Post your questions, opinions and reviews of the MPC1000. This forum is for discussion of the OFFICIAL Akai OS (2.1). If you wish to discuss the JJ OS, please use the dedicated JJ OS forum

By stale bread Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:07 pm
Alien man once you've separated your knowledge from your attitude then you've got something it's hard for people to hear what you're saying while your taking an agressive stance at the same time.

By mreilly Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:32 am
Um. Did I mention anything about layering drums? No. The point was more that your personality sounds liek that of a complete hands down pants tool and that you seem to have soem kind of problem with "ooooh mr hip hop" sample based production. Did the hip hop kids pick on you at school?

Its an MPC FORUM> if people want to knwo how to make there drums bang its likely to be how they can do it on an...MPC!!

I would say that suggestng that you can do it in your mix or with outboard gear is a valid point but no need to diss people who are giving usefull tips on how to do it on the mpc. Tips that actually would apply to sampled or non sampled sources.

Stop playing with yourself.
User avatar

By alien_brain Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:10 am
enough, you sensative types!
User avatar

By djray182 Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:29 am
alien_brain wrote:wow so hardly anyone here does anything besides a) choose samples, b) layer two or more samples to get a 'produced' sound? seems less like a craft by the day if you hang around this place... seriously, a good engineer will be able to fatten your drums, but theres not much you can do about it without resorting to techniques outside the box as it were haha. too bad no one here seems to value production techniques past the lego method...


im with you on that...ever see how many people beg for samples of everything on these forums. its like they want all the peices of the puzzle.

By DrunkenMonkey Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:30 am
Alien_Brain, now we all know what your uncle did to you as a child.

But yeah about making your drums "phat".

Layering is a good place to start. Don't just layer arbitrarily. Find drums that complement each other and make sure that your layers are in tune. Some people like to layer their kicks with short 808s.

After you track your drums out (if you have that capability) you can add compression, EQ and reverb if necessary. I know Pete Rock and DJ Premier for example don't always use compression on drums; it really depends on the sound you're going for.

As far as reverb goes, I remember Havoc of Mobb Deep saying in an interview something along the lines of, "If you can hear the reverb, there's too much." I think that's true in most circumstances. (Reverb doesn't necessarily make your drums "phat" but it works well in many cases)

If you're making music for more than just a hobby I would suggest learning how to mix. It isn't as fun as the creative process of making a beat, but it is essential if you take your music seriously.

If you need more information, check out

www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com

Here is also a good article on the frequency ranges of drums and tips on EQing them.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug01/a ... singeq.asp

This shit takes hard work and dedication just like anything else. There's no quick fix.
User avatar

By alien_brain Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:54 am
oh, yup. my uncle did it to me and now im doin it to you. good one.

just call me uncle_brain.
User avatar

By suueet Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:57 pm
great reply dm.

i also like to pull the short 808 of of the grab bag and layer that but sometimes it just doesnt work.

try resampling a kick with a long reverb and then trim the front off and layer that with another kick.
User avatar

By Antonym Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:38 pm
any drum track bangs if it's in the right musical context.
User avatar

By suueet Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:37 am
HEY HEY HEY....!

hes right, i would have to agree.
User avatar

By alien_brain Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:08 am
so are you saying its not right to try and make your drums bang? just find the one that sounds good the way it is?
User avatar

By motormind Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:50 am
alien_brain wrote:so are you saying its not right to try and make your drums bang? just find the one that sounds good the way it is?


It's best to try to make your beats sound good while they are still in the MPC. That way you can use production techniques to make them sound better. If the beats sound bad already coming straight out of the MPC, it's useless to try to equalize or compress them. It's no use trying to polish a turd, see.

For banging drums the choice of samples and how you layer them really is very important. If you do it well, you might not even have to use a lot of post-production. Another aspect that didn't get much mention in this thread is the way you program those drums. Getting banging beats is also about where you put the hits, not only how they sound. This is perhaps even the hardest part of all.
User avatar

By suueet Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:11 pm
great point.


make sure those kicks and basslines line up or else you wont bang. make sure those snares are thick too. dont get carried away with a highpass