Um...
Buy a drumkit?
Really. For about 400.00 you can put together a decent used 4 piece kit with sabian B8's or something. Learning to play and mic is fun and results will flat out beat anything in software. I actually combine software sampling for loops with real drums for feel, tone and improvisation.
There are many resources for recording drums online too. Again, it's a great learning experience and will come in handy one day when you record others.
realistic acoustic drums VST
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- KVRist
- 268 posts since 11 Nov, 2003 from kentucky
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- KVRist
- 109 posts since 19 May, 2002 from Boston
I must say $400 is a little bit unrealistic.james wrote:Um...
Buy a drumkit?
Really. For about 400.00 you can put together a decent used 4 piece kit with sabian B8's or something. Learning to play and mic is fun and results will flat out beat anything in software. I actually combine software sampling for loops with real drums for feel, tone and improvisation.
There are many resources for recording drums online too. Again, it's a great learning experience and will come in handy one day when you record others.
You need to spend $1000 in order to get a drum kit for recording:Used Rockstar + all hardware--$500
Used Zildjian A cymbals $200
A condenser mic + a mic pre $300
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- KVRist
- 42 posts since 22 Jul, 2004
One mic, one pre? That's not going to get you much of a drum sound. Think two overheads, snare mic, one or two for the kick (inside and out), maybe another dynamic on the tom racks, then one for the floor tom, that's about 7 already and that's without any room mics. If you've got a great kit/drummer you could get away with as little as 3 to 5, but that obviously isn't the case here. Ok now factor in pre's, and possibly even a new soundcard that can handle the amount of inputs needed to get these in as multitracks and we're talking well over a thousand without even getting to the cost of actual drums and using bargain basement gear at that. Now he'd also have to learn how to play at least passably well in case he can't, when drum programming may be a skill he already possesses.
I was debating going this route myself as I already have quite a few mics/pres, but on top of all the extra cash and actually having to learn to play the drums (I'm really critical of drummers and wouldn't want to record my sloppy drumming), I couldn't justify spending that kind of cash just for the work I do on my own. That, and the quest for the most realistic drum sounds outside of doing all this brought me to BFD...Suddenly the $300 BFD costs didn't seem so expensive.
I was debating going this route myself as I already have quite a few mics/pres, but on top of all the extra cash and actually having to learn to play the drums (I'm really critical of drummers and wouldn't want to record my sloppy drumming), I couldn't justify spending that kind of cash just for the work I do on my own. That, and the quest for the most realistic drum sounds outside of doing all this brought me to BFD...Suddenly the $300 BFD costs didn't seem so expensive.
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- KVRist
- 109 posts since 19 May, 2002 from Boston
I record drums with one room mic (Rode NTK) only, placed 1.5m away from the kit. The result is surprisingly good. You have to place the mic where it doesn't capture too much cymbal sounds, though.
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- Banned
- 18651 posts since 2 Oct, 2001 from England
Yes, excellent. Try the free ones and see.bithead wrote:Manytone looks like it might be just what the doctor ordered, but the demo mp3 is "available soon". OK I got some time to kill. Any comments on their audio quality?
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- KVRAF
- 2582 posts since 24 Apr, 2003 from Canada
$400 for a drumkit!? 
My drummer buddy buys a cymbal for that much! 
My drummer buddy buys a cymbal for that much! -
- KVRist
- 268 posts since 11 Nov, 2003 from kentucky
Hey, I was being generous at 400. I have a very simple trap kit - 22" pearl kick, 14" slingerland floor tom, pulse piccalo and cb700 snares, sabian b8 cymbals, pacific double braced hardware, remo and evans heads and a 60's red sparkle 20" kick and snare.
After some trading and selling, I have a total of 350 bucks in everything. Living near Nashville helps. Ebay is good too. Having great drummers teach me how to play and tune is also a plus.
Recording is really subjective. I record the 3 piece kit with a pzm on the kick, 57 on snare and rode nt1000 overhead. Mic placement is everthing. I submix in a mackie and use very little compression from the rnc (2-4 db limiting). The mackie also helps grouping. I assign a premix of kick and snare to aux 1/track 1 and keep the room mic separate so I add a little ambience or squash the crap out of it in software.
One room mic is great too but again, placement is everything.
I also have drummer friends who spend hundreds of dollars on each cymbal. I can hear the difference but I also know that mic selection and placement can "color" cymbals too. The nt1000 has a beautiful top end that (with a little more compression) makes even the b8's sound good.
The 350 doesn't include a budget for mics. Most everyone has at least 2 or 3.
1 mic - out front of the kit at waste to chest high.
2 mics - kick and overhead (aimed at snare)
3 mics - as above - kick, snare (back it off the rim a half inch to pick up the snares from below) , overhead (aimed at balancing cymbals and toms)
After some trading and selling, I have a total of 350 bucks in everything. Living near Nashville helps. Ebay is good too. Having great drummers teach me how to play and tune is also a plus.
Recording is really subjective. I record the 3 piece kit with a pzm on the kick, 57 on snare and rode nt1000 overhead. Mic placement is everthing. I submix in a mackie and use very little compression from the rnc (2-4 db limiting). The mackie also helps grouping. I assign a premix of kick and snare to aux 1/track 1 and keep the room mic separate so I add a little ambience or squash the crap out of it in software.
One room mic is great too but again, placement is everything.
I also have drummer friends who spend hundreds of dollars on each cymbal. I can hear the difference but I also know that mic selection and placement can "color" cymbals too. The nt1000 has a beautiful top end that (with a little more compression) makes even the b8's sound good.
The 350 doesn't include a budget for mics. Most everyone has at least 2 or 3.
1 mic - out front of the kit at waste to chest high.
2 mics - kick and overhead (aimed at snare)
3 mics - as above - kick, snare (back it off the rim a half inch to pick up the snares from below) , overhead (aimed at balancing cymbals and toms)
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 180 posts since 30 Jun, 2004
Thanks everybody for the advice.
Not to stifle the lively banter or anything, but last night I ordered Sonic Reality Studio Drums Capsule with ST2LE and UFO, all for 70 bucks. I made my decision based on hearing them in other ppl's songs, plus reviews and comments on k-v-r. Didn't hear a product demo, but still felt confident with the quality and happy with the price.
So yes, Regis, that's my final answer.
BTW, drum set ppl, I live in a large apartment building & have neighbors on 5 sides of me. However, just so you know where my heart is, 2 weeks ago I bought my 11-year old son a brand spanking new Tama Swingstar with cymbals, paid 600 out the door incl tax, sticks, brushes, stick bag. But this is worth every penny bcz he lives with my biotch ex-wife!! Mwahahahahah!!! How sweet the taste of revenge!!!
My motivation to get some decent drum samples was due in part to playing his new kit and realizing just how yummy real drums and cymbals can be, and likewise how crummy most sampled drums are.
Not to stifle the lively banter or anything, but last night I ordered Sonic Reality Studio Drums Capsule with ST2LE and UFO, all for 70 bucks. I made my decision based on hearing them in other ppl's songs, plus reviews and comments on k-v-r. Didn't hear a product demo, but still felt confident with the quality and happy with the price.
So yes, Regis, that's my final answer.
BTW, drum set ppl, I live in a large apartment building & have neighbors on 5 sides of me. However, just so you know where my heart is, 2 weeks ago I bought my 11-year old son a brand spanking new Tama Swingstar with cymbals, paid 600 out the door incl tax, sticks, brushes, stick bag. But this is worth every penny bcz he lives with my biotch ex-wife!! Mwahahahahah!!! How sweet the taste of revenge!!!
My motivation to get some decent drum samples was due in part to playing his new kit and realizing just how yummy real drums and cymbals can be, and likewise how crummy most sampled drums are.
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Robert Randolph Robert Randolph https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=7328 - KVRAF
- 2226 posts since 25 May, 2003 from Saint Petersburg, Florida
There is something great on the horizon....
you may want to wait a month or so
you may want to wait a month or so
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- KVRAF
- 12977 posts since 29 Sep, 2003 from Ottawa, Canada
At $70, that purchase looks like smart money spent, bithead. I strongly considered it myself, but as I've said before in other posts, I'm so broke that I can't afford the least expensive of VSTs.
Robert-- "My grubby halo-- a vapour trail in the empty air..."
Oh yes, and for the other people reading this thread-- I got the same memory errors with NSkit and sfz using the soundfont; however, using an sfz format mapping, I don't get those errors. Might wanna check THIS offering by pljones.
Greg
Robert-- "My grubby halo-- a vapour trail in the empty air..."
Oh yes, and for the other people reading this thread-- I got the same memory errors with NSkit and sfz using the soundfont; however, using an sfz format mapping, I don't get those errors. Might wanna check THIS offering by pljones.
Greg
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- KVRAF
- 12977 posts since 29 Sep, 2003 from Ottawa, Canada
Bah.
Not sure if he uses Tracktion, though I would imagine so. In which case he may have been like I was before I got too bored one night and subscribed to other forums-- I used to only subscribe to this one, and the user base was enough to satisfy my curiousities about other more 'general' questions.
No harm no foul....
Greg
Not sure if he uses Tracktion, though I would imagine so. In which case he may have been like I was before I got too bored one night and subscribed to other forums-- I used to only subscribe to this one, and the user base was enough to satisfy my curiousities about other more 'general' questions.
No harm no foul....
Greg
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 180 posts since 30 Jun, 2004
Yep, Tracktion user (purchased about a month ago). Love it! Hoping for better midi editing & time stretching algo in T2 tho.