Recording MIDI Drums

Recording all types of MIDI instruments (MIDIfied guitar, MIDI sax, etc.) can be done the same way as MIDI keyboards in the previous walkthroughs. MIDI drum kits are no exception. However, because MIDI drum kits don’t really deal with pitch or note length so much, there is another editor in Cubase called the Drum Editor designed specifically for working with MIDI drum parts.

A MIDI drum kit is usually set up more like an external synth than a MIDI controller using a VST instrument, because a MIDI drum kit usually comes with its own “brain.” The MIDI drum kit’s brain is used to translate the hits on the individual drum pads to MIDI info consisting of MIDI note numbers, MIDI velocity, aftertouch, and MIDI lengths. Without this brain, the drums would simply output low-level audio noise. In most cases, the drum brain is not only the source for acquiring this MIDI info but also the sound source (much like an external synth outputs audio along with MIDI information). Because most drummers prefer the feel of a real acoustic drum kit to a MIDI kit, they sometimes don’t really understand how MIDI works and assume that the sounds in the drum brain are the only sounds they can work with. Even though these sounds are usually very good, it’s possible to trigger any type of MIDI drum kit sample from another source. This means that instead of simply recording, for instance, a snare drum part on an audio track in Cubase, you could actually record a snare drum MIDI track and later assign it to whatever instrument you feel necessary. If you really liked a snare sound from a particular recording, you could sample it with a virtual or hardware sampler and trigger it with your MIDI drum kit by using the same sample player along with Cubase. Like a MIDI keyboard, when recording with a MIDI drum kit, you can change the sounds, edit the timing and dynamics, and change drum parts before any audio is even recorded. If you were recording acoustic drums and wanted to change the snare drum after the part was recorded, you would have to re-record the entire drum part. With MIDI, you simply need to change to a different patch or preset on your sound source or change the sound source altogether.