Looking for a good tip when using Ride samples...

To me, rides have really become a problem when trying to sequence a "real" sounding drumkit. The problem is that even a mono sample just eats polyphony way too much. With the ride set to Poly and sequence several hits in a fill and keep tapping it to the rhythm, it sounds perfect. But you can easily eat 20 of the 32 voices this way. If you set the ride sample to Mono, it just doesn't sound real. It cuts it off and doesn't allow it to ring out like a real ride does. If there were a way to set a polyphony limit on each pad it would work, but that isn't an option. I figure there has to be a workaround. Just curious what other people have come up with... Peace.

What I do is get it sounding right, then solo it and resample it to save the polyphony.

wudsiba wrote:To me, rides have really become a problem when trying to sequence a "real" sounding drumkit. The problem is that even a mono sample just eats polyphony way too much. With the ride set to Poly and sequence several hits in a fill and keep tapping it to the rhythm, it sounds perfect. But you can easily eat 20 of the 32 voices this way. If you set the ride sample to Mono, it just doesn't sound real. It cuts it off and doesn't allow it to ring out like a real ride does. If there were a way to set a polyphony limit on each pad it would work, but that isn't an option. I figure there has to be a workaround. Just curious what other people have come up with... Peace.

what if they were set to mono and you panned out the drum kit... then added some reverb. or you could do the cymbals of the drum kit in stereo all by themselves and resample that into one sample. what MPC are you using?

maybe if you put the sample on mono but put it on 2-3 or even 4 pads and rotate through them so you they only get cut when they've already faded a good deal...?

DJ Plan A wrote:maybe if you put the sample on mono but put it on 2-3 or even 4 pads and rotate through them so you they only get cut when they've already faded a good deal...?

That's it right there... Damn good idea my man. That's using your head right there! Then I'll transfer it all to an audio track. Thank you boys!

^^ I don't get it?

Surely you still have the problem of pads cutting others off? I thought the idea was to have a natural sounding release...

This will just kind of limit the polyphony... I haven't tried it yet, as I have to go to work, but I really think this will be the way to do it. It should basically work like this: Say I set the ride on all four of the top pads. The program will be set to poly, but each individual pad will be set to mono. Then when I create the sequence, I'll just sequence it to go through the four pads in a series. By the time you hit the first pad, there will already be three others ringing out. This way, when the first pad in the series is struck again, and turns off the original sample, it shouldn't be noticable. In theary, of course. This will still eat up to four voices, but it sure beats twenty! Depending on how well it works, I may be able to get away with using just three pads. We'll see. Get it?

Thanks again DJ Plan A... That's one thing I love about these machines, and MIDI in general. There's almost always a way to get what you want done. Sometimes you just have to brainstorm on it for a bit...

wudsiba wrote:Get it?

Yeah I get it... The only problem is if you want various timbres of cymbal for more realism. That's a lot of pads just devoted to rides.

Hope it works out for you though.

Coz wrote:

wudsiba wrote:Get it?

Yeah I get it... The only problem is if you want various timbres of cymbal for more realism. That's a lot of pads just devoted to rides.

Hope it works out for you though.

cosign.. all those pads could be used for cowbell

Or kazoo... Take your pick.

wudsiba wrote:The only problem is if you want various timbres of cymbal for more realism. That's a lot of pads just devoted to rides.

good point. Adjusting each of your 4 copies VERY SLIGHTLY with pitch, filter, attack/decay, and whatever other mods could help add a touch more subtle dynamism.

One of the things about cymbals in general is that when you hear them in the context of a full kit or a full song, they seem to fade out much quicker (and they lose some of the attack). Its the natural effect of the decay portion of the cymbal being drowned out by louder elements, and mostly not being directly miked. So you can also try shortening the decay on the ride sample.