• SONAR
  • Confused about mixing drums with Addictive Drum multi-out
2013/10/15 09:28:19
Kerch
I've learned a lot through this forum over the last week or so working with Addictive Drums and Sonar X3, so thanks to everyone who takes the time to help out those of us who are just learning these things. It is appreciated.
 
I feel like I have one more mental hurdle to cross with Addictive Drums.
 
I've added AD to my project in a couple different ways while experimenting. The first was as a simple instrument, and the sound here was fantastic, each kit sounding exactly like it does on the AD interface, i.e., great stereo sounding drums.
 
Wanting to have more control over each kit piece within Sonar X3, I followed the AD guidelines from their web site and inserted AD with multi mono outs, then clicked each arrow on the AD mixer to assign each kit piece to its own track in Sonar.
 
This is where my confusion has come in. The drums obviously now sound, surprise, mono ... none of that full, stereo sound I get when inserting as as simple instrument. Do I now need to manually pan each mono track the same way they're panned in the AD mixer interface to achieve that same stereo sound I had when I inserted AD as a simple instrument, or am I missing something more simple to achieve that result? Making any changes to the drums in the AD mixer at this point doesn't have any effect. I'm also a bit confused as to having two mono tracks each for Overhead, Room and Master outputs. Do I just leave those as they were created in Sonar when I added AD, where each mono track's pan control is dead center?
 
I've also tried inserting the synth as multi-stereo outs, which then groups two kit pieces on one track, both panned hard left or right, e.g., kick and snare on one track, panned left and right respectively. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that setup to get that same sound I get when AD is added as a simple instrument.
 
In short, I'm just trying to achieve the same full stereo sound I get when adding AD as a simple instrument, but I want control over each kit piece separately within Sonar.
 
Thanks in advance for any tips. I'm sure this probably seems like basic level stuff to many of you. Hopefully it will to me soon, too. :)
2013/10/15 10:27:37
Bristol_Jonesey
  • Do I now need to manually pan each mono track the same way they're panned in the AD mixer interface to achieve that same stereo sound I had when I inserted AD as a simple instrument, or am I missing something more simple to achieve that result
No, you'll need to pan them as you think suits the musical arrangement.
 
  • I'm also a bit confused as to having two mono tracks each for Overhead, Room and Master outputs
These are probably the L & R halves of the stereo pair, again, pan them out. Make sure you pan your individual drums to where they appear panned in the Overheads
 
  • I've also tried inserting the synth as multi-stereo outs, which then groups two kit pieces on one track, both panned hard left or right, e.g., kick and snare on one track, panned left and right respectively
In this scenario you should delete one of the pairs to leave you with a single mono track for each kit piece (I'm assuming AD works the same way as BFD) and pan them as described above
2013/10/15 11:23:42
Sylvan
The problem I have been having is turning down the snare in the overheads without turning down the cymbals in the overheads. The snare gets too loud in the overheads and when I try to turn it down there, it also turns the snare down on the close mic.
2013/10/15 11:38:44
Sanderxpander
Sylvan
The problem I have been having is turning down the snare in the overheads without turning down the cymbals in the overheads. The snare gets too loud in the overheads and when I try to turn it down there, it also turns the snare down on the close mic.

You can turn down the snare level on the OHs within AD. Not necessarily realistic but very useful ;)
2013/10/15 11:39:12
Bristol_Jonesey
You could try bracketing the frequency range occupied by the snare and pull it down with R-Mix.
 
That's assuming AD doesn't provide you with the necessary controls to reduce it at source. I don't know.
I know this option exists in BFD2
2013/10/15 12:10:09
dubdisciple
Bristol.  You can reduce it or even eliminate it at the source in AD.
2013/10/15 13:03:19
sven450
Sylvan
The problem I have been having is turning down the snare in the overheads without turning down the cymbals in the overheads. The snare gets too loud in the overheads and when I try to turn it down there, it also turns the snare down on the close mic.



this is one of the things I love about AD: just reduce the level inside the AD mixer.  You still can mix everything in sonar, but you can precisely control the level of every element before it even gets to Sonar.  Fantastic.
2013/10/15 13:27:54
dubdisciple
One of the things I like about plugins like AD is the flexibility you get.  If you choose to stick with the simple instrument option it's almost like treating AD itself a submixer plugged into your main console.  You can even add parallel compression without leaving the AD interface by using the built-in bus.  For me, I like to layer my kick and snare drum so I need to use the multiple outputs.  The guide on the cakewalk blog shows how to do this and explains that the left and right channel for main, OH and room will be mono: http://blog.cakewalk.com/sonar-quicktip-setting-up-your-addictive-drums/
 
If you want to remove the snare from the OH and room, just go into the edit page, select snare and turn down the room and overhead mic knobs there. 
2013/10/15 16:14:22
Kerch
Thanks for all the replies, guys. Much appreciated.
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