How do you create your drum tracks?

ervin

@richardyot said:
I write indie rock, and after a few years of trying many options (DrumPerfect PRo, Lumbeat etc) I've settled on two principal workflows: either tap out the beat in NanoStusio 2 using Slate, or use the Drummer in GarageBand, depending on which app I'm composing and arranging in.

This track is done in NS2, with the drums "recorded" manually by tapping the beat:

And this track uses the Drummer in GB:

The GarageBand option is pretty effortless, and usually gets great results. Doing it manually is fun though, but time -consuming.

Wow. My takeaway from this is not the drums, but that I should listen to more of you Richard

What did you do to get that "almost a vocal but not quite a vocal" kind of background thing behind your voice during the last refrain of the second song?

richardyot

@ervin said:

@richardyot said:
I write indie rock, and after a few years of trying many options (DrumPerfect PRo, Lumbeat etc) I've settled on two principal workflows: either tap out the beat in NanoStusio 2 using Slate, or use the Drummer in GarageBand, depending on which app I'm composing and arranging in.

This track is done in NS2, with the drums "recorded" manually by tapping the beat:

And this track uses the Drummer in GB:

The GarageBand option is pretty effortless, and usually gets great results. Doing it manually is fun though, but time -consuming.

Wow. My takeaway from this is not the drums, but that I should listen to more of you Richard

What did you do to get that "almost a vocal but not quite a vocal" kind of background thing behind your voice during the last refrain of the second song?

Thanks for the listen 🙏

That vocal effect is a harmony part, sung a third lower, double -tracked and panned left and right. Although there are apps that can do this kind of harmonising I think that actually singing the part works better.

BillS

As a pop/rock person, one of the main reasons I don’t do more in iOS is the lack of something like EZ Drummer2, BFD3, Addictive Drums 2 etc, which make realistic drums a breeze. I agree Drummer in GarageBand is great.

Keyb

@syrupcore said:
Curious to know what you find limiting.

For the last 3 songs I actually couldn't find a nice pattern/sequence that could suit my needs. And I don't find pattern programming easy on them

Keyb

@Obo said:

So my vote goes to Auxy Pro! Still love it and use it often.

Auxy is out of the game as I don't really like the subscription model. Not saying that is not correct, simply it doesn't suit me.

Keyb

For the ones suggesting GB, thanks, maybe hard to believe, but I've never opened it before. And the MIDI export option given by @MisplacedDevelopment is fantastic!

Keyb

@richardyot said:
I write indie rock, and after a few years of trying many options (DrumPerfect PRo, Lumbeat etc) I've settled on two principal workflows: either tap out the beat in NanoStusio 2 using Slate, or use the Drummer in GarageBand, depending on which app I'm composing and arranging in.

The GarageBand option is pretty effortless, and usually gets great results. Doing it manually is fun though, but time -consuming.

Really nice songs!!!! And the GB example is indeed inspiring

Keyb

@Hursoom said:

I use Jam Maestro. The workflow is similar to guitar pro if you’re familiar with it.

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll look into JM as well

Keyb

@BillS said:
As a pop/rock person, one of the main reasons I don’t do more in iOS is the lack of something like EZ Drummer2, BFD3, Addictive Drums 2 etc, which make realistic drums a breeze. I agree Drummer in GarageBand is great.

I agree with you, but the flexibility given by a powerful device you can bring with you anywhere and that 99.9% of the times is reliable and functional, is fantastic and difficult to find in a Windows world

BillS

@Keyb said:

@BillS said:
As a pop/rock person, one of the main reasons I don’t do more in iOS is the lack of something like EZ Drummer2, BFD3, Addictive Drums 2 etc, which make realistic drums a breeze. I agree Drummer in GarageBand is great.

I agree with you, but the flexibility given by a powerful device you can bring with you anywhere and that 99.9% of the times is reliable and functional, is fantastic and difficult to find in a Windows world

Absolutely agree. It’s jaw dropping actually- and so much fun. I’ve tried a few drum solutions...one day, someone will crack it

SNystrom

Somewhat off-topic, but what midi software are people using to create custom drum fills or drum “solos” with Lumbeat apps?

I love the samples in many of their kits and would like to create unique openings, fills and such using those samples so that a song doesn’t sound like two entirely different kits were used.

tahiche

There’s a few things that I find a must when doing drum tracks:

• specific drum sequencer. I can’t stand doing drums on a piano roll.
• Randomization, probability, etc,.. to give it some movement.
• Velocity layers (multiple samples) for realistic drums.
  I can only think of DigiStix, Drumperfect Pro and Drambo that can do all 3.
  I don’t like the Drumperfect way of working where you build the song somewhere else and then you have the player auv3, I don’t get it.
  DigiStix is straightforward but a bit limited in editing.
  So for me Drambo is the winner. I often use Zenbeats with Drambo, as Zenbeats has a nice drum sequencer plus the clip mode.

NoiseHorse

I sold my drumset (Ludwick) back in the 60’s. I heard Gene Krupa on the Lawerence Welk show and realized I’d never keep up with kids like that....
Oops wrong thread

AlterEgo_UK

I usually play my drum tracks on my midi keyboard, triggering either Cubasis kits or Bismarck bs16i. Occasionally, I play the kits in GarageBand and export the audio and some use a Lumbeats app or Drumjam. It is very rare I use a MIDI preset.

tahiche

@AlterEgo_UK said:
I usually play my drum tracks on my midi keyboard, triggering either Cubasis kits or Bismarck bs16i. Occasionally, I play the kits in GarageBand and export the audio and some use a Lumbeats app or Drumjam. It is very rare I use a MIDI preset.

Yeah, I finger drum too. Makes it human.
I haven’t bought DrumComputer despite all the hype because you can’t record finger drumming into it.
Finger drumming is human and musical. Who wants to just do dots on a grid?. You hear a beat in your head and you perform it, then you leave the imperfections because that’s the little part of you.

ervin

@richardyot said:

@ervin said:

@richardyot said:
I write indie rock, and after a few years of trying many options (DrumPerfect PRo, Lumbeat etc) I've settled on two principal workflows: either tap out the beat in NanoStusio 2 using Slate, or use the Drummer in GarageBand, depending on which app I'm composing and arranging in.

This track is done in NS2, with the drums "recorded" manually by tapping the beat:

And this track uses the Drummer in GB:

The GarageBand option is pretty effortless, and usually gets great results. Doing it manually is fun though, but time -consuming.

Wow. My takeaway from this is not the drums, but that I should listen to more of you Richard

What did you do to get that "almost a vocal but not quite a vocal" kind of background thing behind your voice during the last refrain of the second song?

Thanks for the listen 🙏

That vocal effect is a harmony part, sung a third lower, double -tracked and panned left and right. Although there are apps that can do this kind of harmonising I think that actually singing the part works better.

👌

sigma79

Euclidean for an evolving drummer. Without programming patterns because you might not know how a live track will be and an AI might not be that great at knowing your mind.

AlterEgo_UK

@tahiche said:

@AlterEgo_UK said:
I usually play my drum tracks on my midi keyboard, triggering either Cubasis kits or Bismarck bs16i. Occasionally, I play the kits in GarageBand and export the audio and some use a Lumbeats app or Drumjam. It is very rare I use a MIDI preset.

Yeah, I finger drum too. Makes it human.
I haven’t bought DrumComputer despite all the hype because you can’t record finger drumming into it.
Finger drumming is human and musical. Who wants to just do dots on a grid?. You hear a beat in your head and you perform it, then you leave the imperfections because that’s the little part of you.

Indeed! Though sometimes there is a little too much of me there and I have to do some editing!

JackRubinacci

Great info man! Thank you

@mrufino1 said:
If you’re trying to get the most “human” feel and want to remain all iOS, then the drummer in GarageBand. If you decide you’re not limiting yourself to iOS, then drummer in logic using producer kits for sound or triggering another drum program (in use the producer kits or ik modo drum when I need to do this).

You could start your drummer part in iOS GarageBand and open in logic later (or send it to me and I’ll be happy to convert it and send it back to you as audio). The great part about the drummer in logic is you can set it to follow, just as in GarageBand, but then convert it to midi to really take care of any hits that are slightly different than you want.

Or, if you are being strict to iOS, then bounce your drummer part several times with different kit pieces soloed and put them in Auria, where you can use drumagog to replace sounds as needed. But this is a time when trying to be strictly iOS is going to limit your results, no way around it. Unless you do what’s in the next paragraph.

The best drums of all, of course, are from a real drummer recorded well, so if you can make that option happen it will always be better, at least in my opinion. I’ve tried to make virtual drums pass and can do it fairly well, but then when I record a drummer it is just better.

drcongo

@tahiche said:

@AlterEgo_UK said:
I usually play my drum tracks on my midi keyboard, triggering either Cubasis kits or Bismarck bs16i. Occasionally, I play the kits in GarageBand and export the audio and some use a Lumbeats app or Drumjam. It is very rare I use a MIDI preset.

Yeah, I finger drum too. Makes it human.
I haven’t bought DrumComputer despite all the hype because you can’t record finger drumming into it.
Finger drumming is human and musical. Who wants to just do dots on a grid?. You hear a beat in your head and you perform it, then you leave the imperfections because that’s the little part of you.

Could you not finger drum into something else that's midi triggering DrumComputer?

Daveypoo

Ok - here's my $0.02.

I've been using the Lumbeat apps lately for rock/pop/etc. I typically write the song FIRST - that's the hardest part. Coming up with at least an outline of the arrangement (Verse Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Chorus Chorus Outro.... that sorta thing) allows me to create a SONG inside whichever Lumbeat app I'm using that is mapped to the arrangement.

Now I come up with drum parts for each section of the tune based on whatever I hear in my head as I'm writing it. I craft out the arrangement in the Song editor in Lumbeat until I'm happy with it, then I export 2-3 copies of the song. Now that all those apps have the Multi-Track export feature, it's cake to do. I export multiple "takes" of the song so I have alternate fills to use.

So now I import the drum tracks into Cubasis and hear how it sounds. I'll typically move add a couple different crash cymbals in to give some variety to the tones, edit the drums a bunch to make them sit exactly how I want - this can be painstaking but also can be really satisfying when done.

So yeah, then I have a solid drum part, and I typically record the guitars and bass TO THE DRUMS, this way it feels more like I'm performing with a person. I don't love the drum sounds in the Lumbeat apps, but they can do some excellent fills and with some editing finesse you can really get some decent results. I look at these as demo tracks - if I were to ever play with real live people again, I'd probably rerecord these. But for the moment, they're just fine - they let me get my groove on and they sound pretty solid, if not EXACTLY like a real person:

Stuck On Repeat (using Rock Drummer):
https://daveypoo.bandcamp.com/track/stuck-on-repeat

Keep On Running (using Reggae Drumer):
https://daveypoo.bandcamp.com/track/keep-on-running

Blue Sky Hurricanes (featuring @LinearLineman & @JanKun using Jazz Drummer):
https://daveypoo.bandcamp.com/track/blue-sky-hurricanes

Big Bottom (using Soft Drummer):
https://daveypoo.bandcamp.com/track/big-bottom

NeuM

Nicely done, @Daveypoo. And not a bad Spinal Tap cover!

Daveypoo

@NeuM said:
Nicely done, @Daveypoo. And not a bad Spinal Tap cover!

Thanks

Franketti

I do the whole drum arrangement in lumbeats song mode too. It is the most time consuming part. I export the midi song to auria. It triggers the custom samples inside yamaha montage. Via aum i record up to 10 usb tracks for each drum at once. You can hear the results on soundcloud

tahiche

@drcongo said:

@tahiche said:

@AlterEgo_UK said:
I usually play my drum tracks on my midi keyboard, triggering either Cubasis kits or Bismarck bs16i. Occasionally, I play the kits in GarageBand and export the audio and some use a Lumbeats app or Drumjam. It is very rare I use a MIDI preset.

Yeah, I finger drum too. Makes it human.
I haven’t bought DrumComputer despite all the hype because you can’t record finger drumming into it.
Finger drumming is human and musical. Who wants to just do dots on a grid?. You hear a beat in your head and you perform it, then you leave the imperfections because that’s the little part of you.

Could you not finger drum into something else that's midi triggering DrumComputer?

Probably, but not buying it is my way of showing how outraged I am!. ☹️

Keyb

@Daveypoo said:
I've been using the Lumbeat apps lately for rock/pop/etc. I typically write the song FIRST - that's the hardest part. Coming up with at least an outline of the arrangement (Verse Verse Chorus Verse Chorus Bridge Chorus Chorus Outro.... that sorta thing) allows me to create a SONG inside whichever Lumbeat app I'm using that is mapped to the arrangement.

This implies that you already have the song structure in your head. I often find that the structure of the song evolves with the rest, with the sounds I'm using and with the way I play.

Now I come up with drum parts for each section of the tune based on whatever I hear in my head as I'm writing it. I craft out the arrangement in the Song editor in Lumbeat until I'm happy with it, then I export 2-3 copies of the song. Now that all those apps have the Multi-Track export feature, it's cake to do. I export multiple "takes" of the song so I have alternate fills to use.

So now I import the drum tracks into Cubasis and hear how it sounds. I'll typically move add a couple different crash cymbals in to give some variety to the tones, edit the drums a bunch to make them sit exactly how I want - this can be painstaking but also can be really satisfying when done.

Do you export the MIDIs or the WAVs? If MIDI, which sound do you use then, Lumbeat's or others?

I look at these as demo tracks - if I were to ever play with real live people again, I'd probably rerecord these.

Fully agree!

BTW, nice songs

Keyb

@Franketti Thanks for your experience!

@tahiche, @AlterEgo_UK Do you finger drum live or step by step?

AlterEgo_UK

@Keyb said:
@Franketti Thanks for your experience!

@tahiche, @AlterEgo_UK Do you finger drum live or step by step?

I finger drum live.

JanKun

I am a bit late to the party.

@Daveypoo shared his arrangement of a @LinearLineman song called "Blue Sky or Hurricanes". I was originally only asked for the vocals on this track, but loved the @LinearLineman Rhodes part so much, that I also decided to create my own arrangement of the song.

To create the drums I used multi sampled drum libraries from the company called Drumdrops, which I loaded inside Lyra (the sampler inside Auria) and sequenced using patterning 1 and 2. I chose this because I love the sounds of the Drumdrops libraries and because they come with bunch of velocities and up to 3 round robin per velocity which helps bring a bit of life to programmed acoustic drums. I am sharing both versions ( I love both) because the same song ended up sounding completely different.

Listen to Blue Sky Or Hurricanes (Dave Lionelli version) by Michael Levy on #SoundCloud

Listen to Blue Sky Or Hurricanes (Jankun version) by Michael Levy on #SoundCloud

BillS

Reading all this, I am amazed that no developer has come up with an AUv3 acoustic drum app along the lines of EZdrummer from VST land. It would sell in bucket loads. Drums in GarageBand are great, but for Cubasis I honestly cannot find anything that works well.