Drums need to sound real.

T

Theking351

New member
I am working with GarageBand recording guitars and bass. I wrote all of the drum stuff on midi with the program. Listening to the whole song now sounds fake. New to the drum world and need help. Do I need a drum machine? Samples? How do I get the drums to sound real?
 
Tough to answer without hearing the track.

But, generally, to make them sound 'real', you want to program them 'real'.
Assuming you don't play drums, that might sound a little vague (hopefully drummers here understand what im trying to say:o).
So I'll try to give a little insight from a drummers point of view.
IMO the most important thing I do to help my programmed drums sound as real as my real drum kit is to program a few different velocities/pitches of the same kit piece. Especially snare, bass drum, and hi hats.
'Real' drummers hit the drums and hi-hats with different amounts of power.
And I don't program ridiculous things that I (or any drummer for that matter) wouldn't be able to play (...well...unless im programming for 'drum and bass' :p. But that's different.) But if it's in the context of a 'rock' song, I don't try to throw in some ridiculous patterns that not even Danny Carey could play.


And also, another tip to making things sound "real" is to have the quality of all the recorded parts match up.
Nothing gives away "fake" drums more than hearing a songs with amateur sounding recorded guitar/bass/vocal tracks mixed with a drum kit that sounds like it was tracked in Sound City. So you might actually have to bring down the quality of your drum tracks through a LoFi generator or something like that.


Now, I don't know anything about the garageband drums you're using. But yeah, quality samples/software do help.
 
Alter the velocity of some of the hits and make the timing slightly looser, especially on rolls and fills.

No real drummer is ever perfectly consistent or completely tight to the grid.

If you have a nice room, pump the drums out through speakers and record that from a distance. You can dial this back in fo a room mic effect if the software doesn't already offer that.

Adding in some real percussion can help too, even if it's only handclaps or shakers.
That can be enough to add the human element.
 
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Is there an easier way? I tried to Do the velocity deal and it took more time to do that for one song than it did to write it. I know a real drummer would be amazing but I don't think base housing or my neighbors would like that due to sharing a wall. I thought about an electronic kit but know nothing about it. I would like a faster way it any and not too expensive.
 
Well, IMO, Addictive Drums sounds much more 'natural' than other drum programs I have used. I have no idea what it is you are using. Maybe post a sample so we know what we are talking about?

You need 10 posts to put up a link, so do that here.
 
Right now I can't due to I'm on a iPad and on leave. I will repost with a sample, but the problem is me. Everyone can't hear the "robotic" drum sound I do. I play guitar and have been for about 12 years and have been in numerous bands. I'm trying to get a setup going to record myself then expand to others after working all the kinks out. I use GarageBand '08 on apple for everything. I'm looking to upgrade but want an easy transaction. I heard logic is an easy transaction but worry about not having a drummer or good sounding samples/kits.
 
Addictive Drums is a VSTi. A software based virtual drum kit. I use it for making rough drum tracks for collaborations. Write the song, then setup and record the real drums. Last time I sent out a rough, I fooled the guitar player (not so hard lol!). He thought they were my live drums.
 
Not sure how that works. Watched a video on that and it sounds pretty good. (but then again I am a guitarist) I have midi stuff written out, do I just transfer the midi stuff over and it plays what I have?
 
Yes, in theory. There would probably be a bit of mapping changes, but it don't take that long. I have converted many from EZDrummer to AD.

How about when you get home, you send me the MIDI file, and I'll see what AD can do for you. :)
 
1st: The drums included in GB are pretty bad no matter how you tweak them.
2nd: Editing velocity data in GB is painfully slow.
3rd: Addictive drums (not to shit on Jimmy) is just a virtual instrument, VSTi is just an acronym for vertual studio technology instrument. In the case of GB it will run as an Audio Units plugin.

Last: Good sounding drums are not cheap, whether they are real or fake.
 
I can do that. I just don't want to buy something that I hate and waste money. I'm sure anything will sound better than GB drums.
 
Not to shit on Jimmy, but I think every day is an exaggeration. :p

Seriously though, addictive drums is sweet.
I don't usually bother spending time on drums because it's never the focus of what I'm doing, but when I have to I can make them pretty convincing.

I've no doubt a drummer with a good ear would pick it up in seconds, but average Joe won't have a clue.
 
jimmys69 said:
I feel shat on! lol! I always thought the 'i' was for instrument. Learn something new everyday. :)
Click to expand...

Naw man it's all good. i does stand for instrument, but in the case of GB it won't run as a Vsti. I was only arguing semantics. In the end, it didn't really matter. haha
 
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