SECRETS TO GREAT DRUMS
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- HORSE FORCE
- The Horse Lord!
- Posts: 556
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Killwaukee, Wisconsin
SECRETS TO GREAT DRUMS
i wanted to see if anyone else has some strange techniques/sources for crazy drum sounds. i am anal about filling at least 4 octaves of a sampler with good drum sounds before sequencing anything.
so here's what i do when i start a track:
1. i usually start with a few heavy gabber kicks (about 5-9) for the part of the track that needs that extra punch.
2. then i get some noise from the internet at a site like noisemp3.com and slice it up. i try to get sounds that are the same duration as drum hits but have different tonalities.
3. i bring these into my sampler above the gabber drums. i usually like to have at least two octaves of these sorted by their relative tonalities.
4. to top it off i get some classic jungle drums (amen of course) and some sampled drum machine snares. the amen snare i usually spread for an octave or two on top of the whole kit. this allows me to do the signature amen snare melodic shit that so many breakcore artists do.
hope this is helpful
so here's what i do when i start a track:
1. i usually start with a few heavy gabber kicks (about 5-9) for the part of the track that needs that extra punch.
2. then i get some noise from the internet at a site like noisemp3.com and slice it up. i try to get sounds that are the same duration as drum hits but have different tonalities.
3. i bring these into my sampler above the gabber drums. i usually like to have at least two octaves of these sorted by their relative tonalities.
4. to top it off i get some classic jungle drums (amen of course) and some sampled drum machine snares. the amen snare i usually spread for an octave or two on top of the whole kit. this allows me to do the signature amen snare melodic shit that so many breakcore artists do.
hope this is helpful
- avisupchurch
- Posts: 136
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:00 am
Sounds like a really solid, organized way to program some drums. My approach is much more chaotic, so it usually takes me ages to finish a track.
I also use Reason 3 and often have ended up with a mess of Dr. Rex's, NN-XTs, and sometimes a ReDrum or two, sometimes a copy of 2 different sample devices, each processed differently, all routed through various effects with all kinds of little things automated. It got that it was too complicated and took forever to change or fix anything, and 50% of the time give up before finished... so recently, I've been trying to minimalize complex routing paths when I'm sequencing track. The NN-XT is the way to go because you can fit so many samples in one instrument, plus you get amplitude, modulation and filter envelopes, looping and reverse options.
I also use the program for tweaking and blending samples, making synths, etc. and that's when I really go nuts with the routing, since I'm just working with one voice at a time. Combinators are really nice for layering lots of synths to make a huge sound, and doing similar things layering drum sounds, or blending them together. Everytime I get a sound that I'm happy with, I put in the sequencer, put the loop markers around it and bounce it.
I like the amen snare in the right context, but usually I prefer the sound of drum machine snares, and snares from a few other breaks.
Sampling from noise artists is probably a good idea, very useful to have a variety of strange noises in breakcore.
I also use Reason 3 and often have ended up with a mess of Dr. Rex's, NN-XTs, and sometimes a ReDrum or two, sometimes a copy of 2 different sample devices, each processed differently, all routed through various effects with all kinds of little things automated. It got that it was too complicated and took forever to change or fix anything, and 50% of the time give up before finished... so recently, I've been trying to minimalize complex routing paths when I'm sequencing track. The NN-XT is the way to go because you can fit so many samples in one instrument, plus you get amplitude, modulation and filter envelopes, looping and reverse options.
I also use the program for tweaking and blending samples, making synths, etc. and that's when I really go nuts with the routing, since I'm just working with one voice at a time. Combinators are really nice for layering lots of synths to make a huge sound, and doing similar things layering drum sounds, or blending them together. Everytime I get a sound that I'm happy with, I put in the sequencer, put the loop markers around it and bounce it.
I like the amen snare in the right context, but usually I prefer the sound of drum machine snares, and snares from a few other breaks.
Sampling from noise artists is probably a good idea, very useful to have a variety of strange noises in breakcore.
- HORSE FORCE
- The Horse Lord!
- Posts: 556
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Killwaukee, Wisconsin
yeah i love layering synths in reason. it seems like the whole point of the combinator was to stack synths on top of each other. the whole thing with noise drums is that they're never alike. it creates a sort of unique and powerful sound that ive defined my work with.
- avisupchurch
- Posts: 136
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:00 am
I didn't read your first post carefully where you said you blend your noises with your drums... A nice alternative to just distorting your hit to make it noisy in that way... bigger sound, and a more intuitive control. I like it.
- avisupchurch
- Posts: 136
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:00 am
I pretty much always like Hi-EQd, slightly distorted Amens for chiptune-ish music. Usually works nice for dub/ragga type stuff, too. Other than that it's kind of hit or miss i think
- Imselfemployed2
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:00 am
horse force, I was listening to some of your tracks and was wondering what you use to sequence drums
- HORSE FORCE
- The Horse Lord!
- Posts: 556
- Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Killwaukee, Wisconsin
Imselfemployed2 wrote:horse force, I was listening to some of your tracks and was wondering what you use to sequence drums
i use reason. to me, it doesnt really matter what app you use if you're gonna distort drums. its really whatever you're comfortable with. in the end its all gonna get fucked up anyway.
the thing that matters most is what samples you use and how musical you can make them sound.
- gigassassin
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:00 am
I like to layer my snares so that different sounds dominate at different velocities.
I used to use many different samples for pitches, but these days I've been more into using a midi control channel to automate the pitch. That I always do. Even if I never modulate it, I've always got that pitch track for the snares.
Although, come to think of it, if you use multiple samples at different pitches, they are more independent.
I used to use many different samples for pitches, but these days I've been more into using a midi control channel to automate the pitch. That I always do. Even if I never modulate it, I've always got that pitch track for the snares.
Although, come to think of it, if you use multiple samples at different pitches, they are more independent.
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