Drumsss tips

[Harry_Griffiths]

Might not be that many but they are the kind of thing I was after. Thanks!

[fragments]

love using a random/noise LFO to modulate hat parameters on my Machinedrum

[boob]

Yeah this is fun to do. Been crazy about it ever since Objekt dropped the juice on 707 (I think) hats and how no two were actually the same. That Q&A is a must read, imho.
I don’t have one though so I do it digitally.

If you’re using FL, open up the a sampler and load a hi hat.
Link it to a mixer track and then open an XY controller, and a Formula controller. Set the formula controller to one of the random patches, or type in the code yourself (Rand±A should do the trick, or you could even set it to sine curves, though I usually save that for panning).
I usually set a pattern up for the hat and then tweak the knob manually to find the maximum and minimum decay length I want to use, and then I copy those values onto the X parameter on the XY controller, and then link the X parameter to the formula controller.
Then stick a flange on it with the parameters linked to more modulated XY controllers for extra whacky.

[cyclopian]

yeah this is def fun to do and can be very powerful, and I know we’ve talked about similar things in the ‘dubs’ thread in terms of subtle drum variation. It can be really tricky to reel in the amount of change though. The hats really control the groove in a lot of tunes and its too wacky it can really mess with the rhythm.

tl;dr, keep your variations subtle, unless of course, you’re going for some wacko shit hehe

[RKM]

resample 4 ur sanity on these things innit

[hubb]

a lot of that can be countered by programming drums from the pov of a drummer

dont play more drum sounds at a time then physically possible for a drummer

do the correct panning related to how a common drum kit is set up etc

[fragments]

Yea. Absolutely. Can get out of control fast. I’ve defo taken the Machinedrum into percussive sludge territory and had to back it off. But one can always use automated filters or sidechain compression/EQ to add rhythm back into the equation.

[hubb]

but that is about how the listener can make out there is infact a grid there in the machines quantisation

because all the surplus sound that turns it wacky - kinda still follow that rule or just seems to like fill out that grid

drums are (obvious bit incomming maybe) best when the elements of the kit make up the sensation that they are going thru a bit of questioning and answering each other in a relation that makes sense with the rest of the song

but i think realizing that helps a shit load, - - like throw some bit out there and then catch it with another

[RKM]

spoke to bass clef once about a tune of his being hard to mix

he says he automates like volume and velocity and speed to mimic real drumming

like the way a drummer naturally speeds up a little bit going into a chorus

and like tapping it all in without grid too

[hubb]

yeah thats good

but you have to remember that something like volume has a ‘grid’ too in daw-land
(or not grid but steps -going from 1 to 127, so if you’re really serious with the sound you cant have the same relative distance between the volume of the sounds in increments like that

you would have to create the physicality in a more convincing way

because you cant get a proper quiet or a proper physically loud - loud out of that

like the roof of volume will have to be defeaningly loud and the quietest part inaudible - - but not even that, beyond that, we’d have to bring in other elements to muffle the other sounds physically (4 next realism)

so i mean even that is at surface level - still too rigid - but he probably does more than that too - im saying this just for consideration innit

[Harel_Dhan]

I usually do Parallel Compression (Check out Uranium Compressor)

Kick, Snare :
Distortion (CamelCrusher)
EQ
Thick Reverb (Turn the Decay & Pre-Delay all the way down and play with the other knobs)
Sausage fatener

Toms :
Stereo Shaper
Sausage fatener

Hats :
Do a send of Reverb (Fruity Convolver)
EQ

Note that all of the above aren’t some strict formula so experiment with your tools, also it will help you with bringing your uniqueness !

Good Luck

[_ronzlo]

think like this guy

[Samuel_L_Damnson]

Whoooooaaaa

[Ag_U]

Lmao this is awesome.

Also, imagine the amount of mouse-clicks if you were to sequence this in a DAW.

[hubb]

nice one ronzlolo

METH

looool

will never think of techno the same way again loool - love it

[RKM]

[hubb]

think there’s a lot to go with from this post if you take it seriously

any track ought to be a microtrope or a contained system itself, getting depth from reverbs, dynamics via the percussive elements and then approaching harmony with certain elements and then sequence from changing from one tone/harmonic singularity to another. It’s a supposed playing field or a small world and in that context -you can almost ‘get informed’ or be told what you should do.

Initially zoom out a lot and then when its shaping up, you zoom in more and more until you have a smaller but completely satisfying contained section. Your individual optics will secure that it is original. (If you go this indepth) imo.

[Tolsof]

George kolias is crazy.

Also always loved the percussion in this one

I feel like there’s a long way we can go with making our percussion more than just a beat and into something more expressive and musical. Imo the beat in that later song is more “danceable” than some four on the floor pounding kick

Edit: dancey not danceable I’m dumb

[hubb]

Use cymbals and rides.

Spacing between drum hits is the key to dynamics. But breaks with cymbals have this wonderfull quality where the air is compacted when the snare hits. It happens when the snare physically cuts through the part of the cymbals sound that is ringing. In other words when the tone of the cymbal is being held or decaying.

It’s hard to fit into tunes when a rides whole tone (or really, whole ‘scale’) doesn’t fit with the other elements. But at least it’s never on a key by key basis. It’s part of the tone that has to fit slightly to work.

If you create music with a lot of reverbs, deep harmonic pads or just very atmospheric music. You can put in a ride or cymbal and get a lot of realism to a sound. It’s almost too effective.
The way the air compacts around a drummer beating multiple things, while the ringing is going, will have an effect on the rest of the reverbed sounds, because drumming is the more dynamic component, but the tone and the air becomes one with fx a pads reverb tail. They belong together in symphonic music. If you had a huge orchestra, brass tones would mix with wooden too as you know, but this is easy achievable just in your daw, and brings that depth - without you having to write parts or melodies for it.

Think about it. You would be in a better position, if all the drums you use, COULD carry tone too. And it’s easy to contrast to really minimalistic drums or sparse arrengement, so you even get an advantage in cases where you might feel it didn’t directly serve a sound. Even when you don’t want the sound of a drummer playing the ride, the sound itself is unique as Lego.

It’s also what a lot of unaware producers think a hardware sound is. Might still be software instruments and mixed in a daw, but a cymbal sound seems physically real unless you treat it really specifically.

[hubb]

I’m making a tune right now, where all the snares and shuffles and kicks are just me hitting my desk, but because I threw in a bit of rides, the whole mess now actually sounds like this 70s breakbeat you’d hear in dnb. It’s crazy.

Tip, if you have a clean ride sequence - then instead of cutting it up to fit the other drums let it run as is but obstruct the hits that dont fit your other programmed drums - by simply muting the offending hits.

^The reason for doing this sometimes is that the first hit will ring into the next and so on, and you dont want to obstruct that realism, especially not if it’s just doing an etherial thing in the back ground.

^If you get this principle, you can do it with snares too. Like in breaks with cymbals snare tones or the tail of decay of snare will also ring into the next one. This sort of realism is the top of the drum chain imo, but it’s as good in principle as the very best drummer you could hire … almost.