I've tried to find the magic answer to dull drums by posting before and guess what? Theres no secret formula to it -
Heres a few do's and dont's
DONT sample MP3 drum loops - they sound shit, if anything use them as a template to lay your own individual hits on
DONT sample MP3 drum loops and chop them and use the hits either - after resampling them shits will be weaker than baby piss
DO a search on drums - type in 'GRIME' if you want grimy drums 'Big' if you want big drums etc etc
heres some shyt...
Improve Your Drum Programming
For non-drummers, coming up with realistic sounding drum parts can be an intimidating prospect. After all, drummers study and practice for years to be able to play solid time, mark phrases and interact with other musicians. But even if you can't keep very good time or play the lick to "Wipeout", you can still capture the essence of what drummers do by using your most important instrument--your ears.
By doing some simple transcribing and concentrating on one drum at a time, you can create some convincing parts. First, let's talk about some very basic drum recording guidelines:
1) Make sure the kick and snare are panned near the center. (I like to pan the bass and kick drum slightly off-center to opposite sides, so they don't get in each other's way.) If your recording gets knocked down to mono, or is played back on a mono device, the kick and snare will be completely lost unless they are near the center.
2) I prefer to have the hi-hat a hair off-center to the left. (I mix drums from the drummer's perspective. Some folks like to hear it from the audience's perspective--if that's you, your hi-hat would be slightly to the right.)
3) Everything else is a matter of preference. I like to pan the other cymbals a little further to each side. Sometimes it's cool to have the toms spread out across the stereo spectrum ala Neil Peart. If I'm using percussion, I will pan those instruments hard left and right, so that each sound has it's own little space in the mix. On certain types of music, it may be more appropriate to not stray too far from the center position, sounding almost mono. Remember, when you are standing in front of a drum kit, you hear everything coming from a single source--very close to mono.
Now let's do some transcribing. Find a song with a simple beat. Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" would be a good place to start. Transcribing requires very careful listening and breaking down parts into their basic elements. Let's just concentrate on the kick and snare for now. Sing it: boom bap, ba-boom boom bap. Boom bap, ba-boom boom bap. Hey, you're transcribing!
Now let's listen to the straight eighth note hi-hat part. Sing it to yourself--don't forget the open hat that occurs on beat one of every bar. By breaking the beat down into two basic elements, we're now able to record it one piece at a time.
I've found that the most realistic parts are created using some type of pad setup. This way you can whack away like a real drummer using sticks. If drum pads are not available to you, a keyboard or those little tiny pads on a drum machine will do.
Record the kick and snare on one pass, and then go back and record the hi-hat separately. If you can help it, don't quantize every part you record. Quantization makes everything a little too perfect, making your parts sound machine-like. Use it sparingly. If you want to make sure the snare hits squarely on beats two and four, go ahead and quantize it. However, you will have a more realistic sound if you can leave the hi-hat un-quantized. This will let the hi-hat part breathe a little bit.
Don't forget--a drummer pushes and pulls the time from section to section. For instance, it's not uncommon to push the tempo a little when making the transition from verse to chorus. Don't be afraid to push the tempo going into the chorus, and leave it at the quicker tempo. All musicians play behind, on top of, and ahead of the beat when it's called for. Experiment with that concept in your drum parts--you add human feel that way.
Learning to break drum parts down in this way gives you a great advantage. If you start with simple beats and work your way up to more complex ones, you will have the playing of every great drummer at your disposal.
Are you writing a tune that needs a funky kind of groove to really make it work? Get a copy of "James Brown's 25 Greatest Hits" and go shopping for drum grooves. Once you find one that would work well with your song, break it down into it's kick-snare and hi-hat elements, and you're on your way.
Are you working on a rap/metal kind of thing? Grab a Limp Bizkit CD and do a little transcribing.
Now some of you may be thinking that working this way is cheating. If you are under the age of twenty-six, you probably don't know why anyone would object to this approach--you came up in the age of sampling, so borrowing tracks and turning them around for your own use isn't such a foreign idea to you. In fact, there are tons of programs out there that allow you to sample and create drum loops very easily. I'm not advocating the thievery of other's work by any means. All we're doing here is taking a basic foundation and applying it to different music. Your song is going to sound like you no matter what drum beats are on it, and you'll find the need to modify the original beats to fit the music you're writing anyway.
In order to learn any new skill, we must first copy from others. With experience comes the ability to find your own unique voice. After awhile, you won't need to listen to CDs to come up with beats--they'll come out of you naturally. Until that day comes, however, you will need to copy. Don't feel bad about it--everyone does it. It's just that nobody wants to admit to it.
Happy transcribing everyone!
Introduction
This is really an aid for me for things to do when I program midi drums. I thought it might be useful for others.
This is general programming tips, aimed at no particular style of music. It is mainly aimed at trying to create a more live feel.
Most of this is from stuff I scribbled off the net or various help things in magazines
Also check out the General Midi drum map. Print it out and stick it on your wall.
If you can think of any other tips that may help, please Contact me.
General Drum Programming Tips
A drummer only has two arms (with exceptions) and two legs. Think about what hand \ leg is doing. Be realistic/
A drummer would not be able to do the following
play that complicated hi hat pattern whilst playing a fill
contiue playing that 16th note hi-hat pattern and hit a crash without missing some of the hi hat notes (the time it takes to go from one instrument to the other).
What makes a pattern 'human' like is the subtle differences in tempo, timing and dynamics.
Three elements to a good rhythmn part.
1) the pattern itself (obviously).
2)The speed at which the rhythmn is played. Playing a pattern at the wrong speed can sound wrong.
3)The sounds themselves. (with Sample CDs it's normally the sounds not the pattern that impress).
Three most important elements of the drum pattern are
1) Bass drum (kick)
2) Snare Drum
3) Hi-hats
get these right them embellish with other sounds when \ if required.
Note many drum patterns are written around various instruments. (e.g. a tom groove). These might not sound right if you change the instruments
Keep it simple.
Don't program your groove in isolation. A brilliant sounding pattern in isolation, may sound wrong in context with the rest of the track. See previous item.
Listen to similar tracks and steal (or at least attempt to emulate).
Especially steal drum elements out of other MIDI files
If possible, play the parts in realtime. Possibly along with a click track and preferably with a velocity sensitive keyboard.
Double the snare or bass drum parts, using different samples to fill the sound out (e.g. often in the studio the engineer will mic the top and the bottom of the snare and blend the result).
Don't record two or four bar sequences and then loop throughout the track. Make several variations of each pattern. Then chain these together to form the song. (say 4 vairiations).
You can even, use your patterns to start at various points in the bar for more variation, filling in the holes left at the start and end of the pattern. (humm... cut and paste)
If the bass drum is fighting with the bass, slightly advance the part you want to emphasise. It will make it stand out.
Having difficulty with getting a good tamborine sound. Cheat. Buy a real one and record it live. (that goes for other percussion as well). At the end of the day, you'll probably mix the midi down to audio anyway.
Ghost \ grace notes. Usually played on the snare, or toms during fills. These are used to add to the groove but are played at significantly lower velocity than the previous hit. (try also on hi-hats).
Flams - used to provide rhythmic variation. Two beats played very close together, the first note usually lower in volume.
Rudiments - Research the drum rudiments. (I'll put a link in my links section) (see below). e.g. a drum roll may be played using left right left right hand movement, or possibly left left right right. Could open up the possibity of new fills.
Why use standard drum sounds? Why not experiment with recording household objects being hit. (if only I could remember which tarck had someone playing the pencil case on).
Splash cymbals are generally used on a snare drum hit
It is common, if playing hi-hats on the verse to switch to ride cymbal on the chorus and via versa.
Use different drums for different sections of the song
Repetitive 8th or 16th beat hi-hats or ride can become boring, add accents to the various beats and some dymanic variation.
Unless you want to be totally boring, break up the drum track with a few fills.
Song endings - Ending on beat four will leave the song slightly hanging. Ending on the first beat of the next bar mkes it sound more complete.
Tempo Tweaks
Timing is everything. Don't just set the tempo to the desired beat for the whole song. Music don't work like that.
Drummers won't play the same part twice with the same velocities. So when you copy a part to somewhere else. Edit it slightly, both with note postions, use of grace notes and note velocities
Drummers, often make subtile timing adjustments. Speeding up or slowing down to change the feel of a track.
Push or lagging certain beats to give a track more drive or a laid back groove. (set the resolution of your grid to 1/192)
Playing ahead on the first & third beats of a 4 bar beat will add urgency to the rhythm.
Insert subtle tempo changes over several bars to build anticipation. Especially, the last bar before a chorus, if it includes a drum roll.
Insert tempo changes per song sections. Speed up for the chorus, slow down the bridge or middle 8.
Moving percussion parts a little a head of the beat will make the track seem faster.
Playing behind the beat will make the track slightly slower than it is. (just a few midi ticks can make a huge difference).
Many sequencers will allow you to randomise midi parts to give a human feel. However, drummers add variations is an almost no random way. Avoid.
On faster songs, the drummer has to eithe play like a madman, or leave bits out. e.g. play 1/4 notes instead of 1/8th notes.
Changing the tempo slightly earlier than the first beat of a bar will create a smoother lead in.
Experiment with differnt hi-hat \ ride patterns over the same kick and snare pattern, to see how the fell is affected.
The hi hats or ride cymbal are the dominant time keeping instrument)
Straight 8ths or 16ths on the hi-hat can be boring after a while. Accent either the on or off beat. Miss the off hit, use shuffle features in your sequencer.
Quantisation
Overuse of the quantise function is the quickest way to suck the life out of a drum part. Use sparingly.
(I read somewhere to use 100% for kick and between 50 and 80% for all else, to retain the feel but make rhythmically correct?)
Don't use snap to grid when entering drum patterns. You'll lose the feel.
Velocity
The force a drum is struck will not be consistant.
Quick successive hits will be quieter. (i.e less time to raise the stick)
Some sounds like cymbals are notably loud. (difficult to play quietly).
others like bongos, rimshots, handclaps are relatively low in volume.
Possibly, build up the drum velocities as you go into the chorus
Sounds (timbre)
On drums, higher velocity hits will be slightly higher pitched.
Two consecutive drum hits will not sound the same. Use pitch bend to slightly alter the tuning of alternate hits.
(or cheat and assign the same sound to another midi note and detune it by a small amount.)
Hitting crash cymbals ahead of the beat makes them stand out.
Remember certain sounds cannot be combined within the same pattern. e.g. going between brushes and sticks, or normal hi-hat and one with a tamborine clipped on top.
or... can't have rim shots if using brushes.
or can't have hi-hat & ride
Try a short hi-hat not followed by a one with a velocity of 0, to close it quickly.
Don't use quick successive hits on the same cymbal. Use different sounds.
Get yourself some decent drum samples. General midi sounds are often poor and lack how real drums are played. e.g. GM only coemes with 3 different hi-hat sounds (open, closed and pedal). A common device for build ups is yo gradually open the hi-hat over a bar or two. This can't be re-produced with only open and closed.
Overly effected samples (gate-reverbed snares etc) don't work well in very fast tempos. Clutters up the mix.
GM midi comes with three ride sounds. Two different ride and the bell. Use all three within a pattern. Use the bell to accent certain beats (especially to coincide with accented bass drum beats.
Panning. Keep the snare and kick in the center of the spectrum, but move all other parts around it. (imagine youself sitting at a drum kit, to work out where you'd put things).
Percussion
(Assumes you have a microphone). Go to your local music shop and buy a selection of tamborines and shakers (maracas etc) or even a triangle. Record these live and mix in with your MIDI drums for a more real feel.
(alternatively, make your own shakers from household objects). Live percussion sounds much better than midi programmed percussion.
Use percussion as an alternative to hi-hats
Many drum tips apply to percussion also. e.g grace notes and double hits (with 2nd note at lower velocity).
If your drums are over quantised add a grooved (shuffle quantised) percussion track to liven it up. (the ear will latch onto the sloppy playing)
Add percussion only in selected places in the song. e.g. just the chorus or just the bridge. It can be tedious if played for the whole song.
Use small amounts of pitchbend on congas, bongos, tabla type instruments to better simulate human playing
Add a cowbell (or tamborine etc) playing 8ths or 16ths slightly before the beat (with heavy reverb) and mix barely audible, to add drive to a track
Effects
Reverb - use sparingly. Percussion generally benefits from a wee bit of reverb. The occasionaly reverse reverb on a snare is nice.
Compression - See Compression & Limiting tips
EQ - See EQ tips
After that any really for effect. Pitch shifters and delays; may be useful as well as distortion, lo-fi stuff etc
Use filters and other modulation type effects also.
Use distortion to dirty up the drum parts. Be subtle.
Use a gated reverb. In isolation it might sound weird though
Snare usually has lots of reverb applied. Bass drum rarely benefits from reverb.
As well as using Pitchbend on drums, you can also use Filter (CC:74) and resonance (CC:71) to add variation effects to your MIDI drums. (Use sparingly)
Drums not sounding like they were recorded live? Mike up your speakers and play your midi drums, recording them as audio. Gives a more natural reverb that using plugins.
Whilst you've got it miked up, you can also use guitar pedals to affect the sound.
Timed echo or delay can add rhythmic interest.
Convert your MIDI drums to audio and down sample them. (you can also mega compress them first (-40DB threshold 20:1 compression, fast attack release) uisng filters \ eq to as desired and then use a compressor to bring it back up to volume.. Huge drums)).
Hairthieves lazy man's guide to pitch changes and timbres.
Record your midi track several times, adjusting the pitch or using a different sound sources.
Now chop up you many audio files and mix and match the sounds.
Repeat as necessary. Easier than programming by hand. The beauty of audio..
