Original URL: http://egnatia.ee.auth.gr/~nalevrid/enf/drums.html


Temple Of MOD - MODs And Drums
Rhythm is one of the most important elements of a good song . Especially the past few years music evolved a lot through the development of new rhythm styles . Most of the mod composers now days prefer electronic sounds for use as drum instruments ("fat" or "plastic sounding" bassdrums , "noisy" snaredrums , etc.) . However , these sounds have nothing to do with the way real drum sets sound . Making the rhythm in your mods sounding as if it was played with a real drum set is not the easiest thing to do . So , we'll discuss here the tricks that'll help you enhance the way your drum tracks sound . Our aim is drums that sound real .

First of all you need a set of drum samples that sound real . If you think that these samples are common you're wrong . In order to record a drum set you need a studio and a very good microphone and most people don't have that equipment .So I've decided to provide you with some drum samples that sound relatively good . You can download them following this link (1.13 MB) . 

And a piece of advice : Dedicate a channel for every drum . This way the samples will be played until the end and it will be easier to control their volume and panning . 

If you want to fully represent a real drum set you should change the panning of every drum . 
Hihat - High Tom - Cymbal 1 : a bit louder on the left speaker
Kick Drum - Snare Drum - Mid Tom : in the middle
Ride - Low Tom - Cymbal 2 : a bit louder on the right speaker

KickDrum : Things are quite easy with kick drums . The only thing you have to remember is that when the kickdrum is played twice in a row , the first hit should have lower volume . Example :
     00 C-5 1 v60
     01 ---
     02 ---
     03 ---
     04 C-5 1 v45
     05 ---
     06 C-5 1 v60

SnareDrum : For single strokes of the snaredrum you don't have to do anything special . When there are several strokes in a row there are two possibilities : 
1. The volume of the snare drum begins of a low level and eventually reaches maximum level at the last hit .
     00 C-5 1 v30
     01 C-5 1 v35
     02 C-5 1 v40
     03 C-5 1 v45
     04 C-5 1 v50
     05 C-5 1 v55
     06 C-5 1 v60

2. The volume is set based on the way a drummer would play it . Drummers usually start playing with their strong arm , usually the right , when they're hitting the snare several times in a row . So the first , the third , the fifth , etc. strokes should sound a bit louder . 
     00 C-5 1 v60
     01 C-5 1 v45
     02 C-5 1 v60
     03 C-5 1 v45

Hihat - Ride : Hihat and ride are usually played consecutively and drummers tend to play the first , the third , etc. hits a bit louder . 
     00 C-5 1 v60
     01 ---
     02 C-5 1 v45
     03 ---
     04 C-5 1 v60
     05 ---
     06 C-5 1 v45
     07 ---

Toms : Toms are also played consecutively and should be tracked the same way as snare . 

Cymbals : One thing you should remember is that the cymbals are usually played with the same hand that plays the hihat/ride . So you need to stop hihat/ride at the moment the cymbal is played . Also cymbals are usually played at the same time with a kickdrum or a snaredrum . 
        Hihat            Cymbal        KickDrum
     00 C-5 1 v60         --- 2         C-5 3
     01 ---               --- 2         --- 3
     02 C-5 1 v45         --- 2         C-5 3
     03 ---               --- 2         --- 3
     04 C-5 1 v60         --- 2         C-5 3
     05 ---               --- 2         --- 3
     06 C-5 1 v45         --- 2         C-5 3
     07 ---               --- 2         --- 3
     08 ---               C-5 2         C-5 3
     09 ---               --- 2         --- 3
     0A C-5 1 v45         --- 2         C-5 3
 
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