track update update
Last night there was nothing on telly, so I spent an hour or two buggering up the tune I was talking about earlier in the week. I took the time to record the drums properly, on multiple tracks. I'm using Native Instruments Battery to convert the Groove Agent MIDI file to audio again, on the basis that nobody seems to like the GA sounds (although, maybe, I should stick to my guns and just use the GA output, because I don't mind it).
So I have two problems with drums. One, I've no innate ability or sense of rhythm, and don't know where to start, on my own, with creating drum tracks. I basically haven't got the patience to learn or to do it properly, because anything that takes longer than an hour, I'm going to be interrupted anyway. The other problem is I don't really know what I like, or why I like it, or how to get it.
People suggest you listen to records you like, and there's the rub. The records I like from the past tend to have the kind of drums you can hardly hear (60s, 70s classic rock) in comparison to the blam and blat you hear today. And I like the drums on a lot of country stuff, but you're comparing apples and oranges, because Nashville recordings are done in a particular way that I can't (don't know how) reproduce.
This is a particular issue with the snare sound, because people get very emotional about snares, and I don't. The snare drum on its own, in real life, sounds horrible to me, and it's only when it's recorded and processed that it sounds passable.
With this tune, I've ended up with a pattern I think is all right, but break it down into its elements, and it's not so good. The half-open hi-hat interferes with the snare and makes it sounds squishy, and the ride cymbal ends up also being overwhelmed by the hi-hat. I've basically got to go back and try again. I tend to record what I call "overheads" on a stereo pair, but I'm going to have to take the individual sounds out separately in order to get control over them.
All of which just reminds me why I had doing drums, and why I'm so bad at it. I struggle to make any individual sound right, and the prospects of getting the whole kit to work are remote.
So, as I suspicioned, the process of ruining the track has begun.
So I have two problems with drums. One, I've no innate ability or sense of rhythm, and don't know where to start, on my own, with creating drum tracks. I basically haven't got the patience to learn or to do it properly, because anything that takes longer than an hour, I'm going to be interrupted anyway. The other problem is I don't really know what I like, or why I like it, or how to get it.
People suggest you listen to records you like, and there's the rub. The records I like from the past tend to have the kind of drums you can hardly hear (60s, 70s classic rock) in comparison to the blam and blat you hear today. And I like the drums on a lot of country stuff, but you're comparing apples and oranges, because Nashville recordings are done in a particular way that I can't (don't know how) reproduce.
This is a particular issue with the snare sound, because people get very emotional about snares, and I don't. The snare drum on its own, in real life, sounds horrible to me, and it's only when it's recorded and processed that it sounds passable.
With this tune, I've ended up with a pattern I think is all right, but break it down into its elements, and it's not so good. The half-open hi-hat interferes with the snare and makes it sounds squishy, and the ride cymbal ends up also being overwhelmed by the hi-hat. I've basically got to go back and try again. I tend to record what I call "overheads" on a stereo pair, but I'm going to have to take the individual sounds out separately in order to get control over them.
All of which just reminds me why I had doing drums, and why I'm so bad at it. I struggle to make any individual sound right, and the prospects of getting the whole kit to work are remote.
So, as I suspicioned, the process of ruining the track has begun.
posted by Anonymous at
Thursday, January 15, 2004
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