Do you program drums?

[*ToNeS*]

If so, show me whatcha got! I love drums (fake ones - my drumming is awful). I just recently got BFD3 and I've been working with it quite a lot. I play heavier stuff so I've put it through its paces and come up with a kit I love. Check it out:

http://soundcloud.com/anonfemme/anonfemme-everyone-cares-when-its-too-late

Bonus uncomfortably jangly bass tone

 

[powerdimer]

Sure. I think I used some sort of freeware here, can't remember which. Love your tone and your playing BTW! Reminds me of early Faith No More, angry and energetic.

 

[*ToNeS*]

Sure. I think I used some sort of freeware here, can't remember which. Love your tone and your playing BTW! Reminds me of early Faith No More, angry and energetic.

Hey thanks, man. I'm a traitorous plectrum-user, however. Do not give me too much credit

I seem to be having trouble seeing Soundcloud embeds - care to link me direct to your stuff?*

*Scratch that it's working. Tasty grooves! That's a really suitable dry-ass kit you have there.

 

[powerdimer]

Thanks a good plectrum sound is just as technically hard as fingers ime.

These days I'm using addictive drums. A breeze compared to the software I'm used to.

 

[*ToNeS*]

Thanks a good plectrum sound is just as technically hard as fingers ime.

These days I'm using addictive drums. A breeze compared to the software I'm used to.

What were you using before and why the switch?

I was a Superior Drummer 2.0 kid for ages. Loved it. Now BFD3 has barged in and yeah, sure: I think its drums sound the best I've ever heard. But oh my goodness, BFD3 is so fiddly.

 

[*ToNeS*]

I've used to program drums in the past and a lot.
N.B. NOT YOUR HEAVY STUFF.
Just the regular "LITE" music - NO ELECTRONIC DRUMMING that could not be played by a live drummer; therefore, I cannot comment a lot about your "HEAVY STUFF" drumming.
Here is my way of approaching the drum programming.

1. Can my drum line be played by a regular or a very good drum player and HOW?
I would try to imagine (play) the imaginary drums - Hi-hat (closed, half-open, open, foot), kick, snare, Rimshot, tom-toms, etc...
If even my imaginary "superb" drummer could not play my programmed drum pattern, I would delete those "extra" or "too sophisticated" notes.

Let's say, if my drum pattern (that I wanted to keep) had TWO (2) different Kick sounds/tones, I thought about the drum kit with TWO kick drums/pedals.

P.S. During the drum fills, I used to leave the Hi-Hat playing, which is not normal for a regular/live drummer, unless it's a Foot Hi-hat.

2. Dynamics.
Each and every note on the Hi-hat must be dynamically addressed. The same thing about the kick, snare, etc...


Anyway, from my "I-no-nothing-about-the-HEAVY-STUFF-drumming" perspective, I can easily tell that your provided sound file has programmed drums.
If it's your goal - you have achieved it.

You can easily tell, hey? What gives it away?

I'm curious. These BFD3 samples are easily the most convincing I've heard. I work with drums all day and I'd have trouble picking this as programmed.

 

[*ToNeS*]

I'm always looking for those "dynamically-sounding-the same" patterns.
In your first clip (sorry, I don't listen too much to that "heavy stuff"), the kick's notes sounds too monotonous in terms of volume.
The cymbals sound always at the same volume.
During the drum fills - both hands are doing it - the hi-hat is still going,
etc...

Anyway, you asked a question expecting to hear ONLY WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR.
Sorry, I commented.

I asked because I was interested in what you're saying. You're incorrect, though: the hi-hat hits during the fills are perfectly legit and not really out of the ordinary. The rest... I disagree, too. But I appreciate the feedback.

Also no offense, but your posting style reminds me of a certifiable man I met in Seattle once who claimed to be on the run from the government after discovering a virtual reality metaworld.

 

[*ToNeS*]

I've really liked your evaluation of my comments, "a certifiable man", and even bookmarked it.
Good luck with your music. Don't give up.

P.S. Also, NO OFFENSE, but I did not expect anything else from a "Heavy Stuff" fan.

Just sayin'

 

[Joe Nerve]

Great stuff guys.

The drums in my vid below I programmed. Was on a Roland drum machine that I can't get rid of because I love the sounds in it.

 

[Humbled]

At a band rehearsal a long time ago, a Guitar player asked exactly the same question.

Our drummer quickly responded: "I charge at minimum five dollars a minute to program electronic drums"...

 

[Joe Nerve]

Actually, all the drums on this entire album were programmed by me. And I played all instruments .

The first song was from a $100 casio keyboard . Other tracks were with various other drum machines/programs.

 

[*ToNeS*]

At a band rehearsal a long time ago, a Guitar player asked exactly the same question.

Our drummer quickly responded: "I charge at minimum five dollars a minute to program electronic drums"...

What. I had no idea I could command this kind of rate drool

Haha. Between that and selling my poop, I can finally afford adult beverages with little umbrellas in them. SO LONG, house wine!

 

[ThatOneEngineer]

You can easily tell, hey? What gives it away?

The perfect drumming and obvious(to me at least) samples give it away. It has no human element to it, and even with the way this type of music is recorded/edited now to sound perfect it still usually sounds like a human played the drums.

 

[powerdimer]

What were you using before and why the switch?

I was a Superior Drummer 2.0 kid for ages. Loved it. Now BFD3 has barged in and yeah, sure: I think its drums sound the best I've ever heard. But oh my goodness, BFD3 is so fiddly.

The freeware didn't communicate with the DAW, couldn't find a stable ok sounding vst-type. A hassle to go back and edit. Very happy about addictive drums.

 

[*ToNeS*]

The freeware didn't communicate with the DAW, couldn't find a stable ok sounding vst-type. A hassle to go back and edit. Very happy about addictive drums.

How do you edit yours? Do you 'draw' it in, play it?

 

[Matthew_84]

Anyone know of any software where it's easy to get a shuffle feel, with maybe a variable parameter, or even something where you can use the keyboard or mouse like a drum pad In a recording mode to get the hits exactly where you want them when you don't want them in straight time?

 

[powerdimer]

How do you edit yours? Do you 'draw' it in, play it?

I draw it. The best might be to play it with el-drums, but my skills are not up to notch, and I don't have the time or ambitions to learn. I just want to record my ideas quick and effortless. I have played with many drummers in various bands in my life, currently a rock/country/blues band, so I pretty much have an idea of what i want.

 

[TomA1234]

My band has started programming drums as our drummer recently quit and due to the music we play (death metal of the most un-listenable variety), it could be quite a while before we find a replacement. At the moment, we're just using guitar pro drum tracks, but will transfer them into EZDrummer at some point (unless we find cheaper/better drum software)

 

[*ToNeS*]

My band has started programming drums as our drummer recently quit and due to the music we play (death metal of the most un-listenable variety), it could be quite a while before we find a replacement. At the moment, we're just using guitar pro drum tracks, but will transfer them into EZDrummer at some point (unless we find cheaper/better drum software)

EZ Drummer is cool, just try not to use the default 'metal' kit that comes with it. So many bands use this kit (I hear it a lot on when I'm looking for new stuff on Spotify), and it's pretty played out. Spring for one of the cool upgrades and get some fat birchy Ludwig sounds happening.

 

[pklima]

Sure, loops for rehearsal convenience and for recordings. Right now I'm working on a track where I've got so far:

one kick being synthesized by a VST
two samples of synthesized snares layered together
four layered shakers - two acoustic samples and two synthesized samples
one other synth shaker sample in a separate layer
one sample of me smacking my double bass body with my knuckles
four miscellaneous drum patterns with an acoustic sample of an African drum layered with a vaguely similar synth drum sample
two different reversed cymbal samples
one synth hi-hat sample

So that adds up to 20 layers.

Pretty different from programming "drummer playing a drum kit" style drums - I do some of that sometimes too. Usually MT Power Drum Kit which was rereleased as a freebie last year - it's not the biggest but the most convenient, there's a lot of compression and EQ baked into the samples so it's got a "post-2000 rock drums" sound without much trouble. I have some much bigger kits, DrumMic'a which is over 4 GB and a Yamaha kit which is something like 1.7 GB, but don't use those nearly as much. For a lighter, more retro sound I have various small free kits. I don't like too much realism anyway.