Recording Drum machines

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fita

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I have been trying to get a decent sound out of this dog. I'd like to hear some other input.

I am running out my Yamaha DTX Main Right & Left, into channel 1 and 2 of my MK488II.

I pan everything internally and use some of the eq on the mk488 and pan both channels in the middle.

Is this kinda the "norm".

I have noticed once I get the finished product, the kick is too much for my speakers (in the car, on my home stereo). Should I compress, or just fiddle internally?

Now, I have tried panning my kick L7 and my snare R7 out the aux's into separate channels. When I do this, it sounds like the snare is trying to catch up to the beat and vice versa with the kick, really awkward. SO I scrapped that idear.

I am wayyy to anal about the drum sounds, but I believe the better I get it onto tape, the better it will sound.

Thanks/
 
1st..turn down the kick if it's too loud. How about running your drum loops/pads/whatever though an amp and micing that? May get some wierd/useable results. Usually sound coming from a drum machine are EQ'd and compressed, so you really dont need to do any of that...if you dont like the sound, find/make a different one.
 
This is time consuming,but quite effective for those "keeper" versions.I record each major drum seperately
by muting all the others.....for example,kick drum first.On the VS880 there are different patches for each drum,and you can add compression and low end on the BD without coloring
the snare,which I might do next.I do a final stereo mix on tracks 7 and 8.This gives me the option to give each drum it's own EQ and effects........it's time consuming,and I don't always do this ,but the results can be good.
 
Hummm, if you pan both channels to the center you'll get mono (thats what you are doing, right?) Doesn't the machine use the left output as a mono output? Try using just that one and see if it make a difference.

Does ilt have any separate outs? When I used my 909 I used to take the kick and snare out separately, so I could have the kick almost free of reverb, and loads of it on the snare. :)
 
My colleagues all made good points, but it also sounds like you may have a monitoring problem since you're having difficulty judging relative levels. If you are sending so much kick into the mix that it's too loud when you play it back in other sources, that's points to poor bass response in the monitoring system.

You might want to revisit your monitor situation to make sure you can hear exactly what you need to hear while recording/mixing!

Bruce
 
Dont Just Listen. Watch Too!

Alright, I'm Sorry, I know this post is ancient history, But isn't this why we have METERS.:rolleyes:
 
Ya, watch meters, but don't look TOO closely - they don't tell you all you need to know. Your ears tell you much more.

Bruce
 
DUH!

Well That is a given ofcourse. And I can't speak for everybody, but My meters tell me when I'm gonna distort. That's about all I need to know from them.
 
Minor point on meters and drum transients:
Old style analog meters aren't fast enough for the transients so you have to watch how close you let it get to the clip point.The newer LEDs give a more accurate level because they are so much faster in response time.
Keep this in mind when tracking drums or drum machines and you will have less "overs".
Tom
 
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