Drum programming for old-school types!

Honestly you should seriously consider migrating to the Piano Roll View.

As far as I can tell the piano roll view is the full realization of the concept that was introduced to me via the original Boss Dr. Rhythm.

Just dig in and do it.

When you learn to combine the PRV with the track view and it's copy paste or groove clip capabilities you will discover an incredibly fast way to work while you maintain all the control you are hoping for.

Give it a shot.


best regards,
mike

ORIGINAL: craigfowler
I cut my teeth programming drums on a Boss 770, and got very used to a particular way of working that I liked. Specifically
1) Program individual drum patterns
2) Chain these patterns together to form a song
3) Export / record to audio and/or midi
Would anyone be able to recommend a good option or two for sequencing/drum programming software that will let me work in this way? As far as I can tell, programs such as battery and session drummer will let me play back midi files (i.e., they'd be great for step 3 above) but they won't let me create separate patterns and build them.
Regards,
Craig

Believe it or not, there's not a lot of difference between how you do it. It just visually looks different and different terms are used (midi clips, as opposed to patterns, for example).

With the boss, the sequencer and the sound source were in the same unit. You're recording midi patterns into the sequencer, triggering the boss sound engine, and then chaining them into a song.

With Sonar, Sonar is the sequencer, and Battery (for example) is the sound source. You record your midi patterns into Sonar, triggering Battery (for example), and then you arrange your midi patterns/clips along the arrange page's tracks.

Do you have a controller keyboard or midi controller?
If not, I'd recommend getting something like the Korg PadKontrol. It's cheap... like $60... and has pads for more of a drum machine feel.
If you already have a midi controller keyboard, you can "play" the drum parts via the keyboard as well.
Or, as has already been mentioned, you can use the piano roll. Personally, I find that pretty different from the drum machine way of working. I tend to record "old school" and then edit and update in the piano roll for things like Battery.

So, you can create your midi patterns triggering Battery. Then to "chain" them together you just place them where you want in the arrange view.

Then, you can layer the rest of the tracks and arrange the rest of the tracks (the melody, chorus, etc.) and bounce the entire thing to audio when you're finished.

Good luck,
- zevo

ORIGINAL: bitflipper
SONAR's step sequencer is a direct descendant of the drum machines of old, but far more flexible.
Long ago I'd start every song with a click track - a simple drum pattern - made on a TR-909. I'd fiddle with it, tweak the tempo and jam along with it. When it felt good I'd record 5 or 6 minutes of its MIDI output into Cakewalk (1.0 for DOS).
Nowadays, the step sequencer serves exactly the same purpose.

Good point.
I keep forgetting about the step sequencer. I hardly ever use it.
Not sure why... I like it and everything. Just stuck in my ways.

- zevo

Thanks to each of you for your replies; I was panicking that no-one had an answer for me as I forget to check the 'notify me via email' box!

It's comforting to know that I may just need to adjust my thinking/seeing rather than my habits. I *do* need to dive in more deeply...I'm just putting off doing it!