Any of yall cats expanding your drum sounds/techniques?

Prolly just some off sh** to most, but I've been finding myself trying to craft drum programs that sound more like a real drum kit than that old boom bap cleanery. I still like to layer sh** up so it bangs properly, but a dry thud kick and short snappy snare just don't do it for me all the time. Of course I still rock some regular drums too, but I've been gravitating towards more full soundin sh** as of late....

I'd be interested in hearing what yall cats dig about drum programs both your own and other sh** that's in the mix. Drums are the backbone of most electronic formats these days. And MPC's were originally new age drum machines when they debuted so I ain't left field with this one.

i do whatever i feel fits the tune wether it be a synth robo-beat, a funky house groove or a real emulation

greg

I just try to make my patterns strong enough to stand on their own.The drums can be one shots,break, whatever.As long as it sounds good.

stryke you avatar is making me feel ill

greg

Sorry.

L. Tombstone wrote:Prolly just some off sh** to most, but I've been finding myself trying to craft drum programs that sound more like a real drum kit than that old boom bap cleanery. I still like to layer sh** up so it bangs properly, but a dry thud kick and short snappy snare just don't do it for me all the time. Of course I still rock some regular drums too, but I've been gravitating towards more full soundin sh** as of late....

I'd be interested in hearing what yall cats dig about drum programs both your own and other sh** that's in the mix. Drums are the backbone of most electronic formats these days. And MPC's were originally new age drum machines when they debuted so I ain't left field with this one.

take a listen to my latest track:
http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=28616 (it gets interesting towards the end )

man I got like 3 bass kicks I use, and 4 snares I use. I'm trying to keep it simple...but not to repititious. I got this one snare/bass set that sounds good with everything, but I'm trying to cut down on using them so much. But I still think it's best to have a couple of snares and a couple of bass kicks to give yourself a "hey, that's "insert name here"'s beat, but still try and keep your audience interested. The thing with Kanye, it's usually really easy to spot his work, (except for Ludicris's "Stand Up"), and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

VanFanel wrote:man I got like 3 bass kicks I use, and 4 snares I use. I'm trying to keep it simple...but not to repititious. I got this one snare/bass set that sounds good with everything, but I'm trying to cut down on using them so much. But I still think it's best to have a couple of snares and a couple of bass kicks to give yourself a "hey, that's "insert name here"'s beat, but still try and keep your audience interested. The thing with Kanye, it's usually really easy to spot his work, (except for Ludicris's "Stand Up"), and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

that cant be good. I got to find the right drums for the beat. I gather most of my tracks elements before i even hit rec. So i gotta find the right set of drums and tune them to my melody and the bass and whatnot. I go through mad drums to find what i need, so having a 4 presets would make me crazy. But thats just how i get down.

here are some basic things that make for good drums (not listed in any particular order):

PLEASE add to THIS!

1. differant hihat velocities
2. good mix: drums fit sonically, i.e. hihats dont get drowned out by the piano sounds, or the kick doesnt get eaten by the bass,etc.

3. kick drum hits the same spot as the bass, or accents it
4. no quantize (or good quantize swing)
5. differant groove/swing on each drum
6. matching kit: i.e. the snare, hihat, and kick fit together like a puzzle as if a real drummer picked out the sounds to create a particular sound.
7. unique patterns.........not just boom bap
8. snare rolls, break downs every 4 or 8 bars
9. lofi drums......resampled drums
10. layered snares
11. The drums can stand on thier own. What i do is mute out all my other instruments except the drums and bass, then improve upon the sound of the drums so that its interesting by itself.......rarely do i keep the same drum samples when i started the beat to its finish.........you always gotta improve on it or make the drums fit the beat better.

12.sample and chop breaks
13.

13. Make sure your drums can convey the mood you're trying to get across...happy, laid back...

layer your sounds i like kick with hihats over them snares with a little bass sound it gives a little extra swing i also listen to alot of punk i dont want to be kanye sample a loop i want to be el producto program that ish fill the gaps and you will have a more live feel programed drums never sound as good as the live thing but sample the live thing and you can get close to the sound

I ALWAYS re-sample drum sounds from koyoards/modules/sample cd's. Their just too clean for me. I'll re-sample them just to get some dead air behind them, or I'll put a sample through one of my old 12bit samplers to take the shine off them. When it comes to layering, I'll stack it first on the mpc, and re-sample so I can save space and pads on the MPC. I usually EQ the sound before I sample it.

another trick is to copy a drumsound like 3 times, so you have 4 of them and than add a little bit of time at the start of each sound. Add different times to them. so they all start a little later.
good for groovin´