Drum sounds to substitute drums.

Been working with programmed drums for over a year. The way we us it, it's not a substitute for real drums but it's great shape the song from rough demo to a real produced song. We mostly do four or five version before we settle on a way to play it. Those will be with programmed drums, final production is the first time the drummer get to see te studio. We do practise and play with harddisk and click. We only have a few rules in the band and one of them involves: ClickclickClickclick

 

Have you seen the software called DFHS (Drumkit from Hell Superior) or BFD (Big F***** Drums)? These are really pretty remarkable for creating a track that sounds like a drum kit in a room. In my opinion, one of the big contributors to demos sounding crummy is that the drums are usually poorly recorded. These software packages make it much easier to get something that sounds right. Definitely nice enough for a demo.

For actually inputting the drum track, you can use MIDI files that you program (with your mouse, keyboard, or an electronic kit) or MIDI files from a drumming library.

If you are looking to do electronic drum sounds, then have a look at Propellerheads' Reason.

In my home studio I have an electronic drum kit that I use to create MIDI tracks in Pro Tools. From there, I trigger Reason - either for electronic sounds or using their Drumkits refill, which is similar to DFHS and BFD. It works well for me.

Bryan

 

+1 for BFD... I don't know a drummer nor would I have any idea how to record them.

BFD sounds great... I use it with ProTools.

 

BFD is incredible sounding .....because it's real acoustic drums played by real players, recorded in a wonderful studio. I'm talking about the many loops supplied with it, real grooves - no way I could 'play' a midi keyboard as well as this stuff sounds!

But here's something similar for free (all be it without the groove loops) you might try:

http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7freedemos.html

 

GigaStudio and Real GIGA Drums does a fantastic job if your drums are sequenced by someone who plays and is proficient at sequencing.

Lemme know if your interested in hearing something that was done using this...

 

I'd be interested in hearing what you do with it. Is Gigastudio standalone or (and?) a plug-in?

Bryan

 

I can't play drums worth a hoot; I was spoiled by working with good drummers and took it for granted. My home studio is small (the loft in my house) and I bought a Boss DR 880 to lay down percussion tracks. Pretty damn impressive. I use a Tascam 2488 and the two work well together. For a machine the Boss sounds incredibly realistic (infinitely tweakable) and doesn't drink too much or play too loud, and it keeps perfect time.

 

.....or try to sing. (hehehe)

 

For a killer drum replacement tool, check out Drumagog. The sounds are quite good too, or you can fly in your own. (Will only work with close-miked sources, of course. I've used it for kik and snare with "real" overheads from the same take as the trigger sources).

 

+1 for Reason. ReDrum is pretty good and is what I use for drum tracks.

Also, if you have some extra cash, why not record the drums in a real studio, then bring those home and finish the demo at your place. Just a thought

 

Here are a couple samples done with GIGA Drums (Gigastudio can run in multiple ways - standalone and as a plugin)

Bounced to single track... no care in sequencing:
Instrumental 1

Bounced to seperate tracks... offset and velocity randomization:
Original 1

Hope this helps...

 

I've been playing with Hammerhead and TU-2 for about the last week and so far I'm pretty impressed. And they're free.

jeffhef

 

I use Groove Agent from Steinberg at home (too small an apartment for the real thing). It was created using real players and such and I think sounds great.

Jaddy