Making A Midi Drum Track On Cubase??


cocamycola89
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cocamycola89
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01/11/2008 8:57 pm
Im using cubase along side my trusty Podxt and everything is going fine and dandy.
BUT!
i havent got the slighest clue on how to make a midi drum track from the program
HELP!!
# 1
Drew77
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Drew77
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01/12/2008 5:33 pm
I don't know either, but there have got to be tutorials out there. Probably check the Steinberg website, and sites dedicated to cubase. There may be tutorials actually in the program, in the help menu or something. Check around there are certainly resources for learning somewhere.

And finding it yourself is gonna be quicker and easier than someone here trying to explain it to you.
# 2
Kevin Taylor
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Kevin Taylor
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01/12/2008 6:06 pm
Assuming you got a basic VST drum machine included with Cubase, you'll need to either program your own beats or find some midi files with drum beats on them. You can also buy loop collections that have midi files included.

If Cubase didn't come with a drum machine like the LM-9 or LM-4, you'll need to buy one. (like Battery for instance)
In order to program it you'll need to either input the notes manually in MIDI or use a MIDI or USB keyboard.
# 3
Superhuman
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Superhuman
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01/12/2008 8:07 pm
Problem with the Cubase loaded drum vst is the quality os pretty poor. You can download loads of free midi beats for th lm drum module on line - you can also download loops in wav format. Best drum sequencer out there is DFH Superior but it is so vast that it you need to be an engineer to get a studio quality sound. The light version EZdrummer has made my life 100% easier when it comes to music. It will cost you a bit but is a great investment if you are going down that road. Battery is cool too but EZdrummer comes literally ready to go - with practically no tweaking required - plus you get hundreds of pre-programmed midi files with it.
# 4
cocamycola89
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cocamycola89
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01/24/2008 8:04 am
thakyou for all of your replys for ezdrummer its changed so much for me! its easy and totally kick ass but there are just a couple of things i need tweaking if u guys could help.
firstly whenenver i click on the drums it always delays big time like i click it and a second later it plays witch isnt a big problem but a little concerning.
secondly i cant just drag the grooves from the groove libray to the midi file
any suggestions?
# 5
Superhuman
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Superhuman
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01/24/2008 9:29 pm
Have you got it set up as a vst or a stand alone instrument? If its set up properly as a VST then you open up the library and open up the groove you want, minimise your sequencer so you can click on both applications without EZdrummer dissapearing into the background, then click and drag the groove across onto a free midi channel. I'm using Cubase and it works no problem... what version have you got? Also the delay sounds like a latency problem. Seeing as EZDrummer streams from your hard disk it is reasonably ram intensive - how much have you got? Post back if you are unsure how to launch it as a VST.

One of the best pieces of adv ices you can get for getting your system optimised and freeing up resources is to go through all of the tips and tweaks at www.musicxp.net (its recommended by Steinberg - creators of Cubase). Just be sure to open up a notepad file and make a list of all of the changes that you made in case you ever want to go back to the way things were before.
# 6
cocamycola89
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cocamycola89
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01/26/2008 9:29 pm
yea man i got it set up as a vst insturment and that works fine and dandy.
i ran it through my pod when i was recording and the latency problem went away in an instant (sweet) but i still have the groove problem but i have a solution for that.
that is this...
when i find the groove from the ezdrummer window i simply go to "import" and then "midi" and select the groove i want to use from the midi menu that comes with the fully installed EX drummer (verry well marked) and import it.
ovcoarse this comes with few minor problems like the tempo track switching to somthings else but thats easly taken care of by just using the erasor tool on the newly edited tempo, and the midi file u import will come up as a new track but u just drag that over to the midi track you seleceted with ezdrummer output. its a little bit of a hassle but works just as good.
but i think dragging the midi file from the ezdrummer window problem is all down to the fact that i have a pretty crap version of cubase, its cubaseLE i got for free with my Tascam US114 so its not exactly up to scratch. thinking of gettin cubase 4. what version of cubase do u have?
Thanks for the info BTW :)
# 7
Superhuman
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Superhuman
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01/27/2008 11:58 am
Stay away from Cubase 4 for the time being, it's still too new and has too many bugs that need to be ironed out. I use Cubase SX3, it's perfect, no bugs at this stage, you can download all of the fixes from the steinberg website. In another year or so I might buy the upgrade to Cubase 4 but beside a couple of nice little vst's there donesn't seem to be that many groundbreaking new features that are going to make my life any easier. As far as LE goes, yeah that is a hugely watered down version compared to SX3. TO get the most out of Cubase you really need to have a nice physical system though, processor speed, ram, motherboard and chipset and very importantly your soundcard.
# 8
cocamycola89
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cocamycola89
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01/27/2008 2:08 pm
Really SX3? will do man thanks for the tip.
but in any event i really dont know what kind of sound card to go for or even how to get it working on my lap top. im using my pod and thats usb and works more or less like a charm. few minor problems and when im using that along side the Tascam US144 i have to turn the buffer for the pod way up high to evoid crackeling, so i just try to use the seperatly whenever possible.
but anyway tell me more about a decent sound card.
BTW are u running on a mac or pc?
# 9
quickfingers
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quickfingers
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01/28/2008 9:29 am
i also got LE from my tascam US-122. i wouldn't know how watered down it is because i haven't been able to tool around with other cubase programs, but i've had no problems at all with the software, and i've put countless hours into it.

i had the same problem with finding a good way to make drum tracks. i bought battery 3, but i don't have enough RAM to run the actual program as a VST plugin. it would take forever to load and get all choppy. what i ended up doing was simply using fruity loops as my drum track program, and imported whatever audio files i wanted from battery's library. i know it isn't how the program was meant to be used, but hey...i still have gigs of kickass beats and i've made several (some even quite intricate) drum tracks with this technique.

but maybe i'll look into the ezdrummer thing. seems a bit less painstaking.
"the more you know, the less you know. I don't feel like i know shit anymore, but i love it."
-Mike Stern

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# 10
cocamycola89
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cocamycola89
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02/15/2008 6:12 pm
yea man i had the same problem with the drum tracks and stuff on LE and TRUST ME cubase XS hadles things ALLOT BETTER. but the battery problem i have too. if i make a track and use battery 3 with it it just takes forever to load i mean i could take a shower in the time it takes to load! but back to the point. EZdrummer is the ****! its so easy to use and makes it sound super professional and to the untrained ear sounds like a real drummer! its a good investment and it loads when u launch it not like battery where it loads before the rest of the track. keep me posed if u decide to make these investments i had to do allot of fidgeting to get it working properley!
P.s check out ezdrummer on youtube :)
# 11

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