struggling with Mdrummer. Still..

[shadowfax]

I am following a tut on Melda's site called Midi command method, creating a drum track for a song,
I have precisely followed instructions to place a midi command for an intro at C-1..a beat at C0 (with a midi command on each beat as in the tut, after doing this Mdrummer plays only a kick drum for a couple of beats then one bar of the beat I have chosen then it reverts to only kick drum again...How can I get anywhere when following the tut doesn't produce the expected result..?
finding this software very hard to work with..

best. Kevin

[werzel]

Have you tried placing your midi information at other octave notes?
Are you using the exact same DAW as the tutorial?
There are a few different approaches to the naming of note positions on a virtual keyboard (all of which are wrong) which may cause you to need to shift your own notes either up or down an octave (or two) in order for them to be placed at the same position that you see in the tutorial.
Playing notes in the piano roll or on your midi controller should help you to find the 'right' triggers that you are seeking.

[mevla]

I am following a tut on Melda's site called Midi command method, creating a drum track for a song, I have precisely followed instructions to place a midi command for an intro at C-1..a beat at C0

For one in Bitwig, c-1 is the first beat. f-2 to b-2 are the intros, f0 to b0 are the short fills, etc.. Also, MDrummer will respond to (at least) two channels of MIDI data. The default channel is used to trigger beats, intro, fills, etc. whereas anything sent on channel 10 will trigger drum instruments such as kick, snare, cymbals, etc.. In Bitwig I sometimes combine both on a single track so I can have beats going and here and there add single drum instrument hits by assigning those additional notes to channel 10.

So you might check out the MIDI channel as well as the octave of the notes. One last thing and this surely has nothing to do with this, still with Bitwig as an example, MPE has to be turned off for MDrummer to get MIDI notes correctly.

Cheers.

[shadowfax]

Thank you for your answers guys...I am placing the midi commands via the piano roll in Cubase so they are definitely in the correct place, I don't get why it plays a kick drum for a couple of beats then a beat for a bar then back to kick drum when all the midi commands are on the same line...
I keep coming back to Mdrummer hoping I can get to use it but it's a very hard program to figure out..I have EZdrummer...Addictive drums...Groove agent 5 and Jamstix, all of which, without too much trouble I can use, Mdrummer wins the prize for the most un-intuitive software out there..IMHO
I don't know what MPE is but everything else receives Midi ok so why shouldn't Mdrummer?

really appreciate you taking time out to help.

[MeldaProduction]

Please send me some project to check. It seems that you are triggering something else.

[shadowfax]

Please send me some project to check. It seems that you are triggering something else.

by ..send some project..do you mean I should somehow send you the Cubase project I am currently trying to use Mdrummer in?..I would have no idea how to do this my friend..

[MeldaProduction]

Yes, just send me the project file, no resources. Use info@meldaproduction.com and tell me exactly at which point something is not as you'd expect it.

[NTO]

Getting hung up on note names is often a problem. They are not specified in the midi standard, only that note 60 is middle C - no octave named.

Note numbers are explicit.

Cubase setting to show note name and MIDI note number in the status info line is in Event Display>Chords.

mDrummer command notes start points
Intro - Midi note 0
Beat - Midi note 12
Break - Midi note 24
Long Break - Midi note 36
Outro - Midi note 48
NOTE: mDrummer will select the nearest defined position - varies by rhythm selected.

You can observe the action in the view of mDrummer GUI > Rhythm Editor

The latest release shows the function names in the piano roll if your DAW supports it...

2020-04-17_1348.png

[shadowfax]

Thank you again for the reply's...I will send the project file and I don't think Cubase 10.5 supports showing the function names...
strange thing is if I click on the midi note in the midi editor the correct rhythm plays but if I play the project it does not play the rhythm..just a kick drum.

[mevla]

I don't know what MPE is but everything else receives Midi ok so why shouldn't Mdrummer?

MPE is the MIDI Polyphonic Expression for such keyboards as the Roli whose every note can be independent in its expression. With all synths that setting does not matter, but with MDrummer and other plugins that uses different MIDI channels for different purposes (IK Multimedia Sample Tank for instance which also plays loops) it interferes. At least in Bitwig. Just thought of mentioning this in case.

strange thing is if I click on the midi note in the midi editor the correct rhythm plays but if I play the project it does not play the rhythm..just a kick drum.

That seems a bit like the problem I've seen when using MDrummer the first times in Bitiwg, related to MPE being enabled. Direct interaction works fine, but recorded notes do not play as they're expected.

[shadowfax]

So it would seem I need to figure out how to switch MPE off then...looking into it now..thanks again mate..

[mevla]

I should also mention that Vojtech was a great help in solving the initial MDrummer problem I had in Bitwig. He really got out of his way to provide debug-enabled versions of MDrummer to troubleshoot the problem as I was sending back log files from various test runs.

And all that while I'm using a unsupported platform: Linux. This was extraordinary help and shows how Vojtech cares about the work he does.

Cheers.

[shadowfax]

So, I'm still trying to get Mdrummer to play something..I have copied to the letter what the tut tells me..I have placed a midi command (via the midi editor in Cubase) in exactly the same place as the tut..ie a midi command on the first 3 beats at E0 and a midi command at E1 on the 4th beat..when I play this all I get is a kick drum on the first 2 commands and what seems to be a fill on the 3rd command (which is supposed to be a beat)..I have done exactly what the tut says...it doesn't matter which drum loop I select.what the heck is going on!!
also makes no difference which octave..
also Mdrummer is freezing Cubase periodically...
If this software works it will clearly be awesome..seems like a big if at the moment though..LOL

[goldglob]

You might be confusing 'beats' with 'bars'(measures).
Say your project is in 4/4 time.
Loops in MD are at least one bar (four beats) long.
Put a MIDI command on beat 1 of a bar. That triggers the loop which will play through the whole bar.

[shadowfax]

Hi, the tut puts a midi command on each bar...which is what I'm doing...thank you for your input my friend, appreciate it.