MIDI data carries no sound information of its own. It is a set of instructions telling an associated MIDI instrument when and how loud to play, or "trigger," a specific sound, among other parameters. In Avid's "Pro Tools," triggering a MIDI drum synthesizer or sampler can be done in a variety of ways, the most common being the creation of MIDI events in the MIDI editor. This is done by either entering the notes manually or by recording a performance using a MIDI drum kit or other MIDI controller.
Instructions
Manual MIDI Note Entry
1. Open "Pro Tools" and load the project to which you want to add MIDI data. If you don't have an established project, create a blank project by opening the "File" menu and selecting "New Session." "Pro Tools" will load and display a blank project.
2. Create a software instrument track by opening the "Track" menu and selecting "New." The track creation dialog screen will appear.
3. Open the second drop-down menu from the left and select "MIDI Track," then click "Create." "Pro Tools" will place a blank MIDI track in the arrangement area. Depending on the preference settings you have established in "Pro Tools," the track's mixer window may or may not appear automatically. If it does not, select "Mix" from the "Window" menu.
4. Click on the first blank grey box, called a "flip menu," below "Inputs A-E in" the track's mixer window. A menu will appear listing the available software instrument plugins. Choose any drum synthesizer or sampler, such as "BFD2," "Superior Drummer" or "EZdrummer" from the list. "Pro Tools" will load, or "instantiate," the MIDI drums instrument on the track and display its interface.
5. Open the MIDI Editor by selecting "MIDI Editor" from the "Window" menu. The MIDI Editor window will appear. It takes the form of a piano roll seen in most MIDI editing applications. When looking at the grid, the horizontal represents the timeline and the vertical represents pitch. Immediately to the left of the grid is a representation of a piano keyboard. You can audition the different sounds in the drum sampler by clicking on the piano keys.
6. Select the "Pencil " tool by clicking on its icon in the toolbar. The "Pencil" tool is used to enter MIDI notes, or "triggers," in the piano roll editor.
7. Enter MIDI notes by clicking on the piano roll grid at the appropriate points to create the MIDI drum track.
Recording a MIDI Performance
8. Make sure your MIDI controller is correctly installed on your "Pro Tools" system. Different controllers have different setup methods. If you are uncertain, check the documentation associated with your controller and the "Pro Tools Reference Guide" for setup details.
9. Follow Steps 2 through 4 in the Manual MIDI Note Entry section to create a new MIDI track and instantiate a drum sampler.
10. Click on the second flip menu box below "Inputs A-E" in the track's edit window and select "MIDI/01 Prt01" from the menu.
11. Record-enable the track by clicking the "Record Enable" button in the transport window. This prepares the track to record MIDI input from your MIDI controller.
12. Engage the "Wait for Note" function in the transport window. When engaged, "Pro Tools" will begin recording when the first note is struck on your controller.
13. Play your MIDI controller. "Pro Tools" will record your performance, placing the MIDI notes you play at the appropriate locations on the piano roll grid.
