Please please help.

[Patchy]

Hi there, I’m very new to pc based recording and am really struggling at the moment. I use a Boss 8 track digital for recording and have been using the onboard drum patterns but they really don’t sound that good and my own attempts at writing drum patterns were well…. let’s not go there shall we. So, EZDrummer sounded right up my street, I could take the loops and make up my songs and record them onto my Boss.

I’m using an Asus laptop running Win 7, 32 bit and have Cubase SX 2. I’ve tried loading EZD into it and I can see the EZD interface and play the samples when I go through the VST procedure but I can’t get the samples into the Midi track. I’m presuming by everything I’ve read that it should be as easy as dropping and dragging the sample onto the track but it just won’t do it. I’m so frustrated by it all and just can’t seem to see what I’m doing wrong.

To be honest I don’t need all the fantastic stuff Cubase can do (maybe later when I get more savvy) and Toontrack Solo would suffice as a host but again I just can’t get anything to drop and drag. I can see the interface and hear all the samples but the background remains grey with the logo. If anyone can help please pass on your greater knowledge to a very needy and, I must admit, embarrassed newcomer.

Thanks,
Patchy

Topic

[Scott]

Dragging and dropping of MIDI grooves in Cubase require Cubase SX 3 or above.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Patchy]

Thanks, that explains the Cubase problem but any ideas why I can’t drop and drag into Toontrack Solo?

[Scott]

Drag from the EZdrummer Groove page to where in Solo? There is no sequencer in Solo where you would drag MIDI to.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Patchy]

Thanks.
As I said, I am extremely new to computer recording and I have obviously misunderstood pretty much everything I’ve read. When I read this
“1.2 What is Toontrack solo?
Toontrack solo is a stand alone application designed to host Toontrack samplers such as Superior and EZdrummer. It is particularly suited for musicians wanting to jam along a friend (real ones, if you are a drummer, or a virtual one if you are a guitarist), or to perform live (for your own pleasure in isolation from the world or in front of an audience)”

I assumed it meant that TTS could be used as a stand alone programme to use for playing the samples and putting them together to write songs. Am not sure if I feel embarrassed or just plain dumb right now, but to the uninitiated it really isn’t clear.

I’ve just downloaded an evaluation version of Reaper and the samples have loaded up fine and I can do what I want.If there are any “truely free” DAW’s out there on the net that you could recommend before I shell out and buy the full version (which I’ll never probably use to anywhere near it’s full potential) please post here Guys.
Thanks.

[Scott]

As the product description explains, Solo is designed to host Toontrack samplers and is for e-drum musicians for live performance and jamming. It has no built in sequencing for creating songs.

Reaper is a fine choice as I use it on my laptop for songwriting. Toontrack samplers work great with it and should be exactly what you need for song creating. Reaper has a 30 day trial and is only $60 for a license after that.

Let me know if you need any help getting EZdrummer working in Reaper.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Patchy]

Again my thanks Scott.
I’ve got Reaper up and running and EZD is working brilliantly. Now I can finally get some killer drums on my recordings.

Cheers.

[Author]

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