To get going quickly with Handy Drums plugins, first, make sure that you have installed the plugins you intend to use.
Before using the software, you must authorize it by entering the serial number (license key) you received with your purchase. Here is how to authorize Handy Drums.
Handy Drums Plugins: What they are and what they are not #
Handy Drums plugins are virtual drum sound modules. They playback drum samples when triggered by MIDI data. It is necessary to have a midi track with music notes routed to the plugin to make a sound. They can also be used as standalone apps on Windows and MacOS computers, in which case they will need to be played using hardware MIDI controllers.
Handy Drums plugins are not drum machines. They don’t contain drum loops and currently do not have a sequencer built into them.
How To Load Handy Drums Virtual Instruments In Logic Pro #
In Logic, virtual instruments are loaded into “Software Instrument Tracks.”
To load a virtual instrument into a Software Instrument track, under the main menu select:
Track>New Tracks and then select the Software Instrument button.
Then, under the “instrument” drop-down menu navigate to the AU Instruments menu toward the bottom, select GoranGrooves and your desired, previously-installed Handy Drums instrument.
You can choose between a stereo setup (ideal for a quick programming/writing session), or multiple outputs (for a more serious and extensive mixing session).
NOTE: If selecting Stereo setup, under “output” make sure that some active output is selected (such as the default output 1+2) in order to hear the sound from the plugin. If no output is selected, the plugin may not be audible.
Audition the loaded Handy Drums plugin #
To make sure that the Handy Drums plugin is installed correctly along with its sample library and that the two are connected and working properly, click on the drum and percussion icons above the faders on the plugin’s GUI. The level meters will illuminate, indicating that the sample library is properly connected and working. You should also hear the sounds of individual instruments as you press the icons.
If the Handy Drums GUI doesn’t automatically open up like in most DAWs, look for the blue settings button in the Handy Drums insert location slot on the left-hand side and click on it. This will bring up the GUI for Handy Drums.
Playing a Drum Loop Through Handy Drums #
To play a drum groove through the Handy Drums plugins, you will need to drop an existing MIDI drum loop onto a Software Instrument track with the Handy Drums instrument loaded (as previously described), or create a loop from scratch right on your Software Instrument track.
There are a couple of ways to import an existing midi loop into Logic.
Option 1: Find the loop you want to import using “finder” on your Mac.
Have a logic window open in the background and drag the desired loop directly onto your software instrument track and into a desired position on the timeline.
You can choose whether to use the tempo from the midi track or your project. In most cases, it would be wise to use the project’s tempo especially if you already have some existing tracks in your project.
Option 2: Import MIDI loops using the Import function.
From the top menu, select File > Import > MIDI File, browse to your desired loop, and click import.
Logic will again ask about tempo as before.
The midi file will be imported but will likely be placed on a new track that does not contain Handy Drums. You will need to manually drag the imported loop onto your Handy Drums Software Instrument track.
Logic Pro lacks the functionality to audition MIDI files located on your computer prior to importing them into a project. This is Logic’s shortcoming available in DAWs, such as Cubase. The upcoming version 2.0 of Handy Drums will feature a built-in MIDI browser, player and drag n’ drop to facilitate this functionality.
Enabling Plugin’s Multiple Outputs inside Logic Pro X #
In Logic, if you have previously loaded a Stereo version of the plugin, click on the plugin’s arrow menu in the inspector go to the top of the menu of the currently loaded Handy Drums plugin, and reload a “multi-output” version of the plugin.
NOTE: If you later decide to change back to the Stereo version, you may need to reroute any components that were routed to outputs other than 1-2 in order to hear any sound.
For individual Handy Drums instruments (eg. kick, snare, hats…) to be outputted to any output other than the default stereo 1-2, they must be routed inside the plugin’s GUI after the multiple output connections have been enabled inside Logic.
You are now ready to start programming drum loops or editing existing ones.