AD2 and Multiple Tracks

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NotASpeckOfCereal
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2017/04/11 00:01:04 (permalink)

AD2 and Multiple Tracks

Hi all,
 
I'm relatively new to using Addictive Drums and really soft-synth tracks in general, so excuse me if this is a newbie question.
 
I've been developing a drum track for a project. At one point, I wanted to experiment with some kick sounds in another track, so I CLONED the AD track (so that it would have all the same properties, use the same AD2 Kit and Preset, etc.), then started recording some kick hits while monitoring the original AD track.
 
I hear doubling, like a comb-filter like effect (both for recording and playback). The doubling goes away if I mute either track, plus it goes away if I reduce the volume to 0 on one of the tracks.
 
EDIT: I made sure to uncheck the  'Clone Events' so that the there were no duplicate notes, etc.
 
Today I had time to experiment. Rather than clone a track, I did a new Insert, Soft Synth ... AD2, the brought up the AD UI for that track and selected the saved preset. So it's the same kit and preset, but there is no doubling.
 
It seems to me that we definitely need to be able to have multiple tracks for our drum kits for things like processing kicks and snares differently than the rest of the kit.
 
Is cloning a well-known problem / trap for this doubling effect, or did I do it some other way. In general, what do I do to avoid this in the future?
 
Thanks,
Chris
 

 
NotASpeckOfCereal
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    dwardzala
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    Re: AD2 and Multiple Tracks 2017/04/11 12:46:09 (permalink)
    AD2 allows you to output to multiple audio tracks.  I believe there is a video on Cakewalk's site that details how to do it.  This will allow you to process each piece separately (like a real kit).

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    Sanderxpander
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    Re: AD2 and Multiple Tracks 2017/04/11 13:27:59 (permalink)
    Cloning a simple instrument track doesn't actually create a new instance of the synth. Rather, it creates an instrument track that uses the same midi source and points to the same single instance of AD2 in the synth rack. So putting extra notes on that track basically sends "double" midi notes to AD2.

    As for what you want to do - create as many audio tracks as you want to mix separately (e.g. kick, snare, hats, etc). Set the track sources to AD2/kick, snare etc. Then, in the AD2 window on the "edit" page, on the mixer you'll see a little arrow at the bottom of every channel. Click this and it will give you a few options for outputting that channel individually.
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    NotASpeckOfCereal
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    Re: AD2 and Multiple Tracks 2017/04/11 22:23:57 (permalink)
    Cool, thanks Sanderxpander.
     
    SanderxpanderSet the track sources to AD2/kick, snare etc. 

     
    I assume by this, you mean move any of the MIDI events from the main track into the new kick (or snare) track, yes?
     
    SanderxpanderThen, in the AD2 window on the "edit" page, on the mixer you'll see a little arrow at the bottom of every channel. Click this and it will give you a few options for outputting that channel individually.

     
    I found that and it's cool to know, but I find it confusing that when I change it from Master to one of the Separate Out choices, I still see the Master meter responding. I guess that's just because there are no meters for 'Separate Out'. And either way, it doesn't seem to make a difference to the responding tracks in Sonar (only the meter on the kick track is responding).
     
    Either way, since it's responding to the proper track and there is no doubling, I can now process it with Sonar effects such as compression. 
     
    By the way, I see there's compression in the AD plug in as well. Do you see any benefit from doing it there rather than in Sonar compression
     
    Speck
     

     
    NotASpeckOfCereal
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    Guitars, V-Drums, Bass, Synths
    #4
    Sanderxpander
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    Re: AD2 and Multiple Tracks 2017/04/12 06:06:04 (permalink)
    Usually you keep your midi on a single source track. This is because the original AD2 track is essentially a combination of a midi track and an audio track. You may find it helpful to split it when you're using multiple outputs, you can do so by right clicking the track header and choosing "split instrument track". The actual AD2 synth doesn't exist on that track but in Sonar's "synth rack", available from the view menu. So then you'll have a regular midi track feeding it and however many audio track you want receiving audio from it.

    If you plan to be using this kind of setup more often, try the following:
    1. Select all midi and audio tracks that belong to your AD2 setup.
    2. Right click one of them and select "move to track folder=>new folder"
    3. Name the track folder whatever you like, probably AD2 or Drums
    4. Select the folder and verify that all tracks inside of it are selected
    5. In the file menu, choose "export=>track template"
    6. In the pop up save prompt choose a name and maybe a custom folder for your template.

    You can now easily add the entire multi track setup to any project by choosing "insert track template". Technically step 2/3 aren't necessary but it makes things a little easier on the eyes when you add it to a new program if the tracks are neatly together in a folder. You can do this with any combination of tracks by the way, and even have a bunch of buses (reverb? Parallel compression) with plugins included and it will all load in one go. So make as good a starting point as you like and then create a track template.

    As for where to do the processing, for me it varies. Sometimes I like the sound straight from AD2 just fine and I'll maybe tweak eq a bit and use a custom reverb. The processors in AD2 seem to work pretty well. Whenever I want to use my own it's more because I want to have the Kramer Pie Compressor sound on the drumbus or I want to EQ more precisely (the AD2 eq has such a tiny interface). I never felt that the processors sound "bad" even if I don't always like the presets, if that makes any sense. Sometimes if you turn them off it's pretty shocking how much they changed or improved the sound from the raw recording :)
    #5
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