Nola
Well-known member
Definitely.
Definitely.
wmalan
Member
Glad I popped into this thread when I did. Had no idea about the drummer vs audience setting. It was defaulted to drummer. I'll play with this. As others mentioned EZD2 with all their available midi packs and drum kits, lots of options! That said, for this simple songwriter, there is enough variety to use the tracks as they were created. I might remove that initial cymbal hit that starts many of the samples. But that's about it.
ashcat_lt
Well-known member
Honestly, sometimes the sounds are just too good. I kind of wish they had some trashy kit with old beat heads tuned poorly and maybe even in a crappier sounding room. Probably just me. 
The one thing I don't like about these things is the tuning feature. All it does is play the sample(s) back faster or slower, and that doesn't work very well for a couple reasons:
First, a real drum sounds different depending on how it's tuned. I mean, beyond the actual pitch, you'll hear a change in the overall dynamic envelope, different overtones will resonate in different proportions, and it really can end up sounding like a different drum altogether. If there's two heads on the drum, the relationship of how each is tuned with respect to the other can have drastic effects, and good drummers use all of these techniques to get the sounds they want/need.
Then the overall frequency spectrum changes. Drum transients, especially cymbals, produce harmonic content way up into the ultrasonic spectrum, but the samples can only contain content up to 22K. If you drop it an octave, you have absolutely nothing above 11K, and all of the air and attack is just killed. Yes, that's an extreme pitch change for most people trying to get a natural sound, but frankly I can hear the change in the "air" and ambience and character with even really small adjustments. I mean really the room itself gets bigger or smaller as you tune the drum - and only for that drum! You might not notice if the whole kit was tuned down a semitones or so, but when it's just one I feel like it sticks out like a sore thumb and just doesn't match the rest of the kit anymore.
There is, of course, nothing to be done to fix that except to include more samples in the packs. Then instead of tweaking the tune knob, you'd just pick a different variation of the drum. Like now some have the same drum hit with a stick or a brush or even fingers, and you'd just have more options there with different tunings. And of course they're not going to include every possible option. A few might be nice, though.
The one thing I don't like about these things is the tuning feature. All it does is play the sample(s) back faster or slower, and that doesn't work very well for a couple reasons:
First, a real drum sounds different depending on how it's tuned. I mean, beyond the actual pitch, you'll hear a change in the overall dynamic envelope, different overtones will resonate in different proportions, and it really can end up sounding like a different drum altogether. If there's two heads on the drum, the relationship of how each is tuned with respect to the other can have drastic effects, and good drummers use all of these techniques to get the sounds they want/need.
Then the overall frequency spectrum changes. Drum transients, especially cymbals, produce harmonic content way up into the ultrasonic spectrum, but the samples can only contain content up to 22K. If you drop it an octave, you have absolutely nothing above 11K, and all of the air and attack is just killed. Yes, that's an extreme pitch change for most people trying to get a natural sound, but frankly I can hear the change in the "air" and ambience and character with even really small adjustments. I mean really the room itself gets bigger or smaller as you tune the drum - and only for that drum! You might not notice if the whole kit was tuned down a semitones or so, but when it's just one I feel like it sticks out like a sore thumb and just doesn't match the rest of the kit anymore.
There is, of course, nothing to be done to fix that except to include more samples in the packs. Then instead of tweaking the tune knob, you'd just pick a different variation of the drum. Like now some have the same drum hit with a stick or a brush or even fingers, and you'd just have more options there with different tunings. And of course they're not going to include every possible option. A few might be nice, though.
ashcat_lt
Well-known member
This has been my thinking, but it really only matters if the gorilla can actually get his head around the triggers and be comfortable and confident enough to give a good performance. Honestly, I think if I was in a situation that really needs that close-miked sound, I might set up the close mics and then use those to trigger the samples. But then, my "trigger kit" is four rubber pads on a conga stand and a mesh snare with a warped shell and broken head...
mjbphotos
Moderator
Have you tried the 4-mic set up of the classic rock EZX? It's pretty trashy with standard settings.Honestly, sometimes the sounds are just too good. I kind of wish they had some trashy kit with old beat heads tuned poorly and maybe even in a crappier sounding room. Probably just me.
ashcat_lt
Well-known member
No. Don't own that one.
Edit - I've always thought it would be cool if they'd give us an actual impulse response for the room they use so we could kind of put other things in that same room. One of these days I'll get around to trying to deconvolve the room mics and see if I can get anything usable.
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raybbj
Member
I pan to the dummers POV, probably cuz I'm a drummer. I've been doing it this way for 30 years. Panning to the audience POV confuses my brain
