Help with midi drum tracks

H

Hot Rats

New member
Hi,

I have a very simple setup which is as follows.

PC Win 98 - Cubase VST
M-Media Audiophile
SY22 Yamaha Keyboard
Alesis SR16 Drum Machine
Propellerheads Reason

As you can guess I'm a real amateur and mainly a guitarist but I have real trouble with drum parts. I usually try to create something in cubase, but they're usually pretty rubbish.

I've thought about using Cubase's audio capability to use audio samples as my drum track and to add a bit of groove.

But I'm interested what other people with similar setups do for drums. I'm trying to avoid doing my own parts if possible because I'm so bad at it. Unfortunately buying any more gear isn't an option.

fire away, cheers.
 
Hi there rats...

Between cubase, reason, and that alesis drum machine I wouldn't think you should have any problems coming up with good sounding drums with the right adjustments.

A big part of getting realistic sounding drums is to USE VELOCITY CHANGES. after you sequence a pattern, think about which hits you want to accent, and turn each hit up or down accordingly. Also, shifting the hits around to be a little before or after the beat can give electronic drums a more human feel.

I use cubase SX with REASON alot for drums, tho I tend to do more electronic stuff. While you can sequence using the REdrum module (the lights and stuff) I prefer to make a midi track in cubase and route it thru rewire to the redrum. That way I can use the editing capabilities in cubase's sequencer...

It would help to know what kind of drum sounds you are trying to go for...what style? genre? tempo? sounds? (i.e. natural, electro, sampled, etc.)

let me know and I'll try to give you a few ideas...

trog
 
Hi Trog,

Thanks for the reply.

The stuff I record (every 10 years when I get round to it) is sort of mid-tempo electric guitar based stuff. Although my songs don't sound too much like Travis or World Party, you probably get the idea.

I didn't mention I've got an Alesis Quadraverb (albeit the guitar version) so I can get some pretty good sounds if I put my drums through that! It's the patterns themselves I have real trouble with.

cheers.
 
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