my drums sound shit. help :D

Abstraction

Abstraction

happy juice
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
7
Location
straight outta crowthorne
im having a prob with the drums in this tune im doing at the moment. they just sound rubbish to me and i cant work out if its the reverb, the compression, or the drum sounds themselves that im getting wrong. and since ive been listening to this same bit for the last few days solidly my ears are getting more and more flummoxed. so i hoped someone here might be able to shed some light on what it is...?

Stream
Download
 
evilwill

evilwill

definitely
Messages
2,870
Reaction score
6
Location
bristol
hmmm not sure really. they dont sound shit, but i'd definitely agree they're not as good as the rest of the tune. (apart from the kik which is absolutely fine!)

they sound a lot like my snares and hihats were about a year ago, just lacking that little something. i reckon i've got better now, so i'll try and think of what i have (and haven't) done to get better....

1. i dont use lots of fx, which brings me to...
2. need good samples - in this respect i've found stylus *very* useful, damn good drum samples there
3. pitching of drums is good, especially pitching up cos it makes them sound more hifi
4. levels and eq are important - some bits of percussion need to be loud to get through! eq to add top end also very useful, can turn a nice sounding snare into one that sounds like its been really well produced...
5. not too many layered beats / samples, and not too much fx like delay which clutter the mix - a lot of great sounds psytrance beats have only a few elements in them.

hope one or more them helps... sure some of them you've heard many times before :Wink3:
 
nomis

nomis

bumbalumba cruiser
Messages
196
Reaction score
0
Location
Denmark
Its not as bad as you make i think :Smile3:

i took a listen and this is my opinion/suggestion.

The kick is ok, maybe a little more low end would fit?

the hats is very low in volume, turn them up a little and add a little air with an eq, or maybe put them in a room with only early reflections....

you could try lo cutting the snare and compress it a lot, to bring out the little details in the sound..

Otherwise i think its a very nice sound you got :Grin: looking forward to hear the final version...

Hope it helps.... bom bom
 
Speakafreaka

Speakafreaka

Champagne Rouletter
Messages
9,058
Reaction score
336
Location
Fell asleep on Beula's porch
If I was going to do anything, and I'm not sure would, I'd

1) Introduce slight pich changes on the drum parts. Makes it sound more live.

2) High cut on the snare. Compress. Lots.

3) Change the hat sample to something where the ratio of stick to hat is more in favour of hat. Although I'm thinking that you are after that creepy evil vibe? Maybe switch to a ride cymbal.

4) With all of the above, compress hard and chuck through a tube warming thingy.

5) If your parts are running in stereo, move them to mono and pan em (or vice versa and vice versa) this can change things subtely. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

But this is really nitpicking. Lots of people would be very pleased to get that sort of sound. Maybe more closed hats, bongoes/gated toms etc. would help beef it up. The kick sounds good. Exactly the sort of thing I'd use.
 
Abstraction

Abstraction

happy juice
Messages
2,529
Reaction score
7
Location
straight outta crowthorne
yes the kick i was pleased with, i had an idea recently - when eq-ing in the peaks at top and bottom of the kick, to make them the same note (ie a whole number of octaves apart, and match the main note of the bassline) makes it so much better sounding.
 
Fromem_Ory

Fromem_Ory

Shantidisestablishment
Messages
5,136
Reaction score
47
Location
London
i'm listening to the tune on the crappest speakers in the world, but i'd have to agree maybe pitch them hats up a little bit. the sound i've been going for, like, always :P, has been that hi-tek futuristic hat sound, nearer the back of the mix. i dont like it when all the percussion is right at the front of the mix, but then i also think some nano artists have theirs a little too low. the snare sounds a little loud, but that could be my shit speaker :Grin:
a great way of beefin up your percussion sound is building up subtle loops, and i personally find it enjoyable to get a bunch of breaks in time, chop em up to death, mix and match, add your own sounds, reverse stuff, splice and spice, then burn that half an hours work into one little percussive loop that you can hardly hear :Smile3: and layer them up
also experiment with percussion, congas and djembes sound good, as well as timpanis and toms for fills, and shakers etc...
but yeah ur tunes sounding good man, i like the pads n kick alot:badger:
heres sum examples of one of my choons, and how i like my percussion
shadows
lowarp
...full flight...
 
jackrabbit

jackrabbit

pulse width fay
Messages
517
Reaction score
6
Location
in limbo
Fromem_Ory said:
. i dont like it when all the percussion is right at the front of the mix,


I am quite new to mixing and Eqing my tracks. With the rescent addition of my first real monitors I am starting to take it a bit more seriously.
I understand musicaly the concept of placing sounds spacially, but how do you place say a high hat either at the back or front of a mix?

P.S Double_Helix Great tune
Click to expand...
 
Fromem_Ory

Fromem_Ory

Shantidisestablishment
Messages
5,136
Reaction score
47
Location
London
i'm not the person to ask about soundscaping and the like... i take my production very seriously but am no expert, more of a good ear really...
 
R

realisation

Junior Members
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
what you've got there could work, try adding some 808 closed hats and a 909 open hat on top with no fx on them
 
JPsychodelicacy

JPsychodelicacy

Studio Elf
Messages
9,075
Reaction score
302
Location
London SE19
realisation said:
what you've got there could work, try adding some 808 closed hats and a 909 open hat on top with no fx on them
Click to expand...

And make it sound like every other track out there... good advice! *yawn*

J. (Not meaning to be harsh, but isn't it a sound that's been done before?)
 
R

realisation

Junior Members
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
YES!!! make it sound like every other track out there, thats what he's looking for, yes? otherwise it would be just fine what he did and he wouldnt' be questioning it would he..

best not sway from the fixed set of parameters that make up psy-trance, eh?

thats.. an analog kick drum, gated sounds, and a repetitive bassline, 909 open and 808 hat *or similar (whatever.. they are two of the best sounds ever imho)*, and some synth fx noises being played as instruments, thats psy-trance, no?

dont forget all those phasers, flangers, delays and choruses.

just making a point, if you want to constrain yourself to a genre then stick to the rules because they work.
 
JPsychodelicacy

JPsychodelicacy

Studio Elf
Messages
9,075
Reaction score
302
Location
London SE19
realisation said:
YES!!! make it sound like every other track out there, thats what he's looking for, yes?
Click to expand...

Are you, Ross?

:Wink3:

(To realisation : ) Dude, the whole reason the genre has been stagnating for a while is because too many people are playing it safe. Psychedelic Trance should be trippy music with a predominantly 4/4 beat... other than that, anything goes!

J.
 
R

realisation

Junior Members
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
i have created music recently that is trippy with a 4/4 beat but no-one would call it psy-trance. ;-)

i think the problem is more of there IS a whole load of more original stuff that cant be catagorised, even as psy-trance, so it gets lost in the ether because there is no community for new styles of music, and the artist thinks ahh well, if the labels cant fit it into a genre then i may as well forget it and write stuff that everyone else is doing.

the reason the genre is stagnating is.. ask your friends. nobody i know apart from another dj likes psy-trance, even then his friends dont like psy-trance either..its hard music for raves, thats it. you wouldn't listen to it on your hifi at home would you? i think even I and the other DJ just think psy-trance is a bit of a laugh and a joke, he plays stuff because its got a synth sound that sounds like someone farting in it and i play some of the more deeper stuff like mos and and wizzy noise with less of the stupid noises.

who is ross?
 
JPsychodelicacy

JPsychodelicacy

Studio Elf
Messages
9,075
Reaction score
302
Location
London SE19
Ross = Double Helix.

I'd disagree on the unlistenable at home/work front. I'd agree that the crazy-go-nuts-Full-On-to-the-point-of-being-Hard-House stuff isn't the kind of stuff that you'd whack on your stereo, but some stuff, especially the progressive psychedelic end of it (your FREqs, your Oryxs et al) is great for listening to at home. Even on the more full-on side, Voice Of Cod's new album apparently has proper transitions between tracks, a clear indication that it's aimed at the home listener as well as the party DJ.

I'd say roughly about 60% of my mates* like it (and I've got a wide circle of 'em and a really eclectic taste in music).

J.

* Translation - People who can be bothered to put up with me occasionally
 
AEON

AEON

dipthong mong
Messages
7,164
Reaction score
141
you wouldn't listen to it on your hifi at home would you?
Click to expand...

yep :Smile3:

psy is one of those 'genres' which i find utterly listenable at any time of day... or night :Smile3:
 
psyfi

psyfi

Pie Fly
Messages
14,834
Reaction score
1,036
Location
Aldermaston
cool it's turned i to one of those threads again.
There is nothing wrong with putting your 808 n 909 drum sound in a track if thats what the track is crying out for but to "chuck" them on there to in some way "save" a track is piontless. Take risks and push your self and then the big old ball of musical evalution will continue. If you don't do it don't worrie some one alse will.
If Duble Helix was in the habit of sorting out a tune by sticking certian drum types on it then he wouldn't have started this thread. Keep up the good work Helix.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top