The machine gun problem with drum software

[mrlindeman]

Now for what I use, I use Drumsite pro which basically is the best I have found next to eazy drummer. It is a stand alone software that is great for drum patterns. My question is, with alot of drum synth software there is a tendancy to get a machine gun affect when trying to get a snare role or tom role/fill goin on. I know that in drumsite, as well as other synth that volocity is the key. The only thing is that the only way I can creat volocity is to adjust volume per hit. In drummer terms I think its called accenting. What is a good way to accomplish the best realism I can get with what I am trying to do? Any ideas out there besides buy a drumset and learn cause Im a broke joke right now lol. Maybe some one can post an example of thier Ideas so I can get a clue? Thanks for any help

[j03]

Most of the drum software avoids the machinegun effect by using a round robin technique. There will be multiple samples at the same velocity so even if you played the drum at the same velocity multiple times in a row the software will not play the same sample twice.

[mrlindeman]

Originally Posted by j03

Most of the drum software avoids the machinegun effect by using a round robin technique. There will be multiple samples at the same velocity so even if you played the drum at the same velocity multiple times in a row the software will not play the same sample twice.

I am perplexed by this round robin. My software definatly does not do that . Is there a way you can describe this to me? maybe I can duplicate that action Are the samples different in some way that they are unique as far as tone goes? Cause that I think I can kinda adjust in the hit settings.

[j03]

After looking at the Drumsite software it seems to be a budget product. Im speaking of drum software such as Superior Drummer and BFD. These companies spend a lot of time creating multiple samples and tweaking their software to make them as natural sounding as possible.

Its most likely not possible with Drumsite.

[burnyourflags]

ok im gonna break it down as simple as i can.velocity or even evolopes arent gonna solve the issues with drum programming.this is example1. hi hat trk,on the sequencer.now if your not a drummer than this might be hard to follow.when your step writing for a hi hat,imagine a real drummer.theres nothing but,accent,so,to achieve an accented sound with programming,this is what you do.make 2 hi hat trx.have 1 volume slightly lower than the other one.and alternate between the 2,this way you can accent the up and down strokes which manipulates a real drummer,what drummers call the molar tech.now you can take this theory and use it for all drum programming.i have a song in the unfinished under burnyourflags .theres 3 songs listen to the 2nd song "green" at the end is the best example.theres 4 of the same snare at dif volumes.creating this molar tech.if this doesnt help let me know i will try to give better examples

[garageband]

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Lacking a round-robin feature, identify two snare samples in your bank. Figure if your roll makes musical sense to be a double (LlRr) or single (LRLR) or paradiddle (LlRL-RrLR). Also use velocities to crescendo or add odd accents as musically helpful. This will camouflage the fact the you are using samples. This technique is also great on high hats and ride cymbal samples.

[shackman]

Hey Garage: Are those really what those kind of rolls are comprised of? Never knew that.

To the question: If there's no velocity control, I think the guys have the answer with the doubling of the sounds on alternate tracks.

I would add this (and I'm no drummer): part of the machine gun effect comes from exactly the same sound triggering at exactly the same intervals like a ... machine.

In some genres, that an effect folks strive for.

Because I do acoustic rock and the drums are meant to sound natural, I s[end some time programming the steps so that the hits within a roll are off different lengths, velocities, and the spaces between are UNEVEN.

[garageband]

Someone mentioned velocities as the key. For example, a double-stroke roll might have samples a&b with velocities like: a88, a71, b83, b68 and add two to each value for every subsequent quarter as a small crescendo.

[mrlindeman]

I did some testing with using accenting and it helped a whole bunch! It was much more natural son=unding. Basically what I did for a quick snare attack was the first hit was at hard hit and the 3 following were at medium hit and so on and so fourth. Still not perfect but much better. Thanks guys! It worked really wel for tom fills too.