What to invest in to solve DRUM/BEAT problem?

[fedexnman]

Google " Musicradar how to make a jazz midi beat ". this might give you some ideas .

[Davias]

I would put a kick on first and 9th beats, a snare on 5th and 13th beats, a closed hi-hat every two beats starting from 1st beat.

And then u just tweak around.

[DSPDiva]

Steven Slate Drums!

[dformd]

I find the online MIDI file generators listed below can be handy/helpful, at least as starting blocks.

Random / Probability Drum Beat Generator
Perhaps more intuitive than the Wolfram generator listed below.
http://www.ochenk.com/midi/index.php#seq

Wolfram Composition Generator
This can be set up (under the Instrumentaion tab) to only generate percussion oriented MIDI files - set other instruments and roles to NONE.
http://tones.wolfram.com/generate/advanced.html?time

[DJKrusher]

You should check out SonicProducer. In addition to great software, they also feature music production tutorials with different keyboards, studios as well as tutorials on how to use the Sonic Producer application.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Check out Liquid Rhythm by WaveDNA:

http://www.wavedna.com/product-information/

Basically it's a rhythm building tool, with intelligent suggestions for patterns for each percussive instrument. Say you start with a basic kick pattern, it will show a selection of related patterns that will work with it. Or you can start from nothing and add patterns to each track from the groove library. There are tools for adjusting groove and velocity.

Peace,
Andy.

[rpm]

Thanks people, I'm checking all these out, fun stuff.

[rpm]

I've tried some demos briefly and so far the best I like is Tremor from FXPansion because it was a clean UI and I could get something going instantly (Geist, also from fxpansion, was a lot more complicated). However, it's USD 149 and that's a bit too expensive for me.

I noticed that Audio Damage Tattoo is only USD 59, but no demo. I wonder how that compares to Tremor. Anyone know?

I'm simultaneously looking into iPad apps which are a lot cheaper, but I'm not sure if they'll work as well.

[psychoxkps]

mod edit

[EnGee]

mod edit

absolutely not! This is not the way to solve the problem.

[DotNoir]

I might not be of any real help here, since you asked how to make better drums yourself... I use Jamstix and it just usually delivers me the drums I need/want for my songs. Usually what it jams is good enough, but there are many ways to alter the drumming and make the drumming suitable just for your song.

Here's a link for their site: http://www.rayzoon.com/

[highkoo]

I may also be of no help.
If you are want to make better drum loops, I dont think I have much to tell ya. But if you just want to make better drum sounds, I will share my finds.

Ive never really clicked with any of the 'all-in-one' type drum plugins that sequence/eq/distort themselves, although I have tried.
I usually build loops beat-by-beat in my DAW using synth/sample one shots, and effects.
So off the top of my head, here are some tools from that perspective.

For making the sounds-

http://www.xferrecords.com/products/nerve
Comes with some great kits. I think it beats out some of the big name stuff.

http://soniccharge.com/microtonic
Tbh I dont much anymore, but its great for 'non standard' percussion sounds.

http://www.image-line.com/plugins/Synths/drumaxx/
Leans slightly towards a more natural/modeled/humanized sound. Very easy to use.

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... battery-4/
Battery is a serious beast, but tbh it was the included kits that finally sold me.
v4 has a LOT of great kits.

http://www.applied-acoustics.com/chromaphone/overview/
'Just' a synth, but it makes some fantastic percussion...
It makes very 'human' sounding noises.
I dont think there is anything like it really.

And if you are really into it, there are xoxos' drum plugins.
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/radian-by-xoxos
http://www.kvraudio.com/product/bong-vst-by-xoxos
http://www.xoxos.net/


Effects are almost more important...

http://www.cytomic.com/glue
My go-to compressor for drums buss. Also-

http://dmgaudio.com/products_compassion.php
Really my all purpose compressor, but good for 'wild' drums.

http://www.fabfilter.com/products/satur ... on-plug-in
"1001 Uses!"

http://www.uaudio.com/store/special-pro ... igner.html
This is my go-to for a tranparent transient shaper.
That has to be cheaper somewhere...

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/pr ... nt-master/
Brand new for me! It seems to add color when cranked, but it is becoming my favorite for adding serious smack.

http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/200 ... -kvr-dc09/
FREE! To be fair, I just put this on everything.

Then there are about fifty more plugins that I will use semi-randomly in the chain at like 3% mix just to add a little something weird. Just pick anything and see whut it do.

Okay, well that was fun.

[rpm]

Thanks man!

[Sendy]

Work on your sense of rhythm if you aren't already doing so. Lap/desk drumming, barefoot dancing, live keyboard drumming (or real drumming if you're lucky enough to have the kit and/or neighbours) will all help you find your rhythmic voice. Listen to and deconstruct rhythms you like. Listen to them slowed down in a wave editor if they are complex or multi-layered.

[rpm]

My sense of rhythm is fine but what I lack is any knowledge of drumming. I don't know what exactly 4/4, 3/4, etc. is. And I wouldn't be able to easily tell whether a MIDI pattern I create is actually possible for a human drummer to play, and stuff like that.

For the singer/songwriter line, I got EZDrummer and it really will solve my problem for a while at least, as it provides nice MIDI patterns. Later on, I may get Rayzoon Jamstix or more MIDI packages.

For the electronic line, I still don't have a solution. Missed the Audio Damage Tattoo sale by minutes due to hesitation. I'll look for deals around New Years and if not, I'll try to learn some of the freebies I've downloaded.