Drum Track 120

[Florio Bessinger]

Slightlyoff topic, but it would be really cool to have the automation lanes step count independent of the note sequencer for any track type. An accent/velocity pattern that cycles differently than the notes/hits can add a lot of life to a sequence without a lot of effort

I have a completed CW project that utilizes Steven Slate SSD5 drums. I have lost all audio output and the drum track is completely silent. The settings and buses have not changed and I have not changed any setting with MIDI mapping. The drum playback worked earlier today and yesterday, but now it is silent. This might be a driver issue with my Tascam US2X2, but I was also wondering if there's any troubleshooting in Cakewalk I can do. Again I have changed no internal settings in the project. Literally all of the sudden I get nothing from my drum track -- all the MIDI data is there and the routing is correct because I haven't changed it.

In the past, the only fixes that have worked are unplugging and replugging my interface and rebooting my computer about 10-20 times. Or I have started a new project file and physically copied all the tracks out of the old project into the new. But that is such a tedious process that I don't want to have to do that again.

Even though you haven't intentionally changed anything I would double check all the routing. Does the SS Drums look like they are receiving midi data? Can you "manually" play the drums and hear anything? Do the meters move indicating that there is audio or are the meters showing silence? Are you using a drum map that might have gotten changed?

when I open the SSD interface and test the kits or try to change a kit - there is no sound from the drums either, when I click on each drum or cymbal to test. No levels for from any meters on the drum track. No idea about the drum map - how do I check this? I didn't do anything - that I know of - to change it.

I had a very similar problem and after many hours of checking with a variety of different combinations of projects, VSTs and drum maps came to the conclusion that there is a bug that prevents output under certain combinations. Try a new project or get a different VST. works as a workaround.

It works in a new project I know that for sure. Problem is that this particular project in question is completely tracked and done, and almost completely done with the mix. I'd have to open a new project, set the tempo, set all the Markers, and copy one-by-one the tracks into the new project. I've done that once so I know it is do-able.

I also know that I didn't like doing that and I'd prefer not to have to go through that again. :) I'd like to figure this one out as it stands in the existing project, so I can learn what to do if it ever happens again.

Why are you blaming your interface? It will have nothing to do with hardware. You have somehow toggled something that has made the VST silent. You did the correct test by opening the GUI and playing the sounds. This narrows it down to the VST itself.

In Cakewalk double check that all level settings are up, that there is no effects or anything in the signal path that can shut things down. Try bypassing all effects. Check the VST output is set to your master or an active sub buss.

I was thinking it might be the interface for two reasons. First, the Tascam drivers are known to be substandard and wonky -- there is much documentation and many reviews all over the web that will testify this. And I have some personal experience with other problems in this regard. Second, I hear a sizzle (cymbal-ish) noise on beats 3 and 4 of the drum info that indicate to me that the VST is attempting play the actual MIDI data but is crashing out after that instance.

Currently I have the SSD5 synth mapped to its own drum bus - I do this in all of my projects for a number of reason. I will back it out and map it to the Main Master and then try to see if I can find any errant settings or problems in the VST itself. As an added FYI, I have tried a new track instance of SSD4 and SSD5 in the same project, and I get silence for both outputs. Is there a global MIDI setting in Preferences that I should also be looking at, project-wide?

I believe I may have figured it out. The original was using SSD4 (sorry if I misspoke earlier). I opened it and couldn't get any sounds out of the kit or other kits in the same instance. But I created a new track of SSD5 and assigned and tested a kit and voila! I had sound. So I copied the MIDI data (loops) en masse into the new track. Not 100% sure what is wrong with SSD4 in that particular project yet. I didn't see any channels in the mixer that were muted.

All in all, I'm terribly frustrated with the US 2X2's performance in Windows 10. Since this is a CW forum, that's neither here nor there. I just finished a 9-song album project with it, and I'd bet more than 50% of my time in the last 3 months has been messing with the Tascam, or just quitting for the night because I couldn't get anything done.

I've had a bunch of problems with my Tascam ever since I moved to Windows 10, and it seems with each Windows Update my performance just keeps getting a little works ASIO mode is the only mode that I can record in and that works maybe 50% of the time. ASIO recording only works for me one time per session -- as soon as I bump the USB cable, open my browser, or open Device Manager, I lose all ability to record in ASIO mode and then it will take 3-4 complete restarts of my computer to get it back. None of the WASAPI audio modes work for recording at all -- as soon as I switch to them I can hear playback but lose all ability to record. And in WASAPI mode (either one) I I cannot use the Input Echo function in Cakewalk tracking - it just starts feeding back and squealing.

Buffer size and selection in the US2X2 is never any help at all - I can move the slider setting all over the place and it never improves my performance in Cakewalk. I've tried every buffer setting there is to try during tracking and playback, and it didn't help that much so I always leave it in the middle.

Ever since switching to Windows 10 I have not been happy with the performance of my US2X2 at all. When you spend more time troubleshooting your gear, and you have 4-5 hour sessions at home where nothing gets done because you're messing with your gear, then it's time to rethink something I think.

I used to have an old US-600 interface and that thing was a champ - it worked so well and was so stable I should have kept it. It's a shame because the US 2X2 is built like a tank. I just wish I could get it work reliably. :( I'll probably be switching to a Presonus or a Focusrite.

Just wondered if it were possible using an app or some online website to convert a drum track in audio form into a midi track. I realise that both are completly different but I want really to capture the rythmn of the track. As a project I must produce something simular to the original and figured if it was made midi I could have more creative input.

You might tell me that this is impossible, then I am still glad I asked.

NG: Noise gate

Noise gates are usually used to get rid off the background noise below a given threshold, but the effect does not stop there and can be used in a creative way. Take a drums loop, set the threshold to taste and activate the MIDI note generation. Connect FAC Envolver to your favourite synthesizer and select your favourite sound. The initial loop will be cut giving room to the synthesizer responding to the note generated in sync.

TG: Trigger gate

Trigger gate or trance gate instantly provides rhythm to anything passed through. The input audio is muted in sync according a pre configured sequence of On/Off gates. What makes the fx outstanding is the use of the MIDI note output combination as described in the noise gate example.

@Toastedghost said:

Just wondered if it were possible using an app or some online website to convert a drum track in audio form into a midi track. I realise that both are completly different but I want really to capture the rythmn of the track. As a project I must produce something simular to the original and figured if it was made midi I could have more creative input.

You might tell me that this is impossible, then I am still glad I asked.

Some slicers will let you export midi of the slices that recreates the rhythm. ReSlice can do that as can Auditors slicing tool. I have not been able to figure out how to export corresponding midi from Neon, but maybe it is possible. BeatMaker 3 can do this also I think.

If your drum track includes multiple percussion instruments (snare, bass, cymbals, toms), I believe you need a "drum replacement" app. I've seen them advertised for desktops. They're not cheap though. But you might find one you can use. See for example this article.

What are the steps to export the corresponding MIDI file. I see a command that puts the MIDI into the clipboard -- and I just discovered that I can go to the Files app and paste it as a file into a folder -- but is there a way to save the slice MIDI as a file from within Neon Editor. It seems like there must be a way that I am not figuring out. It would be nice if it exported it into the folder with the slices.

@wim said:

You could run the track through Koala's stem separator first, to try to get a drum track to slice up. There's a standalone app called Let's Unmix (I think), that does basically the same thing.

Yes, but if you then slice the drum track with an app like Auditor, you can get a MIDI file that has the timing, with one note for each slice. Once you determine which slices go with which drum sounds, it's just a matter of rearranging the midi notes to play the sounds on any app that you want to.

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