drum jam wav file question noob

[VTM]

When I drop a wav drum jam file into Ableton it puts both of the drum tracks into a single track, so I cannot pan them l/r.

Is there a way to split the wav/drum jam track into two different tracks so I can pan 'em?

[Steinmetzify]

Can you run it thru EZD and multitrack it out?

You can set it up for multichannel in Reaper, I'm sure you could do the same in your DAW...

[fretless]

I don't know but perhaps you can mixdown or export it that way back into Ableton

[VTM]

Thanks guys! I don't have EZD so I can't go that route. I just spent an hour perusing the 648 page Ableton manual and I wasn't able to find what I need. There is a section on splitting tracks, but it doesn't appear to be the type of splitting I'm looking for.

This was super easy on my old system. As soon as I would import a wav file it would ask me which tracks I wanted to assign it to, and done. Off to the Ableton message board.....

[Loins of Fire]

I don't know Ableton but in pro tools I just drop the waves file into a stereo track and it's all panned.

[VTM]

I don't know but perhaps you can mixdown or export it that way back into Ableton

You're right! I found out that there are several ways to make it happen but this made the most sense to me: Drag the wav file into Ableton, export it in mono, and drag it back in. Now I need to figure out how to clone tracks so I don't have to drag it back in twice.

How do you usually pan your drum tracks? I've been doing 35 L & R.

[fretless]

I don't usually mess with EZ or SS drums pan the default is usually the kit spread out as if you were looking at it .

[EndTime]

Sounds like you are importing to a mono track. Maybe create a stereo track first, then import to that track..

[EndTime]

Actually, i think i misread your question. So, basically you want to pan each side of the stereo track.?

There should be some kind of setting in the mixer panel to select panning. In most instances a stereo track will just be automatically hardpanned l/r. And thats where you really should keep them. Since anything less than hard panned l/r , is actually decreasing the stereo field. But if for some reason you wanted to do that, maybe right click.on the track in your mixer panel and see if you can find the selection for panning properties, or something along those lines.

[VTM]

Actually, i think i misread your question. So, basically you want to pan each side of the stereo track.?

There should be some kind of setting in the mixer panel to select panning. In most instances a stereo track will just be automatically hardpanned l/r. And thats where you really should keep them. Since anything less than hard panned l/r , is actually decreasing the stereo field. But if for some reason you wanted to do that, maybe right click.on the track in your mixer panel and see if you can find the selection for panning properties, or something along those lines.

I haven't figured out how to create a stereo track in ableton so for now I'm going with two mono drum tracks which are automatically panned center. Once a track is created it's super easy to pan in ableton.

I didn't know drums should be hard panned l/r. I've always done rhythm guitars hard l/r, vocals and guitar solos straight up, and drums somewhere between all of that. That's the basic guideline I would follow and tweak as needed.

Thanks for your help!

[EndTime]

Well, the thing with premixed drum jams is the panning has already been done. Whether or not the individual drums were panned hard l/r, your still want to keep the stereo field as wide as possible. So panning a stereo track(or 2 mono tracks from a stereo mix) any less than hard l/r is actually decreasing the width.

If you are panning individual drums i in your own mix, then in most cases you won't pan anything hard l/r except maybe hats and ride. And only because the OH's well be picking those up anyway, which can kinda center them. So panning the ride and hat mics hard l/r Will just push the overall sound a little to each side rather than them sounding hard l/r. I'm sure i.just confused you.

But for already panned stereo drumjams, pan them hard l/r to keep the integrity of the stereo field.

[EndTime]

Actually, i think i misread your question. So, basically you want to pan each side of the stereo track.?

There should be some kind of setting in the mixer panel to select panning. In most instances a stereo track will just be automatically hardpanned l/r. And thats where you really should keep them. Since anything less than hard panned l/r , is actually decreasing the stereo field. But if for some reason you wanted to do that, maybe right click.on the track in your mixer panel and see if you can find the selection for panning properties, or something along those lines.

I haven't figured out how to create a stereo track in ableton so for now I'm going with two mono drum tracks which are automatically panned center. Once a track is created it's super easy to pan in ableton.

Yeah, all mono tracks will have a pan control. Although, some stereo tracks wont. And in this case that's fine, because like i said, keeping the stereo field hard l/r is why STEREO means. But if you did want to control the panning of a stereo track, your should be able to click an option that will set up 2 pan controls. One for each the left and right channel. Then you can decrease the stereo field. Flip l/r, etc. But in most cases this is not a control you will need, imo..

[VTM]

Actually, i think i misread your question. So, basically you want to pan each side of the stereo track.?

There should be some kind of setting in the mixer panel to select panning. In most instances a stereo track will just be automatically hardpanned l/r. And thats where you really should keep them. Since anything less than hard panned l/r , is actually decreasing the stereo field. But if for some reason you wanted to do that, maybe right click.on the track in your mixer panel and see if you can find the selection for panning properties, or something along those lines.

I haven't figured out how to create a stereo track in ableton so for now I'm going with two mono drum tracks which are automatically panned center. Once a track is created it's super easy to pan in ableton.

Yeah, all mono tracks will have a pan control. Although, some stereo tracks wont. And in this case that's fine, because like i said, keeping the stereo field hard l/r is why STEREO means. But if you did want to control the panning of a stereo track, your should be able to click an option that will set up 2 pan controls. One for each the left and right channel. Then you can decrease the stereo field. Flip l/r, etc. But in most cases this is not a control you will need, imo..

Gotcha. I only deal in drum jams so it looks like I'm set.

As far as creating a stereo track in abelton I'm not gonna worry about it as it's so easy to export in mono then drag that file back in. Thanks again, this should improve the sound of my clips.

[EndTime]

Well, unless you are exporting the right and left sides of the stereo file separately , then you are likely exporting the summed left and right channels into mono. Which is not the same thing. And would explain why i have mentioned i thought your tracks are recorded in mono before..

Shouldn't be difficult to create a stereo track. I'd learn that for sure.

[VTM]

Well, unless you are exporting the right and left sides of the stereo file separately , then you are likely exporting the summed left and right channels into mono. Which is not the same thing. And would explain why i have mentioned i thought your tracks are recorded in mono before..

Shouldn't be difficult to create a stereo track. I'd learn that for sure.

I remember you mentioning that my tracks sounded like they were recorded in mono, but that was on my old system: a Tascam 2488 neo. When importing a stereo wav into the tascam it asks what pair of tracks you want to assign them to. I would pick pair of tracks but I did not hard pan l/r which is probably why they sounded mono. Or was this summed as well? I would then take those two drum tracks and pan 35 l/r to start, then tweak from there.

Now I'm working with ableton and I'm sure you are right about the channels being summed. When creating a new track in ableton, the drop down menu gives me two choices: create new audio track and create new midi track. I'm not finding a "create new stereo track". I'll keep at it, it has to be in there somewhere.

[VTM]

In most instances a stereo track will just be automatically hardpanned l/r.

It turns out I had a stereo drum track from the get go and didn't realize it.



It was the single pan control set to center that threw me. If I would've listened to the track instead of just looking at it I would've realized it was in stereo. I just got done toggling back and forth between the stereo drum track and the summed mono ones. Wow.

[EndTime]

Cool.. glad you're sorted

The way you were exporting tracks to mono, i knew wasn't going to be giving you what you wanted.

While I'm not familiar with Ableton, There may still be some mixer settings where you can get control of the panning of each side of the stereo track. Essentially converting a stereo track to "dual-mono". But that does take some processing to get right. I would think in most programs of today that should be relatively common, but it wasnt always that way..

[VTM]

Cool.. glad you're sorted

The way you were exporting tracks to mono, i knew wasn't going to be giving you what you wanted.

While I'm not familiar with Ableton, There may still be some mixer settings where you can get control of the panning of each side of the stereo track. Essentially converting a stereo track to "dual-mono". But that does take some processing to get right. I would think in most programs of today that should be relatively common, but it wasnt always that way..

From what I've read on the Ableton help/faq page it can be done but seems complicated.

In other news, I decided I was going to figure out how to load plugins into ableton. My focusrite interface came with ableton and some focusrite plugins (reverb and eq). I spent two hours trying to get ableton to recognize the eq plugin. After checking out some tutorials and the faqs on ableton and focusrite, I found out that the plugins are 64 bit and ableton live lite is 32 bit, so it won't recognize the plugins.

I really wanted to get an eq with some hi and lo pass presets so I downloaded Reaper's ReaEq. I grabbed the 32 bit option and had it up and running in ableton in about 30 seconds. Happy day.

csb/