Battery 3 Beginner Questions

I am BRAND NEW to Battery. I just purchased Komplete 8 and am a complete beginner. I've watched several You Tube videos and am struggling with a few simple things. Any suggestions will be appreciated greatly.


*** I'm using Cubase LE 6 on a new Mac as my host. When I bring up Battery 3 (DEVICES>VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS>BATTERY 3) I see the user interface. I can browse the kits and can load them. ***


1) How do I "play" a kit? Is there a "play" button that I'm missing which will play a groove or pattern using that kit? If so, where is it?

2) Are there pre built grooves/patterns as in Studio Drummer?

3) If the only way to play the kit is through tapping out a rhythm on my midi keyboard, how do I sequence that? Do I begin recording the track in Cubase then just begin playing the drum sequence?

4) In the videos on You Tube that I've watched, the author shows how to hear each individual cell but then he says, "and now you're kit is ready to play..." and the video doesn't show what he's doing to get this great rhythm. Is he just tapping out the rhythm on his midi controller?

5) I kind of have the same question for the African library as well but I realize this is the Battery forum).


Thanks VERY MUCH for helping out a complete Noobie

N

 

I don't know anything about Cubase or Studio Drummer but I'll try to answer some of your questions.

1 - There isn't a "Play" button anywhere in Battery, you play your drums from a MIDI controller or sequence them in your DAW.

2 - I don't know

3 - You can either record your playing real-time or enter the notes in one by one by hand or using step-input (if Cubase supports it)

4 - I don't know what video you watched, but yeah the guys either playing it live through a MIDI controller or using a sequencer to get his rhythms.

 

2) Battery comes with no grooves but you can drag any midi drum file into your DAW and Battery will play it. This is a good way to get started, drag in a simple drum pattern and then tweak it by moving the notes around. There are tons of drum midi files on the internet (free and paid).

3) If you want to "play" your own beats get a midi controller. The Korg nanopad 2 is a good cheap set of pads that will let you play Battery. You can set up your DAW to record what you play and it will paint in the midi notes you hit. Then you can go back and fix your notes afterwards.

 

why would you wanna go through all that in battery when you can just do that in logics esx24

 

Why would anyone use any other drum sampler (or indeed any other sampler) if you already have one that comes with your DAW?

I suppose many people (like myself) find Battery more intuitive to use as a drum sampler than EXS24, certainly it's a lot easier to create your own kits using Battery than EXS24. And Battery's library of kits is more extensive and superior to EXS24's.

Which is not say that EXS24 is no good, but as a drum sampler it is limited. I also use Kontakt because, as a sampler, it is easier to use, has a superior library (and is supported by a lot third party companies that make interesting and unusual sample libraries) and has more programming possibilities than EXS24.

I still use EXS24 occasionally, but there are other alternatives out there in the musical software universe that are worth using.

 

i use both the esx24 and I use ultrabeat with battery....I have made countless custom kits in ultrabeat using batteries drums...I was just asking the question “ why wasn’t he using esx24 “ cause after I read the problem ( being a Logic guy ) I know for a fact he can do what he was asking in the esx24...there are endless ways to do 1 thing it’s really just someones personal preference

 

In Logic if I'm using Battery or EXS24 I always program drums using the Hyper Editor, I find it to be as equally quick & flexible for both plugins.

I really like Ultrabeat but I find it's a bit too CPU heavy to use multiple instances of it in a project so the alternative is to use Battery or EXS24 with the Hyper Editor & create a set of event definitions containing the drum hits specific to that instrument.

As you say, it's all down to personal preference.

PS. I don't know if the OP has Logic, he says in his first post he's using Cubase.

 

you are correct Ruari...I have ZERO clue as to why I mentioned anything about the esx24 and Logic in this thread...I bow out shamefully ....ladies and gentlemen...I FAILED as there was no mention of logic..

 

:lol:

 

Agree with you on this but one thing i want to know that which is the best Battery to go for these days as every single Battery comes with huge promises.

 

I always buy Duracell, they last for ages