using liquid rhythm to create midi patterns for addictive drums

April 23, 2014 3:59 PM

Help me search for the way to fix it so that the pattern I hear in Liquid Rhythm gets played on roughly the 'right' drums when I export midi into Addictive Drums. At the moment importing Midi into AD from LR results in stuff played at the right time on unexpected drums. What is fixing this problem called so I can search for a solution?

This may be as simple as telling me what to search for, but I'm new to the music shenanigans and I am knee deep in new terminology. My ask is as follows: I am using liquid rhythm (henceforth 'LR') as a nice interface to quickly knock together some drum patterns. LR can export midi. Great. Do that. I want to import these into Addictive Drums (AD) so I can make the same patterns sound a bit nicer. I do so, but:
The patterns get played with the expected timing, but on the wrong drums. (e.g. cymbal instead of kick, etc)

One of the programs is assigning the drums to different 'horizontal lines' in my midi "piano roll" than it ought to/or is useful for me.

I could copy and paste the parts 'up or down the scale' to the right drums, preserving the timing, but this is a pain, especially if I have to do it every time. (Also as far as I can tell that is a bit of a hair-trigger operation, with stuff snapping-to-grid or extending notes etc if you are not very careful).

AD's "Midi assignment" (If that's the phrase?) seems a bit weird. When I play individual drums using my keyboard they are not grouped in the way that seems usual (based on my previous experience of mucking about on the likes of Garage band where there was a cluster of drums over a couple or three octaves or so. There seem to be more drums on AD as you might expect, but there are also gaps and stuff.)

Thank you for any help.

[Apologies if I should have entered this as 'computers & internet' rather than media and arts. Seemed right to me at the time.]

posted by aesop to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Response by poster: In case it's useful, the workflow goes like this:
make beat up in LR->save as midi->Make new track in Reaper->drag midi file from where it's saved onto the track, midi pattern appears->set Addictive drums as 'instrument' to play same.
posted by aesop at 4:13 PM on April 23, 2014

Best answer: I've never used Liquid Rhythm, but I've used AD extensively, so I can offer a little advice from that side. If you go to the mapping window in AD, you should have a selection of map presets to choose from (for various electronic drums, etc.). My suspicion is that LR will export your drum grooves in a standard GM drum format. If you select the GM mapping for AD, it's very likely that your sequences will play on the right kit pieces.

If not--XLN has a video detailing how to use the mapping window to learn the right mappings for your exports. Hopefully it won't come to that ... it's sort of tedious.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:21 AM on April 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks Uncleozzy, I'll try that.

I just found the mapping window in AD a couple of minutes before I checked in here at AskMeFi. I made up a new custom map for LR (because I found that all its drum tracks had wee little numbers corresponding to their midi assignments that I did not previously understand), so I laboriously-by-hand copied a bunch of them across. It's not perfect, but much better. Turns out I can edit those same numbers per-track, per-song in LR, too. (ie set up a kit in LR, then edit the assigned numbers for the tracks those drums are on). Probably more annoying than getting a preloaded map set up in AD, though I could just make up a blank 'template' song for LR.

Anyway, off to try the GM map to see if it did a better job of it than me.

Thanks for your patience. As I say, I only just now figured out that this whole thing is even called midi mapping, which is, if not half the battle, a good quarter, cause now I know what I am trying to find out about.
posted by aesop at 7:17 AM on April 24, 2014

Response by poster: As far as I can tell, that's got it! So GM is a pretty standard set up is it? I see AD has 7-odd mappings available for different systems. Still I think I know how to tweak it now if need be. The next thing is to try making up new instruments in LR to get more out of AD, eg there's no cymbal choke in LR so maybe I can MAKE ONE.... off to the lab again. Sooner or later I'll actually get around to making some , y'know, music... Thank you!
posted by aesop at 7:24 AM on April 24, 2014

So GM is a pretty standard set up is it?

Yup; it stands for General MIDI.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:49 AM on April 24, 2014