Drumber in a Box - For Non-Drummer Recordists - Suggestions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sky Blue Lou
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Sky Blue Lou

Sky Blue Lou

Well-known member
Thanks in advance. I'm looking for a hardware or software, simple, cheap solution for putting down basic drum tracks. I'm a guitar guy and couldn't keep a beat with sticks if you put a gun to my head. When I first got into the DAW thing I had a hack/demo version of Cubase that came with a little software bit - LM9 I think? It was kinda cool, if painstaking, because you could lay out the hits on a grid - no sense of rhythm required. I got involved in a band shortly after and pretty much stopped recording entirely.

I'm now starting over messing with recording again. I have upgraded to a legit copy of Reaper and a newer, faster PC. I'm not sure I can get to the old Cubase shit and it's a hack anyway - good to get a taste but I don't want to use it.

I am looking for thoughts on the best approach here. I only want decent demo track capability for songwriting. If anything comes of my work I have access to real drummers with equipment to do it right. I don't want to spend big bucks. Freeware or shareware would be fine. Hardware - drum machines - is a possibility if they can be had on Ebay for reasonable $. I'd even consider pre-recorded drum tracks although I wonder at the versatility of such.

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated. I realize most users of this forum are the real deal so you kinda have to step out of your box and consider it from a non-drummers perspective. Drumbing for dummies. I'm the dummy.

Thanks.


lou
 
I use ezdrummer and love it. 1000's of canned patterns. Samples sound great. Drag and drop to your daw. And I don't even work for them!!

peace.
 
http://www.rayzoon.com/

A lot of people like this in addition to the previously mentioned Ezdrummer.

I don't know what kind of gear you have or if you're MIDI fluent,but there are all kinds of options if you go this route.

Myself I use Acid style loops,if your host supports this there are plenty free or very cheap loops out there.
 
Thanks so far guys. Stuff to look at.

Acid - I have a smokin' quick DAW loaded w/Reaper. My interface options are an M-Audio OmniStudio - a little outdated but decent w/preamps or an Audiofire 12 - passive 12 track Firewire interface off my Mackie board. I also have an M-Audio Oxygen keyboard/midi actuator. I've used the keyboard mostly for some synth stuff - B4, Pro 52, Z3 - piano/organ/synth progs.

Do these programs allow grid programming or do you have to play the hits live for freeform writing and editing?


lou
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Thanks so far guys. Stuff to look at.

Acid - I have a smokin' quick DAW loaded w/Reaper.

Do these programs allow grid programming or do you have to play the hits live for freeform writing and editing?


lou
Click to expand...

I don't know much about Reaper other than it's a little light on the MIDI side.I use SONAR which has something called the piano roll view which I assume your grid view is the equivalent of.

For MIDI you can either program yourself or use premade beats,loops or tracks and edit them to suit your tastes.They can then be rendered into the sounds of your choosing.Whether you play live or step sequence is really a matter of personal preference.

The biggest problem with your question is that there are so many ways to attack this,it's probably a matter of trying as many ways as possible and figuring out what's best for you.

As I said before I use loops.I generally will lay down a generic loop,record all my parts,then add fills or breaks.I don't understand drums enough to lay them out properly until the song's done.Recording to a loop ensures that I'm in time and makes for much easier editing and more options should I choose to replace the drums entirely.Midi can be looped also.

I have also had people play the drums for me after I was done with my parts,both audio and MIDI tracks.
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Do these programs allow grid programming or do you have to play the hits live for freeform writing and editing?


lou
Click to expand...

ezdrummer has pattern files you drag to your daw or however you would import midi files. I use Cubase with grid snap on, so the files snap right into place. Each file is typically 1 or 2 measures long, so I copy and paste to fill out the song. Different pattern for the chorus, bridge, solos, etc... you can have a drum track mapped out for a whole song in minutes. It's pretty easy, and it has a humanize feature to make it a little more real sounding. But I don't think it goes far enough, so I always go in and make edits.

Or, you can play it live too, if you want.
 
There are times I wished I never got rid of my DR660,I kind of liked programing on a drum machine.
 
Thanks guys. The research project has begun.

I'd like to hear opinions from the drum machine hardware contingent. (hint) ;)


lou
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Thanks guys. The research project has begun.

I'd like to hear opinions from the drum machine hardware contingent. (hint) ;)


lou
Click to expand...

I only used the MIDI from the drum machine not the sounds,I would render the MIDI to sound using a sampler.
 
jordokid said:
Say Lou, I know it ain't what ya looking for but I would like to try an do some drumbs for ya
Click to expand...
I'm honored Jordo. You and RAMI were the first two guys I thought of asking for online collab stuff. I have to come up with something worth doing first. Watch this space.


lou
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
I'm honored Jordo. You and RAMI were the first two guys I thought of asking for online collab stuff. I have to come up with something worth doing first. Watch this space.


lou
Click to expand...

Hey I got another idea for ya. Not only am I a *** burping prick but I am also a Mac asshole and Macs come with Garage Band which I don't even know how to use but it comes with a shit load of all kindsa loops that I have used and imported right into Pro Tools...and yeah I'm a Pro Stools fuck wad too but if ya want, tell me what kind of beats/rhythms you are looking for and I could start sending them to you. They sound pretty good and if they aren't the BPMs you need you can time shift 'em...or I could put the whole freakin loop library of one gig on a DVD and mail it to you. It has all kindsa shit apart from just drumbs in aiff files.
 
jordokid said:
Hey I got another idea for ya. Not only am I a *** burping prick but I am also a Mac asshole and Macs come with Garage Band which I don't even know how to use but it comes with a shit load of all kindsa loops that I have used and imported right into Pro Tools...and yeah I'm a Pro Stools fuck wad too but if ya want, tell me what kind of beats/rhythms you are looking for and I could start sending them to you. They sound pretty good and if they aren't the BPMs you need you can time shift 'em...or I could put the whole freakin loop library of one gig on a DVD and mail it to you. It has all kindsa shit apart from just drumbs in aiff files.
Click to expand...

There are tons of free loops on the net,just a Google search away.
I f the hoast handles Acidised loops you can change the BPM.
 
Thanks guys. Very nice. I'm an instant gratification kind of guy. I bought EzDrummer today. Once it shows up I'm gonna start there and see where it goes. The reviews are very good so it must be decent.

I wanted to hear from some hardware types but like I said about instant gratification... I have the use of an old Roland box - DR626 - but it's not a lot of fun to use, or maybe it's me?

I'll be waiting for the UPS truck about Thursday-Friday.

Thanks again. Jordo - if I come up with anything worth developing - in my own humble opinion of course ;) - you'll be the first guy I send tracks to.


lou
 
Very nice, Lou. I think you will like it. Not much of a learning curve and it sounds good right out of the box. Also, you won't outgrow it after you become an expert.


Cheers,
 
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