Drums for Rock & Pop Rock Tracks: Live, Drum Machine or S/W?

[ChipD]

I write songs primarily in the rock and pop/rock genres. I was wondering: those of you who have had forwards (and deals) in these genres, did you use live drums, drum machines, or software drums for the tracks that were successful for you?

[RonKujawa]

I have had some forwards, no deals on songs that I have used Addictive Drums on. You can check out my TAXI page. Burdens, More Like You and You Never Let Go are Contemporary Christian/Worship songs where the goal was to sound like a real drummer. I think the key to Addictive Drums or any other drum software like it is to take your time laying out the song and try to think like a drummer. Where would a real drummer put fills, or NOT put fills? Where should things build, or lay back? Stuff like that. I drag and drop the provided MIDI drum parts to get the basic structure, then tweak kick and snare accents. Then I go back and lay in MIDI drum fills and edit if needed. The MIDI parts are played by real drummers so I try not to mess with them much unless the accents just aren't working.

Ron

[bigbluebarry]

Hey Chip,

I too write mostly in the rock and pop/rock genres and I only use MIDI loops with drum software for all of my tracks. I primarily use Toontrack's Superior Drummer 2 (I also own most of their expansion packs) but I also use SSD 4 as well. I also have Stylus RMX and have been incorporating it into my productions as well. All of my placements have been with either Superior 2 or EZ Drummer for the drum kit parts. The key, as Ron mentioned, is being able to make the drum parts sound like an actual drummer played them.

hth,
-Barry

[playagibson]

Hey Chip,

The majority of my stuff are EZ Drum loops.
I love the stuff. They're simple to use and there are some great grooves in their catalogue.
Once you get used to it, you'll find it's quick and you can create some cool and realistic sounds with them.
You should also check out Steven Slate drums.
He specializes in rock drums and his stuff works !

Rich.

[StanSwin]

I just started working with Steven Slate drums which sound good, but the software seems a bit unstable to me. I've used Spectrasonics RMX for just about everything else, and I have the expansion packs. I have used Joey Kramer and Abbey Road drums, they sound good.

[swhit]

I write mostly rock as well and use EZ Drummer for my drum parts.

Lately, I have been mixing all of the individual drum parts down to their
own track and then importing them into my DAW. So I end up with 7
or 8 individual drum parts that I can mix. I take the EZ Drummer room
mike right out of the equation.

I have had two forwards using EZ Drummer but also had a return saying
the drums sounded too mechanical. So I agree, you really have to lay them
down properly.

I am also starting to see lisitngs that want a "real" band sound, so I might
start getting the band to record stuff.

[thekman]

Howdy Chip,

I have had forwards and deals all with EZdrummer. I just picked up Superior Drummer, after a sale tip from Barry (Thanks dude!), and it's very comprehensive and the sounds are great. I agree with making them sound as real as possible, but it's not hard with this sftw. The expansion packs are key too.

I have a bunch of other loops and percussion sets as well that I like to pepper in. I think adding a pass or two of "live" playing helps. Even if it's just cymbals or a few accent hits.

Kyle

[ChipD]

Wow, guys, thanks so much for the input! Sounds like there is a lot of good software to choose from out there in the market.

Most of my recordings are with a real drummer, though I have used a drum machine. As I look to generate more output in 2013, I'm thinking that software is the way to go. I'd be most happy with something that sounds great with as little configuration as possible. I don't need a ton of sounds and would prefer to spend time writing rather than learning the software.

I checked out all of your tunes and was impressed that I still got that "head-bopping" feel in many of them despite them not being recorded with a real drummer. Great work, guys!

[mazz]

would prefer to spend time writing rather than learning the software.

Chip,

I hear where you are coming from and I suggest that you might want to re-frame your thinking. Consider the studio as your instrument and the various software programs are aspects of that instrument. You had to learn the basics of your main instrument before you could really express yourself on it, and the studio and it's attendant soft and hardware is no different.

One of the reasons that these folks' drum parts sound so good is that they took the time to learn the tools and also took the time to understand how a drum part is put together. I think you can handle both tasks if you are already used to working with a drummer because you have that sound in your ear, and if you can learn to play a musical instrument, you can certainly learn to use a software program!

Yes, the tools can eat up a bunch of writing time, but take the time to learn the tools "offline", not on valuable writing time. Consider it as woodshedding!

Happy New Year and Happy Writing and Learning!!

Mazz

[ChipD]

I totally get what you're saying, Mazz. And I fully expect to invest a decent amount of time in learning a new tool. What I'm really getting at, though, is the fact that some software programs (in general) take months to adequately learn and use while others take much less time. I am most interested in a drum software package that I can begin using quickly and getting good results at, while continually tweaking and improving. Fortunately, it seems like there are enough good choices available that I'd be able to find one that has the sounds to suit my style while feeling intuitive. The less time required to configure that perfect sound or to put together a new beat or to modify an existing beat, the better. I am seeking efficiency as well as effectiveness. Thanks!