Midi Pack questions

[bionic_peon]

I apologize for the newbie questions in advance.
1. I have: Logic 9 running on OSX 10.6.  I don’t have any edrums, I’m not a drummer, nor do I know anything about how your products work.  I just stumbled across the midi packs as I was looking for midi drum patterns.  I would like to be able to drag/drop midi drum patterns from the midi packs (eg SW MP3) to Logic projects. Can I do that and what is the minimum (cost) I need to purchase to make that possible?  The website seems to indicate I need EZDrummer or something to use the midi packs with?
2. The descriptions on the various midi packs talk about the ‘more than 400 midi files individually played by drummer X’.  Are these analog/wave files or actual midi files that I’ll be able to edit in Logic?
3. Assuming they are midi files, will they ‘match up’ to the normal kits and instruments in Logic?  E.g. “C” on keyboard is kick drum, “D” is snare, etc.
4. Are the packs cumulative?  Meaning does pack 3 contain everything found in pack 1 and 2, or do I have to buy all of them?  Is there a ‘komplete’ version that has everything?
5. How many actual drum patterns are there in SW DP #1?  It says ‘450 files’ but is that 450 patterns, or 450 songs that each have lots of different patterns in the various bars of the individual song?

Thanks

Topic

[John]

Hi,

and thank you for your interest in Toontrack products.

1)
Though you can use Toontrack MIDI packs with other software than the Toontrack plugins, you are in for pretty heavy editing of the MIDI since EZdrummer and Superior 2 utilize an extended mapping than the GM standard.
I wouldn’t recommend it. You should at least invest in EZplayer Pro to be able to Map wrap Toontrack MIDI to GM standard.

2)
Actual MIDI that can be edited, yes.

3)
Partially, yes, but if you see my reply on your 1st question, Toontrack MIDI is made for the extended articulation mapping available in EZdrummer and Superior 2.

4)
No, they all contain different material. No “Complete” version available as for now.

5)
Rather your first assumption. 450 patterns/fills. The Songwriter’s Packs are played in an organic way; e.g. a verse pattern slowly builds over the 8 or 16 bars of it’s duration, just like it would in a song.

Together with EZplayer Pro, you would have the possibility to pick kit pieces from different patterns and join them to new patterns.
You can also use Velocity sweep to affect the overall velocity while recording your edited MIDI to a new track.
If it sounds interesting, I do recommend checking out the EZplayer Pro product page for more info.

I hope this answers your questions.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Scott]

1. The Toontrack MIDI packs are mapped for use with Toontrack samplers (EZdrummer, S2, Beatstation). You can use EZplayer with other drum samplers but the mapping will need adjustments. When used with EZD/S2/BT, the MIDI can be dragged and dropped to your host.

2. The MIDI packs are MIDI and not wav files. They can be edited in your host.

3. The MIDI packs are GM Extended mapped. That means that it follows the General MIDI mapping with some extended mapping specifically mapped to Toontrack’s samplers.

4. All MIDI packs contain unique MIDI produced for each product. There are no duplicates. There is currently no ‘All MIDI Pack’ library. They are for sale individually. I would think this is the most flexible option as not everyone would want/need the wide variety of MIDI that Toontrack offers (Speed/Death Metal to Blues/Pop).

5. ‘More than 450 individually played files’ means over 450 patterns, not 450 songs.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[bionic_peon]

Thanks for both replies!

[Ale84]

Is it possible to change the metronome speed of the midipack files?..for example if i’m building a drum track with ezdrummer and i want a fill/drum part from songwriters drumpack or another midipack that has a metronome speed a little slower than my song how do i synchronize them?

[Scott]

The MIDI browser in EZD will playback at the tempo set in your host. For example, if your host tempo is set to 120bpm, all MIDI will play at 120bpm.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Juicy]

The playback is locked to Logics current bpm.Midi loops are different to audio loops ,
You could be using a midi file created at 97 bpm and it could easily worke in a track your doing at 112 bpm as example,no change of Quality.

[Ale84]

Great!

[Christopher Buening]

When Toontrack lists a drum MIDI Pack Audio Demo it may look like the following:

“Basic Rock MIDI Pack – EZdrummer 2”

What is EZdrummer 2 referencing? Is that a reference to a preset within EZD 2 or a MIDI file which was pulled from EZD 2?

Is every MIDI file found in a MIDI Pack completely unique and NOT found in another Toontrack product, unless otherwise specified?

[Author]

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