I have SONAR X1 Producer - I want to use midi rock beats but I feel it's pretty limited

What stuff should I get to get a very good variety of rock beats from cakewalk?
 
I concentrate on rock music and i just need more beats that sound natural you know.
 
Thanks for your help!
 
Sebastien
The Counselors

You can edit the MIDI drum grooves you already have and edit them in the PRV and I think the Step Sequencer to make things more interesting. The Humanize function and messing around with note velocities can help things sound more real. There are also lots of free MIDI files kicking around the internet.

Thanks guys!

Hey
 
First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I don't want to sound stupid but what's the content you're talking about in SONAR? I'm not sure if I have all of it...
 
The way I work for now is that I import a midi pattern from Session Drummer and I edit in PayRoll View. I just wanted to have a better variety of drum beats from inside SONAR..
 
Is Cakewalk selling rock drum midi beats on top of the drum patterns that are included by default in the software? I only see 3 patterns (Groove Monkey, smart loops, Steven Slate)
- Groove Monkey is allright, it sounds ok but not much variety in the beats provided
- Smart Loops (sounds good but not much variety in the beats provided)
- Steven Slate ( I only hear piano notes for this one...
 
I also heard from the local music store guy that if you buy midi drum loop CD, you might have to remap everything so that's not very convenient. Maybe an audio drum loop CD would be good for me. Which one is the best value for the price ( i don't want to pay more than 40-50$ for this). I just want to have in hand a good variety of rock beats to work with.
 
So anyone! Which Audio drum loop CD would you recommend for rock music (rock drums)? There are so many out there I don't know which one to choose! The style of music I write is in the vein of Weezer, Nada Surf, Coldplay, Longwave, Pixies, The Cure, Afghan Whigs).
 
Thanks very much for your help and recommendations!
 
Sebastien
The Counselors 
 

You should be able to do quite a bit with Sessiom Drummer and the provided kits.  MIDI drum loops are kind of a dime a dozen, Groovemonkee has some free and some paid that are decent. There is content in Sonar as well.
After you learn the nuances of MIDI to sampler and mixing in the Session Drummer interface, then mixing in Sonar itself, you will be well on your way to look at some of the bigger badder drums out there like Superior, Battery, etc.
 
I really don't reccommend starting at the top because even pricey drumming samplers do not give you gold records right out of the box, and the learning curve is much steeper.
 
You could also buy audio drum loops that are professionally recorded and all ready to slap into tracks - but you lose some control.
 
Brian
There is content in Sonar as well.

There should be an instruction document with the free download (I think). 

Basically, when you buy Groove Monkee MIDI patterns, you'll get them mapped for different drum instruments. Off the top of my head, you get ones for General MIDI (works in Battery etc), Session Drummer, Studio Drummer, Superior Drums, Steven Slates Drums etc. They're arranged into folders. They're different because each drum instrument has its own drum map (the notes that each drum are assigned to). It just means that if you're using Superior Drums, you use the patterns in the Superior Drums folder etc. Pretty self explanatory really. 


What I really like about the Groove Monkee patterns is that they're not quantized. They're played well enough that they're good enough to use "as is," but if you want a tighter, more mechanical feel you can quantize them to taste. You can also make them sound very different, for example by quantizing them to triplets. 

A good place to start is the link that says PC installer - all formats on this page

http://www.groovemonkee.com/en/free-midi

That will give you the free MIDI patterns mapped for all formats. 

Hey I downloaded the 2 free downloads from groovemonkee - not bad at all. It sounds pretty natural. cool
 
do you have a link for the Platinum samples session drummer expansion kits?
 
Sebs

IF you are into really heavy stuff, SlamTraks has some really cool heavy/hard grooves. And they are inexpensive. $20 get you a pack, downloadable. They are a smaller company, if you havw a questions, takes them a few hours to respond, but I purchased their stuff, and it is pretty cool.


http://www.slamtracks.com/products-page/