Question about drums

[Niallus]

I've searched for this question and can't find anything, so here it goes.

The InstantDrummer is, of course, brilliant, but after a while (and especially for the kind of drums I am looking to create) it becomes a bit limited.

Is it possible to use the rewire ability to link riffworks to a drum loop sequencer, and record custom drums onto riffs as a 'layer'.

If so, could somebody direct me to:

(a)Some free (and legal!) drum loop software that can be rewired to riffworks, and
(b) Some basic instructions on how to record said loop to a riff.

Thanks for any help!

[cwight]

Hi Niallus,

Don't know too much about it, but check out this thread for some excellent free drum loops. Once you have down loaded them simply go to the Backups tab, select the Rex player and load the one you want to use. You can use 4 at once along with an instant drummer session. Check the Instant drummer forum for more info.

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=4184

[michelle]

Here's a guide for using the RexPlayer in RiffWorks:

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guide/index.php/RexPlayer

[blue4u]

I've had a quick fix in mind for opening up our background options for a while now...

Add in the "LAYER INFO" button to both, Instant Drummer and Backups. This way, we can automate the gain to bring in exactly which parts we like from different samples and Instant Drummers. With 4 REX loops and the Instant Drummer all running simultaneously, the possibilities for this are just about endless....an opening cymbal from an Instant Drummer, followed by tom rolls from a REX file and a snare hit from another REX file, etc. etc. all inside of a single riff! I think this option would open up RiffWorks in a big way!! Imagine how creative we could be If we went a step further and made it possible to run more than one instance of an Instant Drummer inside a single riff or, layer it could get even more insane. There are other uses for this as well, such as, when you use an "ending" part from a drummer and you don't want it to repeat. As it is now, if your loop is too long the ending will play multiple times. Gain automation via the INFO LAYER would remedy that problem.

For those who haven't tapped into the great Jedi power of the info button and thus, have no idea what I'm going on about, read about it here:

http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guide/index.php/Gain_Automation

and here: http://www.sonomawireworks.com/newsletter_sep_06.php#column

I hope you guys @ Sonoma Wireworks will give this some thought. Maybe you've already thought of it? My hope is that it isn't too difficult to implement into a future release

Rich

[Charvelguy]

huh? Oh man, this is a whole 'nother realm of recording.

[cwight]

Hi Rich, that would be awesome and it def gets my vote. But I was also wondering whether it was possible to create Rex files that just have say a tom tom fill at the end of the bar or something, or a snare fill in the middle and then silence otherwise? This would have the same effect as what you suggest, but might be possible to do now.

The info button is incredible and it allows you to basically edit layers and hence produce composites of the best bits of various takes. Making me lazy mind. I do four or so takes then construct one that I like by using the info rather than practicing to get that 'perfect' take.

I've noticed however, that sometimes the info lines are like bars that you can manipulate and at others it's like one long line. anyone know what's going on here?

[fooks]

hi cw, the bars are there on 4bar riffs or less, maybe up to 6bars, haven't checked that, tho.

[cwight]

Ok. thanks Fooks, makes sense. I think I actually prefer the bars cos you can get a real clean cut at a def point. It's a minor diff though, and the line only introduces a slight slope...