early mornin tip: velocity -> attack and filter

howdy
another early morning (well kinda) overcaffeinated tip.

my drum programs usually have a LOT of samples in there. each main drum pad has 4 samples on it, arranged from loudest down to softest. each layer is triggered by a velocity range - if i hit it at 50, it plays the 3rd sample--if at 127, it plays the first.

this has been great for more expression. however, it's just gotten better.

for my snares, often i want the lower velocity samples to play a bit differently than the top ones. so i put an attack velocity on there - so the softer i hit it, the softer the attack. if i just barely brush it, it sounds like the snare was -- well, brushed. i don't often do this for kicks, but i do it for hats, rides, snares and cyms at varying amounts based on my needs.

second, after doing that, i started learning more about filter velocity and such - same idea, but it just plays with a more filtered version at a softer velocity - ie, my snare plays with a gentle lowpass at midrange, more medium lowpass when i just touch it. the result--a dampening sound. this is GREAT for ghost notes.

this also provides you with an even better performance kit, too - you have more nuance to your velocity performance other than just playing the same samples at a different dynamic range. this way it actually changes the character of the sound itself rather than just the loudnesss

discuss and enlighten me on more things i should try using this logic.

How many "takes" do you have to do before you get it just right. I almost always use full level and use levels for variations in velocity.

Antonym wrote:discuss and enlighten me on more things i should try using this logic.

i thought you used reaper, not logic.



good tip, but kinda obvious if you don't mind me saying.

the layers should also have different samples of the actual drum being hit harder/softer, rather than just louder/softer versions of the same sample. the sound of a real drum changes with different hit strengths, and although your method captures some of that variation, you also need the samples to be different. this method also works well with that 'more than 4 velocity layers' method you posted.

smart ass

good tip, but kinda obvious if you don't mind me saying.

yaeh absolutely - i know many people do this, but i was sleeping for a long time. and as for the "harder/softer" thing, that's kind of what i meant earlier but thanks for being more clear - it's the "nuance" you're after in doing this. you can often find a nice range of hits from a simple chopped break, the different snares and what not. play em side by side and you can kind of order them by character.

that sounds cool. Not obvious to me as I am brand new to sampling and it has only been a few days. Will someone explain that process of getting more "ghost" sounds on the snare. I'm getting good at putting multiple samples onto a pad and I understand the velocity range, and I am using the attack/release thing as it is similar to a compressor, but how do you do the filter thing to further ghost it? I have the jj os....thanks....Scott