Would EZ Drummer 2 work for me…?

[Snow Owl]

I am looking for a percussion solution which is compatible with my existing gear and songwriting style. I have a Mackie analog mixer board [24X8] and record to two Tascam ADAT machines. I would like to record separate drums on separate tracks.

After composing a song in EZ Drummer 2 can you output (split up) from the computer
the separate drum sounds? Is there hardware to split up the drum sounds? I’m thinking there would be a USB output into some converter or interface and from that converter/interface 6 or 8 1/4″ outputs to my mixer board…? And would other software be required?

Also – how is EZ Drummer 2 when it comes to uncommon time signatures? In the old days the time signature was the first characteristic of the drum measures you would create.

Thanks to anyone who can help.

Topic

[John]

Hi,

if you have an Audio Interface (connected via USB/Firewire/Thunderbolt) with multiple outputs, you can route the faders in the EZdrummer 2 mixer to those outputs and go into your mixer->ADAT. Fader and Mic configuration in the EZDrummer 2 mixer depends on the EZX expansion and currently loaded Preset, i.e. full separation as with Superior 2 is not possible but may well be enough for your needs.

You can create Songs in odd signatures but you cannot change time signature or Tempo on the Song Track during one Song when you use EZdrummer 2 standalone.
You can e.g. have 9/8 MIDI between two 5/4 sections but the Time ruler will not display those changes.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Snow Owl]

Hello,

Can you suggest an audio interface? I’m not familiar with the terms Firewire and Thunderbolt.

Also, if I can’t change time signatures within a song, can I make two ‘songs’ with different time signatures and merge them into one song?

[John]

Hi,

some examples of external Audio interfaces with multiple outputs and different connection types (USB/Firewire/Thunderbolt) are e.g.

Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL (USB)
Presonus FireStudio Project (Firewire)
Roland UA1010 OCTA-CAPTURE (USB)
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd G (USB)
ZOOM TAC-8 (Thunderbolt)

While possible to export MIDI from one Song and import it to another, it would not be using its exported Tempo but adjusted to the current Tempo of the Song/Project you’re importing into. If you need to perform Time signature and Tempo changes, I would recommend using a host/DAW for the plugin. Some Audio interfaces include a Lite version of such software. Alternatively, you can try out e.g. Pro Tools First or Reaper, the latter seems to be a fairly popular choice among EZdrummer 2 users.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[FREDERICK KRUBEL]

@John said:
If you need to perform Time signature and Tempo changes, I would recommend using a host/DAW for the plugin.
John  

I have Pro Tools 10, and plan to purchase EZD2, along with EZX expansions before the sale ends…My music often encounters mixed meters. Even Pop/Modern Country uses bars of 2/4 occasionally. Anyways, I like to create a Nashville Number Chart for my simpler songs. This lays outs the form. We are concerned with Tempo, Key, Time Signature. Anyone of these factors can change at any point in a single session. I like to then prepare the session with markers, but particularly important is when there is a Time Signature change, a new measure is created and possibly the next measure returns to the initial Time Signature (measure of 2/4…)
Will EZD2’s Song Creator (as a plugin) reflect the Time Signature change and correctly bar the measures in my above example, or will my drums now be displaced by 2 quarter notes in the plugin’s Song Creator midi lane? Pro Tools can do anything with time, but I’m trying to avoid the piano roll for the songs that don’t just use 1 time signature throughout.

[alexis]

@fredneck said:

I have Pro Tools 10, and plan to purchase EZD2, along with EZX expansions before the sale ends…My music often encounters mixed meters. Even Pop/Modern Country uses bars of 2/4 occasionally. Anyways, I like to create a Nashville Number Chart for my simpler songs. This lays outs the form. We are concerned with Tempo, Key, Time Signature. Anyone of these factors can change at any point in a single session. I like to then prepare the session with markers, but particularly important is when there is a Time Signature change, a new measure is created and possibly the next measure returns to the initial Time Signature (measure of 2/4…)
Will EZD2’s Song Creator (as a plugin) reflect the Time Signature change and correctly bar the measures in my above example, or will my drums now be displaced by 2 quarter notes in the plugin’s Song Creator midi lane? Pro Tools can do anything with time, but I’m trying to avoid the piano roll for the songs that don’t just use 1 time signature throughout.  

Maybe I can help, new purchaser of EZD2.

For changing time sigs, I drag the MIDI blocks from EZD2 into a MIDI track on my DAW, and make it work there. For example, if my song is mainly in 4/4, and that is what I told EZD2 the sig is, but there is a single 5/4 bar: I just drag the 4/4 MIDI block from EZD2 to my DAW, which leaves the 5th beat “empty”. I then fill in the extra beat in the DAW one of several ways:

1) I duplicate/drag the MIDI in the previous 4-beat bar (in the DAW) to cover the 5th beat of the 5/4 measure, then just snip off the end that “sticks out” into the next measure.
2) More often than not, a fill would sound just great there, so I drag a 4-beat fill over to the single empty bar in the DAW, slide it to the left so the last bit of the fill covers the empty space, then snip off the first 3 beats.
3) Multiple other ways to get it done!

I recommend editing in the DAW – it’s a whole lot easier and more powerful than doing it in EZD2, IMO.

Hope that gives you some ideas!

[Author]

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