Mdrummer

[Svama]

First of all it sounds great, but there could be some workflow improvements:

1. Why are there no extra buttons for short break, long break, outro and disabled. The dropdown menu is sorry „stupid“ to me.

2. Would like to see something like a playhead inside the song tab and be able to implement beat loops on every position and not at the end only.

3. Would be nice to shorten the loops inside the song tab, by cutting at every position or postpone the beginning or end of a loop.

4. Is it possible to add one shots like crashes inside selected loops in the song tab?

5. Maybe it would be easier to change the different rhythms inside the song tab by trigger notes instead of level. The level slider feels like try and error.

6. as I’m writing this I asked myself, do we really need the song tab or would it be better to do this all inside the rhythm editor? Why not building the song inside the rhythm editor? Drag and drop from the keyboard?

I’m just starting using Mdrummer more and more and there is surely more to optimize.

I know time is a devil, but maybe you think about it.

Thanks and greets

[goldglob]

First of all it sounds great, but there could be some workflow improvements:

1. Why are there no extra buttons for short break, long break, outro and disabled. The dropdown menu is sorry „stupid“ to me.

If you mean in the Song tab, the dropdown is for loop 'types'. The existing buttons are for 'parts'. Having buttons for all this might be cluttered and confusing? Anyway, you can use mousewheel rather than the dropdown to choose more quickly.

2. Would like to see something like a playhead inside the song tab and be able to implement beat loops on every position and not at the end only.

For playhead double click on the ruler, or single click if already playing. You can right click a part then insert a part.

3. Would be nice to shorten the loops inside the song tab, by cutting at every position or postpone the beginning or end of a loop.

Not sure what you mean here? Do you mean shorten the 'parts'?

4. Is it possible to add one shots like crashes inside selected loops in the song tab.

Not possible, but you can add oneshots from your DAW using MIDI channel 10. So you have your MIDI commands on channels 1 to 9 playing Rhythms 1 to 9 then oneshots superimposed on channel 10.

5. Maybe it would be easier to change the different rhythms inside the song tab by trigger notes instead of level. The level slider feels like try and error.

I see what you're getting at here but part of the reason for this 'level' thing is that a continuous drum performance can happen even if not all keys (=loopboxes) are populated. Say you have a Rhythm with only two non-empty beat type loopboxes. No matter where you set level at least one of those loopboxes will play..the one whose level is closest...this is true with MIDI commands in DAW as well.
But it's far more complicated than that and I think relates to the whole 'generating' thing as well. Yep, a mystery really...some weird maths that Vojtech created. I started trying to rationalize it some time ago (see attachment).
But, anyway, if you want specific keys you'd use MIDI commands in DAW. I'd say that Song mode is intended to be as it is, a way of quickly testing arrangements without being specific about keys used; you're meant to ramp up the 'level' and listen for the level jumps.

6. as I’m writing this I asked myself, do we really need the song tab or would it be better to do this all inside the rhythm editor? Why not building the song inside the rhythm editor? Drag and drop from the keyboard?

Well that sounds like clutter, but as Song Tab can be a popup (right click the tab) maybe your suggestion is a possibility?

[Svama]

Thanks for the reply, much information I have to check and learn. As I said I’m at the beginning of using Mdrummer.
Coming from Ezdrummer, as you can hear maybe from my wishes. Ezdrummer is great for finding grooves and fast programming. Because of that I also tried the midi output of ezdrummer for sending midi to Mdrummer. It works, but it Mdrummer plays the wrong drum sounds, any suggestions here?

Thanks

[mevla]

I'm not using the Song Tab. Instead, I use the DAW to write patterns and fills, at first by sketching them as the piece plays by using and recording a MIDI keyboard to select which patterns and fills gets to be played when. Then the velocity of the MIDI notes that are fills can be edited in the DAW to select which fill to play, if needed. Recording the patterns to play in the DAW allows I find for much more flexibility. Even the silence note C4 can be used here and there. And also, at least in Bitwig, it's possible to add in the same track MIDI notes on channel 10 for added inidividual drum hits. With all this possible I was never attracted to use the embedded Song Tab in MDrummer.

Cheers.

[goldglob]

Thanks for the reply, much information I have to check and learn. As I said I’m at the beginning of using Mdrummer.
Coming from Ezdrummer, as you can hear maybe from my wishes. Ezdrummer is great for finding grooves and fast programming. Because of that I also tried the midi output of ezdrummer for sending midi to Mdrummer. It works, but it Mdrummer plays the wrong drum sounds, any suggestions here?

Thanks

Have a look at the main menu (top right)> Input MIDI filter.

[Svama]

Copying effects inside the mixer view by drag and drop from one channel to another would be nice.
Thanks