MIDI to Drums: Quick and Simple (Pro Tools)

So you've got MIDI data mapped out and need to take the data from note to sound to prepare for a mix engineer... It sounds like a painstaking process but it's actually rather simple! Albeit there is some set up time involved.

Things you need:

1. MIDI data
2. Drum Replacement (Drumagog, Trigger, etc)
3. A little patience

Step one: Create one stereo audio track and one AUX track along with importing your MIDI data.



Step two: Right click on your MIDI data and select Event Operations>Select/Split Notes. You will see the following screen:



Select All Notes and Split Notes. You're going to end up with new MIDI tracks on a per note basis, so this is essentially setting up for multitrack drum replacement.



That's it! Now you're ready to route and replace.

Step three: Load your drum replacement program on the AUX send and find your settings. For this example I am using Drumagog.



Select MIDI IN ENABLE (look for similar setting in your drum replacement software if not using Drumagog) You will also need to choose the corresponding note from the dropdown menu, in this case as it's a kick drum, I have selected C1 (#36). Make sure to load a sample too!

Route your MIDI track as follows:



Output>Drumagog1>Channel 1

Now press play and you should hear the the samples playing and see level!



Step four: We're almost there...Now you need to route the AUX into the Audio track....



Create a send to a buss of your choice. For me, I'm going with the "KICK" bus. Organization is always important.



Step five: Make sure to Ctrl+Click on the send fader to zero it out so you pass the audio along. Now select the Input on your Audio track and choose the proper buss. Next you need to record enable the Audio track, press F12 and watch the magic drummer appear!



That's all there is to it! 5 steps and you have real drums in your music, can't beat that!

You will want to follow these steps for each corresponding note/kit piece. You will see "Drumagog2", "Drumagog3" etc on the MIDI output selection, so make sure to go down the line in order, always selecting Channel 1.

That's where patience comes in, but once it's all set up press of F12, grab a drink while it records and you're done creating multitrack drums from MIDI data.

Time to go get those tracks mix ready!