I'm currently using XLN Addictive Drums for most of my drum tracks, but AD is a closed system so it's not
very friendly to drum sound layering.
 
I'd like to create a template that is already setup with AD as primary, and say Session Drummer as the secondary drum VST...with SD seeing AD's midi data( allowing for auditioning layers for kicks and snares).
 
Would love to hear some members' favorite methods for doing this...thanks in advance!
 
 
 
 
 
 

This can't be done the way you wish it to be done.

You have to duplicate the midi track for the 2nd vst.

thanks for the reply timidi

yeah, I seem to come to that conclusion whenever I do this; I thought maybe someone had found an ingenious method that I haven't thought of....

This thread might help http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.ashx?m=2787935

yep..some interesting ideas there scook...thanks!

Here's a method that will work with any drum sampler or soft synth.

First, separate the instruments into their own MIDI tracks, e.g. kick, snare, toms, overheads and room.
Clone the tracks you want to double, and check the "Link to Original Clip" option. This will make sure that any edits you make to the original track will be duplicated in the cloned track (they're actually one set of MIDI events).

Be careful choosing which sounds you layer, and try to use very different-sounding samples, and EQ them differently. Two drum samples with similar tone may come out sounding very thin. 

Don't ignore any cheesy drum samples that you might not normally use, as they might be just the thing to complement another sample. Session Drummer, TTS-1, Dim Pro, event Z3ta+ and Pentagon are potential sources. (Try this: double the kick in AD with the kick from the TTS-1 standard kit. Take off the high frequencies from the TTS-1 sample so it's all low-frequency whump.)

I'm using a 3 way combo these days that involves my DTX drum( brain sounds) TTS-1 and session drummer. I pick and choose which part plays which. Sometimes the lowly TTS-1 has just the right sound.. I tweak them in the GUI. One thing missing from SD is a Aux send for each sound, bummer. so you can't just add reverb to the snare ( easily).  
As Bit says, I keep each drum part on it's own midi track and sometimes copy a part, 
Thanks Dave That's a great new trick you just explained, Link to original, I'll give it a try. 
I create my own parts either with the DTX drums  live or with my keyboard. 
I have some old drum machine patterns I use sometimes to get things rolling. Very ocationly use a loop.

thanks guys...that's exactly what I was aiming at..adding some sub content to a natural kick and
some grittier element to a natural snare.

in a perfect world, you could set up a drum map to drive two sources on a specified note.
This is probably the rare example where the hardware midi world has a slight advantage over our box 'o synths :)
Small price to pay.

Thanks again for all the input!

Want to grit up your snare? Try distortion. I usually apply drum distortion to a separate bus so I can decide how much distortion to apply to each instrument (snare & toms do best) and I can automate the distortion bus's volume (nobody wants to listen to distorted drums for 4-5 minutes).

I use Redopter from D16 or FabFilter Saturn, but any amp sim is a potential candidate for drum distortion, including the many freebies that are out there. 

thanks for the replies. Lots of good ideas.
FWIW, I also played around with opening AD in separate out mode, and saved the template with Drumagog inserted on the snare out. That does allow for some pretty quick auditioning of interesting layers.
thanks again...