@Drummer said:
Thanks, Steve! I like it too. and could see that going in a Queensryche direction. Soaring vocals with layered harmonies.
1). When you lay edrum tracks, are you using a stereo out mix into 2 channels on your recording machine,
2). or 1 channel for every individual sound? Ie. Kick, snare, toms, cymbals.
3). If individuals, do you still eq, compress, etc. each channel when you're mixing, or do you have that already taken care of out of your edrum brain?
4). I would think that you still have to treat each channel as you would acoustic drum tracks, based on frequency shaping needs, for sitting where they need to.
5). One great thing about edrum sound source is that you take the room out of the equation, and zero mic bleed to deal with.
6). What is your recording setup?
7). Are you going through an interface into a daw? Glenn.
Wow! so many questions, Glen!
1). Yes, stereo out only in the https://www.reaper.fm/index.php DAW mixer/tracking/editing/recording software PC based on a Win machine.
2). I use a Virtual Instrument called StudioDrummer (SD) located on the PC and purchased from https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/drums/studio-drummer/ Link as my primary jamming drum kit since I have used it since around 2012 and have learned how to use it fairly well and it provides sounds that are just fun and inspiring to play with - more like a live kit in a big garage - loud and alive. Inside this virtual instrument is a complete recording studio for sound shaping and ANYTHING you could ever want to accomplish without miles of cables and connections to go bad and chase when you just want to play and record - THAT and drum tuning is why I tossed all my acoustic kits, cymbals, compressors, gates, mics, Analog to digital recording gear, 8 channel Tascam Reel to Reel, DBx Noise reduction systems, etc and now I just have to listen to the occasional armchair critic who says something on my kit sounds fake - but I don't care . . .
3). The "drum Brain" (that thing all the drum pads are connected-too) is just a signal controller and MIDI interface for me as I use none of the sounds available in it - The MIDI data is transmitted to the PC Virtual Instrument via the drum brain MIDI-out. I rarely need to add compression in the digital realm until going to the final output to a file or CD which is awesome for maintaining detail in the music. Remember - the entire instrument studio and signal chain is inside the Virtual instrument on the PC.
4). Yes, you do and all that is managed inside the Virtual instrument and it has OH mono, OH Stereo, Room and individual drum mics that can be mixed along with every kind of EQ, Delay, Reverb, etc that you could ever want.
5). This is correct and you can then play the kit super dry when you want and add-in the room after the initial recording work is done to create the acoustic venue that fits the sound you are going for in the final mix.
6). Upgraded Yamaha DTXExpress-IV kit > Scarlett 8i6 (MIDI) > StudioDrummer Virtual Instrument on PC > Scarlett 8i6 (SPdif out) > MiniDSP 4X10HD > 3 Amps > discrete 3 way drivers. This is for jamming and laying down drum tracks that are recorded/saved in MIDI format on the PC which are the source files for drum audio playback (You are NOT recording Audio at this point, just MIDI data) - MIDI allows me to use any number of drum samples/kit sounds/voices from other Virtual instrument providers like Superior Drummer3 (SD3) to replace the sounds recorded with SD like SD3 kit sounds. I don't like SD3 kit sounds for jamming or laying down drum tracks because they sound too sterile and dead but when used in an actual mix with other instruments in the production and mastering process they are far superior sounding than the SD kit sounds. So I send the MIDI data (small KB file size compared to the multi MB audio files of analog audio) to my friend in NH and he uses whatever drum sounds work best for his ears in his music (we rarely agree on what sounds good so this is great for both of us)
7). Just the Drum brain MIDI out to the Scarlett 8i6 as the MIDI input to the DAW.
I hope this helps your understanding - personally if you really have an interest in edrums I would focus upon the playability of the pads/hardware and ignore the drum brain - it is just a pass through for MIDI data so you can save that money for better pads - You just want a drum brain with a lot of inputs for expandability - I have 12 inputs and use them all now (and looking for more but I can always use the Alesis D4 sitting on the shelf since the late 80's I could chain on the MIDI . . . (Hmmmm) . The best/most playable/durable drum pads (hands-down) obtainable are the YAMAHA TEXTURED CELLULAR SILICONE found in their Upper-tier kits/pads --> https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/drums/el_drums/drum_pads/index.html
Steve, thank you for all the info!! Holy cow, there's a lot to digest! Funny that you are a huge Yamaha guy, as I am too, on the instrumentation, as well as motorcycles. The kit that all of my recording and mixing, that I posted, is a full Oak Custom kit. I keep it set up in the studio, and take it out for my loud rock larger stage gigs. That kit has great attack and projection, but it's too much for the lower volume/ blues, jazzy/ singer songwriter gigs that I do. For those I'm in love with my Slingerland maple/ mahogany 20Γ14, 12Γ8, 14Γ14 kit. I keep the Sling snare on the recording setup, and use a Ludwig chrome over aluminum 400 live with the Sling kit. I could see myself doing a hybrid set where I ran pads, but cymbals and snare, ala Bill Bruford, or added trigger pads for other sounds to incorporate into my acoustic kit. Everyone has subjective opinions/ bias, but I think that it's great that you have found what please YOU! I am so far behind the curve of all of this, as I have always just showed up at a studio with my drums tuned and ready for the engineer to capture it all, and as long as I layed down the performance side, all was good. Thanks again for taking the time to share! High five! Glenn.
Comments
Are your furious fingers starting to twitch and wanting to throw the fat bottom down????π€ ππ€
Well yeahπ
1). When you lay edrum tracks, are you using a stereo out mix into 2 channels on your recording machine,
2). or 1 channel for every individual sound? Ie. Kick, snare, toms, cymbals.
3). If individuals, do you still eq, compress, etc. each channel when you're mixing, or do you have that already taken care of out of your edrum brain?
4). I would think that you still have to treat each channel as you would acoustic drum tracks, based on frequency shaping needs, for sitting where they need to.
5). One great thing about edrum sound source is that you take the room out of the equation, and zero mic bleed to deal with.
6). What is your recording setup?
7). Are you going through an interface into a daw? Glenn.
Wow! so many questions, Glen!
1). Yes, stereo out only in the https://www.reaper.fm/index.php DAW mixer/tracking/editing/recording software PC based on a Win machine.
2). I use a Virtual Instrument called StudioDrummer (SD) located on the PC and purchased from https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/drums/studio-drummer/ Link as my primary jamming drum kit since I have used it since around 2012 and have learned how to use it fairly well and it provides sounds that are just fun and inspiring to play with - more like a live kit in a big garage - loud and alive. Inside this virtual instrument is a complete recording studio for sound shaping and ANYTHING you could ever want to accomplish without miles of cables and connections to go bad and chase when you just want to play and record - THAT and drum tuning is why I tossed all my acoustic kits, cymbals, compressors, gates, mics, Analog to digital recording gear, 8 channel Tascam Reel to Reel, DBx Noise reduction systems, etc and now I just have to listen to the occasional armchair critic who says something on my kit sounds fake - but I don't care . . .
3). The "drum Brain" (that thing all the drum pads are connected-too) is just a signal controller and MIDI interface for me as I use none of the sounds available in it - The MIDI data is transmitted to the PC Virtual Instrument via the drum brain MIDI-out. I rarely need to add compression in the digital realm until going to the final output to a file or CD which is awesome for maintaining detail in the music. Remember - the entire instrument studio and signal chain is inside the Virtual instrument on the PC.
4). Yes, you do and all that is managed inside the Virtual instrument and it has OH mono, OH Stereo, Room and individual drum mics that can be mixed along with every kind of EQ, Delay, Reverb, etc that you could ever want.
5). This is correct and you can then play the kit super dry when you want and add-in the room after the initial recording work is done to create the acoustic venue that fits the sound you are going for in the final mix.
6). Upgraded Yamaha DTXExpress-IV kit > Scarlett 8i6 (MIDI) > StudioDrummer Virtual Instrument on PC > Scarlett 8i6 (SPdif out) > MiniDSP 4X10HD > 3 Amps > discrete 3 way drivers. This is for jamming and laying down drum tracks that are recorded/saved in MIDI format on the PC which are the source files for drum audio playback (You are NOT recording Audio at this point, just MIDI data) - MIDI allows me to use any number of drum samples/kit sounds/voices from other Virtual instrument providers like Superior Drummer3 (SD3) to replace the sounds recorded with SD like SD3 kit sounds. I don't like SD3 kit sounds for jamming or laying down drum tracks because they sound too sterile and dead but when used in an actual mix with other instruments in the production and mastering process they are far superior sounding than the SD kit sounds. So I send the MIDI data (small KB file size compared to the multi MB audio files of analog audio) to my friend in NH and he uses whatever drum sounds work best for his ears in his music (we rarely agree on what sounds good so this is great for both of us)
7). Just the Drum brain MIDI out to the Scarlett 8i6 as the MIDI input to the DAW.
I hope this helps your understanding - personally if you really have an interest in edrums I would focus upon the playability of the pads/hardware and ignore the drum brain - it is just a pass through for MIDI data so you can save that money for better pads - You just want a drum brain with a lot of inputs for expandability - I have 12 inputs and use them all now (and looking for more but I can always use the Alesis D4 sitting on the shelf since the late 80's I could chain on the MIDI . . . (Hmmmm)
. The best/most playable/durable drum pads (hands-down) obtainable are the YAMAHA TEXTURED CELLULAR SILICONE found in their Upper-tier kits/pads --> https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/drums/el_drums/drum_pads/index.html
Sorry for the wall of text!
Jam on.
Steve, thank you for all the info!! Holy cow, there's a lot to digest! Funny that you are a huge Yamaha guy, as I am too, on the instrumentation, as well as motorcycles. The kit that all of my recording and mixing, that I posted, is a full Oak Custom kit. I keep it set up in the studio, and take it out for my loud rock larger stage gigs. That kit has great attack and projection, but it's too much for the lower volume/ blues, jazzy/ singer songwriter gigs that I do. For those I'm in love with my Slingerland maple/ mahogany 20Γ14, 12Γ8, 14Γ14 kit. I keep the Sling snare on the recording setup, and use a Ludwig chrome over aluminum 400 live with the Sling kit. I could see myself doing a hybrid set where I ran pads, but cymbals and snare, ala Bill Bruford, or added trigger pads for other sounds to incorporate into my acoustic kit. Everyone has subjective opinions/ bias, but I think that it's great that you have found what please YOU! I am so far behind the curve of all of this, as I have always just showed up at a studio with my drums tuned and ready for the engineer to capture it all, and as long as I layed down the performance side, all was good. Thanks again for taking the time to share! High five! Glenn.