Voda La Void

mettelus
CbB just needs the connection to activate, and you can download and transfer the file over, but is tricky (a few threads discuss this). Even tethering a cell to the computer would be worth the effort to put CbB on the machine IMHO. X1d is still carrying issues that got fixed/improved with X3e onward.

Thank you, mettelus.  I'm going to search for those threads and see if I can do that.  I would really like CbB.  
 

bitflipper
You don't need track templates to save kits, since all drum samplers offer a way to do that through presets. Track templates are only needed when you have complex routing, e.g. individual MIDI and/or audio tracks for each kit piece or group of pieces.
 
 

I am on the fence about this.  In the past, I used to write or play my electronic kit into a single MIDI drum track. Spend hours playing with velocities and such.  20 years of that and that's what burned me out to the point I stopped even recording, dreading the drum production work. 
 
Seems like if I route pieces and groups of pieces to various tracks, then I could use my Bluejay Soundfont for toms, kick, hi-hats, some cymbals and rides...and then be able to use samples from some other source for the snare, maybe more cymbals and rides...and it wouldn't matter where the sample source was, I'd always end up with the same essential set of tracks with compression and EQ.  
 
Or is there a better way to approach this?
 
 

I used to use a CAL script to split the drums into separate tracks, i.e. Kick, Snare, HiHat, Toms & Overheads. This made it much easier to edit:
 

 
; clean up errors in sequence
(do
  (forEachEvent
    (if (== Event.Kind NOTE)
      (do
         (if (< Note.Vel 15)
          (do
            (delete)
          )
        )
      )
    )
  )
)

; remove repeated notes
(do 
  (int noteTime 0)
  (int noteKey 0)
  (forEachEvent 
    (do 
      (if (== Event.Kind NOTE)
       (do
        (if (&& (== Event.Time noteTime) (== Note.Key noteKey))
          (do 
            (delete)
            (= noteTime 0)
             (= noteKey 0) 
           )
           (do
             (= noteTime Event.Time)
             (= noteKey Note.Key)
           )
         ) ; if
       ) ; do
      ) ; if
    ) ; do
  ) ; forEachEvent
 
 
 
; split drums into tracks
 
(int bassDrum1 36)
 (int bassDrum2 35)
 (int rimShot 37)
 (int snare1 38)
 (int snare2 40)
 (int lowTom2 41)
 (int lowTom1 43)
 (int midTom2 45)
 (int midTom1 47)
 (int hiTom2 48)
 (int hiTom1 50)
 (int closedHat 42)
 (int pedalHat 44)
 (int openHat 46)
 (int crash1 49)
 (int ride1 51)
 (int china 52)
 (int ride2 53)
 (int splash 55)
 (int crash2 57)
 (int ride3 59)
 (int sourceTrack 0)
 (int destTrack 0)
 (getInt sourceTrack "Source Drum Track: " 1 255) 
 (-- sourceTrack)
 (getInt destTrack "First Destination Drum Track: " 1 255) 
 (-- destTrack)
 (int bassDrumTrack (+ destTrack 0))
 (int snareTrack (+ destTrack 1))
 (int tomsTrack (+ destTrack 2))
 (int hatTrack (+ destTrack 3))
 (int cymbalTrack (+ destTrack 4))
 (int otherTrack (+ destTrack 5))
 
; ===============================
 ; Clear Other Tracks
 ; ===============================
 
 (int curTrack bassDrumTrack)
 
(while (<= curTrack otherTrack)
  (do
    (TrackSelect 0 -1)
    (TrackSelect 1 curTrack)
    (forEachEvent (delete))
    (++ curTrack)
  )
 )
 
; ===============================
 ; Name tracks
 ; ===============================
 
(TrackName "Bass Drum" bassDrumTrack)
 (TrackName "Snare Drum" snareTrack)
 (TrackName "Toms" tomsTrack)
 (TrackName "HiHats" hatTrack)
 (TrackName "Cymbals" cymbalTrack)
 (TrackName "MiscDrums" otherTrack)
 
; ===============================
 ; Copy events to tracks
 ; ===============================
 
; bassDrum
 (TrackSelect 0 -1)
 (TrackSelect 1 sourceTrack)
 (ResetFilter 0 TRUE)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE bassDrum2 bassDrum1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE bassDrumTrack)
 
; snare drum
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE rimShot snare1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE snareTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE snare2 snare2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE snareTrack)
 ; Toms track
 
(SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE lowTom1 lowTom1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE lowTom2 lowTom2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE midTom1 midTom1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE midTom2 midTom2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE hiTom1 hiTom1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE hiTom2 hiTom2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE tomsTrack)
 
; Hats track 
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE closedHat closedHat)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE hatTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE pedalHat pedalHat)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE hatTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE openHat openHat)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE hatTrack)
 
; Cymbals track 
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE crash1 crash1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE crash2 crash2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE ride1 ride1)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE ride2 ride2)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE ride3 ride3)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE splash splash)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 (SetFilterRange 0 0 TRUE china china)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE cymbalTrack)
 

 ; Other Track
 (ResetFilter 0 TRUE)
 (EditCopy From Thru TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE)
 (EditPasteToTrack From 1 1 TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE otherTrack)
 
; delete notes that are present in other tracks
 (TrackSelect 0 -1)
 (TrackSelect 1 otherTrack)
 (forEachEvent 
  (do
      (if (== Event.Kind NOTE)
        (do
           (if (== Note.Key bassDrum1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key bassDrum2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key rimShot) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key snare1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key snare2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key lowTom1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key lowTom2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key midTom1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key midTom2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key hiTom1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key hiTom2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key crash1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key crash2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key ride1) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key ride2) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key ride3) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key splash) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key china) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key closedHat) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key pedalHat) (delete))
           (if (== Note.Key openHat) (delete))
         ) ;do
       ) ; if
    ) ; do
  ) ; forEachEvent
 
) ; do
 

 
 
 

I don'y know about metal drums or any other drum machine than AD2, but a coupe of things come to mind that I know AD2 is good at.
 
Regards messing around with velocities. AD2 has a Beat Transform function for manipulating velocities that's extremely intuitive helps dial in the dynamics very well. It works with the internal midi parts, or you can just drag your own in from the midi track.  It breaks the kits into parts, so all snares are grouped together, hat's together etc. so you can adjust these against each other, and get the tone you are after through velcities. You can also push and pull the accents for  8ths and 16ths, ad et the velocity dynamic range as a whole. Then drag the part back ou to the midi track. It's really worth messing with to get potential it provides.
 
Additionally, if you then want to separate the parts out as yo can with the CAL suggestion above. Before dragging back out to the midi track, you can mute by group. and just rag out the unmuted group to the idi track. So it you want to use just a snare group from another sample player, you mute everything but the snare, nd drag the snare to one midi track, and then mute just the snare and drag that to another track. So easy to separate the parts up this way.
 
All though AD mainly replicates realistic kits, I know the DnB programmers use AD2 a lot, because of it's envelopes on the raw samples. The tools to change the shape of before and geting them punchy and short for fast playing, may transfer to metal programming well.
 

 

BTW, if you think of going for AD2, wait a few weeks, they are always in Black Friday sales, and you'll get over 50% with JRR, Audio Delux etc. The Custom pack will get you 3 kits, 3 kit pieces and 3 midi packs.
 
They have United Heavy, and Metal might be the most suited to you. Note sure which other would work well or metal, they have Black velvet too.

+1, Black Friday is good to be patient for. Pretty much every VST will be on sale then, so getting research done prior will help greatly when the temptations hit full force.

Awesome, thanks fellas.  Black Friday is just fine timing for me, too.  
 
I took mettelus' advice and found a thread by Cactus Music about getting CbB installed without an internet connection for the download part.  I got CbB installed on the DAW machine, demo mode, and tonight I'll put it online for a minute or so to get the activation done so I'll have full functionality. 
 
Then I can take some time to get to know CbB and play with the MIDI, find a good work flow solution and pull the trigger on something on Black Friday. 
 
AD2 is sounding really good, right now.  

Voda, check KVR for AD2.....I got a lot of my adpaks from there.

I picked up the United Heavy and Black Velvet kits with an XLN AD2 Custom kit holiday deal from JRR a while back, on a holiday special.
 
Those are some kickin' kits!!!  I think United Heavy is my favorite!  For the money, AD2 is the bang for the buck!  Got 3 kits for less than $64 total.

abacab
I picked up the United Heavy and Black Velvet kits with an XLN AD2 Custom kit holiday deal from JRR a while back, on a holiday special.
 
Those are some kickin' kits!!!  I think United Heavy is my favorite!  For the money, AD2 is the bang for the buck!  Got 3 kits for less than $64 total.

Do they have snare sounds with that top mic sound?  I am not a fan of most snares on most music, I like that quickly decaying "snare" with a top mic kind of knocking punch.  

A great deal of sound modification and FX are available inside the AD2 engine itself, but you can also route the outputs to separate tracks/busses if you want to add things not inside the engine. This is where Track templates come in handy (to save those routings and FX), but also be careful doing this... delay-based FX (especially reverbs) are generally best left at the end of audio FX chains, so if you put FX on busses it is better to use them there, rather than inside the AD2 engine (for the pieces you modify externally).
 
Before committing to kits from AD2, do a good run-through on the internal FX abilities. A lot of what you are looking for will be in there already.
 
AD2 also has a Metal ADpak. Be aware that the pre-made beats/sounds in those packs are not "all there is" to them (e.g., the Metal kit comes with drums/beats tailored to typical Metal usage, but you can tone them down dramatically as well, and similarly with other kits). The Black Velvet kit has gotten the most use on my end. In choosing "3 free ADpaks" (if you get that deal), it is better to diversify sounds as much as possible to get the biggest set of possibilities from them.