[Michael]

Thanks. I’m still new to this, so what is a “hard edit” & a “hard cut”? I don’t know all the lingo yet and I’m the ONLY audio guy with all these film nerds (ha ha) so I don’t quite understand what you mean by

In the past we’ve hard cut from one music title to another, or crossfaded between them, or gone from a full mix hard in to a next door mix (like you were recreating) and back to the full mix.

Full mix hard into a next door mix? I don’t wanna seem dumb, but the advice here is high quality so I wanna make sure I understand it all.

When you reimport the file and do a stereo mix, are you using only one 2 track stereo mix of everything and basically mastering it?

Also important, and I have found many differing opinions, but what are the mix levels? I’ve heard generally -12 for dialogue and about 2 below that for music.
So when I do the final stereo mix, am I going to limit and compress everything to sit at 0 like modern audio?

Thanks in advance.

[Michael]

I am SO not being sarcastic, but was that a “yes”? By “print it” you mean bounce/export as an audio file with the reverb on it and then fade in/out at the cues?

[Michael]

ok next question. now when I do put a reverb on the track, it has a tail. So when the scene cuts away, the music stops but the reverb trail remains. On the reverb I’m using, its not that noticeable but could be a future problem. So the only solution I see is to export the music mix with the reverb on it back into the project and just re-cut and snap it into position. Is there an easier way? Not that the process is too tedious or time consuming to do, but any workflow time gained is a plus.

[Michael]

whoa!! Thank your for the Speakerphone link! Wow. That has got to be one of the coolest post production plugins I”v ever seen. You see, thats why I post here. Helpful advice in less than an hour. Thanks to you both.

[Michael]

sooooo…….

[Michael]

Although I dont know where to find it, im sure its out there. Or you could dig in the guts of the program and sequence it all yourself. Good way to learn how to do it. Illegal? Not any more illegal than a real drummer playing ’em at a pub. There are tons of laws about performance royalties and such, but at the level of covering songs at a show, there is no need to concern yourself with it. Recording it and releasing it, that is a whole ‘nother animal.

[Michael]

u guys kick ass. Not even a Toontrack question! HA! Thanks so much

[Michael]

Ok thanks.
Question: In the pic u used, Use Global Quantize is off, but the quantize window (where it says 1/16) is on. In my version, if the Q is not selected/blue, that bar is not available to change. I also see you are using a GRID. Is that the Quantize setting you referred to, or the next window with 1/16 in it?
Should I use GRID…is there another option? Sorry I cant see my set up right now as SD is on another computer.
The only scenario you didn’t cover was if Snap is deactivated and Q is activated. Does this do anything different?

You can set up different quantize values for different drum sounds. (You may for example want hi-hat notes snap to sixteenth notes, but snare and bass drum snap to eighth notes.)

how do access the drum sound list to make changes like that? Sorry this is such a long-winded question, but after drum sequencing on C4LE for over a year now, I had no idea this was possible. I thought you just had to snap to the grid and use the feature (cant think of the name while not looking at it…swing, maybe?) to move things around a bit.
A link to a tutorial will sub for an explanation if it takes more time than you have.
Thanks again.

[Michael]

just wondering if you got your hands dirty yet

[Michael]

Well that was as in depth as I coulda asked for. Thanks fellas

[Michael]

yeah i know the theory behind it, its just PERSONALLY hate it. Like i stated before, no real justification or anything. Plus, to me, the only way that is an audience perspective is if you are standing 2 feet in front of the drums; it usually all seems to come out mono in the venue’s house system anyway. I just prefer the way it sounds from the drummers perspective. Maybe it’s just i’ve heard it that way so much, my brain cant process it well in reverse. Like i said though, a non musician would probably never even know the difference; or if they DID, not give 2 s***’s.

[Michael]

no one? really?

[Michael]

I’m not a drummer ( i know, you want a drummers input) but I actually get p***ed when I hear a mix with the “audience perspective”. I cant really justify or explain it, but hearing a ride in my left ear, a hat in the right and a tom roll down going from right to left…uugghhh…. it does something to my brain that triggers overwhelming (unreasonable) anger at the producer/mixer/ who ever thought that was a good idea. Like i said, no real justification for it, but i’m glad i’m not the only one; but i’m quite sure a non-musician would never know the difference. Personal preference.

[Michael]

Well, it depends on what DAW you have. All of them have some sort of drum map or piano roll feature. Personally I use Cubase, and I like that it has a standard piano roll (the window of mapped sounds where the instruments are assigned to piano keys), and a dedicated “drum editor” window. You could use a keyboard, but to me, just opening up the editor and clicking with a mouse is WAAAAY easier. All you are doing is creating a midi track, assigning a virtual instrument to it (in this case Superior Drummer), and manually inserting the notes, or in the case of drums, hits. Each DAW is a little different, so something specific i can’t give you without that info.
The most common way, well, the easiest way, in my opinion is to start with one looped bar, build the beat, and start to either copy&paste or write new parts. Pick a preset you like and open it up in the key editor (or drum editor, whatever the case may be) and see how it is mapped and what the velocities are. Use that as a starting point.

I am not a drummer but know what I am looking for as far as drum patterns. I have been playing 25+ years.

So you know time signature, down beats up beats, etc… thats all you really need to know to sequence. I’m not saying it’s easy or that there is no learning curve, but once you get the basics, it will come more naturally.

Look on youTube for “drum sequencing in [insert your DAW here]” and you are bound to find something that will explain, step-by-step how to get started. Hell, the one I found was an intro to sequencing Techno, but it showed me how to set a loop, create a midi track and start inserting drum hits in the window. That may be all you need.

It may get frustrating, overwhelming even seeing as how massive the SD kit is. Most GM kits have 1 of each instrument on the kit, but Superior has many articulations for every piece of the kit. Personally I move all the center hits to one area and start sequencing so I can see the whole pattern at once, and slowly branch out on articulations and velocities until it sounds right to me. Building your own drum tracks from scratch takes up a chunk of time, but if you have the patients to do it, is rewarding (to me anyway).

A few people have actually dedicated the time to making Drum Maps for just about every kit, including TMF. They are invaluable tools.
Also, once you have a handle on how it’s done, use a preset you like, change the pattern as needed and only create a few bars when necessary. This is BY FAR the most powerful and natural sounding drum software around, so if you dedicate the time to learn, the sky is the limit.
Hope this helps!

[Author]

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