How to record covers with electronic drums — Mac / Garageband / Addictive Drums 2 — MIDI

Did you just buy an electronic drum kit and you want to record your sessions? Are you playing covers and want to record those without the original drums track?

I’m not a professional drummer and there are no straight solutions for this, but I will show you the easiest way in my opinion.

I will use the MIDI Recording approach. Recording MIDI allows you to capture the digital notes from the drum pads and cymbals. Then this information can be used with drum synths on audio software on Garageband.

What will you need

1. Electronic drum kit :)
2. Mac with GarageBand and addictive drums 2:
   https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_drums_2
   You can download the free trial version. It will be enough to get started.
3. MIDI/USB cable
   Amazon link
4. Optional (Audio interface)

Steps

1. Choose your cover song
2. Go to https://app.moises.ai/ (this is the best online software I’ve seen that is able to remove the drums from a track. There is no great solution for this, but this site works pretty good), upload it, process it there, and get your ‘drumless’ song
3. Connect you drums with the USB cable from you drums to your mac
4. Open Garageband, chose new project, and choose Software Instrument track type.

5. This will create a software track with an e-piano by default. You need to change this to use the Addictive 2 plugin

6. Add to your project the original audio (to play along if you like that)

7. Add to your project the drumless track (to use in the recording or to play along)

8. Configure your plugin (Addictive2): click on the plugin “Addictive2” in garage band (controls of your software track) and it will open the Addictive 2 settings:

Then go to the top right option (?) to open the mapping window.
Here you can select your e-drums module:

My e-drums are not present there to select, but you can try different modules to see if all your pads and cymbals are being mapped correctly (you will hear it immediatly)

In Addictive you can selected different kits, but if you only have the trial version you’ll be stuck with the Fairfax vol1, and without tompads. To start testing and having some fun, it will be enough (you have snare, hithats, 1 cymbal and kick).

9. Connect your headphones to the mac (I use them connected by bluetooth), press play on the track (the drumless track or the other, your personal choice) and hit record.
The recorded MIDI from the e-drums will be translated using the set you have chosen in Addictive 2.

And that’s it!!, now you can play, hear the cover song and record it.

You can now export your drum track with the drumless track in it on or not.

If I’m recording, I like to mute the drumless track and if I’m exporting I mute the original track and unmute the drumless track (personal choice, I like to play along hearing the original drums).

I hope you find this tutorial helpful if you want to record your sessions with your new first electronic drum kit!