getting ready for drum set

[lanesp]

As you probably know from Donnie\'s past posts we are aching to get going on a drum set library. Also, as you probably have determined we want to do something different, more \"live\", more Memphis (both of us growing up around the area), more \"down home\". As I have been occupied with contest season in my teaching 9 to 5 (or 7:30 to 5 plus weekends as it usually works out)Donnie has been experimenting with some things. Last night, he sent me this Hi Hat and Ride Cymbal and I threw together a couple of quick demos mostly for my own curiosity. But, let us know what you think. I have made a few determinations of things to change but instead of mentioning them and giving you a pre-conceived idea, I\'d rather see if you come up with the same opinions. These are completely dry and straight out of Finale with only some minor velocity alterations for a little more realism. And I think it took him about an hour to record and program the HH so things are not perfect yet. The mp3\'s sound awful as the compression does terrible things in the frequency of cymbals, the wma\'s are better.
http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/rideandhh.mp3 (\"http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/rideandhh.mp3\")
http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/rideandhh.wma (\"http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/rideandhh.wma\")
http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/68HHdemo.mp3 (\"http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/68HHdemo.mp3\")
http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/68HHdemo.wma (\"http://www.dssoundware.com/storage/68HHdemo.wma\")

Let us know.

Sean

[Chadwick]

Ok, I\'ll bite.

The HH sounds mostly great. Generally really believable performance dynamics. I\'m not sure about those occasional open hat samples which have the marked metallic chink at the front (about 3.5,8,12,17,23) . They stand out from the rest of the samples quite a bit. Maybe need a little more timbre change on the really fast (32nds?) stuff around 8 and 22 seconds, to avoid the machine gun thang.

Again, most of the ride seems fine, but some of the hard hits seem very close miked, and it comes across as a bit too edgy/metallic/loud.

[Chadwick]

I\'m no engineer, so it\'s hard to comment. Most of the drums I\'ve heard in a studio were sampled in the first place anyway http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

For comparison sake, what about working out a performance piece for the instrument to be sampled before the day of recording, then during the sampling session actually playing the part live onto the recorder. Then you could make a similar midi file of the piece and have a handy A/B. A=the original instrument as mic\'d and played live, B=your samples with velocity curves etc., played from a sequencer.

[donnie]

Chadwick,

Thanks for the reply....the metalic \"chink\" you are hearing is the bell of the hi hat so it should stick out a bit. Everything was recorded at the same distance so I guess I need to tweak some more with the velocity curves.

Both demos are completely dry and coming out Finale (which is the squarest midi playback program out there) so we were pleased with the initial results. The ride was not close mic\'ed at all so I\'m not sure why that sounds that way.

Donnie

[esperlad]

Will there be a GM type drumset? Sometimes when I find a MIDI file, I like to load in a good drumset that is compatable with the sequence.

[donnie]

Chadwick...very good ideas! I think we will do just that!

Esperland....yes, there will be several GM drum kit\'s for plug and play use.

Donnie

PS...there\'s a new demo I posted under a new topic that REALLY rocks compared to the ones above...give it a listen