Newb here, with some very newb questions.

[sleepykitty]

I have scoured the internets and can not find any advice on these very basic questions.

I am working with PT11/Apollo Quad and have a decent amount of experience with typical rock instruments. Drums, bass, guitar, vocals.. etc etc.

I recently purchased the V collection 4 and I love it. However I am VERY new to drum machine software, or drum machine anything... I am looking to do stuff as simple as Death Cab.

Once I create my patterns in Spark what is the most practical and safest way to print it into pro tools? I know you can drag and drop midi and also wave files..  Sometimes when I go back and open a session the wave files are missing and cant be found.. So that's rather unsettling. I could drag and drop the midi files and that is what I am leaning towards. But my biggest problem with these loop based programs is you wind up with the same beat over and over. I want to be able to tweak and constantly have a slightly changing drum beat.

So did I answer my own question? Create 20 different beats in Spark, drag the midi files into pro tools. And save that way?  And if I want to tweak something, I have to go back into Spark, do my "tweaking" and replace the midi section in pro tools?

Before I teach myself this way, I just want to make sure I am not learning the incorrect way.

Once I create a basic beat, what is the easiest way to just copy and paste it in the software to another sequence? Or do I have to have the hardware controller for that?

Because once I have done that I can create little drum fills on top of the basic pattern..


Everyone can please feel free to point laugh at the newb here. Or if someone can point me in the right direction I would be very thankful.

[HubyBlake]

Sounds like dragging the midi patterns into Pro Tools is the way to go, then you can further tweak the midi patterns in Pro Tools if you wish.
No need to go back into Spark's sequencer to change them, as Pro Tools would then be triggering the sounds.

Once you create a beat on Pattern A1 if you hit copy, then A1, then A2 it will copy it to A2.
Copy - source - destination.

[stuey]

Hi Sleepykitty


There are a few ways to do this, you can indeed drag the midi file in then simply bounce down the audio once mixed.

What i tend to do when putting tracks together is this:


1. Create the beat I'm happy with in Spark then save it.
2. Create a multiple out version of the same beat. (So I can easily swap between each without loads of faf)
3. In PT i create 1 stereo instrument track and 16 mono audio tracks
4. in the bus menu of each audio track you created you can assign a spark track to each audio track.
5. Record enable each audio track and hit record, you will record what's coming through Spark on separate tracks.


This gives you far more flexibility when mixing, you can then copy and paste beats without going back into spark and editing the beat.


Any problems let me know

Hope that helps

Thanks, Stuart