Drums too mechanical

[rld]

Yeah...just to echo what everyone has said.
Not enough fills and variations and I'm surprised that your sounds don't come off more realistic considering the products you used.
This is the beauty of tools like EZ/Superior Drummer and AD Drummer. Their sounds are very real and the grooves/fills are simple to drop in.
If you want, I'd be willing to drop in a quick drum track for you.
Just send me an mp3 without the drums.

RLD

[Len911]

I thought the drums were groovin', but maybe I have a mechanical groove,lol! I would have preferred a different bass, one with a little more clarity or bite, but I thought it was great Stan, I was feelin' it!

[cardell]

So.. what would you change? (other than the guitar player, ha ha )

http://www.taximusic.com/stream/stream/ ... _2010_.mp3

PS. Yes, those are intentional 1/6th micro-tones.

Yes, sorry Stan...the drums do sound mechanical to my ear too.

The hi-hats are not helping at all. In fact, they're making the whole track sound uptight.

However, I do like your guitar playing. Some very impressive sounds occurring there.

Stuart

[jazzstan]

Great comments all, thank you! I'll put these ideas to use, but RLD if I'm still off the mark, I'll take you up on your offer.

[mazz]

Stan,

+1 on everything that has been said here.

The drummer wouldn't play through those breaks, that's for sure!

I suggest going through the groove folders you are thinking about using ahead of time and assemble a collection of fills and alternate loops that you can use to break things up. I mostly use MIDI loops to trigger things such as Superior Drummer and I always mix it up with the variations, particularly on the fourth bar of a phrase (assuming it's an "even" thing like the 12 bar blues), which is typically where a drummer will do a little something to delineate the sections, or in the case of a blues, the next chord change.

Putting a good drum track together from loops takes some thought and benefits from experience playing with good drummers. I often close my eyes and try to imagine what a drummer would do in a certain situation and what punches they may hit and if the fill is a big one or just a snare and half open hat on 4 or whatever. Listen to some recordings of great playing in the style that you are writing to get some inspiration. Drums are often thought of as timekeepers by other players, but in reality the drummer is the conductor and is also responsible for much of the emotional color of a piece of music by virtue of being able to influence the dynamic changes that a band would make. You may already do this, but don't relegate your drummer, virtual or otherwise, to simple timekeeping chores because that will hinder the effectiveness of your productions. Subtle changes in the drum part may go unnoticed consciously, but really add spice to a production and help keep it interesting (and not mechanical sounding).

HTH!!

Mazz

[jazzstan]

FYI, I do try to mix things up ... here's a screenshot for the latter parts of the drum loops in "Sunny Blue"



On a new tune, I usually do a scratch track first, and then most of the drum parts. After that the bass, and maybe revise the kick drum if needed. Then my other parts, and then the drum fills & crashes - transitional stuff. I like Mazz's suggestion to close my eyes and 'hear' what a drummer would do. I think my problem is that I don't think like a drummer. I think like a guitar player. Which is to say, not very much.

[cardell]

Drums are often thought of as timekeepers by other players, but in reality the drummer is the conductor and is also responsible for much of the emotional color of a piece of music by virtue of being able to influence the dynamic changes that a band would make.

Yes, very true...that's a great way to express it!

Stuart

[mazz]

Instead of "think like a drummer", I would instead suggest "hear like a composer".

A composer, IMO, has to understand intimately the function of each instrument of the band or orchestra and not be influenced by their own thinking or physical patterns as an instrumentalist when it comes to hearing the whole picture. The composer is the "big picture" person until it comes time to play their own part. In the meantime, a one man band composer, in order to be effective, needs to understand how the other "players" do their thing, even if the players are silicon based life forms!!

Mazz

[rnrmachine]

...silicon based life forms!!

HAHA I love it!

[Cruciform]

OT, but speaking of silicon based life forms - http://www.zero-g.co.uk/media/mp3/q/e/V ... Gounod.mp3