EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

From: Paul Abrahams <xcelmusic@...>:

> Hopefully this will spark others to give some tips on how they deal
> with their samples and what methods are used to generate "a feel"..

>> Anyway, that's just a few ideas on the subject.. I hope this is
>> somewhat helpful.. As far as B) emulating a drummer's performance,
>> well, that's a whole 'nother topic, perhaps best left for another day..

> Thanks Joe.. ..Now I'm dying to know.. How you accomplish B)..

Hi Paul -

I almost always perform my parts live, so I don't really think about it too
much, but here are a few comments, in no particular order, based on my own
methods as well as feedback and observations of drummers who've recorded on
my MIDI kit..

- I do play drums a little (basic beats, etc), but most of the time I tend
to play my parts in from the keyboard rather than from the MIDI kit, which
is there mostly for "real" drummers (!) On the keyboard the drums are laid
out like a kit, snares in the center, rimshots around them (all white
keys), toms above and around the snares/rims (mostly on the black keys,
except the floor tom), and hihats and cymbals placed around the drums
appropriately (since cross-handed play is awkward on a keyboard, the hats
are mapped to keys both right and left of the drums). All drums are
assigned to at least two (or more) keys (usually adjacent), to facilitate
rapid playing (impossible to do realistically with only one key per sound)
- this is especially useful for snare, where rolling the fingers over 3 or
4 adjacent snare keys can provide a convincing pressroll or drag, assuming
the sound is programmed to change tone realistically).. I also utilize
hihat and kick pedals under the keyboard, although I have alternate layouts
that don't require these..

- Most of the "feel" comes from the performance, although my playing on the
keys is sometimes a bit sloppy, in which case I use some _very gentle_
*partial* quantizing to tighten things up without losing the played-in
feel.. I usually try to keep the Q strength to around 25-35 percent (more
than that tends to stiffen up the performance and make it sound
"quantized", as well as tightening up flams too much); I manually edit any
remaining individual bad notes or fills. If I were programming in a part
(or editing a quantized part) I might apply a little "humanizing" (Logic
Transformer) to randomize timing and maybe velocity, but not too much or
the virtual "drummer" will sound drunk (not that that wouldn't necessarily
be realistic in its own way ;-) )..

- By now most everybody knows about "pushing" or "laying back" the backbeat
or other components in a drum pattern for a particular feel, so I won't get
into it here, other than to suggest analyzing any MIDI files from real
drummers' performances, so if you're manually editing your own drum parts
(rather than quantizing them to a Groove Template) you'll know how much to
adjust notes by to get the feel you're looking for or to correct
sloppily-timed hits..

- If I'm ever _programming_ fills, I make sure that any hihat or ride
cymbals (at least stick work) stops during the fill, which is more
realistic (although some drummers do keep the hihat foot going through
fills). A lot of drummers tend to speed up (rush) a tiny bit going into and
through a fill, landing on the downbeat a little early, and then
immediately getting back to the click (when necessary). The right amount of
this sounds natural and adds a little energy to the track; too much and it
just sounds like an inexperienced drummer..

- If programming typical fills, say, tom fills (ie dugga-dugga dugga-dugga
dugga-dugga), see that there's a little subtle velocity variation within
each string, rather than having every hit at the same velocity (ie instead
of da-da-da-da-da-da, better would be DA-da-da-da or da-da-DA-DA-da-da or
da-da-dA-dA-DA-dA-dA-da)

- Having different samples for snare and rimshot, and using them
appropriately, is another good way to enhance the musicality of a snare
performance.. Some drummers use the rimshots for accents only, whereas many
(most) rock drummers tend to hit rimshots on every backbeat. Be sure to use
snare samples for rapid runs or rolls, though, as these usually result in
softer/medium velocity hits and wouldn't sound as natural on rimshot
samples. When doing a snare fill (like da-da-da-da-da-da), do it on snare
if it's a soft or transitional riff, but if it's an accented or dramatic
riff, doing it on rimshots will add much more energy/excitement. It's also
good to have _slightly_ different rimshot samples (or sets of samples) for
regular (medium-load), hard (loud), and accented (extra loud and sharp); if
you're doing, say, a hi-energy rock groove with rimshots on all the
backbeats, switching from a regular (medium) rimshot sample set on the
verses to a harder (loud) rimshot sample set on the chorus can add a subtle
sense of increased energy when musically appropriate without being too
obvious about it, or without having to "fuss-up" a good basic groove too
much..

- When playing or programming, the use of subtle grace notes, accents,
little drags, etc on the snare is a great way to provide variety and a more
natural real-sounding performance.. This will only be subtle and sound good
if the sample used for the soft embellishment notes is snare-only (no hard
rimshot component) and low velocities trigger what _sounds like_ a soft hit
(either an actual soft-hit sample or an appropriately programmed hit (see
the other posts), rather than a loud sample simply reduced in volume, which
will sound stiff and less "musical" for this purpose.. Listening closely to
real drummers' performances on CD, especially in mid-tempo groove kind of
tracks, will give a good idea of how drummers use this technique musically
in various styles..

- If programming a hihat or ride timekeeping part consisting of 8th or 16th
notes (ie in 4/4), accenting the 1 and 3 notes (alternate odd numbered
notes) slightly will also emulate what a lot of drummers do, and alleviate
the "machine" sound of perfectly even timekeeping (though some drummers, in
some tunes, do hit, say, the hat more evenly on every note - if that's
appropriate, some random pitch variation built in to the sample helps to
make it more natural and less mechanical)..

- Good (tasty) drummers do a _lot_ of subtle variations with the hihat
pedal.. By flexing their foot they can create _very slight_ variations in
length and tone in a series of, say, 8th or 16th note closed hihat hits,
sometimes over the course of a few notes (like a barely perceptible swell),
or sometimes to go along with accented notes (some drummers who tend to hit
the hat more evenly use this technique to provide the subtle accents within
their timekeeping parts).. This can be emulated to some degree with a hihat
that has a continuous open/close action (like my example with the modwheel
from the other posts); you could even draw in very small modwheel curves in
a HyperDraw screen to go with a previously recorded hat part (in fact,
drawing in modwheel open/close parts is a great way (with samples that use
it) to turn a boring quantized hat part into something that "breathes" a
little)..

I guess some of this stuff is pretty obvious, some of it isn't; I've
utilized all of these techniques to good effect.. Anyway, I hope this is
helpful..

Cheers, Joe Albano
ROOFTOP PRODUCTIONS, NYC NY
Music: www.rooftopproductions.com
Consulting: www.rooftopproductions.com/Consulting.html