Drums?

Attium, check out Beta MonkeyBeta Monkey. It's good, affordable drum lopps in various styl;e to fit what ever you need. I used to use them before I switched over to EZDrummer on Sonar. They were easy to add into the mix and they also had single shots that you could add in (I did this on another track to have better control) to embelish the drum tracks and make them sound more human.

There are some free ACID loops on your GT3 disc Att - maybe have a try with those to see if that's the way to go before you have to shell out.

A google search for ACID drum loops will turn up some free samples as well as demo loops from from some of the folk who sell them.

Program yes but it means a switch up or add on in DAW software. The Toontrack EZDrummer package is a MIDI sequencer drum kit that is easy to use and manipulate. Uses similar drag and drop technology like loops and is completely programmable to boot. Problem is that it requires a VSTi host like MC 4 or Sonar Home Studio. There are others that will serve the job nicely as well for a host. So that's what you would be left with the other alternative is to go the Strummy route which I think he would be better suited to explaining.

Got ya, so for something more. . .in depth, you will need another program to be able to handle it. Has anyone worked on a Mac? They have Garage band built on it. It's pretty cool because your keyboard actually works as the drum and your fingers are the sticks. I like that becuase you have so many options, not just a set drum genre such as Rock, Blues, Or Country that are pre-set beats.

ORIGINAL: attium88

I actually like the Drums on Demand. It's has that "In your face" kind of feel. Still though. . . $80.00. I wonder if they will work with GTP3

Yes, Drums on Demand loops will work nicely with GTP as will BetaMonkey. IMO, those are about the two best drum loops on the market.

Doc says it better.........

ORIGINAL: Doc_Hollingsworth

ORIGINAL: bfloyd

ORIGINAL: Doc_Hollingsworth

Program yes but it means a switch up or add on in DAW software. The Toontrack EZDrummer package is a MIDI sequencer drum kit that is easy to use and manipulate. Uses similar drag and drop technology like loops and is completely programmable to boot. Problem is that it requires a VSTi host like MC 4 or Sonar Home Studio. There are others that will serve the job nicely as well for a host. So that's what you would be left with the other alternative is to go the Strummy route which I think he would be better suited to explaining.

Hey Doc, will that new ToonTrack EZ Player work as a midi host so as to be able to drag the loops into GTP, or is that something different?

The name implies that it should. The reality is that it doesn't. I laid down good cash only to find out it was a MIDI organizer and editor. Let's just say I was a little more than ticked at being misled by such popycock...

I'd been upset too.

Well, they are loops so for the most part, you can just drop them into where you want them. They're not midi so you can't "arrange" them around like move a kick drum here or there, remove a snare hit, etc. You can add effects to them from your DAW as you see fit.

If you want to be able to arrange the patterns to your liking, I would really recommend EZ Drummer. You will need a midi support DAW so as to open the pattern up with a piano roll and move the individual hits arround however you like. There are some free midi DAW's available for this or you can use Cakewalk's Music Creator 4, which is a very nice price (look on the Cakewalk site for exact price). Drum loops are good and all but IMO you have more power with midi for editing.

ORIGINAL: attium88

GREAT! That explained it alot. Thank you!

OT: Believe it or not, but I rigged my Xbox 360 Rock Band Drums up to a computer program and now I can play real drum sounds through the drums on my computer. It's so awesome. I figured it was possible since the drum pads have a usb connector and Microsoft makes them. Now I just have to figure out how to record them into Cakewalk. But when I get the money, I will invest into something as you guys had mentioned.

Now that's creative!

Freeware Drums! And its the full version, no greyed out 'save' button/option.

I was looking for some drums for GTP3 too, and found this drum machine, 'Hammerhead';

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/

Its free and a lot of fun. If you don't want to write "Wha' gwan blud? My breddrin is nuff mash up and ting!"-style rubbish you can also download the 'accoustic' drums and create decent sounding loops. Its fairly basic, but being creative you can write loops in all sorts of time signatures and styles.

If you follow the instructions closely its fairly simple. Even a technophobe like me was putting loops onto GTP3 in no time.

If you're using Vista, (which I hate so much!), after installation you'll have to right click on the 'Hammerhead' icon and then run it as 'administrator'. It works fine then.

enjoy!

I must be missing something on how to properly use these drum loops. I have 3 BetaMonkey drum loop discs with all the loops copied to my computer. And I can't build a song out of them.
For one thing, the tempos are all over the place, and when I import loops from different tempos into the same project, they all have a different feel. In other words, I can tell it's going from one loop to the next and it doesn't sound like one consistent take.

Same problem even with loops with the same tempo. A lot of them sound different from loop to loop. Like different EQ settings, Different volume settings, etc, etc. So unless I use one loop for the whole song, or maybe 2 or 3, it sounds like I am constantly switching between different loops and not like one drum track.

I am fully aware of the possibility that I am just missing something simple. I hope that's it and someone can guide me here. Because I have 3 discs worth of loops I can't use.

I have used some of the "Smartloops" that came with GTP3 and I have to say they are great. Because all the loops sound like they were on the same kit, from the same recording session. So you can piece them together seemlessly.

My problem right now is 2 fold.
1. I am doing something at a pretty fast tempo. so when I speed them up they sound very artificial.
2. I need some shuffles. Apparently I play a lot of songs that use shuffle patterns on drums. And they seem to be strangely rare.

Any thoughts?

Also, is EZdrummer just a drag and drop or insert audio kind of thing? Or do I need midi?

I am thinking of buying Smartloops prodrummer Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Since they seem to sound very authentic. But they are expensive.

Look at Drumcore by Submersible Audio. These work as either a drag and drop wav. loop or as a midi instrument. They have a demo version you can download and try. The full version comes with Rewire which should mean that you can use the midi function with GT3 but I've never tried it.

Okay, I don't really get the Midi thing and the actually physcial process of using these midi loops.

First off, the midi won't work with GTP3 right? So I need something else. Is this something else going to be a whole new recording program that I have to learn from scratch?

And them, how do I actually make the loops, edit the loops, rearrange the beats and measures of the loop? And where do I do this?
Am I doing from inside the environment of the new midi capable DAW? For instance, will I select a track(s) for the drums and put the Drum Software (Like EZdrummer) in the effects bin or something. Then open up the EZDrummer like I would an effect in GTP3? Then edit the patterns from there. And then what? Do I need to insert anything or will the track just trigger the drum software to play the measures and song I just did?
Or do I open and use the EZdrummer software to make a loop, then insert them as audio loops into the new DAW software? Then EZdrummer is out of the picture unless I want to edit something?

So as you can see, I don't get it at all.

I'll leave it at those questions for the time being. But I will have more I am sure.

you ever get the feeling some people in here are trying to sell you something?

ORIGINAL: KainThornn

I have Drag and Drop Drummer, which came with CWGT2.0. It works really well, is easy to use, but the company is gone and I'm stuck with a 5 piece kit. Anyone know where I can find the complete edition as opposed to the trial version?

Hi there Kain

I used the think the D & D Drummer interface was brilliant too, so easy to use.

However, with GT3, you have the ability to use ACIDized Loops, or 'Groove Clips' as Bakewalk calls them, which GT2 didn't support.

What these loops contain, apart from the audio, is information about tempo and pitch - this means that when you import an ACID loop, it will automatically match the tempo of your project. You can also change the pitch of some instruments.

If you want to keep using drum loops Kain, there are plenty to choose from - just make certain you get them in ACID format.

Before I got SONAR Home Studio and EZ Drummer (MIDI), I used Smartloops, the sounds are good but are recorded completely 'dry' allowing you to add any processing you like. The CD also contains a recording of each part of the kit as a 'single hit' so you can add things like cymbal hits where you like and even make your own loops.

Steve