Logic Pro (X) How do you program drums in Logic X?

[pianoby]

I've been happily using Logic 8 for some years, programming my own drums and combining that with loops. now I have Logic X and theres a drummer there, playing loops that I can't change. And I can't record onto. What the F am I missing? Is this fruity loops or what? I'm 50 yo and can prefer to program drums myself.

Any reference to articles, books, university degrees, whatever it takes to program drums, I appreciate....

 

[Pete Thomas]

You can still program drums yourself, ie the drummer is not compulsory.

Yet

Just create a sampler instrument track as before (not Drummer). You then use whatever drum instrument you want, including the new Drum Designer which gives you the same lovely kits that are used by Drummer.

I found the best way to learn drum programming was to transcribe what drummers are doing, and also to get a cheap drum kit and just mess around for a bit so you find out what is and isn't possible.

Drum samples programmed to do impossible things are also ways a bit naff IMO, until there really exists a three armed drummer.

 

[anp27]

now I have Logic X and theres a drummer there, playing loops that I can't change.

You can change the loops by moving the yellow puck around in Drummer. You can also convert any Drummer region into a MIDI region and edit to your heart's desire.

And I can't record onto.

What exactly do you mean by this?

I find the Drummer feature actually quite useful, it makes for an excellent starting point. You can actually use it as a great learning tool. by converting to MIDI regions, you can analyze what's going on or tweak the patterns and make them your own.

 

[pianoby]

You can still program drums yourself, ie the drummer is not compulsory.

Yet

Just create a sampler instrument track as before (not Drummer). You then use whatever drum instrument you want, including the new Drum Designer which gives you the same lovely kits that are used by Drummer.

I found the best way to learn drum programming was to transcribe what drummers are doing, and also to get a cheap drum kit and just mess around for a bit so you find out what is and isn't possible.

Drum samples programmed to do impossible things are also ways a bit naff IMO, until there really exists a three armed drummer.

IC, you create an Audio track then select a drum. In this way, you have to program one instrument at a time on separate tracks - BD, SD, HH, etc. I rather prefer to play all the drums at one time, at least the snare and the kick. Any way to do that?

 

[Pete Thomas]

IC, you create an Audio track then select a drum. In this way, you have to program one instrument at a time on separate tracks -

You can but you don't have to. You don't need to select a single drum to play, you can choose a whole kit.

 

[Orren Merton]

IC, you create an Audio track then select a drum. In this way, you have to program one instrument at a time on separate tracks - BD, SD, HH, etc. I rather prefer to play all the drums at one time, at least the snare and the kick. Any way to do that?

You can but you don't have to. You don't need to select a single drum to play, you can choose a whole kit.

Pete is exactly right. Everything you used to do in Logic 8, you can do now. Just pretend there is no such thing as the Drummer track, and create drums the way you used to in Logic 8. No need to change if you don't want to. Just keep on keepin' on.

Orren

 

[pianoby]

Ok guys thanks I got that much. But I also have been working with the 'drummer'. I like some of the things, but don't know how to save my patterns so they stay the same. Also, if I save it, would that save my preferences on the x y axis?

 

[CSeye]

You can convert the drummer regions to MIDI by dragging them to a software instrument track. This will give you the exact pattern but you lose Drummer editing capability.

You can also save Drummer editor presets that will preserve various parameter settings that can be applied to other patterns.

A final thought is use the Project Import functionality: Bring a Drummer track from one project into another. For whatever reason, I didn't have audio output on the imported track. Creating a new "second" Drummer track, deleting its contents, then dragging the imported regions onto the new Drummer track worked fine.

 

[anp27]

I like some of the things, but don't know how to save my patterns so they stay the same. Also, if I save it, would that save my preferences on the x y axis?

You can convert the drummer regions to MIDI by dragging them to a software instrument track. This will give you the exact pattern but you lose Drummer editing capability.

You can also save Drummer editor presets that will preserve various parameter settings that can be applied to other patterns.

A final thought is use the Project Import functionality: Bring a Drummer track from one project into another. For whatever reason, I didn't have audio output on the imported track. Creating a new "second" drummer track, deleting its contents, then dragging the imported regions onto the new drummer track worked fine.

piano by, CSeye's answer is what you're looking for.