I made a MUCH better and updated version of this video with more drum plugins to choose between. Check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/JyuU_XxIm2I/v-deo.html
For anyone interested in this plugin..I downloaded another free daw called Cakewalk and used it with this plugin. When you create a midi track in Cakewalk you can assign all the midi channel inputs to separate outputs meaning you can eq, mix and process each drum individually. I typically boost the low end on the kick and increase the volume because I agree it’s too quiet for my liking.
Actually, I don't know about Traktion, but in most DAWs such as Reaper or Harrison Mixbus you can print out the indvidual drums into separate tracks, meaning if you want, say, just a compression on the kick, or to EQ just the snare, you can. I've got this working in Mixbus and it's great!
Great video. I started playing drums back in 1982, mostly what is now classic rock and classic metal, when there wasn’t a lot of choices for edrums. The pads sucked imo, so I avoided edrums like the plague until last year. I bought a little crappy Roland td3 just so I could play in my living room and not drive everyone out of the house. I’m currently waiting on a sum of money with which I am buying a Roland td50kv. Your videos were brought to my attention via a friend who saw your how to survive a terrible electronic drum set, and sent me the link. As I said I avoided electronics like the plague, so I’m still learning what I can do with them and it’s thanks to your videos I am learning lots. Thanks a ton.
This was super helpful. Thanks so much. I made notes for using this VST in Reaper (so I won't forget) and thought I'd share. In Reaper (not sure about other DAWs) you can map the drum sounds to different tracks and use Reaper for mixing/adding effects/etc. Using MTPowerDrumKit VST with REAPER 1) Connect drums to computer using Midi adapter (need to do this before starting Reaper) 2) Insert new virtual instrument - choose the drum VST - this inserts 9 tracks, a master and 8 additional for each of the 8 drum outputs 3) Use the drum’s mixer to map different drums/cymbals to different outputs (map different cymbal components to the same one, i.e. HHopen and HHclosed both to the same output, same thing for the different snare sounds) 4) Need to arm recording AND “Monitor Input” on all the tracks including master (right click arm recording to get the monitor input setting) 5) Set the input values for each of the 8 tracks, using track 1 as an example: input/MIDI/ALL MIDI Inputs/Channel 1 6) Make sure drum kit being used to trigger sounds is enabled (REAPER/preferences/MIDI Devices) - for me it shows up as UM-ONE because that’s the interface I’m using I’m using an old Roland TD-3 set to trigger. Pads were automatically mapped to the right drums/sounds, so I didn’t have to figure out how to change any of that.
@65Drums - Thanks Justin! I know this is an older video, but if people are willing to spend less than $20USD (Android or iOS, maybe more for PC/Mac?), they can get FL Studio Mobile (just FL Studio for PC/Mac) that lets you build a kit from scratch piece by piece. Each instrument/drum goes in a track and so you have full control of each piece individually in the kit - volume, effects and all. You may need to assign your pads midi note to the track (done fairly easily) and also set up HH open/pedal tracks to a "Cut Group" (under the "Seq" section) so that the pedal stops the open sounds. I'm sure you can assign zones on your cymbals as well. Just add another track, the sound you want, and assign the midi note by "learning" and striking the cymbal zone! I'm using one of the cheapest e-kits on Amazon with this! This is so awesome and all for the price of a good lunch!!
I use MT-Powerdrum for a month now. As mentioned by others it includes a mixer so you can adjust the volumes, pan, compression etc. You can also assign a channel to another output. This way you might route it to a separate DAW channel and add reverb etc. I don't use a DAW but vsthost. Another option for free drumkit is the use of the free Kontakt player with the free Factory Selection plugin. It contains several drumkits and you get per instrument reverb control. You don't need a DAW because it also works standalone. I'm now writing an Android app to remotely control volume, pan etc using rtpMidi.
There's actually a built in mixer to adjust the relative levels of each peice of the kit. I agree the kick is pretty quiet, even all the way up in the mixer. I could turn everything else down and just boost it with another plugin but it's preset with varied levels and I don't want to mess that up too much. And for the hi-hat there's completely open, completely closed, and a sizzly half open sound. I've been using it just to program midi drums and I'm quite happy with it. I'm surprised it actually sounds pretty decent in a mix considering that it's free.
@@AVGatBest look at your sensitivity and velocity curve settings on your module to get the dynamics you’re looking for. It might be set well for internal sound triggering but MT seems to need different settings. Enough tweaking and some EQ and thus kit sounds very good. And like mentioned above, use a rack or wrapper to record each piece to a different track in order to make individual adjustments.
You have no idea how much you helped me with this! As a rookie who got an older simple drumkit without the plugins etc I've been trying to get the thing to work. Took a while to finally get windows to recognize the darn thing as a joystick and then all programs I found just didn't recognize the drumkit. Now I got it working. Thanks man!
I bought MT-Power Drum Kit when it was commercial VSTi. Besides a decent sounding kit, it hassolid Midi Drum Files that work great for creating metronome tracks. MTPower can also be used as a Source for other drum software like EZDrummer to trigger them with the included Midi. Thanks once again for a great vid!
Was searching for a beginner's standalone app on behalf of a friend who has just bought his daughter some midi pads/drums, something simple as he isn't au-fait with digital audio creation. The video is so easy to follow that anyone without prior knowledge of digital production and terms can get set up within half an hour. The likening of DAW's and VST's to a DVD and disc was genius, saved me hours of explanation. Thx again!
Another option for great free samples Go, search for "Sennheiser Drummica". (It's a set of drum samples Sennnheiser made for people to be able to shootout their microphones, but it's also a really good library, probably the best free one) The site you'll find might be only in German, so if you don't know it, the registration might take a couple of tries. You'll get a file that installs a Kontakt Player VST (the loader for the sample pack) and the sennheiser library.
The Sennheiser plugin sounds really good. It is a marketing tool for their microphones, but they have put at lot of effort into the samples (and made me lust for an microphone upgrade...)
Hog Blockula I’ve registered twice, both times getting activation codes...but when I hit the download link I get an access forbidden error message. Any idea on what I am doing wrong? I do have native instruments access and kontakt 5 installed.
i have no idea man, seems like you're doing everything correctly. If there are different mirror links, try them. Otherwise, send their support a message and wait
I was searching for "how to connect ED to laptop and start playing for dummies" and discovered this awesome vid. 10 minutes and I'm on my way! Just need to tune up AD2 to sound right. Cheers! Liked and subscribed.
I just want to say how helpful you've been with so many things! Keep up the good work!!! Ive played guitar my whole life and love the drums, and you've helped me tons, buying, practicing, and making the "right choices" in edrums thanks a lot
Can’t thank you enough for encouraging me in my hunt for a decent (and free) VST. I really like the free ‘XDrum’ program because it allows the use of 3 extra cymbals.
Hey man, thanks so much for this! You're correct, there is literally nothing I could find that explained everything simply. I'm just starting to record electronic drums and this answered every question I had!
What do I do if the Daw isn't taking my drum's midi info? I have an alesis surge, and it won't pop up on the keyboard, and you didn't really go into detail about what to do.
I have been looking for this video for hours, days even! Jeez ef UA-cam! I have watched too many videos and downloaded too many software just for recording. SOooo complicated and frustrating for a beginner like me. Thank you for making this video. Really appreciate. And I subbed of course!
Same here. I’ve just spent two hours going over every detail. I have the VST loaded and it triggers fine if I manually click the virtual keyboard and the Alesia Surge module is recognized and enabled in MIDI devices. I have local mode OFF on the module. Still nothing will trigger using the drum kit. WTF?
I got it working. Drum module on first and change LOC to OFF. Start Waveform, click on MTPD plugin on the track, then “skip” to enable the plugin. Intended up installing a free ASIO and using that for source input (once installed and selected in WF you don’t have to fiddle with it) and the other thing that might have been the issue was having something plugged into the headphone jack on the module but not sure, I’d have to test that to be sure it wasn’t coincidental. It might also have been the USB printer cable I was using the whole time it wasn’t working. Sorry to be vague I tried so many combos of things until it worked and now works every time. I gotta say with some aggressive EQ and extensive sensitivity, curve, and a bit of skin tightening/loosening, this MT kit sounds great for hard rock. Toms aren’t “flat” enough sounding but I’m really happy with the snare now. It needed the least aggressive curve (in module) setting in order to get any sufficient velocity range and dynamics so you can also play the kit quietly and not sound like the same gunshot each time. And that kick is solid AF.
Hi, I tried to set this up to my Millenium MPS 850 and it actually recognized the drum module/kit but it doesn't send the information when I hit any of the drums, it doesn't highlight on the keyboard part as well. I was able to load it as the drum kit but it's just not sending the sound. I followed everystep from this video, I don't know if I missed something or done something different.I hope anyone can help me on this. Thanks! Great video by the way. Thanks for uploading this.
This happened to me aswell but i found if i created a new track and assigned a midi device (my drums) i could see it was getting the midi signals, i hope this helped
You are a life saver!!! Thank you so much for this video. I've been trying to record for 3 days. I downloaded more than 10 software's trial version to check if I can record but they were with limited access which offered nothing. Now I started to record, a minor issue with the hi-hat but I think I'll figure it out. Thank you!!!
midi notes sent by the roland module need to (and usually don't) match the notes associated with the VST instrument zones. Also SSD free. Great VST with multiple mics, a mixer, tuning, etc.
This is a great plugin for drums, I tried Tracktion though and I can't wrap my head around it, hell I cant even figure out how to get to a staff to put notes in or do anything in it, I'm more used to a tracker environment. So I use MT-Power Drumkit in OpenMPT since that can also host VSTs, the only thing I dont like about MT-Power Drum Kit is that the Kick Drum has no oomph to it, so I like to "fatten" up the Kick Drum by having a secondary Kick Drum sample play every time the Kick Drum is triggered, sometimes I'll EQ the plugin, depends on my mood.
Im about to use a VSTi kit called Hardcore kit from Ugritone in Reaper..I have never done this so I hope its not to much diff to do this on Reaper with a diff VSTi.
Surprised no mention of Cakewalk by Bandlab. It's a very complete DAW and totally free now. It also has a reasonable free Drum VST. Also it is possible to divide drums by midi channels. Been a while since I have done this but pretty sure it works. You may need multiple instances of the plugin and multiple tracks in the DAW for the different drums; And capability on the drum kit/controller to select different midi channel outs. I also divide midi drum tracks by 'note' which is really easy in Cakewalk to give individual editing capability for each drum and sound part (use the appropriate CAL).
This video saved my arse, I bought a usb audio interface for my td1kv couple minutes ago, because I thought the USB-MIDI thingy does nothing at all, now I cancelled my order and at least I can try how it works after I get a touch with my drum before I make the next decision!
if some edrums dont respond when drum hit on the piano tile thing. then download a free program called lmms and put the vst on there and it works for me
@@NKM_Pixels ok i have nitro too. but this is been so long ago since ive done it i totally forgot how i did it. i think i changed the audio host like the wasabi or something
I think the DRM get has the option to split each DRM to a single channel. I know that one does when you set it up at first for a new song when you are running it as a DRM sequencer. I have version 2 I think. Then you can treat each sound.
As for the Studio One mentioned in this video there is a well known problem with VST plugins. It does support third-party plugins (you need to choose the right path in the settings) but it all depends on what version of Studio One you are actually using (1, 2, 3, Artist, Producer, Professional) and what sort of plugins you are trying to use (32 or 64 bit). For example some of them (like 32 bit) wouldn't work. You can find mor on the subject at Presonus Studio One Forum.
+Michael Majeran You have to use the professional version, and it costs money. But they don't tell you that before you download it, so it's very frustrating. That's why I said don't download it because this video is about free software
Cakewalk by Bandlab is completely free. It's the entire flagship version of Cakewalk Sonar Platmum. Bandlab bought it, and made it free for everyone! Ive been using Cakewalk since 2004, and the new Cakewalk by Bandlab really is an amazing DAW! Again, Completely FREEEE!
yep...... the mt pdk is good enough for basic to intermediate practice playing as well as for recording drum tracks..... comes with lots of free cool grooves & decent mixer too. (volume of individual drum components can be adjusted) for a (free or not) daw, i think nothing else comes close to cockos Reaper. Adding a focusrite Scarlett Solo interface to the setup would make your live drums sparkle & make you wanna go be a (home) recording engineer./producer.
Omg! You helped me so much! There’s no other video out there teaching beginners how to do this kind of stuff!!!! I really appreciate you!!! I have a question that I’ve been trying to figure out how to use my computer or speakers to play my drums, so I don’t have to use the headphones all the time, can you teach me? Idk if I have all the cables needed and everything because I’ve tried many things and they didn’t work! I have a Simmons Titan 20 btw!
First off, thank you for your excellent research and for sharing. If someone is using this information presently, Tracktion 8 is the current release. It has a little different interface and setup technique. Follow the video here for setting up to use for your kit. You DO NOT have to use Tracktion's setup routine as shown on the first tab on the upper left when it is opened. Works great with an Alesis DM6 module. I am new to Edrums but a veteran drummer and this is a great first lesson on MIDI triggering for drums. What I'm wondering though is there only one sound for the kit on MT Powerkit? Also, with me using only a pedal trigger switch with hi-hat, I get a "loosely closed" sound when pedal is down. I also dont get a solid "chick" out of them, more like a "sizzle" Any way to tighten the hats? Thank you in advance.
Hey dude can you help me? I too have an Alesis DM6 and this is my first time setting up a VST. I have installed Tracktion Waveform and set up MT PowerKit (Haven't installed ASIO yet). In Tracktion, my kit is being detected as a MIDI device and I have enabled it as Input and Output (as showed in the video at 5:25) The issue is the keyboard in Tracktion is not detecting any MIDI signals from the DM6. Keep in mind this is my first time setting up the stuff so I haven't made any prerequisite setting changes if there are any. (I read somewhere something and tried changing the Pattern in the DM6 module from P-N to --N, still didn't work). I am using Windows 10 and tried my USB3.0 as well as USB2.0 ports if it helps
@@XDask No lol, I came to the conclusion that my MIDI Port is busted as I've tried other DAWs as well as using Linux after this comment. Unfortunately I've left drumming altogether now so can't help anymore. Cheers mate!
Now they offer cakewalk by bandlab for free, it comes with studio instruments and you can add third party vsts. I currently use it with SSD4 it works great.
Thanks for this tutorial I installed the 2 software but i didnt hear the sounds I hit my Edrum it shows hitting the drum kit 2 the soundwave registers but i dont hear any from the computer speaker where i can set this up thank you
You can control every piece of the kit, there is a a mixer with pan and compression for each slider, you missed it!! I have found that the best DAW to use with this free VSTI is Reaper , important thing is to use an asio driver for low latency. If you are not using a dedicated audio device then your best option is the ASIO4ALL driver. All free. Reaper is very efficient on the cpu and memory.
I never could get on with Traction, or ANY DAW come to that matter. I'm too old school, I just use a tracker that can host VST instruments instead. Programming my drums is more my workflow anyway, it could probably get it to work with an electronic kit but I just don't see a point as I'm not a drummer or have any skills at drumming.
Very needed INFO! I have had frustrating, Upsetting Failures for the last few months. #1 Old TD-10 set collecting dust #2 TD-#) kit with usb midi #3 Mash all into Monster Kit and Blow the doors off my Neighbor's! Simple? well not yet. Going out td10 phones into td-30 mix in Got sound but the two NEVER wish to Level mesh or stay. Worse maybe? Gotta pick each piece in the custom kits. Trying to make kit change between songs was an embarrassing Sh!tShow Failure! Tech-support=Joke! After ponying up big coin. 6 different DAWs? I'll Give traction or "Waveform" A shot. I'm subscribed and looking forward to more from You.
I tried on DM Lite and it works. but.... i had to adjust the midi map code for hihat according to getsatisfaction.com/alesis/topics/how_to_select_gm_on_alesis_dm_lite . in fact the program didn't distinguish between closed and open hihat. and the recording doesn't work good. it records a small percentage of hits.but it surely detects the sound so i can listen on my phones to the drums being played and a youtube song at the same time. BTW www.playdrumsonline.com/ has a midi-input via chrome browser which is a good solution for learning playing.
Hi, I really enjoy your channel. I have gone through this setup over and over and I cannot seem to figure out what I am doing wrong. I have an old Roland TD-8 module. It only has Midi ins/outs. I am using a usb/midi cable to connnect to my windows 10 laptop. I have downloaded Tracktion and MT Power Drumkit. My PC sees the usb midi, but does not recognize it as the Roland TD-8. It does not recognize when I hit a drum at all. If I use the ASIO driver, and use my mouse to hit the drums it gives me a crazy weird sound effect on all the drums. I can only get a normal drum sound when I use the windows driver. Also, at one point it did register hits on my drum kit. But I cannot get it to do it again. What am I doing wrong? Cheers for any help.
I am using MT Power Drum Kit with MuLab 7 DAW also for free but only allowed to use 4 tracks which works fine for me. Cause if you do more than 4 tracks it makes some weird sounds is what I read!! And I also used the ASIO4all too!! Cool video sure it will help some people!!
HELLO. I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH ROUTING A td-1dmk AND THE MT-Power Drum KiT. EXAMPLE THE HIT HAT IS DUAL ZONE BY ASSIGNING THE SOUND TO THE OUTER EDGE WHEN I HIT THE UPPER AREA IT DOES NOT SOUND. OR ON OCCASIONS DUE TO VIBRATIONS, I HIT A PART OF THE DRUM, THE CABLE OF A CYMBAL VIBRATES AND ACTIVATES THE SOUND, AND I HAVE A TOM SOUNDING LIKE A CYMBAL. HELLP
I'm having trouble and it's frustrating! I did all this step by step but using the SSD 5.5 Free plugin instead. I can see the keyboard keys light up when I hit my drums, but it doesn't trigger the drums in SSD. I can click on them with the mouse and hear the sounds, but nothing from Waveform seems to go to plugin. I know the MIDI works too because if I open up Garageband I can actually HEAR the drums when I hit them (on the Macbook). So it seems that everything is working accept for Waveform passing my trigger on to SSD
Just recently started watching your channel. You helped me be able to pick out a pretty awesome electronic drum set and learn a lot of new things. I really love your channel keep up the awesome work dude! -jak-
I have and old Alesis dm5 pro kit with no USB just midi in out, my interface doesn't have the midi or USB port, so the Alesis go direct to pc usb port , I'm using Reaper and the MT drums, but it doesn't make any sound or trigger the midi. it doesn't show up on my device's options .whats am I doing wrong ???
Having same issue with Alesis Nitro. Traktion is recognizing the alesis, names it. In the module I set my LOC to off, GM to on like instructions say...but to no avail......Update. used bandlabs/cakewalk which is also free and worked easily. So must be a traktion/nitro issue.
I guess you could possibly open a second drum track and on that only record the kick drum that way you would put the effects on that track to boost the kick! Just a thought I've never tried anything like that or anything!
i know its been 2 years but im struggling with this rn, just one question does doing this make the sounds dynamic? i tried some bandlab thing and it sensed the midi but all the hits sounded the same , as in the ghosts recorded with the same velocity as the louder hits. so my question is if i do this can i record midi with the volume im actually playing on?
So I did this step by step, and I keep getting an error msg saying a file is missing. The one that says "content" I've repeated the process 3x but still getting the same msg
Waveform sees my Alesis but does not get any midi info from it. Not sure how that is possible. But sadly im stuck. Since it won't record anything Even the plugin doesn't register any hits.
I plugged in my alesis surge to my laptop via usb midi and im having a problem. It shows up as a midi divice in Tracktion but it isnt actually taking inputs. like it does activate the keyboard and it doesnt make sounds on the plugin. What can i do from here? Thanks.
Hi ! I own an Alesis DM6 which is connected to my computer via USB, like in the video, it is recognized by Tracktion because it moves the green bar in the software when i hit it, but the keyboard representation doesn't actually show any movement and it doesn't make any sound either (Also, PowerDrumKit doesn't recognize it either), does anyone know where it might come from ?
There are two modes with the Alesis DM6 Module when it comes to its USB output. Hit the Pattern button. Then change the display with the + and - buttons until it reads - - N and not P - N puu.sh/B2Imm/baeeb83514.png
hey guys i found the solution to your problems with the alesis dm6 not working with it. it is because the dm6 does not work with windows 10 so switch to a win 7 or mac to make it work. hope this helps
I’m getting the the td17kvx taking your advice on that one as the best bang for the buck, those free plugins look like untold hassle, would I be best at least to start by just editing and equing onboard sounds. I have always been disappointed with electronic drums for the low volume of hihats and the lack of what I call real drum sounds. For instance I love the old recording of good times roll by the cars, the electronic Tom sounds in that recording are epic, I expected modern edrums to at least replicate that, but they can’t from what I’ve seen. Is it possible to achieve those sounds??
I've been trying to use Traktion and MTPowerDrumKit VST and it won't work. Won't recognize the VST and errors every time trying to manually install the VSTs. Apparently this is a common thing.
I made a MUCH better and updated version of this video with more drum plugins to choose between. Check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/JyuU_XxIm2I/v-deo.html
hey bro, how did you map your drum kit? i follow all the video, when i go to recording i have just note midi. So what i can do to mapping? thanks
Thanks man, appreciate your contribution
"Nothing I'm gonna mention that costs money" - How can you not love this guy?
Justin, you rule the drumweb.
For anyone interested in this plugin..I downloaded another free daw called Cakewalk and used it with this plugin. When you create a midi track in Cakewalk you can assign all the midi channel inputs to separate outputs meaning you can eq, mix and process each drum individually. I typically boost the low end on the kick and increase the volume because I agree it’s too quiet for my liking.
My god Justin you are doing God's work with all these videos.
Thanks dude!
Preach
Actually, I don't know about Traktion, but in most DAWs such as Reaper or Harrison Mixbus you can print out the indvidual drums into separate tracks, meaning if you want, say, just a compression on the kick, or to EQ just the snare, you can. I've got this working in Mixbus and it's great!
Great video. I started playing drums back in 1982, mostly what is now classic rock and classic metal, when there wasn’t a lot of choices for edrums. The pads sucked imo, so I avoided edrums like the plague until last year. I bought a little crappy Roland td3 just so I could play in my living room and not drive everyone out of the house. I’m currently waiting on a sum of money with which I am buying a Roland td50kv. Your videos were brought to my attention via a friend who saw your how to survive a terrible electronic drum set, and sent me the link. As I said I avoided electronics like the plague, so I’m still learning what I can do with them and it’s thanks to your videos I am learning lots. Thanks a ton.
Wow that's great! I'm glad the videos have been helpfull. The TD50kv is a heck of a good drumset, I'm sure you'll like it
This was super helpful. Thanks so much. I made notes for using this VST in Reaper (so I won't forget) and thought I'd share. In Reaper (not sure about other DAWs) you can map the drum sounds to different tracks and use Reaper for mixing/adding effects/etc.
Using MTPowerDrumKit VST with REAPER
1) Connect drums to computer using Midi adapter (need to do this before starting Reaper)
2) Insert new virtual instrument - choose the drum VST - this inserts 9 tracks, a master and 8 additional for each of the 8 drum outputs
3) Use the drum’s mixer to map different drums/cymbals to different outputs (map different cymbal components to the same one, i.e. HHopen and HHclosed both to the same output, same thing for the different snare sounds)
4) Need to arm recording AND “Monitor Input” on all the tracks including master (right click arm recording to get the monitor input setting)
5) Set the input values for each of the 8 tracks, using track 1 as an example:
input/MIDI/ALL MIDI Inputs/Channel 1
6) Make sure drum kit being used to trigger sounds is enabled (REAPER/preferences/MIDI Devices) - for me it shows up as UM-ONE because that’s the interface I’m using
I’m using an old Roland TD-3 set to trigger. Pads were automatically mapped to the right drums/sounds, so I didn’t have to figure out how to change any of that.
My ride isn't getting mapped correctly. Any solution?
@65Drums - Thanks Justin! I know this is an older video, but if people are willing to spend less than $20USD (Android or iOS, maybe more for PC/Mac?), they can get FL Studio Mobile (just FL Studio for PC/Mac) that lets you build a kit from scratch piece by piece. Each instrument/drum goes in a track and so you have full control of each piece individually in the kit - volume, effects and all. You may need to assign your pads midi note to the track (done fairly easily) and also set up HH open/pedal tracks to a "Cut Group" (under the "Seq" section) so that the pedal stops the open sounds. I'm sure you can assign zones on your cymbals as well. Just add another track, the sound you want, and assign the midi note by "learning" and striking the cymbal zone! I'm using one of the cheapest e-kits on Amazon with this! This is so awesome and all for the price of a good lunch!!
I use MT-Powerdrum for a month now. As mentioned by others it includes a mixer so you can adjust the volumes, pan, compression etc. You can also assign a channel to another output. This way you might route it to a separate DAW channel and add reverb etc. I don't use a DAW but vsthost. Another option for free drumkit is the use of the free Kontakt player with the free Factory Selection plugin. It contains several drumkits and you get per instrument reverb control. You don't need a DAW because it also works standalone. I'm now writing an Android app to remotely control volume, pan etc using rtpMidi.
There's actually a built in mixer to adjust the relative levels of each peice of the kit. I agree the kick is pretty quiet, even all the way up in the mixer. I could turn everything else down and just boost it with another plugin but it's preset with varied levels and I don't want to mess that up too much. And for the hi-hat there's completely open, completely closed, and a sizzly half open sound.
I've been using it just to program midi drums and I'm quite happy with it. I'm surprised it actually sounds pretty decent in a mix considering that it's free.
@Daniel Jensen were you able to program the hi-hat to where hits on the edge of the cymbal were recognized?
@@AVGatBest look at your sensitivity and velocity curve settings on your module to get the dynamics you’re looking for. It might be set well for internal sound triggering but MT seems to need different settings. Enough tweaking and some EQ and thus kit sounds very good.
And like mentioned above, use a rack or wrapper to record each piece to a different track in order to make individual adjustments.
Cakewalk by Bandlab can solve your problem.
Cakewalk is also free DAW
You have no idea how much you helped me with this! As a rookie who got an older simple drumkit without the plugins etc I've been trying to get the thing to work. Took a while to finally get windows to recognize the darn thing as a joystick and then all programs I found just didn't recognize the drumkit. Now I got it working. Thanks man!
I bought MT-Power Drum Kit when it was commercial VSTi. Besides a decent sounding kit, it hassolid Midi Drum Files that work great for creating metronome tracks. MTPower can also be used as a Source for other drum software like EZDrummer to trigger them with the included Midi.
Thanks once again for a great vid!
This has to be thee best instruction video ever on youtube
Thanks man! I worked incredibly hard on that video.
Was searching for a beginner's standalone app on behalf of a friend who has just bought his daughter some midi pads/drums, something simple as he isn't au-fait with digital audio creation. The video is so easy to follow that anyone without prior knowledge of digital production and terms can get set up within half an hour. The likening of DAW's and VST's to a DVD and disc was genius, saved me hours of explanation. Thx again!
Another option for great free samples
Go, search for "Sennheiser Drummica". (It's a set of drum samples Sennnheiser made for people to be able to shootout their microphones, but it's also a really good library, probably the best free one)
The site you'll find might be only in German, so if you don't know it, the registration might take a couple of tries. You'll get a file that installs a Kontakt Player VST (the loader for the sample pack) and the sennheiser library.
The Sennheiser plugin sounds really good. It is a marketing tool for their microphones, but they have put at lot of effort into the samples (and made me lust for an microphone upgrade...)
Hog Blockula I’ve registered twice, both times getting activation codes...but when I hit the download link I get an access forbidden error message. Any idea on what I am doing wrong? I do have native instruments access and kontakt 5 installed.
i have no idea man, seems like you're doing everything correctly. If there are different mirror links, try them. Otherwise, send their support a message and wait
Hog Blockula Will do. Thanks for the answer.
NICE!
Justin, you just flat out ROCK!!! "The" go to guy for all things e-drum!!!!!!!!! Major blessing you are...be blessed in return!!
I was searching for "how to connect ED to laptop and start playing for dummies" and discovered this awesome vid. 10 minutes and I'm on my way! Just need to tune up AD2 to sound right. Cheers! Liked and subscribed.
I just want to say how helpful you've been with so many things! Keep up the good work!!! Ive played guitar my whole life and love the drums, and you've helped me tons, buying, practicing, and making the "right choices" in edrums thanks a lot
Can’t thank you enough for encouraging me in my hunt for a decent (and free) VST. I really like the free ‘XDrum’ program because it allows the use of 3 extra cymbals.
Hey man, thanks so much for this! You're correct, there is literally nothing I could find that explained everything simply. I'm just starting to record electronic drums and this answered every question I had!
Been using Power Drum Kit and love it. I am using Cantabile 3 (also 100% free) as a host and it works great! Thanks for getting the word out.
I did everything as you said but the keys on the keyboard dont get highlighted when i hit the drum. I use an alesis nitro mesh
i have the same problem idk what to do
I can't get this to work with my Alesis Nitro Mesh kit. The midi device is selectable but there is no input on the on-screen keyboard and no sound.
@@payyourtaxesgoogle438 EZ Drummer 2 works fine :/
@@payyourtaxesgoogle438 Yep, it's a shame. You can go the piratebay route if you like.
What do I do if the Daw isn't taking my drum's midi info? I have an alesis surge, and it won't pop up on the keyboard, and you didn't really go into detail about what to do.
i have the same problem idk what to do
I have been looking for this video for hours, days even! Jeez ef UA-cam! I have watched too many videos and downloaded too many software just for recording. SOooo complicated and frustrating for a beginner like me. Thank you for making this video. Really appreciate. And I subbed of course!
When I’m hitting the drums, there’s no signal on the keyboard, what should I do?
Same 😞
Same here. I’ve just spent two hours going over every detail. I have the VST loaded and it triggers fine if I manually click the virtual keyboard and the Alesia Surge module is recognized and enabled in MIDI devices. I have local mode OFF on the module. Still nothing will trigger using the drum kit. WTF?
Same problem here. Any solution, guys?
I got it working. Drum module on first and change LOC to OFF. Start Waveform, click on MTPD plugin on the track, then “skip” to enable the plugin. Intended up installing a free ASIO and using that for source input (once installed and selected in WF you don’t have to fiddle with it) and the other thing that might have been the issue was having something plugged into the headphone jack on the module but not sure, I’d have to test that to be sure it wasn’t coincidental. It might also have been the USB printer cable I was using the whole time it wasn’t working. Sorry to be vague I tried so many combos of things until it worked and now works every time.
I gotta say with some aggressive EQ and extensive sensitivity, curve, and a bit of skin tightening/loosening, this MT kit sounds great for hard rock. Toms aren’t “flat” enough sounding but I’m really happy with the snare now. It needed the least aggressive curve (in module) setting in order to get any sufficient velocity range and dynamics so you can also play the kit quietly and not sound like the same gunshot each time. And that kick is solid AF.
I knew it was the Mt power kit before even seeing the video. Been using it for quite sometime. Super excellent kit.
Hi, I tried to set this up to my Millenium MPS 850 and it actually recognized the drum module/kit but it doesn't send the information when I hit any of the drums, it doesn't highlight on the keyboard part as well. I was able to load it as the drum kit but it's just not sending the sound. I followed everystep from this video, I don't know if I missed something or done something different.I hope anyone can help me on this. Thanks! Great video by the way. Thanks for uploading this.
This happened to me aswell but i found if i created a new track and assigned a midi device (my drums) i could see it was getting the midi signals, i hope this helped
Dude those Millennium drums look bad ass . Think I'm gonna get the 850 . Seems to be the best bang 4 the buck . Keep rocking homie
You are a life saver!!! Thank you so much for this video. I've been trying to record for 3 days. I downloaded more than 10 software's trial version to check if I can record but they were with limited access which offered nothing. Now I started to record, a minor issue with the hi-hat but I think I'll figure it out. Thank you!!!
@65drums In the settings for MT Power drum2
mixer go to E Drums, and adjust the open hats.
Tip for a good DAW to use is Reaper!
midi notes sent by the roland module need to (and usually don't) match the notes associated with the VST instrument zones. Also SSD free. Great VST with multiple mics, a mixer, tuning, etc.
correction. Studio one prime and artist doesn't allow 3rd party plugin. The professional does and we are up to 5.3 now.
This is a great plugin for drums, I tried Tracktion though and I can't wrap my head around it, hell I cant even figure out how to get to a staff to put notes in or do anything in it, I'm more used to a tracker environment. So I use MT-Power Drumkit in OpenMPT since that can also host VSTs, the only thing I dont like about MT-Power Drum Kit is that the Kick Drum has no oomph to it, so I like to "fatten" up the Kick Drum by having a secondary Kick Drum sample play every time the Kick Drum is triggered, sometimes I'll EQ the plugin, depends on my mood.
I had that plugin setup in Reaper at one stage.. Reaper is great app for this type of setup.
Im about to use a VSTi kit called Hardcore kit from Ugritone in Reaper..I have never done this so I hope its not to much diff to do this on Reaper with a diff VSTi.
My friend with new electric drums is thanking you cuz I linked this video to him and it works
Surprised no mention of Cakewalk by Bandlab. It's a very complete DAW and totally free now. It also has a reasonable free Drum VST. Also it is possible to divide drums by midi channels. Been a while since I have done this but pretty sure it works. You may need multiple instances of the plugin and multiple tracks in the DAW for the different drums; And capability on the drum kit/controller to select different midi channel outs. I also divide midi drum tracks by 'note' which is really easy in Cakewalk to give individual editing capability for each drum and sound part (use the appropriate CAL).
This video saved my arse, I bought a usb audio interface for my td1kv couple minutes ago, because I thought the USB-MIDI thingy does nothing at all, now I cancelled my order and at least I can try how it works after I get a touch with my drum before I make the next decision!
if some edrums dont respond when drum hit on the piano tile thing. then download a free program called lmms and put the vst on there and it works for me
Hey i need your help. When i hit on my e drums it doesn't response, some beat is missing.
@@NKM_Pixels what kit do you have?
@@itz_vortex7341 alesis nitro mesh.
@@NKM_Pixels ok i have nitro too. but this is been so long ago since ive done it i totally forgot how i did it. i think i changed the audio host like the wasabi or something
@@itz_vortex7341 i don't know wasabi. I'm new to this. I'm still looking for another free daw. I think cakewalk will be better.
I think the DRM get has the option to split each DRM to a single channel. I know that one does when you set it up at first for a new song when you are running it as a DRM sequencer. I have version 2 I think. Then you can treat each sound.
As for the Studio One mentioned in this video there is a well known problem with VST plugins. It does support third-party plugins (you need to choose the right path in the settings) but it all depends on what version of Studio One you are actually using (1, 2, 3, Artist, Producer, Professional) and what sort of plugins you are trying to use (32 or 64 bit). For example some of them (like 32 bit) wouldn't work. You can find mor on the subject at Presonus Studio One Forum.
+Michael Majeran You have to use the professional version, and it costs money. But they don't tell you that before you download it, so it's very frustrating. That's why I said don't download it because this video is about free software
You are right. The free version is hopelessly limited...
Cakewalk by Bandlab is completely free. It's the entire flagship version of Cakewalk Sonar Platmum. Bandlab bought it, and made it free for everyone! Ive been using Cakewalk since 2004, and the new Cakewalk by Bandlab really is an amazing DAW!
Again, Completely FREEEE!
yep...... the mt pdk is good enough for basic to intermediate practice playing as well as for recording drum tracks..... comes with lots of free cool grooves & decent mixer too. (volume of individual drum components can be adjusted)
for a (free or not) daw, i think nothing else comes close to cockos Reaper.
Adding a focusrite Scarlett Solo interface to the setup would make your live drums sparkle & make you wanna go be a (home) recording engineer./producer.
Omg! You helped me so much! There’s no other video out there teaching beginners how to do this kind of stuff!!!! I really appreciate you!!!
I have a question that I’ve been trying to figure out how to use my computer or speakers to play my drums, so I don’t have to use the headphones all the time, can you teach me? Idk if I have all the cables needed and everything because I’ve tried many things and they didn’t work! I have a Simmons Titan 20 btw!
Thanks for doing this. I downloaded tracktion a few months ago. Gave it 10 minutes then gave up. I'll give it another go now.
First off, thank you for your excellent research and for sharing. If someone is using this information presently, Tracktion 8 is the current release. It has a little different interface and setup technique. Follow the video here for setting up to use for your kit. You DO NOT have to use Tracktion's setup routine as shown on the first tab on the upper left when it is opened. Works great with an Alesis DM6 module. I am new to Edrums but a veteran drummer and this is a great first lesson on MIDI triggering for drums. What I'm wondering though is there only one sound for the kit on MT Powerkit? Also, with me using only a pedal trigger switch with hi-hat, I get a "loosely closed" sound when pedal is down. I also dont get a solid "chick" out of them, more like a "sizzle"
Any way to tighten the hats? Thank you in advance.
Hey dude can you help me? I too have an Alesis DM6 and this is my first time setting up a VST. I have installed Tracktion Waveform and set up MT PowerKit (Haven't installed ASIO yet).
In Tracktion, my kit is being detected as a MIDI device and I have enabled it as Input and Output (as showed in the video at 5:25)
The issue is the keyboard in Tracktion is not detecting any MIDI signals from the DM6. Keep in mind this is my first time setting up the stuff so I haven't made any prerequisite setting changes if there are any. (I read somewhere something and tried changing the Pattern in the DM6 module from P-N to --N, still didn't work).
I am using Windows 10 and tried my USB3.0 as well as USB2.0 ports if it helps
@@kunns123 Did you fix that?
@@XDask No lol, I came to the conclusion that my MIDI Port is busted as I've tried other DAWs as well as using Linux after this comment.
Unfortunately I've left drumming altogether now so can't help anymore. Cheers mate!
Now they offer cakewalk by bandlab for free, it comes with studio instruments and you can add third party vsts. I currently use it with SSD4 it works great.
Super video, audio, and tools, thanks man!!
Thanks man :)
That was a great vid..
Very informative.
Just what I needed and all the links to the free software too...
Excellent.
Thanks fella.
Thank you much. This helped me get My alesis dm lite kit working with double bass after years of disappointment. Amazing. Got it to work with reaper
Thanks for this tutorial I installed the 2 software but i didnt hear the sounds I hit my Edrum it shows hitting the drum kit 2 the soundwave registers but i dont hear any from the computer speaker where i can set this up thank you
Hi, very good video, i download the vst , and it work well but hi hat work only open , how can i mapping it with my alesis dm10 module?
You can control every piece of the kit, there is a a mixer with pan and compression for each slider, you missed it!! I have found that the best DAW to use with this free VSTI is Reaper , important thing is to use an asio driver for low latency. If you are not using a dedicated audio device then your best option is the ASIO4ALL driver. All free. Reaper is very efficient on the cpu and memory.
I never could get on with Traction, or ANY DAW come to that matter. I'm too old school, I just use a tracker that can host VST instruments instead. Programming my drums is more my workflow anyway, it could probably get it to work with an electronic kit but I just don't see a point as I'm not a drummer or have any skills at drumming.
Using alesis nitro and its not responding on the keyboard to midi
Very needed INFO! I have had frustrating, Upsetting Failures for the last few months. #1 Old TD-10 set collecting dust #2 TD-#) kit with usb midi #3 Mash all into Monster Kit and Blow the doors off my Neighbor's! Simple? well not yet. Going out td10 phones into td-30 mix in Got sound but the two NEVER wish to Level mesh or stay. Worse maybe? Gotta pick each piece in the custom kits. Trying to make kit change between songs was an embarrassing Sh!tShow Failure! Tech-support=Joke! After ponying up big coin. 6 different DAWs? I'll Give traction or "Waveform" A shot. I'm subscribed and looking forward to more from You.
It recognises my kit as a midi input and output, but for some reason it doesn't show a sounds when I hit a drum on the keyboard thing
I am having the exact same issue as you two ! Can we please get some assistance here with a reply ?
clifford deweese Yeah... That would be helpful
Late but you may have to record enable the track depending on the DAW you use.
Don´t know what that means, but I will try to find that option. Thanks for the help :)
Did you figure how to fix it? I am experiencing the same issue with the Alesis Forge.
my audio only is coming out of 1 speaker, the rest of my computer isnt doing that, just tracktion.
I have FLS 20.8...i was about to hook up my kit in the MIDI settings, but couldn't open up anything VST,
Thanks for the info. Cakewalk is now free and can use external VST.
I have an Alesis DM Lite, and when I got to the part of hitting the drums to see if they work, the keyboard didn't respond. help?
Same thing here. HELP!
the reason why is because the dm lite is a older kit meaning your more than likely using windows 8 or newer and it isnt compatible with the older kits
@@sladejohnson6464 no the nitro is a newer kit and it is compatible with newer windows so if your using a nitro it will work.
@@sladejohnson6464 did you ever find a fix for this? I am trying with my alesis nitro and it detects it but does not show the hits on the keyboard
I tried on DM Lite and it works. but.... i had to adjust the midi map code for hihat according to getsatisfaction.com/alesis/topics/how_to_select_gm_on_alesis_dm_lite . in fact the program didn't distinguish between closed and open hihat. and the recording doesn't work good. it records a small percentage of hits.but it surely detects the sound so i can listen on my phones to the drums being played and a youtube song at the same time.
BTW www.playdrumsonline.com/ has a midi-input via chrome browser which is a good solution for learning playing.
Cakewalk is an amazing free DAW as well
Hi, I really enjoy your channel. I have gone through this setup over and over and I cannot seem to figure out what I am doing wrong. I have an old Roland TD-8 module. It only has Midi ins/outs. I am using a usb/midi cable to connnect to my windows 10 laptop. I have downloaded Tracktion and MT Power Drumkit. My PC sees the usb midi, but does not recognize it as the Roland TD-8. It does not recognize when I hit a drum at all. If I use the ASIO driver, and use my mouse to hit the drums it gives me a crazy weird sound effect on all the drums. I can only get a normal drum sound when I use the windows driver. Also, at one point it did register hits on my drum kit. But I cannot get it to do it again. What am I doing wrong? Cheers for any help.
How to enable choke cymbal. My choke cymbal is not working.
I am using MT Power Drum Kit with MuLab 7 DAW also for free but only allowed to use 4 tracks which works fine for me. Cause if you do more than 4 tracks it makes some weird sounds is what I read!! And I also used the ASIO4all too!! Cool video sure it will help some people!!
HELLO. I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH ROUTING A td-1dmk AND THE MT-Power Drum KiT. EXAMPLE THE HIT HAT IS DUAL ZONE BY ASSIGNING THE SOUND TO THE OUTER EDGE WHEN I HIT THE UPPER AREA IT DOES NOT SOUND. OR ON OCCASIONS DUE TO VIBRATIONS, I HIT A PART OF THE DRUM, THE CABLE OF A CYMBAL VIBRATES AND ACTIVATES THE SOUND, AND I HAVE A TOM SOUNDING LIKE A CYMBAL. HELLP
Im actually gonna get a drum set real soon and i have found this video very helpful even especially with that daw u my friend have earned a subscriber
Did you look at VST host programs like VST HOST (PC) might be much less resource hungry than Traction.
SpinDreams VSThost is by far the best way to do it on the cheap (free) A DAW will not give you the lowest latency is most cases...
I'm having trouble and it's frustrating! I did all this step by step but using the SSD 5.5 Free plugin instead. I can see the keyboard keys light up when I hit my drums, but it doesn't trigger the drums in SSD. I can click on them with the mouse and hear the sounds, but nothing from Waveform seems to go to plugin. I know the MIDI works too because if I open up Garageband I can actually HEAR the drums when I hit them (on the Macbook). So it seems that everything is working accept for Waveform passing my trigger on to SSD
It does not recognize when I play the closed hi hat. any Idea why that is?
Just recently started watching your channel. You helped me be able to pick out a pretty awesome electronic drum set and learn a lot of new things. I really love your channel keep up the awesome work dude! -jak-
Help. I downloaded both but it won't find the PowerDrum. The drag and drop won't work either. :(
This is gonna be hard... Alright here we go!
In the Track my drum is not listed, but under MIDI input it was showing.
To make bass louder, could you boost up the gain on the sample, then replace the original sample?
Dude, been looking for this for so long. I got mine hooked up now. Thanks!
Glad you liked it! Thanks man :)
This video fucking changed my life dude I cant thank you enough I got rid of the shitty sounds from my module GOD FUCKING BLESS YOU
I have and old Alesis dm5 pro kit with no USB just midi in out, my interface doesn't have the midi or USB port, so the Alesis go direct to pc usb port , I'm using Reaper and the MT drums, but it doesn't make any sound or trigger the midi. it doesn't show up on my device's options .whats am I doing wrong ???
Having same issue with Alesis Nitro. Traktion is recognizing the alesis, names it. In the module I set my LOC to off, GM to on like instructions say...but to no avail......Update. used bandlabs/cakewalk which is also free and worked easily. So must be a traktion/nitro issue.
I got stuck. It's not letting me record and my hi hat control is making the China sound
Great, you put a ton of work in, thanks for the guidance Justin.
I guess you could possibly open a second drum track and on that only record the kick drum that way you would put the effects on that track to boost the kick! Just a thought I've never tried anything like that or anything!
When I record my drums I can't hear it, but I see that the program is receiving the signal. Any help?
Try going to your settings and choose asoi or mme cause thats what works for me
Thanks
HUGE HELP! I'll be checking this out definitely. Improvement over the sounds in my Nitro kit, until I upgrade. It's mainly for practice anyway
+Lejon glad it helped :)
Thank you very much for this. I found it very helpful for recording my Alesis Nitro set.
i know its been 2 years but im struggling with this rn, just one question does doing this make the sounds dynamic? i tried some bandlab thing and it sensed the midi but all the hits sounded the same , as in the ghosts recorded with the same velocity as the louder hits. so my question is if i do this can i record midi with the volume im actually playing on?
What a shame that a free drum VST plug in sounds better than the TD30 stock sounds. SMH
+gregthegroove the problem is the dynamic range is better with the td30 sounds.
65 Drums very good point. I still think Roland needs to go the VST drum kit route with their top end kits.
So I did this step by step, and I keep getting an error msg saying a file is missing. The one that says "content"
I've repeated the process 3x but still getting the same msg
This is such a helpful video, can't thank you enough for investing all that time!
I tried hitting some toms on my Alesis Nitro Mesh kit and it doesnt seem to register with the piano key notes. But its being detected and is enabled.
Waveform sees my Alesis but does not get any midi info from it.
Not sure how that is possible. But sadly im stuck. Since it won't record anything Even the plugin doesn't register any hits.
Thanks. Justin. You da man! ! I know it was probably a pain in the butt to do that for me ands all of us new to the e- drum scene. Thanks again!
+Jerry Armstrong it kinda was a pain, but worth it :)
I plugged in my alesis surge to my laptop via usb midi and im having a problem. It shows up as a midi divice in Tracktion but it isnt actually taking inputs. like it does activate the keyboard and it doesnt make sounds on the plugin. What can i do from here? Thanks.
Same problem bro. Sid you get any solution?
@@NKM_Pixels no man, I don't have that kit anymore
So what did you do for the recording? Did you just uninstall waveform?
@@NKM_Pixels I never got anything working besides the direct output from the kit itself.
Can anyone help me? I tried hitting the drum pads but the keyboard is not showing any sign that it is detecting it
Anybody know how to get rid of the splash sound that happens when you barelly open your hi-hat?
Hey how can I can record my self with a camera and play a background song with ez drummer or this app?
Hi ! I own an Alesis DM6 which is connected to my computer via USB, like in the video, it is recognized by Tracktion because it moves the green bar in the software when i hit it, but the keyboard representation doesn't actually show any movement and it doesn't make any sound either (Also, PowerDrumKit doesn't recognize it either), does anyone know where it might come from ?
Hey, did you ever figure this out??
There are two modes with the Alesis DM6 Module when it comes to its USB output.
Hit the Pattern button. Then change the display with the + and - buttons until it reads - - N and not P - N
puu.sh/B2Imm/baeeb83514.png
@@philosophiabme Hey man. I tried your solution on my DM6, it still doesn't work.
hey guys i found the solution to your problems with the alesis dm6 not working with it. it is because the dm6 does not work with windows 10 so switch to a win 7 or mac to make it work. hope this helps
Can't seem to record properly, can you help me out if I give details?
I’m getting the the td17kvx taking your advice on that one as the best bang for the buck, those free plugins look like untold hassle, would I be best at least to start by just editing and equing onboard sounds. I have always been disappointed with electronic drums for the low volume of hihats and the lack of what I call real drum sounds. For instance I love the old recording of good times roll by the cars, the electronic Tom sounds in that recording are epic, I expected modern edrums to at least replicate that, but they can’t from what I’ve seen. Is it possible to achieve those sounds??
I've been trying to use Traktion and MTPowerDrumKit VST and it won't work. Won't recognize the VST and errors every time trying to manually install the VSTs. Apparently this is a common thing.
Hi Justin, I am searching for those "Gavin Harrison-like" bell-chime sound samples. Any ideas? Thanks for your videos! Love them!
Hi, What to do if there's no sound on the crash