Drums and resampling

[Eradicouture]

So I've been producing all sorts of music at home for many years but mostly pseudo-orchestral stuff for film scores or thinner, poppier synth stuff. In the last few months I've started to get into some real grimes and there are a few things I haven't figured out yet.

First, the drums totally elude me. Right now all I'm using is a few sample packs I already have through Halion (using Cubase) and while I can get some decent sounds and beats together, I'm having trouble really nailing down the right balance. Part of it is the kick. In all of the stuff I like, and I don't just mean dubstep, the kick is so heavy that it sounds like it's almost interrupting the rest of the sounds. Anyway, I'm looking for tips on good, dedicated drum VSTs that you guys use. Do they have built in sound packs? If not, what are some good sample libraries, etc.?

Second, resampling. I bought Massive a little while ago and it kicks major ass. I spent a while trying to get the right kind of fatass sound out of the synths I was using before, and while I could some times, it was a struggle. I've been able to get some really boss sounds out of it pretty fast and easily and they're just getting thicker and thicker. But for when I'd like to take it the extra dirty mile, what kind of resampling process is recommended? What synths do you use, what's the process like, etc. I'm pretty new to this kind of sampling work in general so any tips are appreciated. Thanks!

[wub]

First, the drums totally elude me. Right now all I'm using is a few sample packs I already have through Halion (using Cubase) and while I can get some decent sounds and beats together, I'm having trouble really nailing down the right balance. Part of it is the kick. In all of the stuff I like, and I don't just mean dubstep, the kick is so heavy that it sounds like it's almost interrupting the rest of the sounds. Anyway, I'm looking for tips on good, dedicated drum VSTs that you guys use. Do they have built in sound packs? If not, what are some good sample libraries, etc.?

List of sample packs that you might find useful - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 8#p2214327

Second, resampling. I bought Massive a little while ago and it kicks major ass. I spent a while trying to get the right kind of fatass sound out of the synths I was using before, and while I could some times, it was a struggle. I've been able to get some really boss sounds out of it pretty fast and easily and they're just getting thicker and thicker. But for when I'd like to take it the extra dirty mile, what kind of resampling process is recommended? What synths do you use, what's the process like, etc. I'm pretty new to this kind of sampling work in general so any tips are appreciated. Thanks!

List of tutorials/links/videos on resampling - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 4#p2206342

And seeing as you mentioned Massive, you may as well look at the Massive link/tute/video compilation too - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... 6#p2204163


Read everything, try everything, mess about.

[Eradicouture]

Read everything, try everything, mess about.

Radical, thanks. This has been my focus so far. It can be frustrating at times, spending hours trying to get the right sounds and feels, but it's helping me to really get a handle on some of the stuff my set up is capable of. I'll definitely check out those links.

[Eradicouture]

Some of those sample libraries look good, but what about samplers? Are most people using Kontakt for their drums? I tried fxpansion guru, but I found it underwhelming for something that was only for drums. Anything like that, that doesn't blow?

[nowaysj]

Guru is hardly just for drums.

[Eradicouture]

Guru is hardly just for drums.

well yeah, of course you can use it for other things, but it's definitely optimized for drums and when you're using it as an instrument within a fully featured DAW, there's no point in using it for anything else.

[nowaysj]

Wrong again.

[Eradicouture]

okay....well...in my experience, all of the content that it comes pre-packaged with are drum samples with minimal synth samples. For me personally, I prefer using the synth VSTs I have for my synth sound production instead of a product like guru, mainly since I'm more familiar with them and I find them to be more robust.

[nowaysj]

Pre-packaged?

Guru is excellent at eating audio, chopping it, effecting it, and resequencing it. Putting your own phrases, beats, audio, whatever in there is a great way to get to new unimaginable places (commonly called resampling ).

Then being able to map all of those resampled resequenced phrases to a keyboard and having them playable in real time... Just immense power.

So much more than a simple prepackaged drum sequencer with kick on one and snare on three. It is a cross between an mpc and ableton live that can sit inside any daw. Amazing.

[Eradicouture]

oh dude, hahaha, see?! I didn't even think of that! I've been trying to get my hands on various different VSTs and plugins and what not, but I really don't know a lot about their different possibilities.

[nowaysj]

I wouldn't just run through vsts, this is the best way to learn nothing and produce nothing.

Any daw (I don't know about reaper) provides you with enough out of the box to make full blown professional tracks. This is not a joke or an understatement.

A lot of people get into chasing software (or hardware, though this is more expensive because it is harder to steal) looking to find the easy way to make tracks. This is completely the wrong path as it will lead you completely astray.

Just learn what you have, and push it as hard as you can. If you spend your time producing/songwriting/soundesigning/instrument playing you will advance much more quickly than trying out (and not learning) a thousand different vsts.

Sounds preachy, I know, but this is 100% 24 karat bullet proof advice.