HOW DO YOU: go about layering your drums???

I've been playing around for awhile now with layering my drums... and was curious to know what are some of the things going through other peoples minds when they are in the process of creating new drums...

how would you describe the drums you mix? Phat bass drum with thud drum? idk lol.... just trying to figure out a better way to explain it to others.

What do you feel is a good example of texture in a kick drum? what kind of drums would you layer to give that feeling of texture?

Pretty much anything related to how you go about making your drums and how you'd describe the drums you layer together is welcome....

haven't seen anybody speak about this yet...

I observe the frequencies. Kick for low, snare for mid and hihats for high. With that in mind, it becomes easier to layer drums than having a collage of din sounds clashing against each other. If you layering two kicks then one should not overpower the other, they should be harmonious. So making adjustments like reducing the low and raising the mid a tiny bit on one kick can do wonders. Sometimes I get a drum loop that just has kick and snare, so I add hihats to brighten it up or viceversa.

Yeah, that's what i've been doing myself...trying to get the drums to go together and the same with snares...only thing is, sometimes I get a good drum sound I like only to find out it sounds like crap after I add a melody or something.... it just comes out really muffled... as opposed to something you might find on a Dilla track or just any other artist in general... I can really feel the drums he uses and various other artists as well... the sounds all sit perfect...drums out front and everything else below....

still trying to get that effect.

Have you ever layered bass with drums? I've read around that you can do that, but haven't really experimented with it yet.

I stick to layering only 2-3 kicks max. One for the attack and one for the boom basically. So for the first kick I tend to set the ADSR tight. For the second kick I'll loosen up the attack. Then it's all about tuning the kicks and balancing them. Third kick might be added for some texture.

Lately I've found myself adjusting the second kicks DSR-settings a little tighter after adding a bassline or when I mix and polish things a bit. Booming kicks sounds great individually, but tend to be in the way when everything else is added up.

For snares I just do what the track needs, might be 1 or 10 snares. I used to EQ the hell out of my snares, but I've tried to cut that habbit a bit.

For hihats I'm just pure lazy. Too lazy. Need to focus more on that in the future.

I use similar techniques usually I build a drum pattern with 'stock' then chop a break to fit in with the existing drums or vice versa. When using stock sounds I always mess with the filters in a similar way to green by bringing up the lows on the kicks and mids on the snares he hats however I tend to f with the band pass and the attack levels this tends to offer me more options with additional hats often using more impactfull hats as soft shaker sounds to add a 'ghost' or shadow rhytym to the pattern

Ill usually also use at least 2 stock hits per drum sound ie 2 hats, 2 kicks etc and as I said adjust filters, pitches and attack variations to each to create a more harmonious drum sound/pattern

@WK ... I always hear about people layering like 10+ snares, but never found out why... like that just sounds like a crazy amount to stack...must sound crazy... you got any examples where you've done that?

Ok so I get what a Boom kick is and 2-3 max is usually what I go for, but once I make the track, I end up having a flat sound...like you can tell it's there, but it doesn't sound like it's out front. sounds more like a mixing issue... i've only been making beats for a few months now...still being a lazy ass for a lot of shit lol

@CHOP .... Ghost notes, that's another thing I'm clueless about.... I mean, I get what they are, but never really comes to mind to add them. Same for you... do you have any examples to check that technique out?

I know that Black Milk uses them in a lot of songs, you could probly pick any song...its hard to give examples cos they are usually used in lower level volumes and deep in the groove...i guess its about the placement as well but to stay in line with your question layering an alternatively filtered version of your main drum hit just behind or just in front of its position in the pattern would give it that shadow/ghost rhythm

2 kicks max for me. Why? I mainly use roland drums. Roland drums need to be thickened up I find. Mind you I am talking about layering the same sound because I find that the Roland SRX cards are awesome.

If you are going for unique kick or snare sounds then layering for me is usually the SRX sound with some weird synth percussive sound or low pass filtered sample.

Peace
Ian

LeftFoot1st wrote:haven't seen anybody speak about this yet…

You'll just end up with a miss mash of advice and tips on a forum which will hinder you as much as help.

If you're serious about the subject you should consider one of Eddie Bazil's books… or all of them.

http://www.mpc-samples.com/product.php/ ... ion-suite/

don't really got 54 beans right now for that...but it does look like an interesting purchase...just not sure if i'd be interested in reading so much... it's probably better to do it and just talk amongst each other...like back in the day.

you could also get just the drum layering one for 15

Some techniques:
http://www.mpc-tutor.com/mpc-renaissanc ... -layering/

Don't know what type of sampler you are using but I'm sure can find away to creatively get this done if you don't have the Ren or Studio.

I actually don't even have an MPC right now... I have an MPD and Reason...it works for me for now just because i'm training my ear. I am however saving up for a 2KXL.

I already know how to layer drums, but what I was getting at was the sounds you use to layer and how you'd describe each sound like...

I'll sometimes use a very textured gritty bass drum that has more of a boom sound and layer on top a more acoustic drum that has more of that THUD sound from the pedal yet still has a lighter and more airy sound to it... and if it calls for it I sometimes might even add some percussion to the drum...like a very light tam or something.

it really depends though.... i'm about to compare a tight drum and snare to a more loosened one..

this is probably a better example.... the ultimate would be if someone actually uploaded the sounds individually and then the final....but words are fine

play with pitches or tune of each drum layer.. I do all of the above mentioned tricks but my main and quickest trick is using pitch/tune. the first kick is usually the one that sits the best.. so that stays as is, the rest of the layers just enhance. when i add the second kick i just tune the pitch until it sings(punches.. Amplifies.. Sounds phatter..) with the first kick drum. Then i'll adjust the volume and filters if i need to.. I usually end up or average around 4 to 5 layers.... i then resample.

With some layers i use the velocity so that not all layers trigger at lower velocities. To add more dynamic.

Snares is a bit different. I usually use filters more with hihats and snare drums(than the kicks) but still mess with tuning and layers. And i use simult so i can get more control of each layer. When i need ambience for a snare, instead of verb, i;ll take a hihat sound and pitch it down(like 20 semitones) and use a high pass filter on it. Adds more gritty vibe to it..(also done this with some noisy kick drums too)

Filters can really create space for your mix. especially when using sampled stuff from vynal. they cut out stuff that can clutter your mix when everything is together. I think the main thing about most peoples idea of eqs is to make something sound better by boosting , when it should be to cut the shit out of the sample.

I love the mpc workflow for drums.. and samples.. my main sound shaping way is just using filters and tune to get what i want..