a midi file is like a recipe. it contains the notes that should be played and maybe some other hints as to how they should be played. a VSTi then takes this information and uses it to synthesize audio.
as for freeware drum machines one option would be to get sfz. use the instrument menu in the top right corner of this site to find it. then head over to here and download the samples. after that you can pick up the sfz map file from here. put the sfz file in the same directory as the samples and load it in the sfz VSTi and you're ready to go.
a physical drum machine
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- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
if you choose to go down the MIDI / software route (and if i were you i would ... it will open up more than just drum tracks to you mate) ...
... sorry if this is too simple for you lee ... not wanting to insult your intelligence at all ... just wanted to start from basics if youre inexperienced with MIDI and virtual instruments / samplers ...
... this is a simple step-by-step run-through of setting up and playing a sampled drum kit using tracktions native sampler (so no fancy velocity layers or anything but the process is BASICALLY the same for all drum samplers - just the actual loading and editing of the samples will obviously be different for each) ...
1 - select a track and import your MIDI drum file ...
2 - doubleclick the MIDI clip that appears so it expands and you can see its contents (specifically the positions and lengths of the notes) in more detail ...
3 - using the NEW FILTER icon (click-drag it onto the same track that you imported the MIDI file to) insert a tracktion sampler ...
4 - you now need to determine which MIDI note each different drum sound is assigned to - here you can see the kick drum on note C0 ...
5 - select the sampler and (in the GUI that opens up in the properties panel) click ADD and navigate to the relevant drum sample which will then appear in the samplers sample list ...
6 - click to select the sample in the list and then click-drag the little green ROOT NOTE indicator to the note value you identified in the MIDI clip (so in our example thats C0) ...
7 - now click-drag BOTH the little white KEY RANGE arrows to the same note as you set as the ROOT NOTE - this is so that ONLY one note value will trigger each sample (if you were using a melodic instrument sample you might set this differently but for drums its USUALLY done this way) ...
8 - (OPTIONAL DEPENDING ON YOUR NEEDS AND THE TYPE OF DRUM SAMPLE YOURE DEALING WITH - see IIRs post below) switch the IGNORE RELEASE button on (thanks jtxx) - this will ensure that the whole drum sample will play through (so you dont get any oddly cut off drumsounds) even if the MIDI note duration is shorter than the sample ...
9 - repeat steps 4 to 8 for each different MIDI note and matching drum sound ...
10 - when youve finished your sampler should look something like this (although you may well have more samples and little arrows) ...
11 - press PLAY ...
... this SHOULD get you going on your learning curve ... if this is too simple or you want anything else either post here or hit me up with a PM and ill see if i can help further ...
slainte
rob
... sorry if this is too simple for you lee ... not wanting to insult your intelligence at all ... just wanted to start from basics if youre inexperienced with MIDI and virtual instruments / samplers ...
... this is a simple step-by-step run-through of setting up and playing a sampled drum kit using tracktions native sampler (so no fancy velocity layers or anything but the process is BASICALLY the same for all drum samplers - just the actual loading and editing of the samples will obviously be different for each) ...
1 - select a track and import your MIDI drum file ...
2 - doubleclick the MIDI clip that appears so it expands and you can see its contents (specifically the positions and lengths of the notes) in more detail ...
3 - using the NEW FILTER icon (click-drag it onto the same track that you imported the MIDI file to) insert a tracktion sampler ...
4 - you now need to determine which MIDI note each different drum sound is assigned to - here you can see the kick drum on note C0 ...
5 - select the sampler and (in the GUI that opens up in the properties panel) click ADD and navigate to the relevant drum sample which will then appear in the samplers sample list ...
6 - click to select the sample in the list and then click-drag the little green ROOT NOTE indicator to the note value you identified in the MIDI clip (so in our example thats C0) ...
7 - now click-drag BOTH the little white KEY RANGE arrows to the same note as you set as the ROOT NOTE - this is so that ONLY one note value will trigger each sample (if you were using a melodic instrument sample you might set this differently but for drums its USUALLY done this way) ...
8 - (OPTIONAL DEPENDING ON YOUR NEEDS AND THE TYPE OF DRUM SAMPLE YOURE DEALING WITH - see IIRs post below) switch the IGNORE RELEASE button on (thanks jtxx) - this will ensure that the whole drum sample will play through (so you dont get any oddly cut off drumsounds) even if the MIDI note duration is shorter than the sample ...
9 - repeat steps 4 to 8 for each different MIDI note and matching drum sound ...
10 - when youve finished your sampler should look something like this (although you may well have more samples and little arrows) ...
11 - press PLAY ...
... this SHOULD get you going on your learning curve ... if this is too simple or you want anything else either post here or hit me up with a PM and ill see if i can help further ...
slainte
rob
Last edited by pHz on Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:42 am, edited 7 times in total.
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- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
VERY good point mate ... tutorial amended ...jtxx000 wrote:hey nice little tutorial! the only thing i might add is that since it's drums you might want to choose ignore release
slainte
rob-
- KVRAF
- 6740 posts since 25 Mar, 2002 from sheffield, england
The 'sound' of a midi file is determined by the synth or sampler (or drum machine) you send it to. On its own, MIDI is just a list of simple instructions.lharless wrote: i opened a midi file in tracktion, and it sounded a little different "feel" wise than it did in cubase...i was a little concerned about this. am i missing something?
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- KVRAF
- 6740 posts since 25 Mar, 2002 from sheffield, england
The only drums I don't set to ignore release are open hi-hats, as I can then use the note-length to cut it short on the next closed hat..jtxx000 wrote:hey nice little tutorial! the only thing i might add is that since it's drums you might want to choose ignore release
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- KVRAF
- 6490 posts since 14 Jun, 2004 from Rochester, NY
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- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
nah ... potatoshop smellypants here ...rpc9943 wrote:phz using realdraw pro???
Woo! (hope im right)
slainte
rob-
- The Teach
- 8273 posts since 23 Jul, 2002 from flatness
again good point (i threw the pHztorial together pretty quickly so its by no means comprehensive) ...IIRs wrote:The only drums I don't set to ignore release are open hi-hats, as I can then use the note-length to cut it short on the next closed hat..
... step 8 duly amended ... again ...
slainte
rob-
- KVRAF
- 3299 posts since 7 May, 2004 from Athens, Greece
OK Lee, that's what I do for rock drums. I use T1.6+sfz player+nskit7 free but in order to have the ability to proccess individual drum sounds (i.e. kick , snare, hats ...) I splited the main nskit7.sf2 soundfont file to 5 *.sfz files (1. kicks, 2. snares, 3. hihats, 4. toms, 5. ride, crash etc). I 've setup a rack preset with five sfz players each one followed by an Eq and a compressor then going to a volume pan filter and finally all five stereo signals are going to a limeter. This way you just load the midi file into T load the rack preset and you're ready to go and proccess the sound just like in a multichannel drums recording.
Check this blues tune I made with this technique (minimal proccessing on drums)
http://www.show.gr/zeoy/StepBeaterBlues.mp3
or check this auditorium link for faster download
http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewto ... 3192#13192
I am not a sound engineer but I heard good comments for the sound. I am sure you could do it better. IMHO the aforementioned technique is the best you can do using only free tools.
If you want more info or assistance on this let me know.
Cheers
Check this blues tune I made with this technique (minimal proccessing on drums)
http://www.show.gr/zeoy/StepBeaterBlues.mp3
or check this auditorium link for faster download
http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewto ... 3192#13192
I am not a sound engineer but I heard good comments for the sound. I am sure you could do it better. IMHO the aforementioned technique is the best you can do using only free tools.
If you want more info or assistance on this let me know.
Cheers
If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 1820 posts since 28 Mar, 2005
wow! totally didn't expect this kind of response. you fellas are amazing. great tutorial. just the level im on. hehe. totally new to midi and looking for information. thank you sir! i see now why you are called "the teach". wow! i like the graphical additions to the explanation. perfect!
ill study this lesson a little more in depth this week after the more pressing audio sessions are done. we're getting the first demo out of the way and then moving on tothe one where we will be using the midi stuff.
believe me, im JUST starting out with midi, so i may seem like complete idiot at first. but im sure ill get it. and the tutorials are good for everybody else that's too scared to mention that they never use midi.
ill study this lesson a little more in depth this week after the more pressing audio sessions are done. we're getting the first demo out of the way and then moving on tothe one where we will be using the midi stuff.
believe me, im JUST starting out with midi, so i may seem like complete idiot at first. but im sure ill get it. and the tutorials are good for everybody else that's too scared to mention that they never use midi.