authentic drum sound

[FrizzleFry]

I've never computer recorded drum tracks before mainly because I dont really like the synthetic sound of drum machines. Can anyone suggest a program that is good for imitating real drums?

[Dan DA]

Gigastudio will allow you to play samples. There are many available with different drum sounds. You will have to generate the drum patterns in a sequencer program. If you use Cakewalk, Session Drummer is a pretty decent plugin. You could start with something like that, and modify it fit your needs. If you are a drummer, just play the drums on a midi keyboard. I record the bass and snare on one pass, the highhat and cymbals on another, and tom fills on a third.

What kind of drum sound are you after?

[FrizzleFry]

Rock drum sound...im a guitarist and I don't know how to play drums to save myself..(well I know the theory) but im not in a band at the moment and so im about to start recording solo music on my computer. I can do the guitar base and vocals myself, but im going to need to employ a computer drummer. The quest, I guess, is to find one that doesent sound TOO electronic. By "too" I mean that I'm aware I will never get a computer to sound like a human. No I dont use cakewalk...I don't use any program yet..im still setting up my computer. Im thinking of using Cool Edit Pro, only because I know I can steal it from Kazza haha. I thought Id use cool edit pro and get one of the drum thing like "fruity loops" Everybody seems to talk about them. Are they good? Thanks for the reply.

[Dan DA]

I don't care for Fruity Loops in my own music. A lot of people use it, but it sounds very sterile to me. I am a drummer, and if you want the nuances that a real drummer would apply to a track, you will have to do a lot of editing of the midi drum track. If you haven't acquired your software yet, try some of the trial versions of different programs before you buy. You will need something that will allow midi editing, as opposed to just audio recording. The most popular ones are Cubase, Logic Audio, Cakewalk (if you're using Windows). Session Drummer supplies midi tracks that were played by a real drummer on a midi drum kit, so they have some of the dynamics that sound like a real drummer. Within a particular beat, it offers different fills and patterns that can be used together. Of course, the sound you get will depend on the samples that are being triggered by your sequencer. There are midi drum sequences available from real drummers playing midi kits that will sound far better than anything generated by a computer.
Also, I just read an article in Modern Drummer about the possibility of emailing tracks across the country (or world), between musicians. For instance, You lay down your tracks minus drums, send a wav file to a drummer, he records drums to fit, sends you the drum wav and you mix on your system. Might be an option for you.

[Chrisjob]

Hey Dan-

Would you be willing to post some of the midi files provided in Session Drummer?


(I checked out your art- you're talented)


Chris

[Dan DA]

I can't post them at this time. I'm getting ready for a show and have to finish some paintings (by the way, thanks for the compliment), so no time for music right now.

I'm not sure if there is a copyright violation, either, but if you're looking for files like that, a web search might turn some up.

[TamaSabian]

Maybe you could try Fruityloops, I´m a drummer too, I used to think the same about it, but when I understand how it works I realize how easy it was. Search for some drum samples, you know where you can find them, they should be very helpful. You can use the "randomize" option to add some taste to the rythm you´re working on. In SONAR there´s a "humanize" option, Fruity got it too but when I use it everything goes wrong.

[gatorhaus]

I've actually used LeafDrums. with decent results you can try it for free. Its very easy to use and export the samples as waves for looping in your Audio Software.

www.leafdigital.com/Software/leafdrums/

larry