Introduction 

Addictive Drums 2 comes with extensive midi remapping and e-drum support. You can access the MIDI Mapping window from the Top Menu, and here you can change which key/map/controller triggers a certain drum sound. This can be useful if you

• Own an e-drum kit and want to use it to trigger the sounds in Addictive Drums 2
• Have MIDI drum grooves that use a different keymap than Addictive Drums 2, for instance, GM standard or grooves from another software drum manufacturer
• Want to make it easier to play grooves on a midi keyboard

Using an electronic drum kit with AD2

In the MIDI Mapping window, click the Map Preset menu and select your electronic drum kit if it is listed there. After that it should just be a matter of record enabling the Addictive Drums 2 track in your DAW host and start banging! If your electronic drum kit is not listed in the Map Preset menu – try the GM Map Preset. It works with most electronic drum kits. 

There are some e-drum specific features in AD2 like MIDI CC control of hihat, positional sensing and cymbal chokes. Check the Advanced E-drum Settings for more on this.

If you're looking for a quick guide on how to get up and running with e-drums, check out this article:

Beginner's guide to e-drums with Addictive Drums 2

 

1. Global Velocity
2. Kit Piece Selector
3. Map Preset section
4. Kit piece and Velocity Settings
5. Keyboard View
6. MIDI Monitor
7. Advanced E-drum Settings
8. Stroke Type List

Map Preset section

All settings in the Map Window can be saved and loaded as a Map Preset. AD2 comes with a number of Map Presets for common electronic drum kits and controllers, so you may not need to dig deeper into the Map Window than the Map Preset menu. 

You can also save your own custom created map and load it whenever you want. 

If you want the currently loaded map to load automatically every time you start up AD2, click the Set as default button.

MIDI Monitor

This area displays your incoming MIDI signals ("IN"), as well as what they are currently mapped to ("OUT"). 

Global Velocity

The Global Velocity slider controls the velocity response for all kit pieces and stroke types.

1. Default setting (whole velocity range is used)
2. Softer (maximum velocity is 90)
3. Harder (minimum velocity is 60) 

Advanced E-drum Settings

See next chapter of this manual. 

Kit Piece Selector

Each of the 18 kit pieces can be selected and edited by clicking the corresponding button in the Kit Piece Selector.

Kit piece and velocity settings

This section shows the Kit Piece Slot and velocity response settings for the currently selected kit piece. The Kit Piece Slot works like the ones on the KIT page, which means that you can audition and load kit pieces without leaving the MIDI Mapping Window.

Velocity Curve

This box displays a graph of the velocity response of the currently selected kit piece. The horizontal axis represents the velocity received by Addictive Drums and the vertical axis represents the outgoing velocity. Move the nodes to alter the velocity response.

You can choose some different preconfigured velocity curves in the Velocity Curve dropdown and use those as starting points. 

1. Softer Velocity (preset)
2. Harder Velocity (preset)

Keyboard View

The Keyboard View shows how the stroke types are mapped across a keyboard. Use the scrollbar handle on the smaller keyboard to zoom in on another part of the bigger keyboard. Dragging a Stroke Type from the Stroke Type List to a key will instantly map it. You can also drag a Stroke Type from one key to another. Moving a Stroke Type to a key that is already mapped will replace that Stroke Type. 

 

Stroke Type List

This list contains all the available Stroke Types for the currently selected kit piece. 

1. MIDI activity
2. Velocity Adjust
3. Learn
4. Stroke type name
5. Special

💡Please note that the stroke type names in the stroke type list are the default names from the Addictive Drums 2 keymap (see PDF in Top Menu). Some ADpaks may deviate slightly from that standard. In the Modern Jazz Brushes ADpak, the “RimClick” stroke type has been replaced by the “Sweep: Short 1” stroke type, but it will still be labeled as “RimClick” in the stroke type list.

Mapping

To map a stroke type, simply click on the name and drag‘n’drop it onto a key in the Keyboard View. 

Velocity

The velocity sliders on the left lets you increase or decrease the velocity for a single stroke type. Use this to, for example, make the sidestick louder than the regular snare sound.

Learn

Click Learn and hit the corresponding pad/key on your e-drum kit/controller to map it.

Special

1. CC - used by special CC stroke types (see the “Map Window – Advanced Settings” chapter for more information)
2. Brushed - only used by sounds played with brushes, such as those in the Modern Jazz – Brushes ADpak
3. CC&Brushed - only used by sounds played with brushes, such as those in the Modern Jazz – Brushes ADpak, and is also a special CC stroke type.

 

 

Map Window – Advanced E-drum Settings

In order to understand how the settings in the CC Hihat tab works, information on how e-drum hihats work in general is necessary. Different e-drum kits come with different types of hihat setups. Below you will find descriptions of the most common types. Please refer to your e-drum manual for further information.

Hihat setup A

With this setup you can get two hihat articulations: closed and open.

1. Pad sensor
2. e-drum module
3. Pedal

Hihat setup B

This setup has a slightly more advanced Hihat pad with 2 strike zones. 

This drum module also recognizes when you move the pedal down quickly and sends out a “Hihat Foot Close” note.

1. “Bow” Sensor
2. “Edge” Sensor
3. E-drum Module
4. Pedal

 

Hihat setup C

This setup uses the “CC Hihat” stroke types to take advantage of AD2’s full range of hihat articulations. 

1. “Bow” Sensor
2. “Edge” Sensor
3. E-drum Module
4. Pedal

CC Hihat

Using the CC Hihat stroke types instead of the regular stroke types will cause AD2 to ignore the drum module’s idea of closed and open. Instead, AD2 cares only about

• where you hit the pad (bow or edge)
• your current pedal position (sent out as MIDI CC #4)

Now, using the CC Hihat control in AD, it is now possible to fine tune exactly which AD2 hihat StrokeType is triggered for a certain pedal position. 

Foot Close / Foot Splash Sensitivity

Even if the drum module recognizes when you move the pedal down and generate a note for this, we ignore that note in this example. Instead, AD2 uses its internal detection system, and when you move the pedal down quickly a “Foot Close” sound is generated. If you move the pedal down and then release it immediately you get a “Foot Splash”. The sensitivity for these articulations can be adjusted using the Foot Close / Foot Splash Sensitivity controls.

CC Hihat

Map CC value to Stroke Type

Adjust the nodes on the left side of the Pedal CC graph up or down to change the transition values for the different hihat stroke types.

CC Reverse

This reverses the Pedal CC range (for compatibility with certain e-drum kits).

CC Number

If your e-drum kit sends out Pedal CC values on a different CC number than the default (CC #4), you can set a new number here.  

CC Number (secondary)

If you’re using two controllers at the same time, for instance, an e-drum kit and a keyboard, you can also set a Pedal CC number for the secondary controller. 

Foot Close Sensitivity

When you move the pedal down quickly, a “Foot Close” sound is generated. Use this controller to set the trigger sensitivity. 

In order for Foot Close features to work properly, do not map the Foot Close stroke types to the notes sent out by your kit. 

Foot Splash Sensitivity

When you move the pedal down quickly and then release it quickly, a “Foot Splash” sound is generated. Use this controller to set the trigger sensitivity. 

In order for the Foot Splash features to work properly, do not map the Foot Splash stroke types to the notes sent out by your kit.

 

Positional Snare & Ride

Some e-drum kits have support for positional sensing. This means that when you hit the snare pad, the drum brain sends out a MIDI CC message that represents the distance from the center and the edge. Addictive Drums has a special “CCpos Snare” stroke type (see Keymap PDF) that can use this information. This stroke type will play a Snare Open Hit stroke type (when hitting the center), a Snare Shallow Hit (when hitting the edge) or a mix of both (when hitting in between center and edge). 

Snare Position CC Reverse

This reverses the snare position data, set it so you get the correct sounds as you move from the center to the edge. 

Snare Position CC Number

If your e-drum kit sends out positional sensing values on a different CC number than the default (CC #16), you can change it here. This could also be useful if you want to control the snare position data with, let’s say, a midi keyboard mod wheel or controller knob. Click the Learn button and move a controller to map it. 

Snare Position CC Range

This slider adjusts the crossfade between the Snare Open Hit and the Snare Shallow Hit positional snare stroke types. The left side of the slider represents the center of the drum pad (Open Hit) and the right side represents the edge (Shallow Hit). 

1. Using the default setting, the crossfade will start immediately when moving from the edge to the centre and vice versa.
2. This setting crossfades to the Shallow Hit closer to the center than the default setting.
3. Reducing the crossfade from both ends means that a smaller area of the drum pad will trigger a mix between the positional snare stroke types. 

Velocity Compensation

On some e-drum kits you may notice unwanted changes in velocity response when using positional snare - perhaps you have to hit the edge harder to achieve the same velocity as hitting the center. Use this controller to compensate for such behavior. 

CC Positional ride

The positional sensing for the Ride works like the snare, here the stroke types used are Ride Tip and Ride Shaft.

Cymbal Chokes 

For certain e-drum kits, the cymbals send out aftertouch MIDI messages when they are firmly grabbed. If you check the boxes in the Chokes section, these aftertouch messages are set to

 

 

StrokeTypes explained

Here’s an illustration of the different StrokeTypes included in the Addictive Drums sample library. For information on how these StrokeTypes are laid out on a keyboard, please see the Addictive Drums 2 Keymap PDF (available from the Top Menu).

1. Hihat & Ride: “Shaft” /  Cym: “Hit”
2. Hihat & Ride: “Bell”
3. Hihat & Ride: “Tip”

 

1. Snare, Toms: “Open Hit”
2. Snare, Toms: “Rimshot”
3. Snare: “Shallow Hit”
4. Snare: “Shallow Rimshot”
5. Snare: “Sidestick”
6. Snare: “Rimclick”