Tweaking drum samples so it's not totally mechanical sounding

[mellotron]

I don't know if I'm using drum samples how most other people do it. I've found some royalty free drum samples from audioskull.com, and I'm basically just importing .wav files into cubase le and then copying and pasting them. I've got it so it's in rhythm. Is there a way to vary the sound of the drums a little so it doesn't sound like I didn't just copy and paste the same sound over and over again? Should I vary the volume with each hit a tiny bit each time?

 

[mellotron]

I know it would be easier to edit if I loaded the samples into a drum machine like Grizzly, right? But the problem with that is that I only have 2 VST slots.

 

[aviv]

Take it nice and slow mate, I use audio samples (triggers) just to back up and fatten the sound. That way the hits vary and the samples just support the hits but if your relying solely on the samples then i suggest save a few bob and buy drumagog.

But if not, take your time and try to make them sound different manually with eq's comps and all the rest.

good luck fella

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I actually use a very similar system. I sampled the drums myself so I've got two examples of each hit. They sound slightly different, so I think it makes the sound less mechanical.

Also, since I'm cutting and pasting the hits manually, it means I sometimes mess up and miss a beat, have a beat slightly offset etc.

You wouldn't believe how "real" timing mistakes make your fake drums sound. ;D

 

[mellotron]

Thanks for the tips.

I have another quick question. When you input your drum hits with a keyboard or drum pad, do you usually have to move the beats around manually, with latency being a factor and all? Or if you have a computer with enough RAM and processing speed, you can just record it in one take?

 

[thebigcheese]

Well, most audio software will let quantize audio information, which basically just means that it takes the beats and moves them so that they are in time. So, to answer your question, no, you wouldn't have to move them manually, it would do them automatically. Although I can't imagine latency would be that much of an issue with MIDI...