drum software

Setherial

New member
i have cooledit2k and was going to get "drumtrax", a seemingly good drum software. just found out that it uses midi files only...why on earth? well, is there another good drum software that has real drum sounds and has .wav file options?
 
Hi!

I've been using pcdrummer, which you can get at
http://www.pcdrummer.com
It is VERY easy to use, and to use .wav export, you have to get the pro version. That's what I've been using. Here's a clip of just a quick piece I recorded.

The snare on this is the electric snare, which, after I got the song done, it doesn't sound quite right. I'm gonna go back and use the accoustic snare. You can also import your own .wav samples of real drums if you find other ones that you like better!!
 
thanx for your response. hey, the track sounds pretty good (from what i heard as my player kept going in rebuffer mode!!) i saw pcdrummer at shareware.com. i'm having a helluva time trying to find one that exports to .wav and is easy to use in my situation. i have "hammerhead" And "drums!"(demo). one has important features the other does'nt and eveything like that. can u tell me how you actually use your pcdrummer. ie., i have tracks of stuff in cooledit and so i play that in a loop while i search for a rythm in hammerhead...is this all there is to it or maybe i'm doing this the wrong way. it's pissing me off...i find a rythm then try to save and export it but it just does'nt happen (even though it's freeware). being a novice what is the best way to creating drum tracks anyway? how'd you do that track? did u do the drums first, last etc.? oh, and what about the measure thing as many programs have a screen shot of just one measure. one can only create a measure at a time unless it loops? thanx
 
The trial version only shows you the basics of this program. You can't create your own patterns, or save patterns, or export .wav files. It will do ALL of this with the pro version. What you do is create a pattern for a measure, save it, and then you move it into the play window. If you need that part played more than once, you put it in the play window as many times as you need it. If you need the pattern to change, just create a differnt pattern, bring it into the play window, and put it in where you need it. Even if you already have some patterns lined up in the play window, and decide that you need a different pattern somewhere in the middle, no problem. Just drag it from the create window, and put it where you want it. I write with my guitar and bass, but I usually create the drum track first, just for timing. I usually write a rough draft of the drum track, which will correspond with a guitar piece I wrote. Then, after adding a little of this and a little of that with the guitar, or maybe (for example)I'll decide that I want a part of the chorus to repeat, I'll just go into the drum program, pull up my saved song, and insert drum patterns where I want them, and save the new work.

Most of my work is rock-based, so my drum measures repeat themselves a lot. What I might do, just to make it not-so-repetitive, is.....if 8 measures in a row are the same, I may take measure 3, keep the beat the same, but add in a crash symbal, or a couple tom-hits, or do some off-beat hi-hat work, or something to make it sound a little different from the other measures. And then maybe take measure 8, and using the last 2 beats of the measure, do a drum roll....which may lead into another part of the song......chorus, verse, bridge, etc.

It really is a breeze to use, once you start getting into it. I really like that I can import other .wav sounds into the program. I finally found a couple of dance beat bassdrum .wav's (you know, the kind that make your car stereo go boom!), and imported them. I'm looking forward to adding them into a couple songs that I have going. My friends know that I'm really only a bass player....just started playing guitar about 4-5 months ago. It's fun to watch their eyes when they listen to something I wrote, and tell them that I did the guitars, bass, AND the drums. Now they think I'm a drummer, too! Hmmph.....now if it was only that easy to do my vocal tracks! LOL!!

Like I said before, get the pro version. The standard version will only export as midi. The pro version can export both midi and .wav, and with the pro version, you can also download the other drum kit from pcdrummer called the midikit.....which is really just the pro version with some other percussion-type samples. Matter of fact, in a couple weeks, there is supposed to be another kit come out called the 'wild kit'. Don't yet know what it will have, or if will be free like the midikit, though. I got the pro version for the same reason that you sound like you need it.....wav file export. I don't do midi! The additional kits are a nice touch, but I usually find my own samples on the net, and import them into the program.
 
drumware

gee, you've got clear vision! i just got the demo (that makes 4). think i might go with pcdrummer. hammerhead's weird (says u can save but won't). i'm into making some dark wave(industrial?) black metal. so i'm on the lookout for real heavy/martial/sludgy/soul scaring bass sounds. i like cooledit (it is cool)...i can download samples then change them even more.
to paraphase; your saying that with the pro version i can Import AND Export .wav files (thus directly in and out of CE)? so one should also be able to import new Patterns as well?
as i said i have alot of tracks that need some rythm. can i run these in loop (in CE) while at the same time toy around with finding a rythm in pcdrummer in real time?
in a tangent; i'm still trying to decide on what i want to play for keeps...i'm building up alot of short tracks (song parts and eerie industrial loops) but i'm having a hard time fitting the stuff together (musically). don't really want to follow the verse/bridge/chorus thing but if nothing transpires i may have to. that structure does'nt really apply to tripped out stuff anyway.
ah, any advice as far as bass guitar goes? like when playing with a guitar rythm do u play just their root(s) or something totally different (just in the same key)?
hey, thanx for your time...
 
I'm not sure about importing entire patterns, since the program uses it's own file extensions within the program itself for the pattern you have created, but it acts as a trigger that will play a .wav. If not, you could always import the individual .wav files of the sounds/instruments that you want, and assign them to a name, and program a track to play that particular sound/instrument when you'd want it to. I did a little messing around with importing some turntable scratching or maybe a spoken line from a movie, assigning a name to that .wav, and programming it into a song. The problem I ran into was getting the timing correct. I could get it to play when I wanted, but the .wav file itself might play too fast or too slow. The program works more like a trigger. You can adjust the tempo of the song, but not for the files individually to play faster or slower. Know what I mean? I'm using CEP myself, and I'm better off bringing these types of .wav's in on a seperate track, so I can adjust the speed of the .wav from CEP.

As far as my bass lines go, it varies from song to song, as does my musical preference. I play whatever (to me, anyway!) seems to fit the song. I might write something Limp Bizkit-ish which, to me, ends up with more of a root-note type bass line. Crunchy guitars, with the bass pulling the low end of the same guitar parts. But, if I write something more Third Eye Blind-ish, I might make the bass walk around a little more. To me, the simpler the bass line, the more 'punch' it has. With more bassline movement, it makes the song a little more melodic. But, that's just the way I perceive it, and the way I tend to write.

I guess the best description of pcdrummer is, it's a trigger. It will play something (a .wav) when you tell it to. You could actually take a .wav file (say a kick drum), bring it directly into CEP, and just program the kick to play when you wanted it to. But, that would take forever to keep placing that .wav on a track at individual spots. It could be done, but, if you had to do that with each drum (and cymbal), it would take a while, just to make sure that the timing is right, with each drum as compared to the other drums. Imagine this.....trying to make a drum roll. If you had to make it in CEP on a track, you would have to place the .wav at the exact time on the timeline of the track, and probably adjust the timing of it as needed. With the drum software, you just 'tell' it to place the drum sound you want on a particular beat. If you wanted, let's say, and 4-hit snare roll that would be on 'one-ee-and-uh', you just program it that way....just by placing blocks from the snare drum along the 'one-ee-and-uh' beats. I can't imagine trying to get it right by programming it into CEP directly, and getting the timing right!

Needless to say, I can, at times, get a little overspoken!! LOL!!
 
zyklon b

well this is what i was talking about in having a hard time finding a program with little things that in the end are very important. like an easy toggle to change the speed/tempo intead of having to stop and rearange everything! and ya, i saw very quickly how insane it would be to line up a bunch of drum clips in cooledit!!! i guess the only concern i now have with pcdrummer is the limited amount of rock patterns (i noted your remedy)...but one can arrange their Own patterns right (within pcdrummer)? so i'll try to make some similar stuff.
wow, some of those bands u mentioned i never heard of...ever hear of either; dark funeral, emperor, setherial, abyssos, blut aus nord, enslaved, immortal...? all black metal and all from europe.
thanx for your help...but could u please alert me if one can't actually create their own drum patterns (from scratch) within pcdrummer...surely u can as this is what it's all about i think!
oh, i have cooledit2k...is the pro version a real maze or what? i wonder if all that extra stuff is nessessary (for someone not working at rca). i want to get a soft synth sometime...these things look like the worst maze yet and i'm still not sure what they actually do. but i know this is what's used by those guys who've done some tripped out stuff.....peace, love and nightshade
 
get fruity loops
find some realistic drums waves
and boom
you got a drummer

its pretty much impossible to distinguish my computer drums
from a real drummer

its many many many many times better than that pcdrummer
 
around we go

i saw that one also at shareware.com...ok, where did u get .wav's of drum patterns? from another drum software? (haha) seriously.......
 
search the internet for waves
there are many drum sample sites
some might suit your taste but some arent good
it takes a lot of searching
otherwise record your own
or rip them from a cd
from a song where the drums get isolated
its like i said sooooooo many times better than that pcdrummer business
 
Fruityloops just released the new 3.0 ver of the software,and the really cool thing about it is once you make the modest initial puchase, THE UPGRADES ARE FREE.
I agree with blakel, it really is a great program, and there are probably a few homereccers that have samples to share, myself included.
There is a cat that hangs here named COOPERMAN that has created some SMOKIN percussion tracks with this program, I highly recommend it,
if you need any samples, just ask in a post or email me.
 
got it

yes i think fruityloops is the way to go here with my tastes. just got the demo but feel a little overwhelmed....going to download the full manual and take my time.....no choice! thanx one and all............!
 
wow. fruityloops Is amazing.....and the on-line manual is very user friendly. not that anyone would want to but it seems u could make a cd with just fruityloops and it's samples.....
 
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