Drum MIDI Remapping: Why Note Numbers Differ Between Libraries and How to Convert Them
Every drum plugin uses a table that assigns MIDI note numbers to sounds. Kick drum is note 36 in General MIDI. In Addictive Drums 2, the main kick is also note 36 by default, which is why GM-origin files often load without issue. But the moment you move to a non-standard articulation such as a hi-hat that is a quarter open, or a snare rimshot, or a second crash cymbal, the agreement breaks down. Addictive Drums 2 maps its first closed hi-hat tip to note 49; General MIDI assigns that same note number to Crash Cymbal 1. One library's crash is another library's hi-hat, and that mismatch is where productions break.
The General MIDI specification, published by the MIDI Manufacturers Association in 1991, defines 47 percussion sounds for channel 10 (0-indexed: channel 9). That is enough for a basic rock kit, but modern virtual drum instruments routinely expose 60 to over 100 articulations per kit. EZdrummer 3's full Rock Solid kit, for example, includes multiple open hi-hat positions, two distinctly mapped floor toms, multiple snare strokes, and several cymbal choke notes. The GM table has no address space for most of that. So Toontrack introduced a GM Extended standard that keeps the core 36, 38, 42, 46, 44, 49, 51 notes in their GM positions and fills the surrounding range with extended articulations. BFD3, Addictive Drums 2, and GetGood Drums each made their own decisions independently, which is why no two non-GM formats share the same complete mapping.
How This Tool Converts Between Formats
A naive approach would require a distinct lookup table for every possible source and target pair. With 8 formats, that is 56 directional tables to maintain. This tool uses an intermediate vocabulary instead: a fixed list of instrument names (Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat Closed, and so on) that every format maps into and out of. That reduces the problem to one table per format. Converting from Superior Drummer 3 to BFD3 means reading note 36 in the SD3 table, getting "Kick," then reading "Kick" in the BFD3 table, getting note 36 again. For cases where the instrument names match but the note numbers differ, such as EZdrummer mapping its half-open hi-hat to note 62 while BFD3 puts the same articulation at note 45, the intermediate step resolves the difference cleanly.
Notes that are present in your MIDI file but not recognized in the source format's table are handled separately. You have three options: pass them through to the output unchanged, drop them entirely, or remap them all to a single fallback note you specify. The pass-through option is useful when your file contains non-drum MIDI data on the drum channel that you want to preserve. The drop option is useful when you know the unrecognized notes are extras you do not need in the new format.
Source Format Notes and Verified Mappings
The mappings in this tool are sourced from official documentation where available. General MIDI note assignments are from the MIDI Manufacturers Association specification. The Toontrack GM Extended mapping for EZdrummer 2, EZdrummer 3, and Superior Drummer 3 is verified against the GM Extended Core Mapping chart included in the Superior Drummer 2 manual and confirmed against the default mapping displayed in the SD3 MIDI Inspector. The Addictive Drums 2 map is verified against the official XLN Audio Keymap PDF. The BFD3 map is from the official BFD3 Key Map Reference published by BFD Drums.
One important nuance: several libraries ship with multiple map presets and allow the user to change the active mapping inside the plugin. The maps included here are each library's factory default state, which is what an untouched install will use. If you or a collaborator has customized the internal mapping of your plugin, the built-in presets here will not match and you should use the manual map editor to replicate your actual setup.
The Manual Map Editor
The map editor exposes a row for each of the 25 instrument names in the shared vocabulary. Each row shows the source note (from the selected source format), the instrument name, and a field for the target note number you want it to become. Clearing a field drops that instrument from the output. The preset values are filled in automatically from the selected formats but are fully overridable.
Once you have a custom map you want to reuse, export it as a JSON file. The file stores the source format, target format, and your full note assignment table. Import it on any future session without re-entering your overrides. This is the intended path if you have a drum plugin that is not in the preset list: build the map once manually by referencing your plugin's MIDI layout (usually accessible from the plugin's own menu under something like "About Sound Libraries" or "MIDI Mapping"), save it, and reuse it across projects. The MIDI to Sheet Music tool can help you visualize the note numbers in your file if you need to identify what sounds are where before building a map.
Batch Conversion
Batch mode lets you drop multiple .mid files at once and convert all of them against the same source and target settings in a single pass. The output downloads as a .zip file with one remapped file per input. This is the practical workflow if you have a library of drum MIDI loops (from a loop pack, from a session musician, or from a groove library like the ones bundled with EZdrummer) and want to move all of them to a different plugin. A pack with 200 MIDI files that took hours to program does not need to be manually re-edited note by note. Upload the folder's contents, set your formats, convert, and the remapped batch is ready in seconds.
All processing happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server. There is no conversion limit, login requirement, or file size restriction beyond what your browser's memory can handle. For reference, a typical drum MIDI file from a commercial groove pack is between 5 KB and 100 KB, so memory is rarely a constraint for practical batch sizes.
Common Conversion Scenarios
The most frequent use case is switching your production from one drum plugin to another. You started a project in EZdrummer 2 but want to finish it in Superior Drummer 3 for more control over the room mics. Since both use Toontrack's GM Extended mapping, most notes transfer without any change. The conversion is useful mainly for edge-case articulations in extended hi-hat positions or secondary crash cymbal assignments.
A more involved scenario is moving from any Toontrack product to Addictive Drums 2. AD2's mapping deviates significantly above note 60, where tom notes and cymbal articulations sit in different positions. Specifically, AD2's Tom 1 is at note 72, whereas SD3 places it at note 48. Without remapping, every rack tom hit in your SD3 pattern will trigger a hi-hat articulation in AD2.
The reverse situation comes up when you receive a MIDI file from a collaborator who uses a different plugin. A session drummer recording reference tracks in Addictive Drums 2 and sending you the MIDI for programming into BFD3 is a real workflow. Running the file through this converter first, before loading it into BFD3, saves time over finding and reassigning 40 to 60 mismatched notes by hand in a piano roll.
What This Tool Does Not Handle
Articulation switching within a single instrument is outside the scope of this tool. Several modern drum plugins, including Superior Drummer 3 and Addictive Drums 2, use velocity ranges or MIDI CC messages to switch between articulations on the same note. For example, AD2's hi-hat uses CC4 (foot controller data) to determine whether the hi-hat is open, half-open, or closed at the time of a note-on event, which means the same note 42 can trigger a very different sound depending on the CC value that preceded it. This tool remaps notes only. CC data in the file is preserved but not converted.
If you are working with loops that heavily depend on CC-based articulation control and the target plugin uses a different CC assignment, you will need to address that layer of remapping manually in your DAW's MIDI editor or using a MIDI processor plugin. The note remapping this tool provides handles the most common production bottleneck, which is simply getting the correct drum sound to fire on the correct note.
For building new drum patterns from scratch in your browser, the Drum MIDI Pattern Editor lets you program a step sequencer and export the result directly as General MIDI. You can then run that output through this remapper if your target plugin uses a non-GM layout. For analyzing the note content of any MIDI file before or after conversion, the MIDI to Sheet Music viewer renders note numbers as standard notation so you can verify the map looks correct.
