KVR Audio

Trakstar · Post by **Trakstar** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:46 am

memyselfandus wrote:Thank you!

FlipMartian · Post by **FlipMartian** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:03 pm

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll have a look at these over the weekend.

stonestreet wrote:
FlipMartian wrote:I use Cubase (on Windows PC) and have done for a long while but I do wonder if there is an alternative... either cheaper or just more stable.

My drum tracks I like to create and edit in a proper drum grid editor - right back to my Atari ST days using a thing called Breakthru, I have preferred using a grid layout to do my drum tracks. I really can't get on with using a piano roll midi editor for drums.

Which non Cubase DAWs have a separate drum editor from the normal piano roll midi editor screen?

Thanks for any suggestions.
I am confused... my versions of Cubase VST5 and SX1 both have drum edit page as well as a normal piano roll editor. sockofgold alludes to this. Is it just that you have not found it or am I just misunderstanding what you mean?

Mark.

You're misunderstanding.

I am after an alternative to Cubase as I am looking to move away from it, rather than upgrade/continue with it. But I like using grid drum editors, so I will only move from Cubase to another DAW that has a grid drum editor. So I was asking for suggestions as I haven't had much luck.

braj · Post by **braj** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:14 pm

I don't know how relevant this is, but my favorite drum machines (iDrum and MicroTonic) have pattern editors built-in and drag and drop midi to your DAW piano roll. I really prefer this since I may switch DAWs but I can still use the same systems I am used to. Also my 'real drums' in Studio Drummer and EZDrummer also have drag and drop, so getting patterns to any DAW piano roll is easy. That said, I do wish Studio One had a better drum editor. I think piano rolls with 'fold' where you hide unused notes is ideal for drum programming. Reaper is pretty easy to deal with in that respect.

highkoo · Post by **highkoo** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:17 pm

OMG.
Please, check out the functionality of this in your search.
http://www.image-line.com/support/FLHel ... gredit.htm
In some ways it completely blows the others away.
The Step Sequencer alone is nice. The Graph Editor inside it is completely addictive.

Nokenoku · Post by **Nokenoku** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 8:46 pm

+1 for FL Studio
It is basically build around the Step Sequencer (this is where it started).

Together with the integrated sample browser it's really comfortable for generating beats/rhythms in no time.

sellyoursoul · Post by **sellyoursoul** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:41 pm

I was a Cubase user for a couple of years, and I don't see what is special about it's drum editor. It is a piano roll, with drum labels in place of the keys. That's all it is. Reaper can do the same thing, and you can use blocks, diamonds, or triangles for hits, if that is something that matters to you. You can also save drum maps with track templates.

FL's sequencer is ok, but I see no quick way for changing the grid, say between 1/16ths and 1/64ths, or triplets, etc. You have to go into preferences to do that, unless I'm missing something.

rob_lee · Post by **rob_lee** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:11 pm

FlipMartian wrote:I use Cubase (on Windows PC) and have done for a long while but I do wonder if there is an alternative... either cheaper or just more stable.

My drum tracks I like to create and edit in a proper drum grid editor - right back to my Atari ST days using a thing called Breakthru, I have preferred using a grid layout to do my drum tracks. I really can't get on with using a piano roll midi editor for drums.

Which non Cubase DAWs have a separate drum editor from the normal piano roll midi editor screen?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Cubase is your friend here

Rob

sellyoursoul · Post by **sellyoursoul** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:22 pm

Here is a good introduction to MIDI drums in Reaper:

part 1
part 2

The image quality in the videos isn't very good, but the instruction is solid.

FlipMartian · Post by **FlipMartian** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:18 pm

sellyoursoul wrote:I was a Cubase user for a couple of years, and I don't see what is special about it's drum editor. It is a piano roll, with drum labels in place of the keys. That's all it is.

Its a far easier interface to use for drum hits. To me. I read a grid with hits far easier (for drums) than I do a piano roll. The fact that Steinberg (and others) have included it at all indicates I can't be the only one who thinks that.

I'll check out the reaper vids, thanks. I did have a play with reaper a while back and couldn't get far with it but I hear a lot of good things from people.

For the record, FL Studio I'm not especially keen on. Fine for beats but I can't write music on a grid. Not tried it in many years though so I'll take a look and see what's new on it.

highkoo · Post by **highkoo** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:56 pm

That ol' Fruity rep still has some strength left.

Well, dont let a years old first impression casually dissuade your from checking it out, cuz the FL Step Sequencer absolutely fukking smokes anything mentioned here.
Just sayin.

Check some youube vids. Its funny.
I literally LOL at how drums work in Cubase and Reason. No wonder so many people love premade drumloops. I would too.

FlipMartian · Post by **FlipMartian** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:59 pm

highkoo wrote: That ol' Fruity rep still has some strength left.

Well, dont let a years old first impression casually dissuade your from checking it out, cuz the FL Step Sequencer absolutely fukking smokes anything mentioned here.
Just sayin.

Check some youube vids. Its funny.
I literally LOL at how drums work in Cubase and Reason. No wonder so many people love premade drumloops. I would too.

Well you know the thing about premade drumloops...

Someone else made 'em...

No_Use · Post by **No_Use** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:12 pm

Have you looked into Cubase' Beat Designer yet ?
Wouldn't that be close to what you're looking for ?

(sorry if it has been mentioned already and I missed it)

http://media.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09 ... se5_08.jpg

FlipMartian · Post by **FlipMartian** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:19 pm

Well that FL step sequencer is fine for what it is but that interface never did much for me. Horses for courses and all that; a mate of mine has created some genius stuff with FL for years.

Appreciate the suggestions of drum instruments but I already bought and have Battery 3 and Toontracks software for my drum sounds. Toontracks drag and drop is great but I like to edit the patterns too.

Must admit out of all the suggestions so far, Orion looks like its worth checking further.

Thanks for all the suggestions (and opinions!)

FlipMartian · Post by **FlipMartian** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:21 pm

No_Use wrote:Have you looked into Cubase' Beat Designer yet ?
Wouldn't that be close to what you're looking for ?

(sorry if it has been mentioned already and I missed it)

http://media.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09 ... se5_08.jpg

My Cubase predates that. Must admit it looks like they're going with the FL method a bit there.

sockofgold · Post by **sockofgold** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:24 pm

highkoo wrote: That ol' Fruity rep still has some strength left.

Well, dont let a years old first impression casually dissuade your from checking it out, cuz the FL Step Sequencer absolutely fukking smokes anything mentioned here.
Just sayin.

Check some youube vids. Its funny.
I literally LOL at how drums work in Cubase and Reason. No wonder so many people love premade drumloops. I would too.

Sorry, but no it does not absolutely smoke everything else. It's a step sequencer. The OP is asking about Cubase's Drum Editor, which is completely different than a step sequencer. Honestly, it doesn't even make sense to compare the two. Step sequencers might be nice for sequencing hip-hop/electronic loops made out of individual samples, but they're not really suitable for laying out full-kit drum tracks using things like Superior, EZD, Addictive, and such.

DAWs With Drum Pattern Editors...