(Another whine) The godawful drums programming
Wednesday, 27 February 2008

I'm learning things as I go along, like at least some of you. I never attempted to do such a grand thing as an entire album by myself before. Apart from the odd moment of brief experimenting, all I've ever done previous to this is simple demos containing guitars and some vocal overdubs, as kind of a private audio notebook.

And this drums programming part is fracking killing me. I gotta do midi drums for six songs in very short order, since my friend the drummer who was originally gonna do it unfortunately got struck down by the flu and had to bail.

Alright so I got this VST-instrument called EZ-drummer lying around. It's got heaps and heaps of patterns that sound really good. But of course none that fit perfectly to a song without it having to be tweaked. And I don't know the program OR Cubase all that well, so it's taking me forever and I'm not even sure I'm doing it right.

Any pointers from anyone with more experience with these contraptions than myself are of course extremely welcome.

I do possess a touch-sensitive old synth that I'm able to hook up. I hope. I got it working once before. And I'm guessing I'll need it for the midi input.

This shambles is taking precious time away from finalizing the album and making sure it sounds about right overall. I guess the best I can hope for now is to get it all down and then do a hasty rough mix. Mastering? Yeah, right...

Still gonna do it. Damn if I won't.

S. Dude 


Views: 302

  Comments (2)
 1 Written by Monopoli, on 02-27-2008 06:57
First of all you gotta ask yourself if the tracks really need drums. Noone is forcing you to add drums.  
Secondly, I always thought programming drums is tedious but discovered that correcting badly played mididrums by hand is even more tedious. If you played to a clicktrack and you're not really a drummer, the fastest way is to just draw in your drumtrack on the pianoroll; start with the basic rythm-> copy,past,copy,past etc. and then erase on the bits where there's supposed to be a fill or other change. Make sure there is some variation in the velocity and the timing; you can for instance select all the snarehits or kicks and put the slightly behind the beat or before, whatever works and usually midi-editors have some tools to do this sort of thing for you (randomize/humanize/swing, whatever they call it in Cubase)
 2 use real drum loops instead of midi
Written by Broken Promise Keeper, on 02-27-2008 09:41
probably too late for you for this year, but I have found that recorded loops of actual drums sound much better than midi and are easier to manipulate. I use Smart Loops drums on all my stuff, they not only have a ton of patterns and kit sounds but you can get individual drum tracks for each. so you can compress just the kick or add reverb to the snare.  
 
but real live drums always sound best... wish I could play them

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.3

 
 
   
Home
Read the Challenge
Sign up!
Participating Artists
Latest Blog Entries
Discussion Board
Band Map
Contact Us
How Can I Help?
Who Can I Blame?
In the News
Partners & Regional Hubs
FAQ
Miscellaneous
Listening Parties
 
time left to finish your album:
00
00h : 0min
log in, or sign up!
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Groups online now:
 
latest blogs
Just when I thought I know some $@#!
new EP
Live at the Players Ring Theatre - Portsmouth, NH.
hot diggity dawg!
Two New Demos
So long...
Faster Baby
the gig is over
new trax for your listening pleasure
new trax for your listening pleasure
Very Best Gig, Or Groupies Are Forever
Lucy, I'm home!
Best Gig/Worst Gig-The Sequel
Worst gig ever
Best gig ever
latest posts
 
add this site
Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icoi.us Add to: Reddit Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Furl Add to: Yahoo Add to: Blogmarks Add to: Diigo Add to: Technorati Add to: Newsvine Add to: Blinkbits Add to: Ma.Gnolia Add to: Spurl