Drums

Since i dont have a drumkit anymore (and have no idea how to record them anyways) is there any decent software that has convincing programmable drums? Thanks in advance

[Stiglar]

unfortunately after looking around for a good year or so i never seem to be able to find anything free and programable that sounds *that* convincing .. people will tell you soundfonts and fruity loops are the key but i've found that they aren't velocity censored so they sound very one level and almost mechanical losing that human feel somewhat . however that's not dissing them too much they can sound good also with other instruments over the top .. just depends on your style of music ..

if your willing to pay though you can get some great samples such as drumkit from hell and other things like that

good luck and if you find anything good and free let me know

thanks for the quick response Stiglar! Will try out the ones you suggested. Is there not a away altering volumes of specific hits to make it more varied? There must be a way of making them sound more human anyways will download the ones you suggested and also keep an eye out for anything better. Cheers

[Stiglar]

haha no problems mate for the quickness !

You can change the volume on parts which may help a bit in variety .. but unfortunately the soundfonts you download are most of the time just a series of single recorded sounds triggered by midi notes so theres no real way to change the velocity i don't think

download fruity loops and go to i think it's www.hammersound.net or .com or something ican't remember the exact adress someone will be able to correct me i'm sure there are literally thousands of different sound fonts and you can get some pretty good free results with them .. good luck !

[TheStorm]

Actually, I use soundfonts almost exclusively, although I admit to using some samples (but only when absolutely necessary). The secret seems to be to vary the velocity from note to note slightly in your sequencer. Of course, this means going in and programming the drum track for each hit (although there are some software packages that will randomize this for you).

I sometimes spend hours working on the drum track; much more so than the rest of the song, but then I'm probably the world's worst drummer with real drums, so maybe it's just me. In the end my drum tracks sound pretty convincing, even to me!

Besides, don't you want to spend some quality time with the drum editor in your sequencer?

[Stiglar]

I thought you couldnt' change the velocity of soundfonts though ? ... they are just one sound triggered by your sequencer i thought it wouldn't matter how hard you hit ?

[MattM]

you can change the velocity in piano roll. those little vertical bars at the bottom are the velocity controls.

[Goport]

yep there are a load of velocity senitive sound fonts. Just make sure you get a decent soundfont kit with a few velocity layers.

Depending on what software you are using you can also get some excellent plug ins that use midi to trigger the appropriate drum samples. Native instruments Battery is a good one and so is Steinberg Groove Agent. neither of these are cheap though.

[Stiglar]

oops !

guess i was wrong !

sorry david , i guess there are some good soundfonts out there that are velocity sensitive !

[phil28uk]

I've got quite a few velocity sensitive drum soundfonts. Also there is a good program out called Edirol Super quartet which is velocity sensitive, Drums, Bass, Piano and guitar.