CONFUSED!

[Superc_1]

I've ben doing alot of reading on the different drum loop topics and it leaves me confused to say the least. I'm wanting a program or key board that would make it simple to develop simple drum beats that would match the songs better than just a straight beat that you get from drum machines. Somebody showed a program that laid the loops out as intro, chorus, verse, etc. and you drag and drop them in what order you wish, but I can't find the post? Where would I find something that would clear up the differences between loops, midi, etc. so I could make an decision on which road I want to go down? I hope I haven't confused anybody by my confusion, HELP!! I'm running cakewalk 3 music creator with M-audio fasttrack pro and I have a alesis sr-16 drum machine. What would be anybody's suggestion on a simple add on to achive getting a better drum arrangment on simple songs? Cheers

[Daddydex]

You might want to look at a few of the following:

EZ Drummer: Midi based with lots of included grooves.
Drums on Demand: These are WAV. file loops but can be manipulated to match the time of your project. These come complete with intros, fills, outros etc.
Beta Monkey: I have some of these. They are also WAV. files.

There are many options. Hope this helps.

Dan

[FirstBassman]

Originally Posted by Superc_1

Confused!

You're not the only one.

Getting a good drum track, to me, is the holy grail of recording.

I've tried a couple of software products that say they have "Intros," "Fills" and so forth. And there is always an abrupt changover to the next section. It never sounds anything like a real drummer.

And the products that let one select every single drum hit on every instrument are a PitA.

I haven't even tried a programmable drum machine yet.

Guess I'm just not bright enough for these things. (No surprise there.)

[Daddydex]

Originally Posted by FirstBassman

You're not the only one.

Getting a good drum track, to me, is the holy grail of recording.

I've tried a couple of software products that say they have "Intros," "Fills" and so forth. And there is always an abrupt changover to the next section. It never sounds anything like a real drummer.

And the products that let one select every single drum hit on every instrument are a PitA.

I haven't even tried a programmable drum machine yet.

Guess I'm just not bright enough for these things. (No surprise there.)

What are you using FirstBassman? The Beta Monkey loops are pretty seamless.


Dan

[Frontier9]

This VSTi plugin is pretty darn amazing. It might just be what you're looking for. To my untrained ears it sounds like a good approximation of a real drummer. There is a trial version that you can download to try out.

Here's a tutorial that goes into some depth. Check out how you can choose different drummers to "audition" drum patterns for you. You can choose from the styles of Phil Collins, Charlie Watts, Carter Beauford and a few others. Pretty cool!

[Skully]

Most of the prepackaged drum loops I've encountered are either way too busy and intricate or way too simple and stiff.

I tap in a simple beat or paste in a simple loop, create a guitar and vocal scratch track and then add real acoustic drums. Obviously, this is not an option for some people. It's taken me a long time to develop my set-up and I still have to deal with my limited skills as a drummer -- -- but I think it gives songs a more organic, less rote feel. And, besides, limitation is style, baby; our limitations make us unique.

[Jason S]

I've had good luck with Beta Monkey as well. And they now are available in Appleloops as well.

[octatonic]

This is why a great drummer is worth his weight in elephant testicles.

It takes just as much skill to come up with great sequenced drum parts as it does to actually drum them.

That said, Drumkit from Hell is excellent.
EZ Drummer is excellent.
BFD is excellent.

I would steer you away from drum 'loops'.
They are quite static.
With the others you can program what you want with greater flexibility than a static loop.