• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Why Logic Pro Rules

A website dedicated to Apple's Logic Pro, the best Digital Audio Workstation out there.

  • Blog
  • About
  • Free Logic Pro Templates & Guides
  • Contact

March 19, 2021

3 Tips To Play With Pitch Using Drum Machine Designer & Step Sequencer

 

Drum Machine Designer has to be one of my favorite things about Logic Pro since the release of 10.5. I freaking love this thing!

While Drum Machine Designer has been around for a while now, it wasn’t always the easiest to work with. DMD sure was pretty. But it felt like a weird middle-man between you and the actual instrument behind DMD, which was Ultrabeat.

But thanks to 10.5, the vision for Drum Machine Designer now feels fully realized. And man is it slick!

Drum Machine Designer isn’t an “instrument,” per se. Instead, DMD is a container for other drum instruments and samplers.

The Drum Machine Designer interface is more like a “smart hub” for accessing details of each drum pad. Allowing you to adjust individual controls of each instrument/channel strip:

  • Plugin controls
  • Volume & Panning
  • Reverb & Delay sends

And even the underlying instruments themselves!

If you pop open any of the Electronic Drum Kit Track Stacks from Logic’s Library, you’ll find each Channel Strip houses its own instrument. Most of which are either Quick Sampler or Drum Synth.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t load Ultrabeat onto a DMD channel strip. Or a 3rd party drum instrument like Battery. Or some other instrument entirely, like the Vintage Keys.

And paired with Logic’s new Step Sequencer and Pattern Regions, Logic is now a producer’s paradise.

One thing that might not feel immediately evident is how to program pitched drum parts. Especially when using Logic’s Step Sequencer.

Think 808s. Pitched high hats for ear candy. Or just subtle pitch variations for less robotic-sounding drums.

Of course one of the many amazing Step Sequencer Edit Modes is the Note mode. Which allows you to change the note/pitch on a per-step basis.

But Note doesn’t match our expectations when working with Drum Machine Designer. Instead of pitching a snare or snap up or down, it swaps that snare or snap with the other drum sounds.

That’s because when you load a Pattern Region onto a DMD Track Stack, that top layer is not just the snare or snap. It’s the entire drum machine worth of pads spread across the piano roll.

But you only have to dig a *tiny* bit deeper into Drum Machine Designer for pitching samples.

And today I’d like to show you 3 ways to sequence pitched drum samples. Check out today’s video for more.

Free Mixing & Mastering Template Bundle - Why Logic Pro Rules

Enjoy this post? Spread the Logic Pro love:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Drum Machine Designer, Producing, Recording, Sampler, Software Instruments, Songwriting, Step Sequencer

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Free Template Sidebar

Plus – receive my Workflow Checklist. 10 tips and tricks to supercharge your Logic Pro workflow:

Search

Popular on WLPR

  • iLoud Precision MTM Speaker Review – 6 Months Later, Why I Love These Speakers
  • Logic Pro X System Overload Message Audio Engine Too Slow?
    Here’s 10 Ways to Fix Logic Pro X System Overloads
  • The 6 Life-Saving Tips For Mastering in Logic Pro X The 6 Life-Saving Tips For Mastering in Logic Pro X
  • Logic Pro X Flex Time Flex Time Not Working?
    3 Common Issues & How to Solve Them
  • Bussing in Logic Pro X How to Use Bussing in Logic Pro X to Super-Charge Your Projects

WLPR’s Top Recommended Gear & Plugins

Chris Vandeviver - Mix Desk

WLPR’s Top Recommended Gear

Who Am I?

Oh, hey. I’m Chris Vandeviver. Mix Engineer, producer, and Logic Pro fanatic.

Why Logic Pro Rules is a website dedicated to helping you get the best you can out of Apple’s Logic Pro.

Every week I post tutorials, answer questions, and share how to get the most out of Logic Pro.

  • Privacy Policy

"Logic Pro" is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. “Why Logic Pro Rules" is an independent website and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc.


Copyright © 2023

 

Loading Comments...