Coming up with "GOOD" drum tracks...

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A1MixMan

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What are some of the ways YOU come up with good drum tracks?

WE would like to know...
Whatever you're using...
Give us the details...

Do you use midi?
Soundfonts?
Samples?
Live?
Effects?
Acid?
Synths?
Analog?
Digital?
Grand Master Flash?

How do you do it?



P.S. If you download this file, rename it to drums.mid (it's a MIDI file)

And keep on making music!
 

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I still don't have the skill to come up with my own killer drum patterns. I have been using cakewalk's session drummer for my drum parts. The patterns were played by real musicians, so it has that "human" feel, that's what I like best about it.

for sound, I am using my jV1010.... not too bad but definately not VERY impressive. still looking for better options (samplers/ soundfonts)....

hope to learn something from this thread. :)
 
I'm with Leeking on the skill. I've got all this equipment and still haven't got it all straight yet.
I have a Boss Dr 770. It's really flexable. I can modify anything that is on the machine by default and save it.

Hope to learn something also.
Hey Leeking, can I sit next to you?
~ laughs ~
 
I had an old Boss, I think it was the 770 or 660... NO! the Dr-5. THe DR-5 is setup like a guitar keyboard, and does some halfway decent bass lines too. You can make your beats just like you want them fast, easy and in time. I wish I had never sold it... grteat wrting tool, but not totally convincing on a final track. Actually, I've never been totally convinced by any of them on a final track, but the DR-5 sounds great. Easily the best hardware writing tool out there.
 
Get a real drummer...!

I'm a drummer, so I do all my drum tracks live - straight into Cakewalk. I play the Yamaha DTX Ekit, it saves all the hassle of mics, sound proofing, tuning etc etc... and you still get a "Live, real drummer" sound.

Can't beat the real thing...!

Dave.
 
The best way to get a killer drum sound is this: I'm not saying that this is the "best" way but like this I have achieved very goofd sounds. Use real drums and then place trickers to every drum and connect the tricker to Roland V-Drums "brains". Use the real drum sound but add a little of the kickass sound from the "brains" to it and then you get a real killer sound.
 
I wasted a lot of time using freeware Hammerhead to sequence drum beats and stuff... as well as using wav files downloaded from the net, inserted right into cakewalk. I just couldn't get the drums to sound "good" (didn't help that Hammerhead could only handle mono). No matter what I tried the drums sounded tinny and weak.

I bought a Boss DR-770 a month ago and so far I love it! I replaced the Hammerhead drum track on one of my tunes with a track from the DR-770 and it made all the difference in the world. I'm amazed at how good it can sound (when properly setup - some of the built-in drum kits can sound poor, but you can make your own drum kits and do lots of cool stuff with it like pan/effects and all per instrument). It's sooooooooooooo much easier to bang the drum pattern out on the pads than it is to design it with beat sequencing software. The cool thing too is when you record a pattern, you can tell it whether to record in 1/4, or 1/8 note or whatever you choose so that if you have no rhythm hitting the pads, it will SNAP it to where it should be!!!!

I guess you can tell that I like my DR770??? hehe
If you're planning on getting one, head to Sam Ash - I got an awesome deal on mine there b/c it was on closeout with no minimum or something like that (since it's discontinued they can really knock off a good chunk)

I played some tunes with the DR770 drums on it for a few friends of mine that are professional musicians and they actually thought it was real drums. Mission accomplished!

Straight from rolandus.com: http://www.rolandus.com/PRODUCTS/MI/BS_RM.HTM
Features:

Top-of-the-line BOSS compact rhythm machine
400 Preset patterns - Rock, Pop, Jazz, Latin, World, Standard and more
400 User program memories
255 high-quality drum and percussion sounds
64 Preset drum kits and 64 User-programmable kits
Reverb, Flange and EQ control
Assignable Pedal switch allows Start/Stop, Forward, Rewind, etc.
Direct Pattern Play for instant pattern playback by pressing a single pad
10,000-pattern memory onboard
New Ambience control permits 16 settings for overall drum sound (Stadium, Live House, Lo-Fi, etc.)
Quick Search for quick pattern location by musical genre
 
I write them MIDI, note for note in a notation software. It's damn hard to make them sound real and "spontaneous", but I can at least think halfway as a drummer, so the results are decent. I use "Blue Jay Small Ambient 2" drum samples from www.sonicimplants.com, which I think are great, although I'd like some more kicks and snares to play around with.

But no matter how good the samples and how detailed the programming, nothing, NOTHING beats a good drummer on a nice kit, recorded well! But as for me, I'd have to 1) find the drummer 2) force him to play my songs and 3) rent studio time. Samples are somewhat easier and cheaper to deal with... :D

You could have a listen to a song a friend and I made using those here:

I programmed the MIDI and played the bass. The song is tracked very "sketchy", and the mix is compressed too hard and not very well done at all, but it will give you and idea what it sounds like, as the drums are very up-front.
 
I forgot to mention - the pads on the dr770 are touch sensitive so if you hit it hard it's louder and stuff... mad cool!

I also like to add a few cymbals/open hi hat hits here and there "live" while inputting the pattern from the drum machine into cakewalk. Keeps it from feeling too robotic.

Also to kill the robotic feel, you can set the "swing" on the pattern you program and can change it at any time!

Honestly, I'm super cheap and never thought I would spend the money for a drum machine. But this was worth EVERY penny to me. And like I said you can get one cheap now that they're discontinued (and the newer model isn't nearly as good, for some reason)... I was sceptical but now I'm a believer.

Paco
at last free from crakhead drunk drummers with attitude, at least for recording, hehe
 
Yeah Paco is right on it with the explaination of the 770.
It's the first one I ever use.

I downloaded a few others since I got my 770. Some were wretched loops and other were like what Paco said.

Everyone I know here where I live are impressed with the 770.

But, Dave52 has a point also. Can't beat the real thing. Now, if we could find some way to install Dave in our studios,,,,,,,
 
I'm with Oysterman...

Another nod here for the Blue Jay kits from Sonic Implants. I have CW Pro suite 9.0, which came with GigaSampler LE. THe Blue Jay kits are optimized for use with it, and they are some of the best natural sounding drum samples I've heard. I have Blue Jay Small Ambience 1 and 2, and they cost a ridiculous $25 each! Kit 1 is brighter (jazz, pop) and kit 2 is more dark (rock).
I program the drums very meticulously, and though you can never replace a real musician, I can fool many people. Usually I program the entire kit on one track, then cut out the snares and put them on another track, then record the snare as audio on one stereo track, and the rest of the kit as stereo on another track. That gives me the option of mixing and matching different snares with different kits (Each "kit" has four snares, and additional "tuned up" versions) as well as processing the snare seperately. I have never been happier with the drums in my recoredings than I am now.
Now if only I could learn to sing worth a darn!

If you go to my site, you can hear a couple samples of songs done with the Blue Jay drums.
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Hi Aaron
Yeah, that Blue Jay kit does a good job.
I like both your songs. Checked out your site.
I also have a Yamaha APX, but mine is a 9NA.
Very nice guitar.
One more thing. If your taking votes on your Promo shots,,,
I vote for pic #1.

Good luck Aaron, ya sound great.
 
And don't forget that every keyboard out there has drum kits.... all you have to do is figure out which keys hit each drum and then record your own tracks by tapping away.

If you need some basic rhythms to get started on a "grid" type drum sequencer like FruityLoops or in a MIDI sequencer, check out "200 Drum Machine Patterns" by Rene-Pierre Bardet from Hal Leonard Publications (about $10). This has basic patterns in over a dozen different styles that you can then start tweaking.
 
THanks for the kind words, Badgas.

I really like the APX a lot. It's more of a "pop" nylon string.

Your the first to vote on a promo picture. I guess I better start keeping track.

Promo picture #1: 1
Promo picture #2: 0

:p

Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
In answer to your original question A1MixMan, I use sample loops from samplenet :

http://www.samplenet.co.uk/

Find the one closest to what I want, import it into CW and away I go. I can change the BPM in CW if I have to. I notice the guys in the studio I go to use the Boss DR 770 and they seem to get a good sound from it.

If only I could play drums though......

Here's a question for you all, why are drummers such nutters? Every band I have ever been with, the drummer is a fruitcake, mad as a hatter. Keeping him in order was a real effort! Great fun, as long as you kept him under tight control getting him to the gig (on time) and onto the stage. Sober.Or sober-ish

A 770 seems a poor substitute somehow. But on the other hand................
 
'cause we hit stuff...!

Paul881 said:
Here's a question for you all, why are drummers such nutters? Every band I have ever been with, the drummer is a fruitcake, mad as a hatter. Keeping him in order was a real effort! Great fun, as long as you kept him under tight control getting him to the gig (on time) and onto the stage. Sober.Or sober-ish

A 770 seems a poor substitute somehow. But on the other hand................
Click to expand...

He he... if you spend that amount of time hitting stuff, something's got to give. Hey Paul, you're just down the road from me - I'm in a small town near Kettering...! Small world and all that...!

Dave.
 
He He. I am not going to tell you where I live then exactly, cos you'll come and hit me! Lol.

Really though, maybe some collaboration a possibility here then?

As this forum says, you can't "beat" a real drummer.

Regards

Paul:cool:
 
Hey Paul...!

I've sent you an Email (or a message, whatever this board allows you to do).

Talk soon,

Dave.
 
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