I have a MIDI track that has a multi part drum sequence, and I need each individual drum on it's own track.
 
There has to be an easy way to do this, and I've tried various searches and scrolled though hundreds of unrelated threads.
 
In Reaper it's called "Explode MIDI item by note (pitch)"
 
Please advise.
 
kerkenat

You need to run the "Split Note to Tracks" CAL script.

Depends.

Are you sure you really want to have the MIDI on separate tracks or do you want the audio on separate tracks so you can apply different processing & Fx on kick/snare/hat etc?

Hey Bristol,
 
Actually, it would have saved me a half hour of rendering individual MIDI drum tracks to audio if I could have just gone from the multi-drum MIDI track to the separate-audio-track drum parts.
 
So you are probably gonna tell me that there is such a CAL script.
 
kerkenat

Use CAL script split notes to tracks to split the midi notes to separate tracks or to split the audio into multitracks you'll need to insert enough audio tracks to accommodate and assign the separate outputs in your sampler (eg. Kontact). Then, when you hit Bounce/Freeze, the audio will get bounced to separate tracks.

What vsti are you using to generate your audio?

Bristol_Jonesey


What vsti are you using to generate your audio?

I am using battery 3.

I keep drum MIDI on separate tracks and in a folder because it makes it easier for me to edit and, more importantly, to reassign on drum/MIDI track to a different instrument.  Example: Arrange using Session Drummer 3 but then decide I prefer a retro kick sound on a JV-1080.

kerkenat

Bristol_Jonesey


What vsti are you using to generate your audio?

I am using battery 3.

The main reason to seperate the MIDI drums can be ease of editing or to process thru seperate synths as Konrad mentioned. If you were seperating the MIDI drums just to subsequently render each to a seperate wave file then it may have not been necessary.
 
Most synths support multiple outputs.
 
When you insert Battery 3 a Properties page comes up first, choose All Synth Audio Outputs instead of First Synth Audio Output. Now you can select a pad, say the snare, and assign it to a seperate output which you can find right under the main fader in the bottom right corner of Battery (ex. Output 1-2). It will now output the snare to a seperate audio track. You can do the same with kick, hats, cymbals etc. You can have each tom output to it`s own track or have them share a track for example.
 
This now allows you to render all tracks at once with each output going to a seperate track although you don`t have to convert to wave until mixdown if you prefer. You also have the added advantage of processing drums individually as Bristol Jonesey pointed out, seperate effects, EQ etc. on each drum, but this way you also have MIDI functionality if you want to tweak and edit the drums.
 
If Battery 3 is already inserted you have to save the kit, delete  the instance of Battery, insert a new one with the All Synth Audio Outputs option checked and re-load the kit. Probably too late but you`ll know in the future.
 
My apologies if you knew this already but from what was written I wasn`t sure.

I used Battery 3 for many, many years. Even if you choose to keep the audio as a two track output, there are some really good FX inside of Battery that allows you to get your bread and butter sounds assigned to each drum. I don't know how experienced you are at using Battery but for a long time I used just the internal FX exclusively. It also cuts down on your CPU consumption to just use it with main stereo output and do your processing inside Battery. Even in this age of Slate Drums, Toontrack, etc. it is still a pretty powerful piece of software. Especially if you acquire really good samples to use.