How do I switch to brushes and back while I’m playing?

[Jay]

I’m using a Zendrum with Superior drummer 3. Some songs, or parts of sounds need to be played with brushes.
1. Do I need to buy a brush kit, or are the brushes already in SD3?

If I do need to buy a brush expansion, what would you recommend for worship ballad style hymns?

2. What’s the best way to switch back and forth between brushes and sticks? Remember , the Zendrum is 15 year old midi technology.

thanks!

~Jay

Topic

[John]

Hi Jay,

1. there are brush kit pieces in the SD3 core SDX
2. switching tools on-the-fly isn’t as quickly done as in real life. All drums need to be reloaded with all active bleed for all active microphones.
   I’d say you would be better off having 2 instances -1 with brushes and 1 with sticks – as slimmed down as possible when it comes to loaded articulations, microphones and bleed and then switch between them.
   Alternatively, if it is only e.g. a Snare you want to have with brushes, you can set up an extra instrument for this in your Project.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Jay]

thanks John.

I noticed that there is a midi note for a brush hit. If I load that hit, will it also load all mic bleeds?

I could do a bank change on the Zendrum to make the needed note number changes on each pad. I think bank changes are really fast. If the bank change is too slow, or causes a blip, then I could buy a box that can shift the midi notes.

hopefully my new laptop can handle any kit configuration I need.  I can expand the ram from 16gb to 32 if I need to.

 

~Jay

[John]

Hi,

the drums’ MIDI notes are not tied in that way to what is loaded. E.g. the Snare has got preset note assignments for the different articulations and the base for the assignments do not change if you switch tools. I.e. a Center Snare hit has got the same MIDI note assignments whether it is a stick hit or a brush hit.

You can choose not to have all articulations loaded, a like a flam or roll and if you do not use bleed or a particular microphone.

If you change your Zendrum’s MIDI layout quickly is one thing, switching a preset with kits and bleed in SD3 is another. If you need to do this, I do recommend a fast SSD drive.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Jay]

Loading a new set for brushes won’t work – even though my new laptop loads REALLY fast.  I may need to switch back and forth in the middle of a song.

In that case, should I use two instances of SD3 loaded into a DAW like Reaper?  Can 16 GB of ram handle that well?

~Jay

[John]

Yes,

either you set up two instances or, if you only need specific drums and articulations with brushes, you can set up extra instruments with these.

Either way, you should be OK with 16 GB RAM. You can always unload articulations and bleed you aren’t using to conserve RAM.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[MintberryCrunch]

I would use a DAW and trigger the switching of kits via a dedicated midi note. Big advantage: the switch trigger note can additionally be assigned to trigger  sound (i.e. a kick drum – crash cymbal layer) 🙂

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