Drum Machine Designer kit controls in Logic Pro for Mac

Drum Machine Designer shows a grid representation of the kit for the currently loaded patch. Each pad represents a kit piece. You can edit a number of settings for the entire kit, discussed in this section. To learn about interacting with kit pieces, see Drum Machine Designer Pad controls bar and Drum Machine Designer pad controls.

The kit controls bar above the grid shows the active kit name and provides access to kit parameters. Click the kit name or the Kit Controls button to interact with global effects and control settings for the entire kit in the Smart Controls pane. If the Smart Controls pane is not visible, click the disclosure arrow at the lower left of the grid.

Figure. Drum Machine Designer grid and kit controls bar.

Kit controls bar parameters

To view kit Mute, Solo, and Action pop-up menu parameters, move the pointer over the kit controls bar.

Kit name and icon: Click the kit name to view kit parameters in the Smart Controls pane. Double-click the kit name to rename it (and the main track). Click the kit icon to stop all playing sounds. The Kit Controls button is highlighted when kit parameters are shown in the Smart Controls pane.
Note: The kit icon displays a muted speaker icon when you move the pointer over it during playback. This can be used to immediately stop playback of all kit pieces. This is useful when you want to silence a long One Shot sample that you are previewing in a Quick Sampler-based kit piece, for example.
Kit Controls button: View kit parameters in the Smart Controls pane. The button is highlighted when working with kit parameters in the Smart Controls pane. See Kit Tone and Effect Smart Controls.
Note: The Kit Controls button is visible only if the Smart Controls pane is shown.
Mute button: Select to silence the kit (mute the main track channel strip).
Solo button: Select to hear the kit in isolation. All other tracks and channel strips are muted, indicated by a flashing Mute button.
Action pop-up menu: Choose a command that globally affects the appearance and behavior of the kit.
- Select Pad by Key: Choose to turn on or turn off the automatic selection of pads with a MIDI keyboard. When on, the pad with an input note that corresponds to the incoming played MIDI note is selected.
  Note: MIDI notes played by Logic MIDI regions do not select pads, regardless of the setting of this menu item.
- Select Channel strip by Pad: Choose to turn on or turn off the selection of channel strips when you click a pad in the grid.
  Note: This option not only selects the corresponding subtrack and channel strip of the selected pad, but also sets focus to the main track. This ensures that notes played on the main track continue to be distributed to all subtracks. You can turn on both Select Pad by Key and Select Channel Strip by Pad to select pads, subtracks, and channel strips by playing a key on your MIDI keyboard.
- Open/Close Library: Open or close the Library pane. Click a kit patch name in the Library to exchange the entire kit.
- Use Empty Kit as Default: Turn on this option to use an empty kit when you insert Drum Machine Designer on an instrument channel strip.
- Hide/Show General MIDI Drum Names: Hide or show General MIDI (GM) drum names on each active pad. This is useful as a reference when mapping new sounds in a kit that you want to conform with the GM Drum standard. For example, when using Drum Machine Designer on a software instrument track with Drummer as the default region type.
- Hide/Show Kit Piece Icons: Hide or show the icons on each active pad.
  Note: When you move the pointer over a pad, a small speaker icon is shown. Click this icon to play the sound.
- Reorder Pads: Choose the Change Sounds or Visual Only option to alter how pad layout changes affect assigned pad sounds. The pad layout can be changed by reordering pads. For example, when you insert a pad between other pads or drop one pad onto another to exchange them.
  - Change Sounds: Changing the pad layout moves the sounds of the pads, but pad input and output note settings are not changed: The sounds will appear in a different order when played via a MIDI keyboard or by a recorded region.
  - Visual Only: Changing the pad layout moves the pads and sounds together, so reordering will only have a visual effect: The pads will appear in a different order, but assigned sounds are still played by the same MIDI notes.
- Sort Pads by GM Drum Standard: Choose to automatically remap the order of pads to the General MIDI (GM) Drum standard, which is used by Drummer. This changes the visual order of pads, but does not remap sounds.
  Note: Regardless of the “Reorder Pads” setting, both “Sort Pads” options will sort the pads visually, in accordance with input note values.
- Sort Pads Chromatically: Choose to automatically remap the order of pads chromatically from C1. This changes the visual order of pads, but does not remap sounds.
  Note: In order to play the instrument of a Drum Machine Designer subtrack chromatically and polyphonically, the instrument plug-in must react to different notes with different pitches, and its number of voices (polyphony) must be greater than one. If you have created a Drum Machine Designer kit and can’t play a subtrack instrument chromatically and polyphonically, please check that the instrument voices or polyphony parameter is set to a value greater than one. Also make sure the instrument key tracking parameter is turned on.
- Update Kit Name for all Kit Pieces: Choose to apply the current kit name to all kit pieces. This is useful when you add new kit pieces to an existing kit.
- Assign Track Icon: Choose to open a window where you can choose a kit icon from several categories. Select a category from the list and click an icon to assign it to the kit (and main track).
- Clear all Pads: Remove all assigned kit pieces from all pads.
- Set Output Notes based on DMD Pad instruments: Choose to assign kit piece output notes according to the Root Key of the Quick Sampler or other instruments assigned to each pad. This ensures that samples or sounds are triggered at the original pitch and speed.
- Enable Key Tracking on DMD Pads: Choose to play sounds chromatically.
- Disable Key Tracking on DMD Pads: Select to limit sounds to the root pitch when any key is struck.

Load and exchange kits

In Logic Pro, click the kit name in the kit controls bar at the top of the Drum Machine Designer window. If the Smart Controls pane is not visible, click the disclosure arrow at the lower left of the grid.
Click the Action pop-up menu on the kit controls bar, then choose Open Library if the Library is not visible.
Click a kit patch in the Library to load that kit.

Edit the sound of the entire kit

You can use Smart Controls parameters to apply a number of sound processing and effect options to the entire kit.

In Logic Pro, click the Kit Controls button in the kit controls bar. If the Smart Controls pane is not visible, click the disclosure arrow at the lower left of the grid.
Adjust the Smart Controls parameters for the kit.
To learn more about how each control affects the sound, see Kit Tone and Effect Smart Controls.

Save an edited kit as a kit patch

In Logic Pro, click the Save button at the bottom of the Library pane.
If the Library is not visible, click the Action pop-up menu on the kit controls bar, then choose Open Library.
In the window that appears, navigate to the file location you want to use.
The default folder location is User Kit Patches. If necessary, create a new folder.
Type the kit patch name, then press Save.

Download the guides:

Logic Pro User Guide: PDF

Logic Pro Instruments: PDF

Logic Pro Effects: PDF

Helpful?

Logic Pro User Guide for Mac

Drum Machine Designer kit controls in Logic Pro for Mac

Kit controls bar parameters

Load and exchange kits

Edit the sound of the entire kit

Save an edited kit as a kit patch