drum programming workflow

hey ya'll,

i know this is has sort of been discussed before, but I wanted to be a little more specific. I know everyone has their own method.

in the MPC 1K Tutorial, the author suggests making Drum Kits - and having them all set up the same way.

I.E. Kick's on Pad's 1-4, Snares on Pad 5-8. The strongest, hardest kick should be on Pad 1, a weaker kick on Pad 2, an even weaker kick on Pad 3, etc.....

That way, he says, you can write a beat, and load up a bunch a drum kits and keep switching programs (drum kits) until you get the right sound.

Everyone follow?

These seems like a good idea, but is there a better way? Do you guys work with your drums like this?

I could foresee a nice set up where you could really work quickly by having a DRUM KITS folder where you have all your drum kits, set up in the same way on the pads. Then would have your separate folders for KICKS, SNARES, TOMS, etc. where you could find single hits to layer with.

Or would you actually go right into your KICKS, SNARES, HATS, TOMS etc folders and pick out single hits and build a kit from there? And, would you save that kit to use in the future?

I'm still new to this machine (I'm on JJOS1) and to producing in general so any comments, feedback, advice would be much appreciated.

yeah, maybe not with rows, like you described but with diff sound per pad, layers + velocity switch, with this (generally) method you can insert PC messages into sequence and samples are switching "under the pads" when you actually play with them and record a beat or after recording. you can insert them in 3/4 or 7/8 or whatever so it's not very repeatable.

another way I use is "bank per kit" 4 kits on abcd banks, similar sound on corresponding pads, simulted banks bcd under bank a, and velocity switch on all of them, good thing about it is you can instantly change, re-record velocity with q-link to get different variations, actually with os1 you can layer/switch between 20 samples per pad with 4 filter groups.

third, "1sample per pad" with GM2 note assign, this is nothing special, everything is clear and straighforward, you just have to play out your beat, than set random lfos for volume and filters, sometimes a little pitch change good for playing midi files, PC messages are also welcome here

I read about "sound specific program" kik pgm, snare pgm, where you have bunch of diff kik sounds on all the pads in a program, never tried that myself, I must check that one day.

Bugfix wrote:yeah, maybe not with rows, like you described but with diff sound per pad, layers + velocity switch, with this (generally) method you can insert PC messages into sequence and samples are switching "under the pads" when you actually play with them and record a beat or after recording. you can insert them in 3/4 or 7/8 or whatever so it's not very repeatable.

another way I use is "bank per kit" 4 kits on abcd banks, similar sound on corresponding pads, simulted banks bcd under bank a, and velocity switch on all of them, good thing about it is you can instantly change, re-record velocity with q-link to get different variations, actually with os1 you can layer/switch between 20 samples per pad with 4 filter groups.

third, "1sample per pad" with GM2 note assign, this is nothing special, everything is clear and straighforward, you just have to play out your beat, than set random lfos for volume and filters, sometimes a little pitch change good for playing midi files, PC messages are also welcome here

I read about "sound specific program" kik pgm, snare pgm, where you have bunch of diff kik sounds on all the pads in a program, never tried that myself, I must check that one day.

I think i'm still a little too beginner to really get what you're saying. I haven't delved into simult yet, and don't know what GM2 is. Also not clear on PC messages - are you saying you send a message to the MPC from the computer to (for example) switch to a different kick in a particular part of the sequence?

I'm really trying to establish a method of writing drums, a workflow method.

well, you asked about techniques

GM2 for drums means nothing but that every specific sound corresponds to midi note, every sound has it's specific place, it's almost the same what you described, it's for comunicating with computer or other gear. Drums can be in any order on keyboard/pads you like to use, till they are assigned to correct midi note ie B0(35)=Acoustic Bass Drum everything is in the place

Program Change messages, yes from/to computer or other midi gear or inside your mpc, you can change programs ina.. automatique way on another and another as many times as you want on many tracks

By 3/4 and 7/8 I meant time signatures, if you mix tracks in such signatures with 4/4 you get illusion of move in the track, same with other events (ie PC)

Velocity switch is layering samples, but layers are divided by velocity so only one hits at the time.

Don't worry you're not catchin everything , if you don't know some term ask wiki
Personally I think General Midi + layers/simult for soft to hard kits is quite an easy and effective way. You have to experiment, there is a bit more than what I said

some really excellent tips for people here, Bugfix !
good to hear about some of the more 'out of the way' methods from time to time.

swamp gravy wrote:I could foresee a nice set up where you could really work quickly by having a DRUM KITS folder where you have all your drum kits, set up in the same way on the pads. Then would have your separate folders for KICKS, SNARES, TOMS, etc. where you could find single hits to layer with.

Or would you actually go right into your KICKS, SNARES, HATS, TOMS etc folders and pick out single hits and build a kit from there? And, would you save that kit to use in the future?

I'm still new to this machine (I'm on JJOS1) and to producing in general so any comments, feedback, advice would be much appreciated.

I build a new drum kit everytime.
I just have the program autoload every time I boot up. That program contains all of my velocity settings and things that I will load the samples into. So my snare pad has the same settings every time, and my kick pad has the same settings, etc.

Then I load like 400 drums sounds in and go through them all until they match the beat nicely.
This seems like a lot of work, but I love the timbres of the drums to match the feel of my beats. I then pitch the drums so they don't clash frequency wise with the beat.

So I pick out drums every beat. This takes time out of my workflow, but it is worth it, because the drums are one of the most important parts. But I do have performance kits or break kits that are saved, because they just sound good together period.

That is my drum workflow. Good luck

thanks ya'll - keep them replies coming, let's hear more.

also try layering you kicks and see how they sound... Practice make perfect but you can get some ill kicks and sub bass doing layers. Also use filters to get different feels to your drumkits.