EZ Drummer 2 users: questions

[GuitarBilly]

So I am finally getting into using easy drummer. I think I know all the basic features now but I have a few questions:


1- how to do I transfer the MIDI notes from the easy drummer song creator into the actual DAW track? Right now the track is completely empty and I can only see the notes when I open easy drummer.

2 - also, how do I write custom parts without using the preset beats.. say I want to use a preset beat for a part and write my own beat for the next. How do I do that?

[JerEvil]

So I am finally getting into using easy drummer. I think I know all the basic features now but I have a few questions:


1- how to do I transfer the MIDI notes from the easy drummer song creator into the actual DAW track? Right now the track is completely empty and I can only see the notes when I open easy drummer.

2 - also, how do I write custom parts without using the preset beats.. say I want to use a preset beat for a part and write my own beat for the next. How do I do that?

Relevent to my interests

[TurboPablo]

EZdrummer2???

I export a track from the songwriter as a WAV and then again as a MIDI so Ican bring it back in and work on it if I want. Then, in Reaper, I open a new track then insert the WAV as a media file.

Custom parts, use the Tap2Find. Not sure it will give you everything you want. But it's a great place to start.

You can also use the cut feature in the songwriter to chop up any of the presets. It's really convenient.

[TurboPablo]

The Drumjam I posted this morning, while not perfect, was done entirely in the Tap2Find function.

Me and my mouse clicking beats.

[GuitarBilly]

How do you export it as MIDI?

And yeah tap to find is great but I have some very specific parts I need to write...they have to be exact.... but if I can export the MIDI then I guess I can just write them in the DAW piano roll...

Also, once you export the MIDI...what track in the DAW do you have to load it so it will play??

[JiveTurkey]

Been a bit, but in Cubase; I know drag and drop was funky. To create custom beats; I believe you had to select the pencil tool and draw the length of the midi track you wanted to program. Route it accordingly then open that piano roll and use the pencil to draw in the individual hits.

[GuitarBilly]

Been a bit, but in Cubase; I know drag and drop was funky. To create custom beats; I believe you had to select the pencil tool and draw the length of the midi track you wanted to program. Route it accordingly then open that piano roll and use the pencil to draw in the individual hits.

yeah I can do it in the DAW with no problems, but easy drummer 2 is weird in a sense that the MIDI notes are inside the plug in and not in the DAW...

[TurboPablo]

Top right hand corner of the Songwriter is the three bar icon. Click on that, at the top it say "track" with a arrow. That sub menu has export as MIDI and export as WAV.

For me, I don't open them as a MIDI track as I don't know it yet. Like I said, in Reaper, I open a empty track and then insert the WAV file. It's "Track" on the top menu bar on Reaper.

MIDI and Piano Roll are two things I really want to learn.

Hope that helps.

[TurboPablo]

Where in Reaper is Piano Roll?

[GuitarBilly]

Where in Reaper is Piano Roll?

From what I remember, Reaper does not have a Piano Roll view per se... you need to load a MIDI clip (called MIDI Item on Reaper) and then double click on it. At that point a Piano Roll opens and you can edit on it.

Maybe they changed it, I stopped using Reaper a while ago, I am too used to Sonar and Reaper was confusing to me.... always took me a long time to do basic things...

[Loins of Fire]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

[GuitarBilly]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

[Loins of Fire]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

If I was going to use multiple drum beats from superior/ez drummer I would drag each one separately and line them up to a grid in my daw in the correct order of your song. I assume it's the same with Cubase as they are nearly identical function wise. The export function is usually for converting midi files to audio files. That's usually not done until the whole track is complete and it's mostly for saving CPU power (because your drum plugin isn't playing in real time that way). Hope that helps is kinda hard to explain through text.

[JerEvil]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

If I was going to use multiple drum beats from superior/ez drummer I would drag each one separately and line them up to a grid in my daw in the correct order of your song. I assume it's the same with Cubase as they are nearly identical function wise. The export function is usually for converting midi files to audio files. That's usually not done until the whole track is complete and it's mostly for saving CPU power (because your drum plugin isn't playing in real time that way). Hope that helps is kinda hard to explain through text.

Yeah, this sounds right.

In EZD2 can you use the "Tap Beat" function to find loops that fit, then open the loops you like in midi editor? I assume yes.

[Loins of Fire]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

If I was going to use multiple drum beats from superior/ez drummer I would drag each one separately and line them up to a grid in my daw in the correct order of your song. I assume it's the same with Cubase as they are nearly identical function wise. The export function is usually for converting midi files to audio files. That's usually not done until the whole track is complete and it's mostly for saving CPU power (because your drum plugin isn't playing in real time that way). Hope that helps is kinda hard to explain through text.

Yeah, this sounds right.

In EZD2 can you use the "Tap Beat" function to find loops that fit, then open the loops you like in midi editor? I assume yes.

Yeah once you get a beat you like in ez drummer it should be as simple as dragging and dropping the beat into the midi track in your daw. I would also assume that if you have multiple drum beats arranged in ez drummer there would be a way to select the whole group of beats and drag them into your daw. I rarely use any Midi loops from ex drummer, I usually just manually program everything in the piano roll so I can't say for sure. There have been times I used a fill or two but that's about it.

[JerEvil]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

If I was going to use multiple drum beats from superior/ez drummer I would drag each one separately and line them up to a grid in my daw in the correct order of your song. I assume it's the same with Cubase as they are nearly identical function wise. The export function is usually for converting midi files to audio files. That's usually not done until the whole track is complete and it's mostly for saving CPU power (because your drum plugin isn't playing in real time that way). Hope that helps is kinda hard to explain through text.

Yeah, this sounds right.

In EZD2 can you use the "Tap Beat" function to find loops that fit, then open the loops you like in midi editor? I assume yes.

Yeah once you get a beat you like in ez drummer it should be as simple as dragging and dropping the beat into the midi track in your daw. I would also assume that if you have multiple drum beats arranged in ez drummer there would be a way to select the whole group of beats and drag them into your daw. I rarely use any Midi loops from ex drummer, I usually just manually program everything in the piano roll so I can't say for sure. There have been times I used a fill or two but that's about it.

Yeah, I usually stat from, say a GrooveMonkee basic beat since they already have a good bit of variance in the hit, making it feel more like a person played it. Then I create what I want out of it. The problem is, I like a lot of ghost snare hits and flame and shit. I think the tap beat function would hep and I also like the idea of being able to hear the loop in real time while I am playing with it. I wish Slate had a feature like that.

Seeing as my time is at a premium, $149 seems reasonable. Next question, how do you send a midi loop out to multiple tracks in your DAW. I know Slate and EZ can do this, right? This way you can really mix each drum separately?

[Loins of Fire]

Don't know about Cubase but in pro tools I can drag any Midi from superior right into the midi track in my Daw. You shouldn't have to export anything. If you want to program your own beats you have to use the piano roll/midi editor.

cool, I will try that.. but if I am using several different clips..... do I have do drag one by one or is there a way to consolidate all clip into one single MIDI file and drag that?

If I was going to use multiple drum beats from superior/ez drummer I would drag each one separately and line them up to a grid in my daw in the correct order of your song. I assume it's the same with Cubase as they are nearly identical function wise. The export function is usually for converting midi files to audio files. That's usually not done until the whole track is complete and it's mostly for saving CPU power (because your drum plugin isn't playing in real time that way). Hope that helps is kinda hard to explain through text.

Yeah, this sounds right.

In EZD2 can you use the "Tap Beat" function to find loops that fit, then open the loops you like in midi editor? I assume yes.

Yeah once you get a beat you like in ez drummer it should be as simple as dragging and dropping the beat into the midi track in your daw. I would also assume that if you have multiple drum beats arranged in ez drummer there would be a way to select the whole group of beats and drag them into your daw. I rarely use any Midi loops from ex drummer, I usually just manually program everything in the piano roll so I can't say for sure. There have been times I used a fill or two but that's about it.

Yeah, I usually stat from, say a GrooveMonkee basic beat since they already have a good bit of variance in the hit, making it feel more like a person played it. Then I create what I want out of it. The problem is, I like a lot of ghost snare hits and flame and shit. I think the tap beat function would hep and I also like the idea of being able to hear the loop in real time while I am playing with it. I wish Slate had a feature like that.

Seeing as my time is at a premium, $149 seems reasonable. Next question, how do you send a midi loop out to multiple tracks in your DAW. I know Slate and EZ can do this, right? This way you can really mix each drum separately?

There's a mixer section in ez drummer and you can set the outs of the mixer to correspond to the mixer in your daw, giving each drum/mic it's own track. It's pretty simple. The mixer in ez drummer is pretty powerful though and comes with its own set of plugins.

[Tortuga]

You don't have to export it from EZD2. In Reaper, create a new virtual instrument track, select the right plug-in, and it'll open an EZD2 window for you. Create a beat you like and you can drag it to the track window back in Reaper. If you double-click that, you'll get the Piano roll (midi-editor).

However, if you build a track directly in EZD2 using the song builder, you can leave it there.

No export / import - easy tweaking / remixing drums separately, etc

[Tortuga]

looks like Loins of Fire beat me to it - this is really the best way to go that I've found

[JerEvil]

Downloading the demo now ...

[Tortuga]

Cool - another convert

[JerEvil]

Off to a bad start. Got it installed. Went to the Tap Beat thing. Can't get it to find better than a 63% match on a fairly basic beat

I'm sure I'll need to give it more than 10 minutes if effort though ...

[Tortuga]

Gotta be a pebkac issue - did you let it loop around a few times, adding drum hits as you go?

No way yer as bad a drummer as me... just no way

[RIFF]

This is interesting.. I havent gone too heavy into writing super specific parts, BUT I have fooled with this a wee bit.
Ill tap-to-find my own part, then slide IT into the song area, and if it needs changes, Ill either "edit play style" or drag it into reaper & do the piano-roll edit. Then it can either stay or go back to EZ as needed.

[Tortuga]

I think one of the big tricks (and something I often have trouble with) to this software is letting the program control what the drummer plays. If you let it do its thing and just use the functions to indicate "I want some heavy toms" or "more crash", or "ease up on the snare", it'll do so within the context of the beat & pattern. And, there's logic built-in (I think) that keeps from playing impossible parts, as if the drummer has 5 hands, etc.