Good Hits, Kicks, Snares, Etc.

I just really hate the sounds that came w/ the 1k...........just wonderin if there is anybody that got some good sounds............willing to trade........i gotta couple programs already made for the 1k, not that bad not that good..........but if anybody is interested, hit me up

for around 18 bucks I just ordered the 2phat kits from mpc samples... the site you are on right now. I figured it was the most I could do to support this site and this message board. Hell, you get close to 200 bass drum, hh and snare hits. If you can't find a kit with all those hits, you should just by a real drum set...

Don't forget the free kits at http://www.akaipro.com/int/mpc1k/sounds.html ... some real vintage beatboxes there too.

Don't forget bout your freindly neighborhood record store either - most of those drums are already processed so all you have to do is cut, copy and paste - plus vinyl is cheaper than some sample CD's

But my experience with the MPC sounds (included with the 1000) is a positive one

Email me here: [email protected]

The universal key to having good drum sounds are effects. There's plenty of tricks out there that are standard procedure to getting your kick, snare, or whatever to sound how you want it.

Always use a bit of verb/delay to give the sound more body, not neccesarily enough so that you have this huge verb tail, but the slightest amount so that the average person wouldn't even realize there is verb on it...but enough so that you can hear that it's fatter. Then you should always compress and EQ to your liking.

Myself, I'm still learning how to get a drum/perc to sound exactly how I want it. I'm lucky to have some friends that are really good at that stuff though. All I have to do is verbally describe how I want it to sound, and they can do it. It's amazing how you can use one snare sound, and after it's gone through all the effects...you can get it's character to be different every time. Just practice.

good drumkits can also be prepared by creatively using filters. More than effects, filters allow you to precisely place your hits in the audio spectrum range. Start with a HIGH PASS to remove anything you don't need from the low frequencies (too much low end takes the punch out of bass drums), then set the low pass filter to the main frequency you want to enhance and add as much resonance as you see fit on that frequency. You'll be amazed at how much you can change the character of your hits like this.
Note that by using in conjunction low and hi pass filters you create an editable bandpass filter.

Some hits (such as hi hats, cymbals, rimshots etc...) that work in a narrow frequency range can be effectively edited using the bandpass filter directly.

You might also want to run your kits through the main EQ and compressor (hit shift/effect/master) and resample them. The compressor works well, and can completely change the presence of your drum hits on the mix. The EQ is a bit redundant with the filtering, but it can be used to add that missing brilliance in the mids that lo/hi pass filtering may not have underlined enough.

Always run the compressor after setting the filters, and be sure to turn the volume down a notch before turning the compressor to ON...

I personnaly think that the mpc1k fx are not worth using much.

Of course, having filters are key. A good EQ always has filters in the unit (whether it be hardwre or software), HP, LP, and sometimes BP, which is why I did not specify. I was talking about outboard gear, not the included MPC fx. Good points nonetheless though bro!