Separate Drum Outs in Digital Performer

[dbrownstein]

Hi there. having a tough time getting separate outs in DP 7.2.4.

i've been reading and rereading the SPARK manual but it's speaking a language that is not relevant to DP.

i've open spark as an instrument in DP but only get stereo as an option, even after setting separate mono audio tracks in DP.

it seems that there must be a setting in spark to allow separate outs. i've been through the mixer midi preferences in spark but also can't seem to find a place to allow for separate outs.

please help. thank you for your consideration.

-david

[Kevin]

Hi David,
please folow the instruction on the following screencast.

Kevin

[dbrownstein]

hi kevin, thanks for the screen cast. i've watched it a few times but have a few questions. problems.

first, in that video you've set up for a stereo out. i'm trying to do separate mono outs like for kick, snare, hat etc.

i went into DP, set up a mono audio track in DP, then opened spark and attempted to set my 1st channel to that track. but when i click on the top of the mixer channel in spark it would not bring down a pull down to select.

so i went into spark preferences and started poking around under midi outputs and inputs.

i had originally been set for my motu hybrid for in and out. then when i was getting this "private in" "private out" message in DP tried different settings.

so, what should my midi preference settings be in spark?

and will that allow me separate drum outs? thanks!

[Kevin]

Hi David,
the separate audio output from Spark are stereo because each instrument is stereo so you have to use stereo audio tracks.

What do you mean by MIDI in/out preferences in Spark? This has nothing to do with audio outputs.

Kevin

[dbrownstein]

hi kevin:
"the separate audio output from Spark are stereo because each instrument is stereo so you have to use stereo audio tracks."

-ok. i was assuming that each drum would/could be in mono like i remember drum machines of the past. but ok. stereo. cool.

"What do you mean by MIDI in/out preferences in Spark? This has nothing to do with audio outputs."

the midi preference i'm referring to were found here:

spark - preferences - then there are the pull downs: midi output, active midi in, midi clock in.

all three of these are currently set to my Motu Ultralight. is that where they should stay?

as i have been experimenting with getting this to work i was getting an error message saying to turn off spark private out and spark private in. what are these for?

[Kevin]

hi kevin:
"the separate audio output from Spark are stereo because each instrument is stereo so you have to use stereo audio tracks."

-ok. i was assuming that each drum would/could be in mono like i remember drum machines of the past. but ok. stereo. cool.

"What do you mean by MIDI in/out preferences in Spark? This has nothing to do with audio outputs."

the midi preference i'm referring to were found here:

spark - preferences - then there are the pull downs: midi output, active midi in, midi clock in.

all three of these are currently set to my Motu Ultralight. is that where they should stay?

These preferences are for Spark standalone only. you don't have to care about them if you use is in DP.

as i have been experimenting with getting this to work i was getting an error message saying to turn off spark private out and spark private in. what are these for?

This message tells you that these ports should not be opened by the DAW but it seems that  it is not a problem in DP. So just click the don't show this meesage again and press ok.


Kevin

[dbrownstein]

hey kevin, i've watched the video you sent a million times (ok, 15) and can't see what you did well enough to figure out how to get separate outs working properly in DP. (the video is low resolutions and when i make the screen bigger i can't see the text.)

in DP we're not seeing a multi output option. the only thing that shows up when i want to create a spark track is an option for stereo.

more help. please. thank you.

david

[Kevin]

Actually this is not when you create Spark that you have to set it up.
Here is the steps:

• Instanciate Spark
• Create one (or several) stereo audio track
• Choose the output for each drum in Spark Mixer view
• Chose Spark outputs as input for each stereo track you created
• Make sure the monitor is ON on each track

Kevin

[dbrownstein]

hi kevin, i've done these steps several times and it's not working.

one of the problems seems to be that while i set up a stereo audio track in DP the outs in the spark mixer are only appearing in mono. maybe that's why it's not working.

so even when i set up a track in DP where the input is set to "spark-1 3-4" and the kick drum is set to "out 3" and the monitor button is on and blue i get no audio to the track.

what next?

thank you.

-david

-------

Actually this is not when you create Spark that you have to set it up.
Here is the steps:

Instanciate Spark
Create one (or several) stereo audio track
Choose the output for each drum in Spark Mixer view
Chose Spark outputs as input for each stereo track you created
Make sure the monitor is ON on each track

[Kevin]

this is because the output number are not well named.
Out 2 in Spark correspond to spark-1 3-4
Out 3 in Spark correspond to spark-1 5-6

[dbrownstein]

ok. i did get that to work in a test project. i'll see if i can get it to work now in my current song in process. thanks. needless to say it would be nice to update the output naming in next version. -david

[dbrownstein]

hi there. my quest for consistently applied separate outs is improving but seems a bit flaky.

(sometimes it works, sometimes not)

but here's what i seem to have learned: the sequence is important

1) i must determine the number of audio tracks i want in advance, because adding tracks seems to make things behave badly. which is unfortunate i'm in early stages of writing a song and just want a spark beat. and complicated because each spark kit is laid out differently. (kick/snare not always in same place etc.) i usually start w 4 for now

2) so then after determining number of audio tracks, i instantiate spark so that those 4 tracks will see spark when i set the individual stereo inputs in DP. i set drum one to Spark 3-4, then drum two to Spark 5-6 etc.

3) then go back to spark, open the mixer, and set the output of drum one to output 2, drum 2 to output three. (not intuitive, but i'm getting used to the quirks and finally understand the logic.

4) then play or record enable the track in DP (blue light on)

HERE'S THE QUIRKY PART I JUST FIGURED OUT:

5) then in DP in order to LISTEN i must listen through the STEREO mix of the SPARK instrument track, but can't seem to listen through the AUDIO tracks, until I've recorded and printed the audio.

So i must listen and program while listening in STEREO mix mode, then record AUDIO to individual STEREO tracks.

then Unselect the SPARK INSTRUMENT track.

This is cumbersome, but acceptable, now that I know the many quirks.

KEVIN: Am I correct in these assumptions and this work around?

--

ALSO: it seems that when i've created a track with multiple drums in spark, worked for a while in stereo mix mode in DP, then decided to output separate tracks, that audio printing doesn't work.

KEVIN: Must I add delete my SPARK instrument track, then start over by adding audio tracks, then opening spark, then assigning ins and outs as described above?

this is obviously not ideal, but an acceptable work around for now.

but am I doing this right?

is there a simpler way?

thank you.

-david 

[Kevin]

hi there. my quest for consistently applied separate outs is improving but seems a bit flaky.

(sometimes it works, sometimes not)

but here's what i seem to have learned: the sequence is important

1) i must determine the number of audio tracks i want in advance, because adding tracks seems to make things behave badly. which is unfortunate i'm in early stages of writing a song and just want a spark beat. and complicated because each spark kit is laid out differently. (kick/snare not always in same place etc.) i usually start w 4 for now

2) so then after determining number of audio tracks, i instantiate spark so that those 4 tracks will see spark when i set the individual stereo inputs in DP. i set drum one to Spark 3-4, then drum two to Spark 5-6 etc.

3) then go back to spark, open the mixer, and set the output of drum one to output 2, drum 2 to output three. (not intuitive, but i'm getting used to the quirks and finally understand the logic.

4) then play or record enable the track in DP (blue light on)

HERE'S THE QUIRKY PART I JUST FIGURED OUT:

5) then in DP in order to LISTEN i must listen through the STEREO mix of the SPARK instrument track, but can't seem to listen through the AUDIO tracks, until I've recorded and printed the audio.

So i must listen and program while listening in STEREO mix mode, then record AUDIO to individual STEREO tracks.

then Unselect the SPARK INSTRUMENT track.

This is cumbersome, but acceptable, now that I know the many quirks.

KEVIN: Am I correct in these assumptions and this work around?

TBH I am not a DP master and don't know very well how it works.
At this stage this is more a DP issue than a Spark one. Maybe you could ask this question a DP forum.

--

ALSO: it seems that when i've created a track with multiple drums in spark, worked for a while in stereo mix mode in DP, then decided to output separate tracks, that audio printing doesn't work.

KEVIN: Must I add delete my SPARK instrument track, then start over by adding audio tracks, then opening spark, then assigning ins and outs as described above?

I don't think so.

this is obviously not ideal, but an acceptable work around for now.

but am I doing this right?

is there a simpler way?

thank you.

-david