# Studio Drummer Grooves



## planblue (Dec 14, 2011)

When I started playing around with Studio Drummer I was impressed by the wealth and liveliness of the sounds - samples and mixing possibilities are very good.

When I tried to use "Groove Browser" I was very disappointed by this 'qick and dirty' midi file player: Besides the already mentioned un-automatable start/stop button, this seems to be more a salesman tool to demo the drum kits then a real musicians tool for jam session or live usage :(

Has anybody seen a more usable scripting solution out there, with the possibility to define groove sets and switch automatable between groove parts and fills? May be even in real time - like on a real drum computer?

Or do we have to write a script by ourselves to use this wounderfull Studio Drummer as a live companion?

michael

p.s.: i posted the same question in the NI scripting forum - but until now my post isn't 
published there!? Why?


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## mk282 (Dec 14, 2011)

Don't hold your breath for anything more advanced regarding MIDI playback in Kontakt - the file loader UI element is limited to loading only one file per script. So you cannot automate sets that switch between parts and fills. BUT, you can drag out the MIDI file to your DAW and chain the parts there to your heart's content.

There also aren't any more "usable scripting solutions" out there, because the KSP reference for MIDI playback is still extremely sparse, and not a lot of scripters got a grasp of what the hell is going on there.


HOWEVER... Since the scripting in Studio Drummer is not locked, this is what you can do to enable automation of the Play button! Follow these steps:

1. Open Instrument Edit mode by clicking on the monkey wrench icon
2. Open the Script Editor
3. Select the Grooves tab (the first one)
4. Click on the "Edit" button at the bottom of the Script Editor.
5. Click on the "Apply from..." dropdown menu, and select "Editor / Patch"
6. Press "Apply" button
7. Scroll the script down until you find this line:


```
declare ui_button $play
```

8. Change this line to:


```
declare ui_switch $play
```


DONE! Now you can automate the Play button. You can repeat this for any other buttons you want to automate, but are using ui_button instead of ui_switch. Obviously, the difference is that ui_button command creates a non-automatable button, whereas ui_switch creates an automatable button on the interface.

Don't forget to save the NKI! Also repeat this procedure for all other NKIs. Enjoy!


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## planblue (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks very much, mk282, for your nice answer!

Automating the 'play' button was the first thing I did (cause I have some scripting knowledge :roll: ) but this is just the basics of a usable solution.

I realy can't believe that NI show's up with a toy like this. Comparing to the rest of the instrument (sound, mixer etc.) or comparing with standard drum computers out there, this is not 'state of the art'...

michael


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## mk282 (Dec 14, 2011)

Well, arguably you would mix and match the grooves in your DAW, not within Kontakt (because Kontakt is not a DAW...), so I can't see anything bad with the way it is now. Anyways, MIDI playback from within Kontakt was a very long feature request, so I guess NI fulfilled that one. Studio Drummer is still very usable even if you completely disregard its Groove tab, IMHO.


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## planblue (Dec 15, 2011)

I agree with You, mk282 - studio drummer is a very usefull instrument.
But what a pitty, not to be able to use this precious midi grooves in a live jam situation too!

I have to think about it..


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## planblue (Dec 20, 2011)

Well, what do you think about something like this?

- 5 groove states with auto-alternate function
- 8 song presets for loading all 10 slot definitions at once
- automatable 'play' and 'next' buttons (in all tab pages)
- bridge slots for auto-change to next state at end-of-groove

I have to do some more testing, but it feels like much more fun to jam with studio drummer now!

more ideas are welcome...
michael

p.s.: login to see the attached screenshot!


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## mk282 (Dec 20, 2011)

That looks very cool!

I presume you're saving the loaded MIDI data to its own array, then reading from that array? I guess that's about the only way you could do any sort of pattern-based groove editing with current Kontakt fucntionality...


BTW - it might be useful if you had a multiplier below each of 5 slots, to define how many repeats it should go before advancing to the next groove (if you have auto-advancing done and working - and I believe you do). And if it were me, I would have a custom number of song sections (say, up to 8 would be enough I think) defineable, and renameable (using the new ui_text_edit control), since it's kinda easy to set up 16 buttons and labels for that up front, then just control the amount of the buttons/labels displayed, and their width and position.


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## planblue (Dec 21, 2011)

Thanks mk282 for interesting suggestions!

At the moment, 'PART' grooves are repeating endless, alternating between upper and lower button row (if mapped to a midi file) until the 'NEXT' button is pressed. 'BRIDGE' grooves auto-advance at end-of-sequence to the next 'PART' groove. This can be influenced by double-clicking 'NEXT' to return to the 'PART' you came from.

Your idea of custom 'song sections' is very interesting too! May be, i keep it for version 0.2, because my main reason to do all this stuff was, to be able to jam and improvise with Studio Drummer live. Creating more complex song structures is realy - as you already mentioned - something for a good DAW (e.g. Ableton Live).

BTW: Of course i had to 'expand' - well let me say 're-design'  the original Kontakt scripts. Does anybody has any experience, how to handle copyright issues with NI, when putting my extension to the public domain?

michael


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## mk282 (Dec 21, 2011)

I don't think you can put them to public domain as freely downloadable on the Internet. However I think you can tell the people to e-mail you, and then send them your script(s) personally and individually.

I really do think it would be cool to have more sections customizable here, with the amount of repetitions per section (-1 would loop indefinitely). Something like this (didn't add the repetition controls, also it's just a non-functional GUI mockup):

http://i.imgur.com/Nm77v.gif

Looking forward to see what you come up with next!


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## planblue (Dec 23, 2011)

Yes, mk282, this looks very compelling!

My 'fixed' solution now takes some amount of time and code during state changes to find out, what the next valid state to be played will be. If I would force the user to fill consecutive slots with midi sequences, this pain could be avoided.

Well - but this needs some re-construction...
michael


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## mk282 (Jan 11, 2012)

Hey, Michael. Any developments? (No pun intended!)


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## planblue (Jan 19, 2012)

Hey, mk282, thanks for asking and sorry for my delay (i had a short hospital interlude :? )

Yep - Studio Drummer Groove Arranger is working:
- configurable number of parts :lol: 
- everything can be changed in realtime
- saving of complete 'songs' to disk
- direkt recording of midi input into slots
- works with all three drum kits
etc...

Now it is MUCH MORE FUN playing with the NI grooves - even when you create arrangements in a DAW, cause you can listen to all changes during playback.

Appended you find a screen shot of the user interface. I am talking to NI concerning copyright issues. Meanwhile i try to prepare a demo video to show GROOVE ARRANGER grooving - 'cause this is the real thing!

michael


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## mk282 (Jan 19, 2012)

Very cool! Congratulations, and I hope you feel better now!


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## reddognoyz (Jan 19, 2012)

NI has updated the Abbey Road drums to Abbey Road Drummer. It's essentialy the same interface and has an expanded groove set. Shouldn't they be importable to Studio Drummer? I own em both


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## planblue (Jan 19, 2012)

As far as I can see 'Groove Arranger' will be a BIG improvement for Abbey Road Drummers too o-[][]-o


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## qbert (Feb 27, 2012)

Very interesting, congrats!

So, is the script available?


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