Output "files" from Addictive Drums 2 or EZDrummer 2 into a DAW?

[buzzardwhiskey]

So far, the gear (the studio and all the HW/SW therein) for our next recording will be less than $1000. Instead of upgrading to Presonus, I'm going to take that $400 and rent a banjo and violin player.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

So far, the gear (the studio and all the HW/SW therein) for our next recording will be less than $1000. Instead of upgrading to Presonus, I'm going to take that $400 and rent a banjo and violin player.

That's certainly a viable option. And I honestly have no wish to derail your thread.

However since an objective discussion talking about appeal of relative workflow , implementation , intuitiveness , straight forwardness, strengths and weakness of different DAW's is interesting and I would think could make for a very informative thread particularly for any who are looking to move into DAW recording or switching from one of the free DAWs . SO what I will do is think about doing is starting a different thread or series of threads specifically for those types of discussions ....
And leave this thread to be about your situation

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Hey if your happy with Reaper that's all that matters Not trying to get into a DAW fight here and I suppose everybody is different and it of course depends on ones definition "straight forward " as well as what someone has actually "seen" ......

However honestly my experience (with Pro Tools, Reason, Reaper, and now Studio One 3 Pro ... (in order of amount of time having been used) has been very different.

I have used Pt for 13 years so obviously that is my reference for comparison. And relatively speaking most of those actions in Reaper involve more steps and are more complex (and uses the least intuitive language) than in either Pro Tools or Studio One

For just one example .. Lets say you have 8 drum tracks one for each instrument in the drum kit.. To set those 8 drum tracks as a group and route them to a group bus/aux track in Reaper (if I remember correctly) you have to first make a Drum Bus track, and then open up the routing window for that track, and then find the correct option for routing a send , then select the input and output for that track. Then you have to go to each of those 8 tracks and individually one at a time change the output to the new drum bus input.

To set up a VCA for that group in Reaper you have create the track , go into the track routing matrix select all the drum tracks , select them to be slave tracks then select the VCA track to be the master for those tracks. And unless the fixed in the latest 5 version when you move the VCA fader it does change the level But does not actually move the faders on the group tracks ( which is a very nice visual reference as to what it is you are actually doing

In PT you also make a bus/aux track , then click and select a bus pair, then shift click to highlight the 8 tracks and option click any one output in the 8 tracks select the bus and all are routed to the new bus track, takes about 5 to 8 seconds
Same thing for A VCA

In Studio One it is even quicker and simpler you shift highlight the 8 tracks, right click and select "Create Bus track for selected tracks ) and click . All 8 are auto routed to the new Bus , takes about 2 to 4 seconds literally.. very impressive
Same for a VCA

Now none of these things are a monumental problem in scope, and for certain session/project/song ... templates, renders much of this a mute point. And I'm certainly not suggesting it as a reason to not use Reaper. But
there is a reason that the download for Reaper is the smallest of any of the more full function DAWs.... And that is because it has the least amount of coding already built in for simplifying complex or repetitive actions.

Not sure what a 'VCA' is ... but a template/project already setup with routing simplifies Reaper tremendously. My drums are all panned correctly, reverb sends and convolution file in place (I can always change it), same with Instrument group/reverb and Vocal group/reverb. I keep the reverb faders down when tracking, just my preference.

[buzzardwhiskey]

A VCA is a group, often used to control grouped volumes. It gets a little blurred when mixing is done "in the box" because the acronym doesn't hold (Voltage Controlled Amplifier).

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Not sure what a 'VCA' is ... but a template/project already setup with routing simplifies Reaper tremendously. My drums are all panned correctly, reverb sends and convolution file in place (I can always change it), same with Instrument group/reverb and Vocal group/reverb. I keep the reverb faders down when tracking, just my preference.

Yep templates are without question one of the most useful tools in the digital arsenal

As far as a VCA, like buzzardwhiskey said it is an acronym left over from the analog days. You can think of it as a group fader with enhanced features. And in a modern DAW they are very useful tool and my preference of means of controlling the levels of groups. So as not to further drift this thread I will start a new thread and go into more detail of why I think that.

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Yep templates are without question one of the most useful tools in the digital arsenal

As far as a VCA, like buzzardwhiskey said it is an acronym left over from the analog days. You can think of it as a group fader with enhanced features. And in a modern DAW they are very useful tool and my preference of means of controlling the levels of groups. So as not to further drift this thread I will start a new thread and go into more detail of why I think that.

Well, then yes, that's exactly what I do in Reaper - the 'group fader controls everything in it. Reaper has lots of ways to do that of course - I could just 'select all' the instrument tracks and then moving the fader on one would move the rest at the same time.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

Well, then yes, that's exactly what I do in Reaper - the 'group fader controls everything in it. Reaper has lots of ways to do that of course - I could just 'select all' the instrument tracks and then moving the fader on one would move the rest at the same time.

Check out my OP in the my new thread a bit more detail and might better explain VCA's

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=428677