Making your drums real tight in MPC2000XL

Sometimes it juss sound slike the timing is off in my sequence is a truncation issue? What is the secret behind making your drum tight in your sequences.

what do you set the timing to?

up...

maybe your sequencer is turned on 1/32?
Try 1/16 with the swing truned on

Yeah, sometimes your timing can be messed up if you are using 1/32. Try 1/16. Sometimes that won't get it right either, so if you are gifted like me, sometimes turn t.c. off and just do your thing

For once, trading your 2k for a 60/3k , and I guess thats not an option to ya so

I'd try some tubes or tape-saturation simulators (vsti : magneto/waves Rvox or hardware Epirical Labs Distressor/Fatso).

Now thats for sound. For making it bang nahmean?
A 2k can sound pretty good if it runs through some other gear, but on its own I must say its weak (I've been using it for about 3-4 years now though - i aint rich beyatch!).

Otherwise, study drums on records. Cuz making your drums tight ain't all about compression, eq or exciting... Most important is the programming. So listen to some of the peeps you feel drums of, analyse that shit and get it cracking. Don't be shy though! If you like a certain pattern on a beat try to emulate it. Lateron you'll be able to do any kind of pattern you amke up in your head if you practice enough. Last thing, don't produce incest music! Meaning, just listening to rap producing rap leads to nowhere...

Listen to some jazz, some rock, some funk drummers... you'll get the hang

.toon

This is not really on topic, but if you wanna make your drums super tight you will probably want to do it with the quantizing OFF. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that super tight drums means super quantized perfect on beat drums. If you do it with quant OFF you will find it much more rewarding to play your own drums like a real drummer instead of having the machine correct your flow.

I find it easier sometimes to get the hi hats, or snares down first then lay my kicks in. That way I can play around a lil more with them and get a more natural feel for where I want to go. I set the quant differently depending on the tempo and if I want to double em up or have a nice steady pattern going.

hfinal wrote:This is not really on topic, but if you wanna make your drums super tight you will probably want to do it with the quantizing OFF. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that super tight drums means super quantized perfect on beat drums. If you do it with quant OFF you will find it much more rewarding to play your own drums like a real drummer instead of having the machine correct your flow.

True dat. Like those Sa-Ra or Platinum Pied Pipers or Jay Dee drums that you just can't get with quantize on. Just use your ears and your fingers. You'll be surprised how tight you can get the drums without quantize. Sometimes it's good to quantize the hats and not the kick/snare, or any other combination of quantized and unquantized sounds.

No matter how nice the MPC's quantize is, it's still quantize...

Oh and yes, if your drums sound sloppy it could be a truncation issue - get the start points right. I try to trim by ear as much as possible; sometimes it's better if you slice off a tiny bit of the attack, sometimes not. [/i]

Lil Stunt wrote:so if you are gifted like me, sometimes turn t.c. off and just do your thing

hahaha

gifted huh?????

Like those kids that go to school on the little yellow bus?????

hfinal wrote:This is not really on topic, but if you wanna make your drums super tight you will probably want to do it with the quantizing OFF. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that super tight drums means super quantized perfect on beat drums. If you do it with quant OFF you will find it much more rewarding to play your own drums like a real drummer instead of having the machine correct your flow.

it need some practice and some skills to make it sound good, but you're right