Percussion

I`m crap at programming drum machines so I use a lot of loops. I know there is nothing wrong with loops but I miss the flexibility of doing it myself. Can anyone recomend a decent book or a website where I can learn to be a better percs programmer. I`m interested in Dance, Trance, Pop style programming.

Cheers
Ant

[Superhuman]

Not sure about any sites Ant but you should take a look at the Toontrack software. They make EZdrummer among others, they recently came out with an electro version which looks very tasty indeed. You get a huge library of midi beats which you can splice and dice into your own creations - it's very user friendly, plus you can load up your own sounds into the tone bank to create totally unique sounding kits. Worth having a look at

[TonyMiller]

The last 2 songs I did - Bitter Tide and Miami - used EZDrummer with the electronic kit. Dry but very close to using actual TR808s and 909s. I had to set the kit up to my taste a lot,cos as it comes, there's lots of circuit bent stuff set up which I'm not keen on.

EZDrummer with Drumkit From Hell works well for loads of genres, not just metal. I've used it on a lot of my tracks. I stick the KD and SD on seperate tracks so I can EQ them. I like to add a touch of chorus to the snare, makes it sound like the wires are rattling a bit after the initial hit. Plus a bit of Lexicon reverb. You can eq the kickdrum to taste depending on what you're trying to achieve.

As well as all the MIDI loops Toontrack supply, if you google 'free midi drum loops' you'll end up with more than you could ever use.

I think Groove Monkey are pretty good MIDI loops.

Hope that's helpful, Ant.

[Superhuman]

+1 for Groove Monkey midi files, you can get them preprogrammed for EZdrummer and Superior Drummer - there are literally thousands of them with everything including intros, outros, rolls, fills, solos, odd time signatures etc. Well worth checking out.

[Matt]

i use FL9 step squencer, i think it has everything u need, u can adjust, velocity, panning, cuttoff filter, resonance, and pitch control of an individual step of the drum sample u load into it, plus u can control overall input and output as well as stretch and pitch the whole drum sound plus u cud prolly do more, and thats just thru the step squencer

if u load the channel into effects, endless possibilites

[MoonTurnedBlue]

What I would suggest is loading a few percussion intruments you think go well with the song. Next, loop 4 bars. Play the different samples and get a feel for where they actually add interest - this ususally falls on off beats. These beats are generally either in groups of two attacks or three - but sometimes just the odd accent here and there.

Practice loads.

Hope this helps.

[KtA]

Redrum + midi controller + a little time....sorted.

Jus' load a set of percs into redrum,loop a couple of bars in ya' sequencer to start with and hit those keys.
Add effects as required.
A one octave midi controller is all ya' need.
Perseverance mate...better than using those nasty loops...

[TonyMiller]

then just chuck in a couple of off-beat hits and reverse a few snare steps just to add interest at intros or changes. Probably best using real cymbal samples though. Especially ride, nothin nicer than a good ride, I always say (but usually get Paisted for askin)