# Best way to use a virtual drummer live?



## davidgotmilk (Oct 26, 2013)

Our band doesn't have a drummer anymore, and we still need to play, I've made midi drum tracks in logic pro x and superior drummer on my computer, which is a desktop, but I do have access to a laptop we could possibly use too. I just wanna hear how you guys go about using virtual drums, or even pre-recorded drums live, and what you guys use to set it up, and control it.


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## danresn (Oct 26, 2013)

There is no reason to actually use a laptop with superior drummer. Just bounce it down to a MP3 and stick it on your phone (Put it in airplane mode). Connect that to the desk and you are good to go.

If you need a click track do the same but stick the drums in mono and the click panned completely to one side, lets say left. Get a 3.5 to stereo adapter and send the left to the monitors and the the right channel to the audience.

I think you should really try and keep as little software running to go wrong as possible.


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## Sebazz1998 (Oct 26, 2013)

danresn said:


> There is no reason to actually use a laptop with superior drummer. Just bounce it down to a MP3 and stick it on your phone (Put it in airplane mode). Connect that to the desk and you are good to go.
> 
> If you need a click track do the same but stick the drums in mono and the click panned completely to one side, lets say left. Get a 3.5 to stereo adapter and send the left to the monitors and the the right channel to the audience.
> 
> I think you should really try and keep as little software running to go wrong as possible.



This is exactly what we are doing in my band but we are just running FX through the track with the click as we have a drummer. you should have a backup phone to because if it craps out on you  but anyways its much more reliable than a computer


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## WarriorOfMetal (Oct 29, 2013)

From years of personal experience with Recently Vacated Graves: True Zombie Metal...after years of taking a small PA system with us, and depending on that for our own hearing of the drum tracks, as well as what the audience was hearing, we finally got IEMs earlier this year, and they've made a huge improvement in how tightly we can perform, since it's significantly easier to hear the drum tracks.


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## BenSolace (Oct 30, 2013)

danresn said:


> There is no reason to actually use a laptop with superior drummer. Just bounce it down to a MP3 and stick it on your phone (Put it in airplane mode). Connect that to the desk and you are good to go.
> 
> If you need a click track do the same but stick the drums in mono and the click panned completely to one side, lets say left. Get a 3.5 to stereo adapter and send the left to the monitors and the the right channel to the audience.
> 
> I think you should really try and keep as little software running to go wrong as possible.



I've seen this done successfully, but the problem you may have is with the FOH engineer - he may want more control over the volume of the drums rather than just "volume up/down." Our band has a drummer, but we keep a multitrack superior drummer performance muted in our backing track project files in case he is sick just before a gig, or we happen to rehearse when he can't make it. They're mixed down a little (toms, overheads all in one rather than singly etc.) and sent out via lightpipe to a Behringer ADA8000 (as it has XLR outs that can go straight to FOH) but with no EQ/compression so that FOH can apply that as they see fit. All that being said, we've never needed to use it at a show, so who knows that the engineer would think!


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## danresn (Oct 30, 2013)

BenHughesDS said:


> I've seen this done successfully, but the problem you may have is with the FOH engineer - he may want more control over the volume of the drums rather than just "volume up/down." Our band has a drummer, but we keep a multitrack superior drummer performance muted in our backing track project files in case he is sick just before a gig, or we happen to rehearse when he can't make it. They're mixed down a little (toms, overheads all in one rather than singly etc.) and sent out via lightpipe to a Behringer ADA8000 (as it has XLR outs that can go straight to FOH) but with no EQ/compression so that FOH can apply that as they see fit. All that being said, we've never needed to use it at a show, so who knows that the engineer would think!



You have a good point. It just depends how much money you are willing to invest into the band. If it's just for fun and you don't want to spend more money, make sure your kick drum is nice and clicky so it doesn't get muddy if you are playing metal etc. If you have the budget, well you can go with this option


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## BenSolace (Oct 31, 2013)

danresn said:


> You have a good point. *It just depends how much money you are willing to invest into the band*. If it's just for fun and you don't want to spend more money, make sure your kick drum is nice and clicky so it doesn't get muddy if you are playing metal etc. If you have the budget, well you can go with this option



Absolutely! It's worth mentioning that every spare penny I get goes into either studio or live equipment (no holidays ), so as a result I can do this. As mentioned, I have seen a local(ish) death metal guy just using an iPod, Pod XT and guitar to do this, and it sounded great!


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