you because you can have both a variety of velocity and tone to add realism to the sound."
Sure, that's awesome. I'm just thinking of all the scrolling up and down in the MIDI editor when sequencing. Addictive maps out something like 87 samples in total. Which is cool but also a pain in the *ss. No pain no gain, like Renesongs says.

"Midi Drums are OK if you want to get a basic drummer-ish sound"
Just to clarify - what I'm using now are actual recorded audio drum samples, just a smaller set of 1 snare, 6 toms as opposed to 10 snares & 20 toms that Addictive and its ilk would give me.

I mean c'mon, for the fast, noisy music I make, do I really care -exactly- how the stick impacts the snare? Somebody listen and tell me if it sucks. (A quick listen will do, don't mean to torture anybody HAHA.) I'm serious - I'd highly appreciate a reality check from some of you seasoned pros. ( www.myspace.com/thraeol ) Think of it as demo quality songs by a guitar enthusiast -emphasis on GUITAR- rather than something I expect to hit the Billboard Hot 100.

Having said that, yes those Addictive drum samples sound daaaarrrrrn good. ?

AlanRatcliffe

Its one of those things that add realism to a sequenced part. Admittedly music like yours has a limited dynamic range, so multi-velocity layering isn't too important, but still every snare hit a real drummer makes will be subtly different and most drummers have left-right hand (and foot) variances (except Billy Cobham - the swine ?), also double kick pedals have a slight timing lag and velocity drop on the left pedal. These things are all subtle, but people still pick up on them - especially where you have fast tempo 16th note barrages on the kick drum.

But if it doesn't bother you, then no worries.... ?

BMU

@Alan - so true re. the kick, that's the hardest thing to sequence properly. Those 16th double bass barrages (hehe) can easily sound like a robot. I usually dip the velocity a little bit on every 2nd one to imitate that weaker left foot effect.

LOL, I just realized Cubase in fact gives me two snares and two bass drums. I guess I'll start using them now HAHAHA. Ask and learn, aren't forums great!

But if it doesn't bother you, then no worries....

Yeah well... maybe I'm the only one it doesn't worry! ??? One day I'll do re-do the drums but yeah, I think they sound good. Gotta learn to play guitar first! ?

TomCat

The stuff we are recording for the album has a large variety in terms of dynamics and feel and we have put a lot of effort into creating space in the songs so variance in the drumming is very important for us.....if it don's sound right it's very noticeable.....i.e. ....lots more work in the songs to put them together but the results are certainly worth the effort.......as Rene said.....no pain - no gain....

BMU

This discussion has made me re-evaluate my mixes, and suddenly I'm finding things like the crash cymbals drown out the bass drum click, and I'm thinking with Addictive or SD 2.0 I could EQ them separately... exactly what I thought I didn't want to get dragged into ??? ?

Tomcat - where did you get hold of Addictive Drums? Did you buy the download online? No-one in Cape Town seems to stock it, or EZD, or SD 2.0!?

And to think this started so innocently - I *just* wanted to evaluate Reaper. LOL. (I've decided against that btw. Coming back to Cubase feels like coming home, I didn't fully realize how many shortcut keys I use and how I have everything set up just-right. I feel hopelessly lost in Reaper. Until Cubase starts irritating the crud out of me again I suppose. Sigh.)

TomCat

LOL........For me the best is to stick to what you know......for me Reaper was the first DAW I really got my teeth into and as you have with Cubase, I've learned a lot of the shortcuts and my work flows nice and smoothly....

Regarding AD I bought the online version along with it's large (1GB+... ?) download.....

They also have a great support forum as well...... 8)

BMU

Kthx!

Yeah I cruised the AD forums a bit. Downloaded two drum maps for Cubase already. A simple one for quick sequencing, a detailed one for painting in the nuances later - brilliant. I was thinking to make exactly this, lo and behold someone already did.

Superior Drummer is actually cheaper than Addictive right now, I think they're running a special. Take2 has Superior for R1900 and Addictive for R2500. Quite a bargain... I'll have to re-think this yet more, arrgh. The Addictive download is cheaper still thanks to the current crazy Rand though. (R1700 or so.)

BMU

Just an update: I did go ahead and order SD 2.0. The current price discount on it in the States plus the strong Rand makes it pretty hard to resist. In the end I figured more flexibility can't actually be that bad a thing.