SSD 3.5 Operation Manual 1.2

8/8/2019 SSD 3.5 Operation Manual 1.2

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Quick Welcome from Steven

Hello to you, the newest member of the Steven Slate Drums family.

You have just purchased six years of hard work, dedication, passion,persistence, and determinationall with one goal in mind: to make youthe absolute best drum software on the planet. It is my hope that you willsoon believe that we achieved this goal.

But despite the fact that my name appears on the box, I am far from theonly person responsible for the making of this software. Here are just afew of the people who helped make this software possible. Some helpedby physically making the software, others helped test and perfect it, andsome just inspired me to make it better:

Dan Kirk, Alex Simechev, Alex Siegel, Marty Long, Joel Adkins, JayBaumgardner, The NRG Recording Staff, Scott Reinwand, Jeff Juliano,Andy Sneap and the Sneap forum boys, Joel Adkins, Jerry Lyons, AdrianOst, Chris Lord Alge, John Shepherd, Nathanael Lew, and all the loyalcustomers and fans over the years who have made it all worthwhile. Itsbecause of your encouragement that this product has evolved into themassive monster that accompanies this manual. I hope you make greatmusic with these drums, and I thank you for purchasing, and not piratingthis software.

Steven Slate

CREDITS:

Produced, Recorded, and Mixed by Steven SlateTechnical Director and Sample Programming: Daniel Kirk

Algorithms, Programming: Alex Simechev

Drummers: Jerry Lyons, Adrian Ost, Joel Adkins, Steven Slate Graham Mueller, Terry Capote, Jim Aaarons, CraigMcCain


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Editors: Joel Adkins, Marty Long, Steven Slate, Nathanael Lew

Warehouse Studio Crew: Joel Adkins, Jeff Parton, Sam Rodriguez

NRG Recording Engineers: Dave Colvin, Sean Curiel

The Castle Crew: Joel Adkins, Jeff Parton, Craig The Mouth Fellows


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Table Of Contents

I. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 6 System Requirements.................................................................................................

II. Getting Started ......................................................................................................... 6 SSD 3.5 (Standalone Application)..............................................................................

- Setting Up Audio and Midi .................................................................................................SSD 3.5 (Plug-in) .........................................................................................................

III. Using Steven Slate Drums 3.5 ..........................................................................12 - Selecting a Drum Kit (Multi) Using the LIBRARY Tab .....................................................- Selecting a Drum Kit (Multi) Using the LIBRARY Tab Cont ........... ........... .......... ........... .- Replacing a Drum or Cymbal in a MULTI..........................................................................- Hybrid Sounds ....................................................................................................................- Replacing Toms and Cymbals...........................................................................................

IV. Drum Instrument Settings and Features ....................................................16 Universal Features of All Instruments.......................................................................

- Overhead Mic Settings .......................................................................................................- Room Selection Drop-Down Meny ....................................................................................- Character Settings ..............................................................................................................- Direct Mics Settings............................................................................................................- Room Mics Settings............................................................................................................

Using the SSD 3.5 Effects and Envelope Pages for Instruments...........................- Effects Page.....................................................................................................................- Envelope Page.................................................................................................................

Instrument Specific Features ....................................................................................- Kick Drum Instruments ......................................................................................................- Snare Drum Instruments....................................................................................................- Tom Instruments.................................................................................................................- Hi Hat Instruments. .............................................................................................................- Ride Instruments.................................................................................................................- Crash Cymbal Instruments ................................................................................................- Add-On (X-Slot Splash/China) Instruments......................................................................- Add-On (X) Rides ................................................................................................................- Snare Articulation Instruments .........................................................................................

V. Using Overall Features in Kontakt Player and Kontakt 3.5 ....................28 Using the SSD 3.5 Channel Output Mixer.............................................................Using the SSD 3.5 Master Editor (Master Volume) ..............................................Saving Changes to Kits and Instruments ............................................................

VI. Discretely Routing Drum Channels into your DAW .................................34 Pro Tools.................................................................................................................Cubase ....................................................................................................................Logic........................................................................................................................


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VII. Advanced Settings ..............................................................................................46 Humanizer....................................................................................................................Instrument Remapping ...............................................................................................Velocity Curve Assignment ........................................................................................Resetting the Instruments Mixer Settings.................................................................

Advanced Midi Remapping ........................................................................................

VIII. V-Drum Set -up and Optimization by Dan Kirk........................................54 Not So Obvious Reasons Your V-Drums May Have Issues with SSD ....................

- Drum Head Tuning..............................................................................................................- Striking Position and Placement of Hits...........................................................................- Suggestion On Where and How to Hit Certain Drum Pads.............................................- Time and Hardware Malfunction........................................................................................- Not Accurately Monitoring Your Drums ...........................................................................- Suggestion On Where and How to Hit Certain Drum Pads.............................................

Roland TD-20 Set-Up...................................................................................................- Suggested Settings for the Roland TD-20 .......... ........... ........... ........... .......... ........... ........

Steven Slate Drums 3.5 Keyboard Mapping ..........................................................


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I. Introduction

Steven Slate Drums 3.5 is an extensive drum instrument library that usesNative Instruments Kontakt 3 software sampler as a host.

To get Steven Slate Drums 3.5 up and running on your computer you mustopen the Kontakt 3.5 software sampler as a Standalone Application onyour computer or run the Kontakt 3.5 software as a Plug-in in a (DigitalAudio Workstation (DAW for short) such as Apple Logic, DigidesignProtools, Calkwalk Sonar or Steinberg Cubase.

System RequirementsMac: OS 10.4.x, G4 2gHz or higher, 2GB RAM - samples must be on at leasta 5400 RPM hard drive, eSATA, Firewire 800 recommendedPC: Windows XP SP2, 2gHz or higher, 2GB RAM samples must be on atleast a 5400 RPM hard drive, eSATA, Firewire 800 recommended

II. GETTING STARTED

SSD 3.5 (Standalone Application)

To use the SSD Player live with a midi interface (such as a keyboard or v-drums), you can open the Standalone Version of Kontakt 3.5 on yourcomputer. To do this, simply open the Kontakt 3.5/Kontakt Player 3.5application that was installed on your computer.

(PC)During installation, a Kontakt 3 shortcut was added to you desktop (PC)after installation. If not than you will find the Kontakt 3 or Kontakt Player 3


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program located in C:\Program Files\Native Instruments\Kontakt 3, andyou can manually make a shortcut and drag it to your desktop.

(MAC)

You will find the Kontakt 3 application in the Application folder foundin your user directory

Setting Up Audio and Midi

Upon the first time loading of Kontakt 3 on your computer you should bepresented with a pop-up box asking you to set-up your midi and audiointerface settings. If this pop-up box doesnt show up then you must dothis in the Kontakt 3 Options (Cog wheel button at the top of the Kontakt

interface).

Youll be presented with an options pop-up box with various tabs locatedon the left side of box. to set up your midi interface and routing (MidiKeyboard, Midi Controller) for use in Kontakt please click on the MIDItab at the bottom left of the Options interface.

Choose the Inputs button (Shown above)


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Make sure that whatever midi keyboard or midi controller you are using(Akai MPD32 in this case) is set from Off to Port A. In this case Ill clickwhere it says Off next to Akai MPD32 and the following drop downmenu will show up

Move your mouse over and click Port A

The resulting dialog;

At this point, dont worry about the Output Midi Options.

Next, you will set up your Audio Interface or Audio Card

In OPTIONS menu, click on the Audio Tab on the bottom left.


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The first option you see is the Driver selection drop down menu.

Here you should see ASIO or DirectSound if your using a PC setup. If yourusing a MAC Setup you will see CoreAudio. Click the driver that you wishto use.

ASIO for PC and CoreAudio for Mac are your best bet here for most set-ups.

The next option you see is the Device selection drop down menu

Here you should highlight and choose which Audio Interface you areusing for Audio Output and Audio Recording. In the example above, wehave chosen the Duet. It shows that there are a total of 2 inputs and 2outputs which is correct.


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You should see Running Next to Status in the Audio Options Box. Thisconfirms that it is running correctly.

The next thing to do is select the Sample Rate you wish to use

Click the drop-down menu and you will see a list of sample rates to use

Click on the sample rate that you wish to use.

Sometimes you will see this dialog pop-up after you select your samplerate.

Just click Ok and re-start Kontakt and go back to the Kontakt AudioOptions.

The next option that you can change in Kontakts Audio Options is theLatency.


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You can move the horizontal slider to the left and right.

The farther left that you push the slider, the less overall latency you will get

but your system will be pushed harder.

The more right you push the slider, the more overall latency you will getbut your system wont be pushed as hard.

(Hint: Its a rule of thumb to try and have your system have an overalllatency less than 10.0 ms. Youll want to try and get the lowest latencywithout hearing computer glitches and audio artifacts on playback. Playwith this option until you find a good balance for your set-up.

With your midi, audio drivers, and latency, set, you are now ready to loaddrum kits. (see III Using Steven Slate Drums)

SSD 3.5 (Plug-in)

Steven Slate Drums 3.5 should be automatically added to your DAW plug-in directory and will be available to be selected and/or inserted into aSoftware Instrument Track. All audio preferences and Midi preferencesshould be taken care of by your DAW.


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Please consult your DAW software manual to learn how to incorporatevirtual instruments. To learn how to discretely route all the outputs fromSSD into your DAW, please visit the video tutorial section of the StevenSlate Drums website. This manual will also explain how to discretely route

the drum channels into your DAW in

III. Using Steven Slate Drums 3.5

With Kontakt 3 and Steven Slate Drums 3.5 now installed on yourcomputer you should now be able to load a kit and start playing aroundwith the many features SSD 3.5 and Kontakt have to offer. The followingdescribes the use of SSD, both in standalone or inside your DAW.

This is what Kontakt 3 User Interface will look like initially.

Selecting a Drumkit Using the LIBRARY Tabs

Click the Library Tab on the left browser screen.


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This will load the SSD Library Icon. This icon contains two sub tabslabeled INSTRUMENTS and MULTIS. Think of instruments asdrum kit pieces like an individual kick, snare, tom, etc. Think ofMULTIS as full drum kits. In this case the Multis are preset drum kitsmade by Steven Slate and tested and tweaked by some of the worlds topproducers and mixers.

Selecting a Drum-Kit (Multi)

To select a drum kit, hit the Multi Sub-Tab, and then select from either theV-drum or Keyboard preset menus. The V-drum presets have now beenuniversalized to work with all Roland V-drum modules. To see thekeyboard key map, please visit the appendix section following this manual.This will lay out the keyboard midi notes so you can understand which kitpiece is on a certain note. This key map will also load when you hit theINFO button (the little i icon next to the MULTIS tab). After the list ofdrum kits is listed, double click on one to load the kit.


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When you first load a kit, the player will always ask you if you want toreplace the multi. Simply hit YES.

Your drum kit multi will now load. Please keep in mind, the first time youload a kit in your session it will take longer then when you load additionalkits. This is due to the fact that Kontakt Player will place kit pieces intoram cache, allowing it to load kit pieces faster.

Replacing a Drum or Cymbal in a MULTIOnce you load your drum kit, you can customize it by adding or replacingdrum pieces instruments from the SSD library. To replace a drum piece,first x it out by pressing the x button in the top right corner of thedrum piece. Then go to your SSD library icon and selectINSTRUMENTS. Navigate to your desired kit piece, and double click it.The new kit piece will replace the previously deleted piece.


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Hybrid SoundsThe SSD Player in Kontakt allows the user to make hybrid drum sounds byusing more then one kit piece, such as using two snares to create a newsnare sound.

To do this, simply follow the directions above regarding kit piece

replacement, but do not x out the first kit piece. Instead of the new kitpiece appearing in place of the deleted kit piece, it will appear at thebottom of the kit pieces (you may have to scroll down to find it). If you runout of slots in the first page, you can add kit pieces to the 17-32 page bypressing the 17-32 button on the upper right. When using two drumpieces in the same output channel (such as two snares), you may have toattenuate the volume so as to not overload the channel (see Direct MicSettings to learn how to adjust kit piece volumes).

Replacing Toms and CymbalsWhen replacing a tom, make sure that you replace it with a correspondingtom number. For instance, you must replace Birch Tom 1 with Maple Tom1. If you do not do this, you will have a hybrid tom sound, and when theparticular tom midi note is triggered, both tom sounds will play. ForCymbals, you will find two different crash slots, A and B. When replacing


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an A slot crash, choose from the list of other A slot crashes, and same for Bslot crashes.

IV. Drum Instrument Settings and Features

Universal Features of All Instruments

There are 5 Universal features found on the Main Mixer Page of eachInstrument that can be used to alter the sound and playability of theseloaded instruments in SSD 3.5. Heres a rundown of those features.

1. Overhead Mic Settings

Overheads: On

Overheads: Off

By clicking on the overhead button, you will add the overhead mic to theclose mic, giving the drum a three dimensional air and warmth. All kicks,snares, and toms, and rides have this option. Since the crash, china, hi hat,and splash cymbals only use an overhead mic with no close mic, thisoption does not change on those instruments. If you desire a very tight anddry sound, you can experiment with turning the overhead to off on thedrum kit pieces.. Most default preset kits have the overhead buttons on.

2. Room Selection Drop-Down Menu

Room: Off


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Selecting Room: Off will leave only the close mic (and overhead mic if itis engaged) on, and there will be no room ambience on that particulardrum.

Room: NRG

Selecting Room: NRG adds the famous sound of NRG Recordingsstudio A room. This room is very three dimensional and has a large soundwith medium decay and smooth highs. It is great as is, but can becompressed and eqd to customize its sound to your mixes.

Room: SSD

Selecting Room: SSD will add what is known as the SSD ROOM. Thisroom is a large concrete warehouse with very reflective walls that producer

a bright, shimmery sound that was enhanced via heavy compression andeqing. The result is an extremely rich and deep sound that is somewhatreminiscent of a Lexicon reverb patch that has come to life. This room isparticularly great on cymbals and snares.

3. Character Settings


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Dynamics Knob

This knob will change how much dynamics the instrument will have. Thehigher the knob is set, the more you will hear a difference in volume fromhigh-velocity hits to low-velocity hits. The lower the knob is set, you willhear less of a difference in volume from high-velocity hits to low-velocityhits. Think of this knob as an absolutely transparent dynamic compressor.If, for instance, the ghost notes on your snare are coming in too loud, thanturn up the knob and those ghost notes will decrease in volume.

4. Direct Mics Settings

Direct Mic Volume Knob

Changing this knob will result in an increase or decrease in the direct/micsamples volume for the given instrument. This includes the overhead if itis engaged. It is independent of the room volume.

Direct Mic Panning Knob

Changing this knob allows you to change the placement of an instrumentsdirect/mic samples in the stereo field of the entire kit. This includes theoverhead if it is engaged.


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5. Room Mics Settings

Room Mic Volume Knob

If a room is turned on in a particular drum instrument, changing this knobwill amplify or attenuate the level of the room mics.

Room Mic Panning Knob

If a room is turned on in a particular instrument, changing this knob allowsyou to pan the instruments room mics within the stereo field of the entirekit. Playing with this knob can give you very dramatic and uniquecharacteristics of a given instrument.

Using the SSD 3.5 Effects and Envelope Pages for Instruments

Each Instrument included in Steven Slate Drums 3.5 has an Effects Pageand Envelope Page that allow you to adjust different audio characteristicsfor a given Instruments. You can switch to these different Pages byClicking on the button located on top of an instrumentspicture and selcting Page: Effects for Distortion and EQ effects or Page:Envelope to adjust envelope settings for room and direct samples.


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Effects Page:

Envelope Page:


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Each kit piece has a distortion/tube saturation, and equalizer. Switch tothe various bands of the equalizer by hitting the band button. Make surethe bypass eq button is not activated so that you can hear your eq changes.

The envelope section has separate envelopes for the direct mics and roommics. These settings are useful to tame the decay of a long tom, or forspecial effects like cutting off all snare decay or cymbal decay.

Instrument Specific Features

Each type of drum instrument in Steven Slate Drums 3.5 has unique featuresettings that allow you to enhance certain characteristics that are

dependent to that specific instrument type.

Kick Drum Instruments

Deep Knob Setting

By Increasing this Knob you can add more low end characteristics of a KickInstruments. This effect is subtle, but can be useful on some mixes.

Snare Drum Instruments


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Tune Knob Setting

By Increasing or Decreasing this knob you can subtly change the tune ofyour snare.

Hi-Hat Instruments

Clamp: V-Drum Button

Clamp: Regular Button

Switching this button between Clamp: V-Drum and Clamp: Regular allowsyou to choose how the hi-hats clamp function works in Kontakt.


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If your using a V-Drum Hi-hat such as the Roland VH-11 or controlling hi-hat openness and pedal function with an V-Drum Pedal such as the PD-7or PD-8 you are going to want to use the Clamp: V-Drum setting.

If you are using a Keyboard Controller than you will want to use theClamp: Regular setting although the Clamp: V-Drum setting should alsowork as well. Play around with this setting to find out which setting youlike the most when using a Keyboard Controller.

Clamp Knob Setting

Changing this knob will increase or decrease the volume of the overall footclamp hit over all of its velocities. This is useful when your drum partfeatures a lot of foot clamp hat work and you need to customize its volume.

Ride Instruments

Bell Knob Setting

By Changing this knob you can Increase or Decrease the Overall volume ofthe Rides Bell articulation with ease. This setting is dependent on playing


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style, just like the hi-hats Clamp Knob, and should be changed accordingto your taste. For the most part you wont have to change this setting.

Crash Cymbal Instruments

True Swells: On

True Swells: Off

By turning this feature to True Swells: On youll notice more naturalcymbal swells or builds when using Crash Instruments.

Cymbal (A Slot or B Slot) PositionsIn a Full Keyboard or V-Drum Kit there are two positions that crash, splashor china cymbals can go; The (A-Slot) position and the (B-Slot) position.

A Crash Cymbal, for instance, in the (A-Slot) position always has a (A)following its name. EX:


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The (A) Cymbal Slot refers to the left panned Crash Cymbal

This (B) Cymbal Slot refers to the right Crash Cymbal

You can have a Splash Instruments or China Instruments take over the (A)slot cymbal position in a kit as long as you select a Splash or China with an(A) at the end of its name:

Or

IMPORTANT: You can only have one (A-Slot) Cymbal and only one (B-Slot) Cymbal per Drum-Kit. Please visit the advanced section to learn howto void this restriction.

Add-On (X-Slot Splash/China) Instruments


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Youll notice that there are four different suffixes at the end of some of theSplash and China Instruments. These are what we call X-Slot Cymbals.Each different X slot is mapped to a particular midi note.

In the case of Splash Cymbal Instruments and China Cymbal Instruments,there are four interchangeable slots to mix and match different variationsof Splash/China Cymbals.

Here are four of the same splash cymbal in the four different X-Slotpositions:

X-Slot A

X-Slot B

X-Slot C

X-Slot D

IMPORTANT: You can only have one Cymbal of any type in any one X-Slot. So you cant have Splash 8A (X-A) and China Small (X-A) in the sameInstrument


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Add-On (X) Ride Instruments

One of the main differences you will see between most V-Drum and

Keyboard kits is that the Keyboard kits will always have two ridesincluded in the full kit. On the second ride you find in the kit there shouldbe an (X) which gives you the option to use a second ride cymbal.

(Please see the key map to reference which notes the various x slot cymbalsappear on.)

Snare Articulation Instruments


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Above you can see the snare articulation instruments. The sidestick is anall purpose side stick sample set that can be used on keyboard, or can be

mapped for vdrum (please see mapping sidestick on vdrums).

Every snare in a keyboard preset comes with a Snare Rolls articulation.This articulation is a real drag roll played by a drummer while the drumwas being sampled. This articulation makes it very easy to do convincingdrags and ghost notes on a keyboard.

V. Using Overall Features in Kontakt Player andKontakt Player 3.5

Using the SSD 3.5 Channel Output MixerWith Steven Slate Drums 3.5, you not only have the ability to modify andchange various controls on each individual kit piece, but you also have theability to easily mix the final outputs of each drumkit using the OUTPUTMIXER.

To open Kontakts Channel Output Mixer, press the button located at thetop of Kontakts Interface that has a picture of three small faders on it.(Second button to the left)


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Using the output mixer, you can control the overall levels of each kit pieceand room piece. This is especially useful to control the global roomambience volumes (NRG and SSD).

Each output fader has four inserts (hit SHOW INSERTS) where you canload one of numerous internal effects such as compressor, limiter, anddistortion.

Using the SSD 3.5 Master Editor (Master Volume)To change the Overall Volume of the entire kit use the Master Editor knobfound in the Master Control section found towards the top of KontaktsMulti-Rack Pane. (Shown Below)


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To Open the Master Control section (if not open already) please click thefourth button from the left located at the very top of the Kontakt 3.5Interface that has a metronome and tuning fork pictured on it.

The Master Control Pane also allows you to alter the overall master tuning(or pitch) of all the instruments in the kit by using the Master Tune knob.

Saving Your Changes to Kits and InstrumentsAfter customizing your own drumkits, its important that you save it.

Saving Changes to Kits

To save an entire kit, please click on the big button located on the very topof the Main Kontakt 3.5 User Insterface that has the picture of a diskette onit.

This will open up a drop down menu with a few options to scroll through


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Move your mouse over and click the save multi as... option

A dialog box will pop up simular to this;

The current name of the loaded kit will be displayed and highlighted in theSave As: text field (Absolute Rock Kit.nkm is this case). Do not click save .If you click Save now you will be asked if you want to replace the currentlyexisting multi.


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IMPORTANT NOTE: If you proceed and click replace, this will replace thedefault preset that comes stock with SSD. It is important to make a backupof your library folder including the MULTI and INSTRUMENTS folder sothat this can never happen.

To avoid replacing the default kit, just rename the multi to something elseand click save.

Saving Changes to Instruments

You can also save individual instrument customizations in a similarfashion. Press the save icon.

This will open up a drop down menu with a few options to scroll through


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Move your mouse over and click the save as... option

a drop down list will pop-up showing all of the instruments you currentlyhave in the loaded kit. Click on the Instrument in the list you wish to save.(Snare 13A for example shown below)


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A dialog box will pop up simular to this;

The current name of the selected Instrument will be displayed andhighlighted in the Save As: text field (Snare 13 A.nki is this case). If youclick Save now you will be asked if you want to replace the currentlyexisting instrument.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Change the name of the kit piece so that you do notreplace the original preset default. The click save.

VI. Discretely Routing Drum Channels into your DAW

In many cases, you will want to route individual drum channels discretelyinto your DAW so that you can take advantage of your DAWs automation,plugins, and routing. This can be done with all DAWs, but the method inwhich to do so changes from DAW to DAW. This section will illustrate


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how to properly route channels in several of the most popular DAWs. Thissection will also accompany our new video section atwww.stevenslatedrums.com/video.html which will have updated videotutorials showing discrete routing procedures in several DAWs.

Discrete Channel Routing Pro-Tools 8To start, Load In the Kontakt 3 plug-in Into a Software Instrument track.

After the plug-in loads, select a drumkit from either the Vdrum orKeyboard preset from the Steven Slate Drums 3.5 Library.

After your kit loads, by hitting the output mixer button, you will notice 12channel outputs are now present at the bottom of the Kontakt 3.5 GUI.They are labeled as follows; Kick, Snare, Tom 1, Tom 2, Tom 3, Tom 4, HiHat, Rides, Crashes, Splash/Chinas, NRG Room, SSD Room.(Configuration Shown Below) This is the preset output configuration for allavailable kits in Steven Slate Drums 3.5.
http://www.stevenslatedrums.com/video.htmlhttp://www.stevenslatedrums.com/video.html


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In Pro-Tools 8, create 11 Aux Input Tracks via the Add Track from the Pro-Tools menu bar, under the Track tab. This Pop-Up (Shown Below) boxwill appear.

After creating the 11 Aux tracks, label the first one Snare, then Tom1,Tom2, Tom3, and so forth. Label the INSTRUMENT channel Kick.

Now open up the Kontakt 3 Interface, expand the OUTPUT MIXER, andclick the RESET OUTPUT MAP, and then hit MAKE DEFAULT. Then,REMOVE KONTAKT FROM THE INSERT TAB . This is very important.

Now, re-insert Kontakt on to the insert of the Instrument channel. Chooseany drumkit from the library tab, and then hit RESET OUTPUT MAP onthe output mixer.

Route the INPUT of each Aux track to Kontakt3 and then choose the

appropriate instrument channel, for instance, for the Snare Aux, it will be:Kontakt3/Snare, for Tom1, its Kontakt3/Tom1. Please note, the Kickdrum ALWAYS stays in the Instrument Channel.


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When you are done manually selecting the inputs on each Aux, itll looklike the diagram below.

This procedure only needs to be done once, and for every other kit loadedin Pro Tools, simply hitting the RESET button on the output mixer inKontakt will allow you to route the drums to the Pro Tools channels withease.

Dicrete Channel Output Routing Cubase 5To get started, Make sure the Connect Sends Automatically for eachnewly created Channel option box is checked. You can find the option inthe Cubase 5 VST Preferences. (Shown Below)


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Now, create a new VST Instrument track within your Cubase 5 Project bygoing to the Devices menu tab, located at the most top of your screen

(Shown Below) and choose the VST Instruments option from the dropdown menu. You can also Push F11 to bring Up the VST InstrumentsPanel.


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When The VST Instruments Panel Opens, it will look like this:

Click in the insert area which loads the plugin selection dialog. SelectKontakt 3 Plug-in from the list.

After the Plug-In Loads, it will ask:


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Click the Create Button.Load the VST Instruments Panel (F11). You will see that Kontakt 3 is

loaded. Immediately to the left of this will be a small button. Click onthis button to produce a window that should look similar to the figuresbelow.

From the Drop down Menu Choose Activate All OutputsNow open the Kontakt interface and load a drumkit from either theKeyboard or Vdrums preset.

Click on the OUTPUT mixer icon to load the output mixer. Hit the RESETOUTPUT MAP button followed by the red button labeled Make Default .

Now REMOVE the Kontakt 3 plugin from the Instrument insert, and thenreplace it, AGAIN, hitting the little and choosing Activate AllOutputs.

Now you will see that Cubase has automatically made new outputchannels labeled Kick, Snare, Tom1, Tom2, etc.


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Last, hit the CONFIG buttons under each channel in the Kontakt outputmixer. This will allow you to route each channel to the Cubase mixerchannels. So for instance, route the Kick channel to kick, Snare tosnare, replacing each channels default which will be kick.

For the Snare Channel

For the Tom 1 Channel

Etc..

Discrete Channel Routing Logic 8 - 9


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To begin, add a new Software Instrument track into the currently loadedProject.

Insert the Kontakt 3 - Multi-Output (16xStereo) version of the Plugin to thenewly created Software Instruments I/O Insert slot. (Shown Below)


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Once the plug-in is loaded, load the kit you wish to use into Kontakt viathe keyboard or Vdrum presets.

Hit the outputs button to load the OUTPUT MIXER. Hit the RESET

OUTPUT map and then the button. Now take Kontakt OFF ofthe instrument insert. Replace it back ON the insert. Load anotherdrumkit.


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Now go to Logics Mixer and press the little + button (11 times) on thelower bottom right of the Software Instrument Channel that Kontakt hasbeen inserted.

This will create the 11 auxillary channels that will correspond to thechannel outputs from Kontakt..

The Aux channels should already be routed correctly.


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The initial Software Instrument track now handles the Kick Channel outputfrom output from Kontakt, (i.e. Kontakt 3 1-2)Each additional Aux track will correspond and control each respectiveKontakt channel output. For Instance, the first auxillary (Aux 1) channelyou added to your Logic Mixer will now control the snare channel output

(Kontakt 3 3-4), the next added auxillary (Aux 2) after that will contol Tom1s (Kontakt 3 5-6)Kontakt Output volume, and so on a so forth.

To make things easier, its good practice to name the Software Instrumenttrack and attatched auxillary tracks to what Kontakt Channel they controlafter initial set-up. Your naming should look something like this. (FigBelow);


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VII. Advanced Settings And FeaturesEach drum instrument in Steven Slate Drums has various advancedsettings to customize the drums sound and response. To get to thesecustomizing settings, simply click on the settings button found at thebottom/middle of each instruments user interface mixer. (Shown Below)

Once this Settings button has been selected your Instruments User Interfacewill change to look like this;

Depending on the type of Instrument your changing the settings for, youwill be presented with different options that you can change that is uniquefor that type of Instrument.

Every Instrument Settings User Interface will have;

Humanizer Column


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and an Options Column

Humanizer

The Column of settings will be the same for all Instruments andwill look like this;

Advanced AMG (Anti Machine Gun) Setting

Intelligent -This setting is a physically modeled mode, and will apply a unique sampleselection algorithm that allows the SSD engine to choose the best samplesto use, based on prior used samples, in order to produce the mosthumanized, and natural feel to the drum or cymbal.


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Humanized -This will apply a more traditional sample selection algorithm that allows

the SSD engine to choose the most random samples to use, based onvelocity and sample articulation, when the instrument is played in a series(like a snare fill). You will never hear the same sample consecutively play.Use this setting if the Intelligent setting isnt suited to your taste.

Round Robin -This will have the SSD engine cycle through all of the samples, according tovelocity and articualtion, in a preset pattern that eventually repeats. This isthe least advanced algorithm and isnt recommended for natural response.

Velocity Random:

Min Value:This is the velocity value in which the Humanizer will start working.

Variance:


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This is how strong the humanizer will affect the volume or velocitywhile it is on.

The Column of settings will change according toinstrument but for the most part Includes three main features.

Instrument Remapping

The Head remapping menu allows you to customize the note in whichcertain articulations appear. From the drop down menu, you can changewhich midi note that you want the instrument and its particulararticulations to play on the current key map. Just choose which note (or

key) from the drop down menu you wish to have play the instrument andIt will be automatically remapped to that location on your keyboard or keymap.

Velocity Curve Assignment

Change this setting to increase or decrease how your instrument playsfrom its lowest velocity to its highest velocity. This setting is useful dueto the fact that different keyboard and edrum manufacturers have differentvelocity sensitivity. Use this function to customize the response so that itfeels right to your needs.


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Reseting the Instruments Mixer Settings

This simply resets all of the settings and options of the entire instrument toFactory values. IMPORTANT: This will not reset the settings andoptions of the whole instrument to the current kits default values. This isbasically a last resort feature so be careful when using this setting.

Advanced MIDI Remapping

1. KicksUsing mapping options you can easily make Double Kick with two

different Kicks.

How to make this:

1. Set this for first Kick:

2. Set this for second Kick:


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2. SnaresSnare mapping options allows you to map Snares articulation. You canturn off and on all Snare articulations and you can map any articulationindividually.

Some examplesIf you are using V-Drums without cross stick support, but you want to useSidestick, you can map the Sidestick to Snare Rim note. Just set this inSnare mapping options:

And set this settings in Sidestick mapping options:


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3. TomsToms mapping options allows you to turn on and off the main Tom noteand map the additional Tom note. So you can use up to 6 different Toms atthe same time.

For example, you can create 5 Toms kit using New Maple Toms set withthese mapping settings for Tom 1:

And Tom 1 from Maple set with these settings:


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Also you can create 5 and 6 Toms sets by tuning Toms and mapping themto notes you want.

5. CrashesCrashes mapping options also gives you a great possibilities.

Some useful mapping settings

1. With Crash mapping options you can map the Choke hit to Bow of

Crash. If youll map the Choke hit to Bow note, youll get a very realistic Choke if youll make a very easy shot on Bow of Crash. Also you can playfull Sampled Choke if youll make very hard shots on Bow.

How to map the Choke hits to Bow note of the Crash Cymbal:


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2. Also if you need more Cymbals you can map Crashes to Toms notes, likethis:

5. RideThere some useful mapping options in Ride. For instance, if you are TD-3user, you can map the Ride Edge to Crash Bow:

VIII. V-Drum Set-Up and Optimization by Dan Kirk

Steven Slate Drums 3.5 provides V-Drum users with the enjoyableexperience of playing the SSD drum kits via their Roland V-drums. Thenew 3.5 V-drum preset drum kits have been optimized to work with allRoland v-drum brains and pads. Most users will find that all of the drumkits sound and play great right out of the box. With that said, itsimpossible to have the perfect default v-drum response that will pleaseeveryone. There are many reasons for this including the obvious examplesof personal preference, sensitivity levels, or threshold levels. Howeverthere happen to be a large amount of not so obvious examples that willcause problems for both a 500-dollar V-Drum kit and 5000-dollar V-Drumkit alike. In the following paragraph these not so obvious examples willbe explained and how to fix the problems associated with them.


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Not So Obvious Reasons Your V-Drums May HaveIssues with SSD

Drum Head Tuning

If you dont use V-Drums with mesh heads you can skip this section but forthe users who use electronic drum pads with mesh heads you will want tomake sure to read on.

Unfortunately one of the main advantages of using mesh head V-Drums isalso responsible for a large amount of problems associated with V-Drumplayability issues. The advantage mentioned above is the ability to tunemesh heads.

If you have been is the nasty situation where you cant seem to get a certainv-drum pad to respond like it should even after a large amount of time isspent going back and fourth between sensitivity, threshold and othersettings with no effective result being produced in the end, one of the mostlikely reasons behind this problem is that your V-Drum is tunedincorrectly.

Head Is Too Loose

When the tension over the head of a v-drum is displaced, the ability for theinternal drum sensor to respond to hits accurately is dramatically hindered.If the head is too loose you run into the problem of actually hitting thedelicate sensor to hard which can cause miss-triggers, unrealistic triggerresponse and most detrimental of all, your sensor being permanentlydamaged.

Its hard to know when this happens so when the sensor does becomedamaged a lot of time may be wasted troubleshooting other possiblereasons to the drum pads malfunction until your head eventually explodes.You also run the risk of ripping your mess head. So its a good idea testhow easy it is to push the sensor down through middle of the mesh head.The sensor should always barely be touching the head at all time and isnormal.


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Head Is Too Tight

Alternatively, you can tune a head so tight that the sensor isnt even beingtriggered when hitting the drum. This happens mostly new drum pads orpads with new heads on them more than. The reason this happens can behopefully explained with this horrible analogy:

Striking Position and Placement of Hits

A common issue that affects the playability and output response of the V-

Drums for some people, is that the position in which they hit a certaindrum or cymbal pad is incorrect.This is not to imply that they are playing drums incorrectly, but rather thatthey are missing sensors found in certain areas of a drum pad oraccidentally hitting sensors they didnt know were there. Following is a listof suggestions with regard to this problem

Suggestion On Where and How to Hit Certain Drum Pads.

Roland PD-100/105/120/125

Some of these Snare/Tom Pads have the Rim-Shot sensor location on onlyone side of the drum and can only trigger accurate Rim-Shots when playedon this side. To fully utilize the rim-shot you may have to have your v-drum rotated differently than you or your snare stand is used too. Yourlogo on the head may not be going the correct direction but at least youllbe hitting those rim-shots correctly.

Certain Cymbal Pads That Have a Bell Sensor

Some Ride and Crash V-Drum Pads have the bell sensor located only in aparticular area of the bell, usually directly facing you, which could be a


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problem for some people whose playing style or Cymbal placement hasthem hitting the far right, far left or even the back. One thing to rememberis that for the most part, the sensor is usually found directly across thecymbal from the Roland Logo. This goes for Crash Cymbal Sensors.

In general try to make it a habit of reading the manuals that are associatedwith your V-Drum pads. This could save you hours and hours of timetroubleshooting problems as well as open your eyes to certain features ofthe pads you were not currently aware of.

Time and Hardware Malfunction

Like all things, over time v-drums and certain parts within them where outand wont work as well as they should or stop working all together.

The cones or padding that are found over the sensors in most v-drums arevery delicate and will over time be grinded down due to the constantbeatings as well unseen environmental factors. Fortunately this paddingcan be easily replaced yourself and is fairly cheap (20 dollars or so fromRoland).

Mesh-heads also wear out and stretch over time and need to be replaced.

Once these things have been replaced on your old V-Drums, they shouldplay like the day you purchased them.

Not Accurately Monitoring Your Drums

The last thing to mention is monitoring. How you hear the soundsproduced while performing with your V-Drums is very important and isoften forgot. V-Drum produced sounds whether through SSD 3.0 tend to bemonitored at much quieter volume than a standard acoustic drum kit.Because of this, some people that are used acoustic drums and then switchto V-Drums tend play much harder than they need to.


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The mind expects loud noises and when it doesnt get them when playingV-Drums, the mind unconsciously tries to compensate by telling your bodythat you must play harder to achieve the volume levels normally expected.This is mainly a bad habit to have because it could mess up your technique

if not careful and also because of the extra force exerted, your V-Drumhardware takes more abuse than it normally should. Just being aware ofthis problem should help keep it from happening and for most users, willnever become a problem

Roland TD-20 Set-Up

To make set-up a snap we suggest you do a Reset to Factory Settings on

your TD-20. The following Suggestions are what we found to be thequickest and easiest way to maximize the V-Drum Playability using StevenSlate Drums 3.0. If you enter the settings below and are still not getting thefeel you want, we suggest that before you go into the drum-brain settings,that you instead browse the Not So Obvious Reasons Your V-Drums MaySound and Play Like Crap. Remember these are just suggestions.

Suggested Settings for the Roland TD-20

GLOBAL SETTINGS

SETUP- GLOBAL (F2)

- Local Control (OFF)SETUP

- CTRL (F3)

- HH Note# Border (80)

HI-HAT SETTINGS

TRIGGER- ADVANCE (F5)

- HH Retrig - (10)


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- Mask Time - (8)TRIGGER

- BASIC (F2)- Threshold - (12)

TRIGGER- HI-HAT (F3)

- Foot Splash Sens (-10)- Noise Cancel (2)

FOR TD-9 VDRUM BRAINS, set hi hat to EXTERNAL.


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SSD 3.5 Operation Manual 1.2

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Transcript of SSD 3.5 Operation Manual 1.2