request for functional improvement — adjusting volume and pitch of individual drums

[chris moffa]

When in drumkit view and adjusting volume or pitch of an individual drum or cymbal, the volume and pitch knobs do not show the current volume or pitch values. A value appears only after the user adjusts the knob, but there’s no way to know what the starting value was before the knob was adjusted. It’s thus impossible to make precise adjustments, and also impossible to return to the starting value since it is never displayed.

It would be an improvement if one of the following could be provided in a future update:

— When user clicks on volume/pitch knob of an individual drum or cymbal, the current value is displayed, or
— The current value is permanently visible on volume and pitch knobs for individual drums and cymbals.

Thanks for considering the suggestion.

Topic

[Henrik]

Thanks for your ideas. I assume that you are talking about EZdrummer 2 – if you click on the volume or pitch controller, you’ll get a small popup telling you the current value of the knob. I agree that these values could be more visual, something we will take into consideration!

If you press ctrl + click on a PC (or cmd + click on a Mac), the controller will be reset to it’s default value.

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

[fuzza fuzza]

FUCK YOUUUU… WHY WHEN I TRY TO ADD THE CART, IT SAYS , ‘PLEASE CHOOSE PRODUCT OPTIONS’????
WHAT THE FUCK
SO HOW CAN I BUY IT…. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME..
THIS IS MY 2ND TIME, I CANT ADD TO CART – the first about 2 weeks ago, try Superior Drummer, so i just pass on… now, try to take EZKeys, also cant add to cart….fuck u
SO STUUUPIDDDD
COME ON GIVE ME HATEMAIL NOW: iscandarz@yahoo.com
I cant understand, whats problem with these Toontrack

[chris moffa]

@Henrik said:

Thanks for your ideas. I assume that you are talking about EZdrummer 2 – if you click on the volume or pitch controller, you’ll get a small popup telling you the current value of the knob. I agree that these values could be more visual, something we will take into consideration!

Yes, my bad, I’m referring to EZD2.

Thanks for your reply, Henrik, and for the suggestion to click on the knob to see current value. I think I have tried that and do not get a popup showing the current value, rather I must adjust the knob one way or another before I see a new value but then I don’t know what the value was before I adjusted the knob. I will try again clicking on the knob to see whether the current value pops up.

I enjoy EZD2 very much, it’s a remarkable product and has made a great deal of improvement to the sound and realism of my projects. Thanks to all at Toontrack for your efforts.

[chris moffa]

@Henrik said: …EZdrummer 2 – if you click on the volume or pitch controller, you’ll get a small popup telling you the current value of the knob.

I tested this again last night and I get no popup when I click on the knobs. That’s the way things work in my DAW (Reaper) so I already tried it in EZD2. Whether I hover over the volume/pitch knob, left click it, or right click it, no popup appears showing the current value. The only way to cause the popup to appear is to adjust the knob up or down. The popup then shows the new value I set, but I don’t know what the value was before I adjusted the knob.

Thanks again for considering my suggestion.

[Scott]

I’m using a WIndows 8.164-bit laptop and when I left-click the volume and pitch knobs, a Tool Tip pop up shows the current value. This is with EZD2.0.2 (64-bit) and Reaper 4.731 64-bit.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Scott Eshleman]

Works for me (with caveats). I’m using Mac OSX 10.8.5.

While the “E-Knob” setting was in ‘Linear Mode’,
I got parameter setting pop-ups only when in the “Edit Play Style” function (by clicking on the knob).
I got no response from the knobs on the instrument dropdowns on the Drum tab until I moved it to a new setting.

While the “E-Knob” setting was in ‘Relative Circular Mode’,
I got parameter setting pop-ups when in both the “Edit Play Style” function
and from the knobs on the instrument dropdowns on the Drum tab by clicking on the knob.

I found (regular) ‘Circular Mode’ unusable with a mouse.

[chris moffa]

@gseshleman said:While the “E-Knob” setting was in ‘Relative Circular Mode’, I got parameter setting pop-ups when in both the “Edit Play Style” function and from the knobs on the instrument dropdowns on the Drum tab by clicking on the knob.

Thanks for that tip. I didn’t know I could choose linear vs. relative circular mode so not sure how mine is currently set.

Also, I see from your screenshot you’re working on midi within the EZD2 track editor. I am not, I’m working on midi in Reaper. I don’t know why that should make a difference, but I’ll check.

I’ll test all options this evening — linear vs. circular mode, midi in EZD2 vs. Reaper — and report tomorrow.

[Scott]

I’ve just checked. The default knob setting is Relative Circular. In Relative Circular and Circular mode, the Tool Tip functions. In Linear mode, it doesn’t seem to. This setting is in Menu->Knob Mode. It might be a bug so I’ve let the team know.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Scott]

ThIs is a confirmed bug with Linear knob mode. It will be fixed with the next EZD 2 update. There is no firm ETA on that however.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[chris moffa]

confirmed on my system last night: popup appears when knobs are in circular and relative circular mode, popup does not appear when knob is in linear mode.

the function i requested is already included in EZD2, but it’s buggy for one of the knob settings which just so happened to be the setting i was using. i changed settings so i now have the function.

many thanks to all for working through the issue with me.

[Scott Eshleman]

@jimmypetekeith said:
Also, I see from your screenshot you’re working on midi within the EZD2 track editor. I am not, I’m working on midi in Reaper. I don’t know why that should make a difference, but I’ll check.

I was testing Tool Tips for the knobs in “Edit Play Style” mode
when I made the screenshot showing the E-Knob setting on the dropdown menu.

AFAIK, “Edit Play Style” mode is only accessible when using MIDI in the track editor.
That’s all. Wasn’t meant to infer any connection to the issue overall.

[chris moffa]

@gseshleman said:AFAIK, “Edit Play Style” mode is only accessible when using MIDI in the track editor.
That’s all. Wasn’t meant to infer any connection to the issue overall.

My workflow is to assemble grooves and a rough song template in EZD2, then move the entire midi to Reaper. Once in Reaper the midi never goes back into EZD2. I do all final midi editing in Reaper. From that point forward I use EZD2 only to choose drums/sounds and adjust the mix. I open EZD2, click the tab to show picture of the drum kit, then use the menus to swap drums or use the buttons to change drum volume/pitch. I also can adjust the faders in the mixer view. I don’t know if that’s called Edit Play Style mode. I do know that I can swap drums, change pitch/volume, and adjust the mixer with midi in Reaper, not EZD2 track editor.

Unknowingly you precisely identified the cause of the issue overall. See the posts between me and the Toontrack techs. Thanks for telling us all where to look!

[Scott Eshleman]

@jimmypetekeith said:

@gseshleman said:AFAIK, “Edit Play Style” mode is only accessible when using MIDI in the track editor.
That’s all. Wasn’t meant to infer any connection to the issue overall.

Unknowingly you precisely identified the cause of the issue overall. See the posts between me and the Toontrack techs. Thanks for telling us all where to look!

haha… I assure you that I what I did, I did quite knowingly and in direct response to all of the posts in this thread.
Not all of my posts were intended for you. Sorry if I confused you.

Regarding “Edit Play Style”…you may find it a nice addition to your workflow.
Please check out pg 18-20 of the EZDrummer2 Operation manual for an overview of its new
features for customizing MIDI grooves in the “ground breaking Edit play style window” before taking them into Reaper.

or this video:

[chris moffa]

@gseshleman said:
Regarding “Edit Play Style”…you may find it a nice addition to your workflow.
Please check out pg 18-20 of the EZDrummer2 Operation manual for an overview of its new
features for customizing MIDI grooves in the “ground breaking Edit play style window” before taking them into Reaper.

yes, i use and love those things.

if i were writing groove-based music where the beat comes first and the song is built around it, i might leave the midi in EZD2 and play the other instrument parts to suit the drum groove. i work the other way around, however: create the song first and then play the instruments, including the drums, to suit the song.

as many and varied as the grooves are in EZD2, and however i tweak them with power hand, opening hit, etc., the drummers weren’t playing my songs when they recorded those grooves. i customize a lot of EZD2 patterns and find it easier to edit midi or create original grooves in Reaper’s piano roll editor. other folks may prefer to edit the midi in EZD2, or use a keyboard, drum pad controller or e-drums to create patterns. it’s all good.

the best thing about EZD2 is that it provides users the freedom of choice and flexibility to decide what workflow is best for them.

[Author]

Replies