[Pook2000]

Good point Scott and fully appreciate what you’re saying

All I’d really personally hope for is that visual references were better, like on the ruler, with an easier way to snap to specific points without zooming in up close to get the finer increments and then back out for a more global view. Maybe it’s not even practical. I’m not sure what the solution is or what to suggest so apologies.

But clickable, labelled markers as an option would definitely help! Once you’ve applied them then returning to edit, particularly in those finer timeline increments would be so much easier. A possibility perhaps?

Thanks. P.

[Pook2000]

I hear ya Bryan and appreciate what you’re saying. And you know, it’s not like it’s impossible to achieve the desired results as is, it’s just that it’s awkward and cumbersome. And I agree completely the programming aspect of such functionality could be a logistical nightmare but for this sort of package I think it’s a must.

Would be nice to hear Toontrack themselves pitch something into the debate

Indeed let’s keep an eye open for SD3 to see what it offers.

P.

[Pook2000]

@Bryan Block said:

Just a thought, as a work around for you guys, couldn’t you run two MIDI tracks for the drums using two instances of EZ Drummer, one each track? One instance can be in one time signature and the other can be in the other. Neither would be playing at the same time. Just put the parts that correspond to each time signature on the corresponding track.

-b

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for the suggestion. The thing is, this can easily be done within one single track as is and isn’t the root of the problem. The root, at least for me, is quick visual access to sections that you might need to edit. Once you change time signature, regardless of how many tracks you’ve divided your drum parts across, the alignment is completely off with the EZ drummer ruler and you have to keep zooming in and out to get to particular points on the ruler if your parts don’t align with the large divisions in fully zoomed out mode, (hope this makes sense). This might seem trivial but if you’re on a flow and moving back and forth across a substantial sized piece, editing, reworking sections or whatever, this limitation becomes a real pain in the ass.

Even if the developers included some sort of markers it would make life a little easier. Right now there is only one marker. It’s about flow and having an efficient system so that you don’t have to keep squinting at the screen, zooming in and out, getting the right sub division so you can ‘snap’ your different sections to. The program assumes that if you start in 4/4 that your whole piece is going to stay that way for the duration. Any deviation from that throws your alignments off and with it your work flow, even if you split the parts up onto separate tracks.

The developers should look at music writing software like Sibelius or Finale to see how easily in these programs you can just switch between any time signature you like, without a second thought and everything is as clear as day in front of your eyes, perfectly represented, perfectly aligned and perfectly played back for you. I have no idea how difficult the programming would be or the logistics of such an advancement but you’d think a software package that deals specifically with rhythm would allow you to achieve these ends. It should be a fundamental attribute as far as I’m concerned.

P.

[Pook2000]

For clarity I think the issue is one of alignment and ease of seeing the structure of the piece. At least for me.

If you’re in a certain time signature and tempo, say 4/4 or 2/4 and you shift to for instance 6/8, this is where things start to get messy. And workflow gets interrupted because as you’re trying to edit your line it becomes difficult to see where the bars are because everything is offset against the reference lines at the top. And once offset it’s pretty much offset for the rest of your piece, and worse if you’ve further time signature changes. It does though only take one bar to screw everything up.

It’s just messy to edit. I found myself in a section that changed time signature and having to try and count the bars by ear because I wanted to put a fill mid way between said new section and also embellish leading up to that. But I had to count along with the new section and Identify where the split was. And with fills being different lengths you can see where this starts to get messy. Even being able to add your own markers to the timeline would help for reference purposes.

If you’re at a consistent tempo you can indeed change time signature by just dropping in the required loops but for editing later and seeing where you are it can be a total pain.

Great program except for this one anomaly. Perhaps it’s too difficult to code? We can hope

[Pook2000]

I am new to EZ Drummer and thought this function would be standard. Dumbfounded that it’s not. I agree completely with the above post re: being able to change to 2/4 or 3/4 or whatever at will whilst keeping everything organized and lined up. It’s an absolute necessity.

And using the workaround as suggested earlier by chopping up the 3/4 beats is a great suggestion as a work around but from the point of view of a drum mapping program it’s a joke. You need to be able to organize your music efficiently and in a way that allows you to see edits and changes at a glance. It’s fundamental.

Loving the program overall but this has proved to be a major stumbling block. Shouldn’t be that difficult to write such an update?

[Author]

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