Blown306
I'm ready to get my V-Drums set up with X1 for recording, and I have a few questions. As there are so many options in doing this, I'd like to find out what others are doing. I have the TD-10 Expanded kit.
I'm interested in capturing the midi recording, as well as the audio output if I want to use the TD-10 as a sound module. The midi track will give me the option to use VST drums if I want correct?
What is the best way to set this up to record mutiple tracks for each instrument group (kick, snare, HH, toms, cymbals)? Should each group get a seperate midi output/channel assigned in the TD-10 and corrisponding midi tracks in Sonar? Or is there a way to do it like the softsynths do it with one midi track and combo tracks (not sure of the correct term) for the audio portion? I'm looking for the ability to control and mix the drum components independently like one normally would.
When recording...how are you doing the monitoring for no latency? From the DAW with a softsynth sound? From the drum module using the mix feature and local drum audio? Midi back to the drum module, audio to the DAW with local control off? Or local control on, audio and midi out from the module to the DAW? I'm so confused here!
I messed with it for a few hours and experienced doubling and/or latency and timing issues. Something isn't right...
I've been doing this for years and have the same module as you do, so I'll hook you up here. :)
In your V Drums module, local set to off....soft-thru set to off. Make sure you are set for channel 10 for midi in the drum brain. When setting up your sonar tracks, set for channel 10 here as well.
I don't know how you are running your module via midi, but I use a MOTU Midi Express XT for my midi stuff. I get 0 latency because I use a mixing console and all my outs in the Roland brain go into ins on my console. So I'm not using direct input monitoring using my soundcards. I have my outs in the brain set for each channel. Kick panned left in master out, snare panned right in master out. Kick to channel one in the board, snare to channel 2. The hard left/right pans are only used in the Roland brain and tell which side of the out to use. This doesn't effect the panning of the brain audio.
For hat, ride and crashes, I use direct out 1 and send them to channels 3 and 4 on my console. For toms, direct out 2 and they are sent to channels 5 and 6 on my console. You don't need to worry about 2 things here.
1. When you have all your midi data down, there is no need to record the Roland brain audio unless you really want to use it. But you don't have to do this in real time. As long as you have that midi file, you can create the audio at any point. The audio channels I set up are just for control over the instuments as a whole. I never record the V Drums audio because if I did, all of it would be on 6 tracks.
2. This is not needed because if you want to use all the audio and have individual tracks of audio, you create your midi and then use a Sonar CAL file called "split notes to tracks". This takes your midi track that has all the info on it and splits it up to individual tracks. From there, you can route each track of midi it creates to your Roland brain or some other softsynth and create the audio that way so you have total track control on individual tracks.
Next, you do not need to make a drum map. Though it can be helpful, those that do this normally do it when they do not have the instrument definition file for their midi instrument. If you don't have midi instrument defs, when you double click on a midi file, you see the piano roll with just the piano and it doesn't tell you what each instrument is. If you had the Roland TD-10 instrument definitions, clicking on piano roll will now show you instrument numbers and the names of the instruments without the need to create a midi map. I custom midi map can be helpful in certain situations, but instrument definitions give you exactly what you put in. Noe granted, if you have a whacky map going on and have a custom pad configuration, you'll need to create a midi map. But most times, the instrument defs work wonders.
I'll show you what I mean. If I use my TD-10 instrument defs, this is what my piano roll looks like when I double click on it.
Hd view:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/Def1.JPG If I use no instrument defs and a general midi set-up of the same exact drum track, it looks like this.
Hd:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/NoDef2.JPG However I set my pads up as far as what they trigger, that's what shows up on my screen. You'll see quite a few toms used there....tom 1, tom rim 1, tom 2, tom rim 2 etc. I have a pretty big kit and have like 7 toms going on. However you set up your pad assignments, that's what you'll get on the readout without having to map anything. So it's good to have the instrument defs. I believe you'll find them in the Sonar instrument defs misc file under Roland and then you'll need to implement it into your midi config in Sonar where it says "define" on the instrument defs part. Then select all the channels 1-16 and you'll be in good shape. It will look like this when you're done. When you click apply, the hi-lite you see will no longer be there.
Hd:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/Defs3.JPG That should get you going. If you're not using a mixing console like me, you'll definitely need to adjust your latency so that you won't hear any delay in your sound. You should be good at 128 buffers since you're not driving a softsynth. However, if you have this set up correctly, you won't even need the sounds in the Roland brain. I just use the brain as a pad to midi interface. The sounds you get from a softsynth blow the brain sounds away...trust me. You don't even need them other than to monitor if you are not using a softsynth.
If you DO use a softsynth, this requires a bit more horsepower and you'll most liekyl need to drop your latency buffers down to 64 via ASIO drivers. That's how I have to set mine if I'm triggering Session Drummer 3, BFD, Superior, Steven Slate etc. Anyway...that's all I can think of for now. I hope this helps you. Best of luck!
-Danny