Alright...almost done with my noobstudio.

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

Ive got monitors,headphones,gt-8,firebox interface,cubase crap edition and plenty of time on my hands.

How can I make drum tracks/lines?I can't seem to open a drum editor in crapbase,but I can lay down audio tracks(guitar/bass e.c.t.).

This is mind numbing since a cubase tutorial says I can open a drum map editor...well,I can't.Granted,its free junkware that came with the firebox.

What in the world can I do to solve my drum problem for $200 or less?

any help appreciated.

[Kevin Taylor]

A drum map editor is just something that assigns certain keys to certain sounds on a drum machine. It's used when you load different drum machines into Cubuase, so that you can use the same keys on your keyboard to trigger certain parts of the kit. You'll still need the drum machine though.
Not sure about price but the basic drum machine for Cubase is the LM-4.
Can't remember if it comes with Cubase or not. There's also an upgrade called the LM-4 Mark II.
Best one is Battery, but hard to understand if you've never used one before.

You'll have to program them yourself or use midi drumfiles that are pre-written.
If you want to do them yourself, or edit them, you'll need a midi keyboard.
You can do it from the edit window, but it's a major pain.

Alternatively, you can grab some drum loops off the net and paste them together.

[Superhuman]

If you can increase your budget to around $260 you should try to pick up a copy of DFHS by Toontrack (see www.toontrack.com), hands down the best budget drumming software available. I used the more basic version DFH on the track in my sig file (below). Only problem with DFH is you need Battery or another plug-in to work in Cubase.
However, DFHS comes as a stand alone VSTi (32GB of real drum sounds triggered by midi). Then you can go to www.groovemonkey.com and download pre-programmed midi files that you can splice and dice into whatever shape you want (costs $35 for a few thousand midi files all mapped out for DFHS). Check it out, it really is an amazing piece of software, VERY realistic.

[chucklivesoninmyheart]

hmmm...i'll give DFHS a crack than(battery would be like...300?Gah!).Ive been hesitant to purchase drum/sequencing software that may or may not help,but I think I need to just plunge.

Thanks for the vice.

[bigbuda]

I bought a drum machine after trying to use MIDI to create most of my patterns. I have a copy of Battery and find it kina difficult to navigate as mentioned earlier.

[Superhuman]

I bought a drum machine after trying to use MIDI to create most of my patterns. I have a copy of Battery and find it kina difficult to navigate as mentioned earlier.

Battery is a great piece of software but you really need to know your way around it and Cubase SX to make the most of it. That's why I prefer DFHS and other pure VSTi instruments, especially those using Kompact technology are very easy to use and require minimal setup.