Hi everybody,
I have always used Cakewalk and used the staff view to enter the notes for beat patterns for my hardware drum machine. I am very bad at figuring out what a better way to do that is. Can you recommend the nicest interface or view for programming rhythm hits?

There was a neat little screen in sonar that seemed to be presenting a grid interface, but after I added about 8 different rows to it (one for each voice/midi note on my drum machine) it ended up crashing the program so I gave up on that, but it was a cool idea. I forget the name of the screen that was.

What do people use if they have a drum machine and sonar x3 and are tired of entering beats on the staff view?
Thanks for any advice!
J

The PRV is a great way to input drum notes. 

Hi john,
Thanks for the reply. i will try to use piano roll instead and see if i can adapt.

I am still curious if anybody has used that step sequencer thing amd whether it works or is buggy.

J

The Step Sequencer works well. I just like the PRV for its power and ease of use. To a degree i look at the Step Sequencer as a tool for composing drum parts and the PRV for inputing parts. 

Ah ok. What i liked about the step sequencer was you can easily tell what line is which part. Instead of seeing all the keys inbetween the ones you use and having to fish around for which one you want. Othereise i can think of the beat in my head. If they could make a filtered view of the staff view, showing only select notes, that would be a great tool.

The step sequencer reminded me of fruityloops which is very easy to use, but i do not want to wrestle with it to get the midi functionality to work. Id hate to change software.

J

Hi, Im also looking for advice on how to enter drum patterns in Sonar X3. 
 
I have both Addictive Drums 1 + 2, but cant remember how to input the drums into a midi track. I remember that originally I had found a way to do this in step sequencer, but cant remember how I did it.
 
Im about to try following this guide I found, and hopefully that should get it working:
 

Hi, I am no expert on this subject but I agree with John 100%. I like having a sort of total view type thing going on when I input drums. I know there are other ways to do this but the Piano Roll View just seems to be the natural way for me.
 
Sorry Bhav I don't have Addictive Drums and it might not be the same as Session Drummer. I wouldn't want to tell you something that wasn't correct but there are plenty of very knowledgeable people on this forum who will be able to help you out.
 
bob

In PRV I have all the drum kit pieces labeled because I use BFD 3. It automatically creates a drum map. If you have a set of drums that you are using create a drum map for it or see if one is already made. This takes the mystery out of the PRV for drums.  

I use step sequencer.  I believe I set up a default sequence with each kit piece labeled, one measure long and no notes in it (or may 1) that I use as a template.
 
I have never had a crash in step sequencer and it works well for creating patterns.

I've been using the Piano Roll View to edit my drums for years.
I made a video a few years back, its a bit dated (and it could be better) but its the basics