I was wondering if anyone could provide information, tips, tricks on assembling multi sample drum kits?I'd like to take advantage of all of the sampled drums that are available and assemble some of my favorites into kits.
I'm interested in really basic stuff, like Should the kicks start at B0 or C1? Should kits follow Gm Midi drum map, or are there any other conventions that I should consider?
Should samples be stereo or mono? Are there any advantages to one over the other?
Are there any tricks for taking a single cymbal hit and creating additional Wave variations?
Should the drum samples in a kit be tuned?
Thanks
MRT
Drum Sample Help?
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- KVRian
- 1372 posts since 3 Dec, 2002
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- KVRAF
- 2139 posts since 15 Jul, 2003 from ex-NJ, PA
Assembling according to GM standard is not necessary -- unless you plan to share your midi files w/others.
If you prefer to "play" your total kits via the keyboard, then perhaps arrange the samples in the most ergonomic way for your liking. There is no real answer I guess.
If you don't mind playing one drum at a time, and if your sampler is multitimbral (e.g., Kontakt), then I would even suggest putting all your kick samples into 1 instrument, snares in another, etc. This way you can easily mix and match (individual samples) vs. being stuck with a certain kit.
Stereo vs. Mono? I guess for drums, it doesn't matter as long as you can pan as needed. However, mono files will be smaller in size, if size is a concern.
Your sampler should be able to tune the samples to your liking. Again, no real rules here.
I would check out this THREAD for free samples to get you going.
If you prefer to "play" your total kits via the keyboard, then perhaps arrange the samples in the most ergonomic way for your liking. There is no real answer I guess.
If you don't mind playing one drum at a time, and if your sampler is multitimbral (e.g., Kontakt), then I would even suggest putting all your kick samples into 1 instrument, snares in another, etc. This way you can easily mix and match (individual samples) vs. being stuck with a certain kit.
Stereo vs. Mono? I guess for drums, it doesn't matter as long as you can pan as needed. However, mono files will be smaller in size, if size is a concern.
Your sampler should be able to tune the samples to your liking. Again, no real rules here.
I would check out this THREAD for free samples to get you going.
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- KVRAF
- 13444 posts since 14 Nov, 2000 from Hannover / Germany
I don't consider myself being an expert, so don't take thinsg I say as a given fact or so.
Anyways, about the mapping: Just map things to your likings. In case you may want to work with GM MIDI files you could however do better with some GM-ish mapped kit.
Personally I have a few "all-purpose" kits following the GM standard which I like to use for a start.
As I don't use drum and percussion sounds in one single sampler instance I usually put a few additional sounds onto the unused keys (such as additional kicks and snares below B0, or some further cymbals 2-3 octaves higher).
Another thing I found to be a pretty much practical thing is a "double GM" kit. This means that I would just construct my kits following the GM standard but simply put another one into the same set, only 2-3 octaves higher. In case I want to switch sounds I would then just have to transpose things by 24/36, which is rather easy.
As for samples being stereo or mono: I just use what I can get. Whenever I'm sampling something myself, I try to capture both versions, at least on the most important instruments (in case I wouldn't mike them close). That way you may be able to get some sort of room into the sound, plus you may not have to worry about unnatural sounding pannings as well.
However, too much room can also spoil a sampled drumset, especially when there's a lot of drumming action going on - in that case the room sound would be multiplied, which sometimes isn't that great.
Personally I prefer rather dry samples and add all room information by myself - but there's nothing against the occasional bit of natural room.
As far as modifications go: The most usual things would be reversed cymbals or hats, gated snares (those however are best done while mixing), all sorts of distortion, compression, EQ on the kick (to make it boomy) and snares - just experiment.
As far as tuning goes: I know that a lot of jazz drummers tune their toms, snares and kicks to some of the most used jazz keys (F, Bb, maybe C, maybe Eb, whatever). Whether that's something for you I don't know. Personally I just hope that the samples were recorded properly and hardly ever alter their tuning, apart from a few exceptions. I may for example only have two toms but need another one. In that case I'd just copy one of those I allready have and simply tune it to my likings.
More advanced sample modifying techniques might be cymbals including loops, so you could for example have a cymbal ring as long as you want.
That's it for now.
Anyways, about the mapping: Just map things to your likings. In case you may want to work with GM MIDI files you could however do better with some GM-ish mapped kit.
Personally I have a few "all-purpose" kits following the GM standard which I like to use for a start.
As I don't use drum and percussion sounds in one single sampler instance I usually put a few additional sounds onto the unused keys (such as additional kicks and snares below B0, or some further cymbals 2-3 octaves higher).
Another thing I found to be a pretty much practical thing is a "double GM" kit. This means that I would just construct my kits following the GM standard but simply put another one into the same set, only 2-3 octaves higher. In case I want to switch sounds I would then just have to transpose things by 24/36, which is rather easy.
As for samples being stereo or mono: I just use what I can get. Whenever I'm sampling something myself, I try to capture both versions, at least on the most important instruments (in case I wouldn't mike them close). That way you may be able to get some sort of room into the sound, plus you may not have to worry about unnatural sounding pannings as well.
However, too much room can also spoil a sampled drumset, especially when there's a lot of drumming action going on - in that case the room sound would be multiplied, which sometimes isn't that great.
Personally I prefer rather dry samples and add all room information by myself - but there's nothing against the occasional bit of natural room.
As far as modifications go: The most usual things would be reversed cymbals or hats, gated snares (those however are best done while mixing), all sorts of distortion, compression, EQ on the kick (to make it boomy) and snares - just experiment.
As far as tuning goes: I know that a lot of jazz drummers tune their toms, snares and kicks to some of the most used jazz keys (F, Bb, maybe C, maybe Eb, whatever). Whether that's something for you I don't know. Personally I just hope that the samples were recorded properly and hardly ever alter their tuning, apart from a few exceptions. I may for example only have two toms but need another one. In that case I'd just copy one of those I allready have and simply tune it to my likings.
More advanced sample modifying techniques might be cymbals including loops, so you could for example have a cymbal ring as long as you want.
That's it for now.
There are 3 kinds of people:
Those who can do maths and those who can't.
Those who can do maths and those who can't.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 1372 posts since 3 Dec, 2002
Thanks for the feedback on this. This pretty much affirms what I suspected, that the whole thing is pretty much wide open. About the only thing that seems consistent is that midi channel 10 will be used for drums?
Thanks for the tips and some ideas I hadn't considered.
MRT
Thanks for the tips and some ideas I hadn't considered.
MRT