EZD2 – some questions before I buy

[thomas911]

Hello,
I am very close to get EZD2 (looks like a great product!) but have some questions first:

1. Does anyone know if in Cubase, I can drag midi back IN to EZD2? I probably would want to edit some hits here and there (make custom fills/breaks that fits with the song etc) and then go back to work in “EzD2-land”. Because there is no way to edit individual notes inside EZD2 as I understand?

2. On the demos I don’t se a “swing”-knob/function. Can I not get swing/shuffle feel on the grooves inside EZD2?

3. In “edit play style”, I haven’t figured this out: If I add a drum and change the “amount”, does EZD2 play the SAME changes to the groove as long as I don’t change the amount? (I sure hope so). Otherwise, if you find a variation you like, next time the groove plays it might have changed the variation to something else.

Thanks

Topic

[Scott]

1. No, you can’t drag MIDI from Cubase to a plugin. You would need to export the MIDI and import it into EZD2.

2. No, there is no ‘swing’ knob in EZD2. There are swing MIDI available from the Browser.

3. I’m not sure I follow. If you adjust the amount button on a MIDI groove in the Edit Play Style, it will remain changed unless you remove it from the Song Track. If you make a change to a MIDI groove and want to save it, drag it to the User MIDI section of the Browser.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[thomas911]

Thanks Scott!

To clarify no3 – let’s say I loop a groove over and over. Does the Edit play style make the same variation (for example a tom-hit on count 4) as long as the amount-knob is at the same value? Or does it come up with new variations each time?

Follow up question on (1): Is there a way in EZD2 to edit notes on individual level?

One new question:
4. Is it not possible to send the toms to separate outputs? Like one mono output for each tom separately. Looks like all toms go on the same stereo out. (?)

[Scott]

3. I’m still not understanding. You can only have one groove open in the Edit Play Style window. If you set the loop markers, it will loop over and over. It will make the same variation for every loop pass.

But, if you have the same exact groove 4 times in the Song Track, you can open each in Edit Play Style and set each for a slightly different ‘Amount’ and they will be a bit different.

1. No, you can’t tweak individual hits like in a piano roll. You can use your DAW for that.

4. With the new Modern and Vintage libraries, no. Some EZX libraries do have separate outs for each tom. It is dependent on the library and how the producer chose to record and mix them.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[thomas911]

Thanks again Scott!

“If you set the loop markers, it will loop over and over. It will make the same variation for every loop pass.”
Yes thanks, that’s what I wanted to know.

Is this a possible workflow scenario: (?)
Lets say I want to program my own drum midi for bar 4 in a song (a special fill or something). Could I just leave a gap in EZD2 for bar 4? To explain it further: Bars 1-3 go in EZD2, and then I leave a empty space for bar 4. Bar 4 ONLY goes on the midi track of my DAW. Then EZD2 continue from bar 5 in the Song creator. When I play back, the drums will play consistently, and bar 4 goes in the right place? (I guess/hope so )

[Henrik]

Yes, you can do that! Just be sure to check that you don’t play MIDI both from the host track and EZdrummer 2’s track on the same time – things can sound a bit messy in that case

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

[thomas911]

Great, thanks Henke!

I will buy this thing tomorrow I think. Oh, one last thing. Third-pary midi grooves – how does that work? Do I assign genre /types and so myself to those so they show up properly in the browser or how does it work? Do they also respond to searches via the “tap and find”?

Thanks

[Erik Phersson]

@thomas911 said:

Great, thanks Henke!

I will buy this thing tomorrow I think. Oh, one last thing. Third-pary midi grooves – how does that work? Do I assign genre /types and so myself to those so they show up properly in the browser or how does it work? Do they also respond to searches via the “tap and find”?

Thanks

You can only see MIDI that comes from Toontrack within the Search Tab. We are working on a solution to make it possible to add other MIDI but I cannot say when or if it will be available I’m afraid. You can add 3rd party MIDI to the Browser however and it will work with Edit Play Style.

Erik Phersson - Toontrack
Head Of Development

[thomas911]

Ok thanks Erik!

That would be super great if one day we will be able to search even third-party grooves using the tap-to find.

[Author]

Replies