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Everytime it breaks a minute, my music is horrible

3K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Vince 
#1 ·


Seriously, the mix just..argh :mad:
 
#5 ·
the guitars don't sound bad but the drums are really bad.

also, a mix isn't the hardest thing to do, but you need a good song behind it that works for the type of mix you are going for.
Yeah, how could I fix the drums?
It feels like they're too upfront, or either too loud(?)
I can't tell

What Kev said. Not a bad effort at all man!

Is this recorded on the guitar you built?
Thank you Chris!
This was recorded with my Cort :rofl:
I do plan to make an 8 string song once I get it back from the Fair though:metal:

I think it sounds pretty good; the drums aren't perfect, but I don't think they're horrible either. They sound a bit......random though.
aww :wub:
I tried to make em sound less mechanical :lol:
 
#14 ·
OK, advice for drum programming:

- drummers have two arms. This isn't sarcasm, but a good way of thinking, ie, you can never hit more than two tings at once, also, it takes time to travel between hitting different things.
- any time when you think the hands are doing something fast, then reduce velocity of the hits. You can hit hard and slow, or light and fast, noone hits hard and fast. kind of assume that SPEED x VELOCITY = a constant number, ie, increase speed is a decrease in velocity and vivce versa.
- start of with the snare on off beat or on the beat, and keep it regular. you can change it later
- put in hihat hits to start off, equally spaced, this will give you a feel on the riff. you can later change these to a ride, bell on the ride, or a cymbal sequence
- cymbal hits to accent what you want accenting, ie, parts of the riff, the beginning of a bar etc. Whilst doing this obey rule 1)
- kicks to accent palm mutes is a good way to go, also a good idea to put one on the start of every beat.
- if there's a snare, you can lose the kick, on slower things, this is generally a good idea
- exception to above rule is with double kick patterns, or steady kick drum.
- you can reuse the same drum pattern, just double the speed (or halve) te snare drum to give it a totally different feel, good for reusing riffs and making them sound fresh
- ANY fast fills, use velocity, depending on wehther you want triplet feel or 4/4 feel to the roll, accent every 3rd/4th/6th hit, and make the others decreasing velocity, just draw by hand if you can, and don't worry about exact values, this'll make rolls (or fast ride/hihat patterns) sound more human.
- keep it simple. whilst chaotic drums litter a lot of metal, and may sound cool, too much of it and anyone pretty much loses interest plus it detracts from what you're trying to achieve you'll find that it's a case of everything shines at different points. On an intricate riff, it's better for drums to lay back so that the focus is on a riff, inversely, a simple guitar riff will have space for more intricate drums.
- generally for a riff the drums will stay the same with minor variations when it comes back (ie, less/more snare hits, so reusing parts isn't a crime. Just change the fills at the end.
- I find the best way to get a beat going is to start with a kick pattern, then place the snares, then deal with the hihat/ride/whatever, build it up sowly, and if the riff isn't tight, rerecord the riff to the kick/snare pattern and nail it.
- there is no substitute for a real drummer that knows what he is doing. period. so programmed drums are decent for demoes, but after that, let a drummer do his thing.

Just keep at it, and remember, it's all practice, maybe go find some drum tracks in midi that you like, and have a look at them, see what's going on.
 
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