Replacing drum tracks with samples/Computer question

If you get it, try Farview's Rock Drums Volume 1 (also on the Drumagog website).



Nice sounding tracks...

I uae an Alesis D4 to replace drum hits ... It has hundreds of samples ... like 100 snares, 100 kicks and so on .. I can always find something I can use and the samples are tuneable as well.



As to your PC ... you don't say how powerful it is but you might think about a new install of Windows XP Pro ... very bug free and glitchless ... almost no conflicts at all in regards to running audio ..

therecordingart wrote: Does anyone have this plugin...is the full thing worth the money? Is there a better way of replacing drum tracks with samples?

Drumagog and drum processors like the D4 are cool for a quick job... but I've never found them to be too accurate. not only that, but when I use drum samples, I layer a bunch of sounds together. The only way to do it on a sample accureate basis AND blend various samples together is to place them in by hand. When i first started do this, it took hours to complete in PT. But with the additon of Nuendo, I created a macro that can do most of the work in about 20 minutes. I plop in about 20 of my favorite kick samples at the same time, and then auditon them later with the music.

dustbro wrote: drum processors like the D4 are cool for a quick job... but I've never found them to be too accurate.

dustbro,

I'm not clear what you meant by this ... are you speaking in reference to timing, as in the samples are late?



I do experience a bit of latency with the D4 but I just slide the whole track back and align it with the first hit of what ever I am replacing or augmenting (it's usually the kick and/or snare). This only takes a few seconds.

why don't you go for Stylus...it has around 500 snares around 1000 kicks lots of percuisions loops with groove control for your desireable tempo and plus it has around 370 loops with groove control.... its very good....

its a Spectrasonic brand...a very good vst.... just wait for 35 more days they are launching a monster with a name of Stylus RMX boi i wonder wht will be that i m waiting very anxiously for that....

dustbro wrote: [quote=therecordingart] When i first started do this, it took hours to complete in PT. But with the additon of Nuendo, I created a macro that can do most of the work in about 20 minutes. I plop in about 20 of my favorite kick samples at the same time, and then auditon them later with the music.

I currently replace my drum hits one at a time in PT, so this "thing" your doing with Nuendo sounds very interesting to me. Could you please go into detail on it?



What is a macro?

Johnjm22 wrote: [quote=dustbro] When i first started do this, it took hours to complete in PT. But with the additon of Nuendo, I created a macro that can do most of the work in about 20 minutes. I plop in about 20 of my favorite kick samples at the same time, and then auditon them later with the music.

I currently replace my drum hits one at a time in PT, so this "thing" your doing with Nuendo sounds very interesting to me. Could you please go into detail on it?



What is a macro?


A macro is a combination of key strokes, so instead of clicking with the mouse "edit/whatever/whatever/ok" you could just press "Control + U" and your done.



And that's why they call it "Slow Tools" too. :?

yeah i have a digi 002 myself and offcourse pro tools also....believe me protools really sucks... its very slow plus it only gives very less tracks....and the RTAS plugins are really expensive whereas i can find DXI,VSTI very easily and in reasonable price.... like i have Halion, Spectrasonic library, Virtual Guitar collection and tons of Direct X plugins..... all cool with leading softwares....... i use Vegas and Cubase SX 2.0.....

Kurt Foster wrote:

I'm not clear what you meant by this ... are you speaking in reference to timing, as in the samples are late?



I do experience a bit of latency with the D4 but I just slide the whole track back and align it with the first hit of what ever I am replacing or augmenting (it's usually the kick and/or snare). This only takes a few seconds.

Again, when you slide your tracks back, your triggered samples can still be anywhere from 3-18ms off. In my book, this is no good. That's not far off enough to create a flam, but the phase interaction between the sample and the real drum hit is unbearable to me. The only way to get it right on (especially if you want to mix the sample with the real hit) is to lay in the sample on a sample accurate level.

Dustbro,

I open the edit window for both the original sound and the replacment hits and align them visually ... I have found it to work well but your answer has me intrigued..



How would I get the D4 to "lay in" on a sample accurate level? By hooking up the midi to the DAW? Doing that it still won't insure that the original drum track is in perfect time with the midi ... I'm a bit confused on this.. ????? Sorry to be so "thick".

Kurt Foster wrote: Dustbro,



How would I get the D4 to "lay in" on a sample accurate level?

If you like the sound of your D4, you'll have to record a single hit of your favorite drum sound into your DAW. Crop the single hit so that the transient starts right at the beginning of the audio region. Then zoom into the sample level of the original hit, and paste the cropped sample to a new track. The D4 doesn't have "dynamic samples" so you're stuck with the same hit every single time. I'll ususally paste in my favorite hit across the whole track, and then go in and replace some hits with "dynamic" samples (different hit from the same instrument) to make is sound real. It's a crazy process, but I've got it down to a quick task now. If I get some more free time, I'll upload some suppliment pictures.

dustbro,

OK I understand what you were saying now ..

Hey man ...thanks so much for bringing your insights to RO I am jazzed you are posting here!



BTW, the D4 is dynamically controlled .. the harder you hit the pad or the louder the audio signal hits the trigger the louder it will get ..



For me it is still much easier to to do it the way I discribed.. and by aligning the first hits, it gets the phase right .. I just zoom in (very large image) with the tracks in the edit window .. and align the peaks with each other..