LeanderLHi!
How should I mix down individual tracks from the my song in midi format inside the Superior Drummer VSTi to audio so I reduce RAM usage and can finetune everything later?
I would like to have one audio track for the kickdrum(s), one for snare, one for toms, one for crashes, one for hihat, one for other cymbals…should I click the “drums” view of SD and solo the kitpiece, e.g. the snare or all toms, then export my song/bounce it so get the first track? Then repeat for all other kitpieces… OR should I leave the “drums” view untouched, but go to “mixer” and solo the channels there?
The problem is that I would normally go for the first approach with kitpieces, BUT there is bleed and there are ambience channels…I don’t know if soloing the e.g. snare will automatically get the individual bleed and ambience signals as well, from all channels with the snare… or if my kitpiece approach will lead to losing the broad sound because bleed and ambience are lost?
What do you recommend? Mixing the song with one kitpiece per track is easier…I can e.g. raise certain parts or lower the volume per track and not having the complete drums in the playback.
SeelenPuls ~ Poetic metal from Austria: SeelenPuls.at
Grummelgnom ~ Sociocritical metal from the forest: Grummelgnom.at
drumjack52If you really want max flexibility in mixing have a separate track in your daw for each kitpiece or set of kit pieces and mix their and NOT in SD3. What I do is to send the output of the combined kick channels to one output in SD3 and then that output goes to a daw track. Same thing for the snare, hihat, etc. I group the rack toms to one channel, floor toms to another, overheads to a daw track, ambience goes to another daw track, etc. I leave the bleed where it is in SD3 and not sweat it. That way when I can render the audio out from SD3 and disable it so all I have active in the daw session is the output from SD3.
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
LeanderLThanks!
I don’t mix it in SD either…because one part might require louder hihats, for example…and you cannot do that with velocities or only to a small extent…
Do you know if reverb in a project is exported/bounced with the samples? The real playback in SD3 sounds similar to the bounced tracks, BUT when you stop playback in the DAW, you hear the reverb in the VSTi version, but not in the bounced version…which makes sense technically…but I want to be sure that everything is exported.
I don’t want to mix my song in the VSTi version because having a ton of tracks can be confusing…so I bounce the vocals, guitars, bass, strings, piano etc. and all the drums to individual tracks and mix the song in a new project, not the VSTi one.
EDIT It is not the same…something went wrong here. Here’s a short extract…first, the DAW version has completely different sounding hihats…then the exported version.
I checked it…the hihat is an xhihat…which is always closed…while the regular hihat is used for open playing and normal playstyle. I have an xhihat so the virtual drummer can alternate between closed and open hihat hits while playing doublekick…
EDIT 2: It might be my bad for selecting the wrong export setting in Cakewalk…will try again tomorrow.
When playing the song with SD as an VSTi, the xhihat goes to the hihat channel, then the channel OH, comp and output 1/2.
SeelenPuls ~ Poetic metal from Austria: SeelenPuls.at
Grummelgnom ~ Sociocritical metal from the forest: Grummelgnom.at
Bear-Faced CowIt sounds like you’re doing things the hard way. There’s should be no confusion issues if you are setting up channel routings from Superior Drummer into your DAW. Only reason I’m sticking to this option rather than mixing in Superior Drummer is because of some control issues of kit pieces. In this case, the answer is not necessarily velocity by itself, but a combination of processing and automation. I would suggest if you unsure of either, look up some mixing courses as there should be plenty in your genre.
jord
drumjack52Thanks!
I don’t mix it in SD either…because one part might require louder hihats, for example…and you cannot do that with velocities or only to a small extent…
Do you know if reverb in a project is exported/bounced with the samples? The real playback in SD3 sounds similar to the bounced tracks, BUT when you stop playback in the DAW, you hear the reverb in the VSTi version, but not in the bounced version…which makes sense technically…but I want to be sure that everything is exported.
I don’t want to mix my song in the VSTi version because having a ton of tracks can be confusing…so I bounce the vocals, guitars, bass, strings, piano etc. and all the drums to individual tracks and mix the song in a new project, not the VSTi one.
EDIT It is not the same…something went wrong here. Here’s a short extract…first, the DAW version has completely different sounding hihats…then the exported version.
I checked it…the hihat is an xhihat…which is always closed…while the regular hihat is used for open playing and normal playstyle. I have an xhihat so the virtual drummer can alternate between closed and open hihat hits while playing doublekick…
EDIT 2: It might be my bad for selecting the wrong export setting in Cakewalk…will try again tomorrow.
When playing the song with SD as an VSTi, the xhihat goes to the hihat channel, then the channel OH, comp and output 1/2.
- The post has been modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by LeanderL
8 months, 2 weeks ago by LeanderL"> 3 times, last modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by LeanderL.
I don’t use any fx inside SD3 – nothing. Any reverb or fx work is done in my daw (ProToo0ls). Essentially what I’m doing is treating SD3 like I would real physical drums. There’s one bit of your terminology that I don’t understand – what is ‘the vsti version’? Do you mean where SD3 is still active before rendering the audio from it to a daw track? If so I get no difference in sound between that and when I’ve rendered the audio from SD3 and make SD3 inactive.
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
Korken^^
this
I have only amateur mixing experience, but with that little experience I would highly recommend that workflow. With SD3 I still haven’t worked this way, as I am relative new to it, but my plans are to do exactly the same. Nonetheless, the mixer in SD3 looks powerful enough to make a good output, but for a whole production/song I would prefer to render individual (or group) channels to audio tracks, mono or stereo, depending on kit piece, without effects, unless there is a very special effect that can be worth to render. For example, SD3 has some kits with channels where some hardware FX, like compressors, were used by the producers.
Mark KingUse multi outputs. SD3 will do 32 channels. Add the outputs in sd3 and then route to them as you like. You can then mix in the DAW. You can even render in the DAW (if yours allows it) then you have 32 tracks of audio.
SD3 with older sdx,s plus Rooms of Hansa and Death & Darkness. Cubase and wavelab current versions. Roland TD50x using all trigger inputs for triggering SD3 only. Windows 11 computer. Various keyboards and outboard gear as well as VST instruments. Acoustic drums: Yamaha 9000 natural wood and Pearl masters. Various snare drums. RME BabyFace Pro FS and Adam A7X monitors
Bear-Faced CowI would agree with Mark. Going multi out into my DAW gives me all of the mixing choices that I need. I tend to mix using a combination of the built-in plug-ins in Superior Drummer combined with the plug-ins within my DAW. However, I do not see the need for me to render my drums to audio.
jord
drumjack52I would agree with Mark. Going multi out into my DAW gives me all of the mixing choices that I need. I tend to mix using a combination of the built-in plug-ins in Superior Drummer combined with the plug-ins within my DAW. However, I do not see the need for me to render my drums to audio.
jord
I render everything sample based to audio so I don’t have to worry about going back to a mix and missing something or not having something plugin-wise. Like I mentioned I treat sample-based drums like real drums – I mean how many of us have access to a real drummer and kit 24/7?
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
Mark KingI do. Me! 🤣
SD3 with older sdx,s plus Rooms of Hansa and Death & Darkness. Cubase and wavelab current versions. Roland TD50x using all trigger inputs for triggering SD3 only. Windows 11 computer. Various keyboards and outboard gear as well as VST instruments. Acoustic drums: Yamaha 9000 natural wood and Pearl masters. Various snare drums. RME BabyFace Pro FS and Adam A7X monitors
drumjack52I do. Me! 🤣
Lucky guy. Multi-instrumentalist here (drummer included). But there are times when as I age (73 in 4 days) that I don’t feel like getting behind the kit or that my body allows.
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
1
Thanked by: Mark KingMark KingI know what you mean and I’m 10 years younger. I’m a multi instrumentalist too but primarily a drummer and producer. Totally out of action at the moment as my house has sold and all my kit is in storage. I’m hoping to get somewhere I can build a studio as opposed to just a room in the house.
SD3 with older sdx,s plus Rooms of Hansa and Death & Darkness. Cubase and wavelab current versions. Roland TD50x using all trigger inputs for triggering SD3 only. Windows 11 computer. Various keyboards and outboard gear as well as VST instruments. Acoustic drums: Yamaha 9000 natural wood and Pearl masters. Various snare drums. RME BabyFace Pro FS and Adam A7X monitors
1
Thanked by: drumjack52Bear-Faced CowI render everything sample based to audio so I don’t have to worry about going back to a mix and missing something or not having something plugin-wise. Like I mentioned I treat sample-based drums like real drums – I mean how many of us have access to a real drummer and kit 24/7?
Rendering does the exact opposite for me. It makes me feel distanced from the drummer, as well as the studio that it was recorded in. Keeping it within the plug-in allows me to further enhance the drummer’s nuances as required for the song. That’s what keeps it real for me.
jord
drumjack52I render everything sample based to audio so I don’t have to worry about going back to a mix and missing something or not having something plugin-wise. Like I mentioned I treat sample-based drums like real drums – I mean how many of us have access to a real drummer and kit 24/7?
Rendering does the exact opposite for me. It makes me feel distanced from the drummer, as well as the studio that it was recorded in. Keeping it within the plug-in allows me to further enhance the drummer’s nuances as required for the song. That’s what keeps it real for me.
jord
I see mixing and recording as two separate things. When I’m mixing I don’t want to have to deal with more variables than needs be. Having the drums ‘live’ only distracts from making things right in the mix.
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
Bear-Faced CowSame here. The plugin is not an added variable in my case. In many mixing cases, I will have various mix templates and patches already set up and ready to mix, so the plugin isn’t much of a variable in this case.
jord
drumjack52I’m not saying it’s an added variable but one that I’d rather not deal with. I’m the same way with plugins – I don’t put an eq or compressor on every track. For me simple is better. But hey – we each work as it suits us. I don’t use session templates as such in ProTools but make extensive use of track presets – got one that loads up everything I need for SD3 – tracks, fx, routing, etc.
Jack
aka musicman691 on other forums
Superior Drummer 3.4.1
Area 33 1.0.0
Death and Darkness 1.0.1
PT 2021.6
OSX 10.13.6
3.46 GHz hex core 2012 MacPro 48 gig ram
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