K5synth

>I had a question four you guys not related to the K5, but the music I hear 
>a lot of guys make with the K5.  Most of the stuff I am hearing sounds 
>great for synths but is lacking punch and dynamics as far as the drums are 
>concerned.  Of course the K5 does not have sampled drums but my 
>compositions use my other gear for the drums.  My question is do you think 
>being a keyboard composer that knows how to play drums help you final 
>sound?  Are you guys happy with your drums on your compositions?  I played 
>drums many years ago and find that my drums are the frist thing I lay down, 
>then layer the other stuff on top of the drums.

Knowing how a drummer thinks definitely helps create more realistic 
sequences, IMO. I've spent a fair amount of money and time on drum books 
just to get a better feel for programming my drum parts idiomatically.

It can be really subtle, too. Adding a ghosted note here, a flam there, 
varying the drum patterns so that they don't repeat the exact same way... it 
all adds up to creating more realism. I think I've gotten a pretty good grip 
on this and am happy with my drum parts.

It helps to have good drum samples. I've been using some drum sounds off of 
Joey Kramer's (Aerosmith's drummer) drum CD. He has a lot of canned drum 
patterns he plays, but I have found those too limiting. Fortunately, at the 
end of the CD, he plays each drum individually so you can recreate his drum 
kit and program your own patterns. These drums were sampled in stereo and 
have tremendous presence. Sure does make creating solid sounding drum 
patterns easier because the drum sounds are working with you, not against 
you.

So you definitely need good drum sounds that fit the style of music you are 
creating. This along with a good working knowledge of how drummers think and 
play can spice up a sequence and add realism.

I'm a guitarist, and my approach is to come up with some hopefully cool 
riffs. Then I'll lay down some drum parts that compliment what I'm playing 
on the guitar. Then comes the bass, and so on. I like to use my K5 for 
adding extra texture to a piece once I have the basic parts complete.

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