Where do my threads keep going?! Drums thread - again!

[sammo303]

Okay, being silly I forgot to bookmark those links.

I am also having difficulty understanding some basic ideas here. Maybe this will help if I go back to basics.

Ok, I appear to have access to a bunch of drumkits via Sonar. Some of them are basic kits, some are complete kits.

Ok, so on the piano roll view, I can program the drums in and generally muck about with them until I get a decent rhythm.

Well I'm finding that the sounds are both quiet and lacking in dynamics. I seem to think that these can be used to trigger drum samples from elsewhere but I don't know how that is possible.

Basically, the drums are sounding crap and it is hard to get a nice rhythm because they sound so sterile.

Is any of this making sense? And any links will be bookmarked before this thread is chopped again.
Sorry. ops:

[smithmar01]

SOS DRUM GUIDE
That should help you program them better to improve the dynamics.
The site seems to be acting up a bit at the moment though.

If you want different sounds (without paying) then the best place to start is KVR and search for drum machines and samplers.
Search the internet for free single hit samples to use with a drum machine or sampler and Bob is is very close relative.
Use your imagination a bit too, find other sounds which you could use instead of regular drum sounds.

[sammo303]

Thanks Mark.

I will get back to you with some guitar parts real soon too, been totally busy with work at Uni (I may have been slightly lazy and got behind :lol: ) and I've had a cold and everything too. :cry:

I am handing in a technical paper tomorrow which is starting to be the bane of my life! Once that is out of the way I will get on the case. Thanks for the tips.

Ok, this is a blues riff-on-B. Watch me for the changes and try and keep up!

[smithmar01]

No problem, no rush.

[clarky]

the real trick to programming drums is setting the velocities correctly...

this is quite an art form in it's own right

drums are not hit at the same velocity with every hit..

there are accents.. and grace beats too [that are really quiet...

also, the right hand is a little stronger than the left..

with a flam, the last stroke is the loudest..

if you do a "double" with the kick and you're using a single kick drum..
the first beat is a touch softer...

this is all to do with the "physics" of playing drums...

[smithmar01]

That's another good point actually.
When you know how to program them properly it would be useful to learn at least the basics of playing drums.
If you can't already play then get yourself to the library and see if they have any books so you can learn some of the basic principles involved.
If you want to create real sounding drums then you need to know about real drums.

The same goes for any virtual instrument really.
You put lots of time into learning to play the guitar.
If you want the other instruments to sound any good then you should spend some time learning about those too, even if you will never play the real instrument.
A better understanding of how they are played will improve the sound of the finished track.

[sammo303]

I am still quite confused.

I have read through the sound-on-sound page. It talks of using Sonars TTS1 softsynth for drums and stuff. Well I've been using the Yamaha XG synth that is installed on my computer. :?

Trying to get drums from other softsynths, infact trying to get any kind of sounds is a challenge. There seems to be a big delay between pressing a note on the piano roll and actually hearing it. Plus during playback, half the notes get missed out for some reason, even though they are in-range.

It seems like the softsynths can't keep up with the pace for some reason. Also I feel that fully programming drums to the point where they sound decent is beyond me, I am too busy at Uni to be able to get any good at this.

I am seriously considering getting EZDrummer. This program looks to be the sort of thing I am after. It has a humanizer function so that it keeps the drums from getting too boring, they seem to be programmable with MIDI but they come with plenty of drum loops already. This can the be pasted into Sonar.

Anyone have any experience with EZDrummer?

http://www.ezdrummer.com/prodinfo_ezd.asp

[smithmar01]

There seems to be a big delay between pressing a note on the piano roll and actually hearing it.

You need to adjust your latency settings.
Just keep playing around with them until you find what you need for your PC.

[imported_thomasross20]

Pleae post some clips when you get this package..