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I know this sounds like a really general question but what i'm really looking for is how to make my fast paced percussion sound good, whenever i do it just sounds to much like the same sample repeating itself with no natural feeling or flow to it. below are some example tracks of the sort of style i'm talking about. anyone familiar with youngstas show will know what i mean
the main things i'd really like to know is how to get the different percussion samples to gel together so well? mine all sound so awkward when i do it, how to make it not sound repetative? how many different samples are they using and what kind of samples are they using? are they using the same sample at different pitches to create the different sounds or just completely different samples? how much are the velocities varied on each hit? like are the all roughly the same volume or are they wildly diferent? also if anyone could direct me to any sort of tips or tutorials on how to get these fast paced drums it would be very apreciated
I'm trying to make some minimal-ish percussion based 140 myself, to make my percussion flow together I find a fair bit of reverb does the trick, put down the dry and up the wet a little is what I do and I think it does the trick.
Shameless self promotion to give an example of what I mean, perc starts at :55 Soundcloud
that is good and i too have recently discovered how reverb can really help to bring a track to life but you're drums feel too light if you know what i mean, like in the two tracks i posted above the rolling percussion is so punchy and fills the entire track, in Dualism there is pretty much only sub bass and percussion with a few background atmospherics yet the track does not at all feel empty.
one question though how did you programme your drums, like how many different bongo samples have you got in there? or is it just one triggered at different velocites and if so how much have you varied the velocities?
ArrenMog wrote:that is good and i too have recently discovered how reverb can really help to bring a track to life but you're drums feel too light if you know what i mean, like in the two tracks i posted above the rolling percussion is so punchy and fills the entire track, in Dualism there is pretty much only sub bass and percussion with a few background atmospherics yet the track does not at all feel empty.
one question though how did you programme your drums, like how many different bongo samples have you got in there? or is it just one triggered at different velocites and if so how much have you varied the velocities?
cheers for the reply though
Just noticed I am following you on Soundcloud, your stuff is fucking sick!!
Thanks for the feedback aswell!
The samples I used in this track were 8 random perc samples, the bongo samples are native to FL (if you don't have FL I can send you the pack if you like) and just a few glitchy hats I found lying around in a random sample pack, all the same velocity just with a lot of reverb. Personally I think the key to knowing what sounds good on a track is to try and listen to it with an outside ear, like you've never heard the track before cause often I find myself stressing over the percussion and then I listen the next day and it sounds good and gets some good feedback, not sure if that helps at all
haha cheers man for the support and thanks your tunes are pretty dope n all!
ahh so you use quite a few different percussion samples, see i'd usually stick to just around 2-3 different samples for my bongo lines but i'll have to try using more. and yeah man it can be hard at times, especially when you've been listening to the same loop for hours on end but haha i know what you're saying
ArrenMog wrote:haha cheers man for the support and thanks your tunes are pretty dope n all!
ahh so you use quite a few different percussion samples, see i'd usually stick to just around 2-3 different samples for my bongo lines but i'll have to try using more. and yeah man it can be hard at times, especially when you've been listening to the same loop for hours on end but haha i know what you're saying
Go experiment with a whole load of samples and let me know through my Soundcloud inbox if you want me to hook you up with some samples I use, always happy to help
Hircine wrote:some deep heads in this thread. I'm ashamed of myself for not even knowing where to start when making a percussion line like that.
haha i may like making my tunes deep but trust me, i still have no idea where to start in making such a powerful percussion line like these haha, i don't understand how to use just drums and bass to make such a full sounding track :L
ArrenMog wrote:haha cheers man for the support and thanks your tunes are pretty dope n all!
ahh so you use quite a few different percussion samples, see i'd usually stick to just around 2-3 different samples for my bongo lines but i'll have to try using more. and yeah man it can be hard at times, especially when you've been listening to the same loop for hours on end but haha i know what you're saying
Go experiment with a whole load of samples and let me know through my Soundcloud inbox if you want me to hook you up with some samples I use, always happy to help
safe man i will do and thanks alot for the support and feedback!
some deep heads in this thread. I'm ashamed of myself for not even knowing where to start when making a percussion line like that.
@Hircine - you say you'd have no idea where to start but i just checked the track in your sig and its sounding sick, may i enquire into how you went about making your bongo line in that track? i know its not so fast paced but they do sound very sick and i'd like to know the kinds of processes you go through on making a typical percussion line like that?
Dont have them all constantly playing at the same velocity, have some hits accented or alternatively quieten some of the hits, hits played on the off beats can be moved a tiny amount off the beat to give it a swing (usually behind the beat sounds better than before the beat)
If your using many different percussion samples on different tracks you should always bus your reverb/delay so it blends together nicely...some people also like to make a compression bus but i never bother.
Record your percussion in using midi makes it sound more natural aswell
some deep heads in this thread. I'm ashamed of myself for not even knowing where to start when making a percussion line like that.
@Hircine - you say you'd have no idea where to start but i just checked the track in your sig and its sounding sick, may i enquire into how you went about making your bongo line in that track? i know its not so fast paced but they do sound very sick and i'd like to know the kinds of processes you go through on making a typical percussion line like that?
thanks mate. I can do some slowly grooving percussion lines, but I can't get a crack of those fast ones, no idea what's going on those . It's a darabuka line man. I just distributed 16th notes until I had a nice groove going on, turn on shuffle, set it around 60% and before every darabuka hit I put another one, more muffled, a skin tap sound, with really low velocity to create a more natural feeling. The ruff / flam / triplet sound is a whole sample from maschine library. The whole feel to the percussion line actually comes from the shaker line, take that and all you have are random unconnected hits.
you've got some nice tracks on your SC man, big up.
Really been loving the percussion heavy stuff lately but I'm also struggling to get my percussion to sound like more than just a bongo placed on a grid. What i've been trying recently is to find percussion loops and chop/rearrange/pitch them like you would a break. There are a few little free bits you can pick up on places like sample swap, but i'm thinking of buying one of those 'world music' loop packs since I don't know the names of crazy drums in other countries to search for lol
Instead of trying to make a single bongo pattern that is very complex - instead make 3 or 4 different much simpler bongo patterns, each one using a different variation of the sound. If one has reverb, use another with the same sample processed slightly differently, and so on and so forth. You can work on panning to keep the sounds fuller while still maintaining mix integrity, side-chaining too between the bongo tracks themselves. Velocity variation is a big part of this sound as well, think of the velocity variation as another pattern inside of each percussive pattern. Experimentation is the biggest part of all though, it takes a while to come up with something you like, and even longer to come up with something you really like. Just play around and mess with things, don't delete every pattern you dislike just move it to the side, because later on you might be able to layer it with what you have and it sounds great.
deep/dark/minimal/dungeon. Got feedback? Leave a comment! Download for 320 kbps mp3 Soundcloud Soundcloud
Also, of course try work with swing as a good way to make movement, as other people have said. Turn off the grid and move a few of the notes around to see how that sounds - record yourself playing the beat manually through midi and touch that up where it needs it, etc.
deep/dark/minimal/dungeon. Got feedback? Leave a comment! Download for 320 kbps mp3 Soundcloud Soundcloud
if you've got a mic, you should pick up a really cheap hand-drum and learn to play it.
as for samples, just experiment with the placement of the drums in between kick and snare, listen to tracks and find out how the percussion relates to the basic kick/snare drum pattern.
also remember to use the velocity or they'll sound like some 2004 Kanye West production bongo's.
. It's a darabuka line man. I just distributed 16th notes until I had a nice groove going on, turn on shuffle, set it around 60% and before every darabuka hit I put another one, more muffled, a skin tap sound, with really low velocity to create a more natural feeling. The ruff / flam / triplet sound is a whole sample from maschine library. The whole feel to the percussion line actually comes from the shaker line, take that and all you have are random unconnected hits.