[Pro Tools] EZdrummer Songwriting and Tempos

[John Henning]

Recently, I installed Toontrack and EZdrummer on my Dell Laptop. 
I’m also running
ProTools LE 7.3.

My experience in drum programming comes from working with Boss DR880.  I know that EZdrummer is
capable of looping as driven from/by ProTools.

What I would like to do:

1)is create a new file and edit drum measures in some type of software application.  
2)create new PT Session and corresponding tempo map (using same tempo changes, time signature changes)
3)open the “song file” created in step 1 above, and have EZdrummer play the song while
PT records in measures in sync with song (file). 

Is there a way to do this kind of drum programming, ie “song-writing” of drums for a song?

Topic

[Whitten]

Can’t you do all (1, 2 & 3) in one single Pro Tools song?

[John]

Yes,

as Whitten suggests, it would really be the most simple thing; search grooves in the EZdrummer Browser and drag-and-drop them to the right place on the Timeline.
If you set the playhead to where you are dropping your grooves, EZdrummer will follow the Tempo set at the given place when you search and preview in the EZdrummer Browser.
When all your building blocks are dropped on the EZdrummer Instrument Track in Pro Tools, it will play back, Tempo changes and all.

Best Regards,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[John Henning]

Thanks for the guidance.  I’ve been able to create new projects and install EZdrummer as a plug-in on a stereo instrument track, and switch to ‘Multichannel’ at the bottom of the faders in the EZdrummer mixer per some advice from forum. 
 
I’ve been able to drag and drop grooves into PT LE and also notice the tempo of the groove changes as I change PT tempo map setting.  Good progress. 
 
Now however, it is not clear to me how to edit my own measures, or in which environment would it be done.  drawing tick marks with ‘pencil’ on the Piano Roll in PT is not very time efficient. 
 
There must be a reasonably intuitive way to program and save my own measures like one might do working on a drum machine. 
 
What are the options for editing custom drum measures (or grooves)?
 
 
 

[Whitten]

You’d either want to custom modify pre made midi files (like those offered in EZdrummer), or start from scratch by programming your drum patterns from a midi keyboard or e-drum set.

Your questions are extremely basic. They go to the heart of computer music, and in particular the workings of Pro Tools LE rather than EZdrummer, so I would advise you to look around YouTube for video tutorials. Better yet, get someone local to give you some computer music lessons, or buy a Pro Tools course on DVD.

[Author]

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