drum samples: that is the question

[Jeff White]

I also sample the kit once it's all mic'd up and keep these files indefinitely. I am definitely NOT INTO replacing the entire kit with samples, however I have been known to use ApTrigga to beef up the kick and snare. However, I don't replace, I simply double things up with a different kick and/or snare.

These days my entire approach to drums has changed and I am really happy with the sounds that I am getting. However when a problem arises I refer back to this old technique and it always saves the day.

Jeff

[decocco]

Whenever I track drums, I always record some single hits to use as samples.

I have a pretty good selection of samples. Some recorded by me, and some that have been given to me by other engineers.

If I use samples in a mix, it's just to add something to the drum sound. I don't replace the original sound, I just augment it.

Today I'm mixing a heavy rock song where the snare sounds good, but needs a little more snap to it. I added a really snappy snare sample track with Sound Replacer (which always needs a little tweaking) and mixed that track in just enough to where it makes the snare sound snappier.

In this same song, the bass drum is very muffled and very punchy, but the mix is begging for a less muffled bass drum sound. I added a less muffled sounding kick drum sample. Now I have the tight punch of the original drum, but with more resonant head sound. Yea!

I could post some samples later, if that is of any help to anyone.

[mscottweber]

For those of you who record and store samples of the individual drums after your kit is miked up, do you use just the close mics, or do you you use the overheads and room mics as well?

[jgimbel]

For those of you who record and store samples of the individual drums after your kit is miked up, do you use just the close mics, or do you you use the overheads and room mics as well?

I haven't used samples before, but I always imagined if I was going to do it I'd want to do it of my own kit, and I'd set up my mics just like I would if it weren't for samples. Then record each sample, and bounce the whole thing down so I'd have samples that sound as close as possible to what it would sound like were it not samples. I think that'd make it as natural as possible.

[mscottweber]

I did that once for a speed composition game I was doing where I had to write and record an album all in one week. I wrote the songs first, and then went and tracked drums, but I knew that I would probably end up writing more songs later, so I recorded a sample of each hit so I could compose a drum beat later.
But if I knew I was going to use the samples to reinforce drum tracks, rather than replace or create them, I imagine I might want to just sample the close mics, so that when I add them in they won't have a ton of room tone and I could just bring them in underneath the OH and room mics.

[decocco]

For those of you who record and store samples of the individual drums after your kit is miked up, do you use just the close mics, or do you you use the overheads and room mics as well?

I use all the mics (or whatever combination of mics sounds best). I like my samples to sound like a drum in a room. Not like huge ambience or anything, but I generally don't want them sounding super dry.

[playinbass]

Sometimes I end up working with drum tracks that have been recorded elsewhere and if there's a problem with a kick or snare I'll augment or replace those. I'll open up an older session that I've worked on and grab something (usually close miced) that I had tracked before. It's quick and easy to just make a kick or snare WAV.

It seems that there are also lots of drummers who've been kind enough to put up their own sampled kits or loops that you can pluck a drum out of here and there.
I just keep a folder full of 'em and choose what I want when the need arises.

(PS -- I know this isn't especially informative, but I'm trying to find reasons to post to hopefully change my "ass engineer" status....how many posts does it take anyway?! )

Gerry

[mscottweber]

You're almost there
I think 50 posts is the turning point.

[playinbass]

cool! I don't think they'll count this one though towards my score.....it seems like if I post twice in the same thread it stays at the count of the first post......... hmmm I'll have to start a new topic.!

Gerry


I just checked....50's the number....looks like I'm "alignin' 24-trk" now!

Sorry to derail the thread!

I really have found using the samples to be easy and it's certainly made my tracks sound better though, I seem to be able to keep enough dynamics in the OH's so it doesn't sound robotic.

[timh]

so im running into a situation where i have to use samples. i cant sample a real kit cuz i dont have one. so i have to use garageband samples, and im gunna play the drum tracks through speakers and record them to give them a more realistic sound like stated above. BUT im doing a different drum track on each side (that is- L & R incase you didnt know what im talking about) so my question is- do i have to worry about phase issues recording L & R seperately?

[farview]

The easiest way to get samples to blend in with the kit is to pick samples that are tuned similarly to the drums they are replacing. That way, the bleed in the overheads and all the other mics will take care of the ambience.

It also helps if you use a program like Drumagog because it has multisamples. The thing that makes samples sound fake is when you use the exact same hit to replace everthing in the song. Drumagog has multiple samples of the same drum, so you never get the 'machine gun' effect on rolls. It also has completely different sets of samples for soft, medium, hard, and very hard hits. So it ends up sounding much more realistic then grabbing one wav file and pasting it over every snare hit in a song.