# Tips on programming drums....



## José Herring (Oct 26, 2022)

So I keep hearing drum sounds in my head that I can't replicated with samples. I'm trying to find a way to do it with synths like ZebraHZ and Phaseplant. 

Any tips from you programmers out there. I'm having dubious success. 

all my best,

José


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## doctoremmet (Oct 27, 2022)

Any audio examples that can give some guidance to the sound realm you’re aiming for? Faux acoustic sounds? 808 style electronic drum sounds? Something else entirely?

Depending on what your objectives are, AAS Chromaphone may be a secret weapon. I quite like it for synthy percussion sounds that sound almost-but-definitely-not-real-at-all


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## doctoremmet (Oct 27, 2022)

Our man @Sampleconstruct Simon Stockhausen has you covered on Chromaphone.


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## Markrs (Oct 27, 2022)

I’m sure I read or watched a video somewhere where Hans mentions that all the drums on the Dune soundtrack were created in Zebra. I would love to be able to create drum sounds like that!

EDIT:
I have found the bit about drums in the video below, but he only briefly mentions it, I’m sure somewhere else he mentions creating them in Zebra.





Rctec said:


> Thank You!
> …and yes, that Drumthing is Zebra. As are a lot of things In this Score.


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## Pier (Oct 27, 2022)

In Zebra it's best to use the MSEGs than the envelopes for drums. You will have more control which is absolutely critical when doing drum sounds. The envelopes in Zebra do not allow you to control the curves in the attack and decay stages independently.

Don't be afraid to layer your approach: Sine OSC with pitch envelope -> distortion -> LP filter with envelope -> compressor -> maybe some more distortion -> maybe another filter -> maybe another compressor -> etc -> EQ

In most cases your sound source will either be a sine wave or just noise. I've tried all sorts of waves but I always end up using those two. If I want more harmonics/overtones I do that with filter drive, saturation, or distortion. FM is also great.

In Zebra the comb filter can get you all sorts of interesting and realistic timbres. Eg: for metallic timbres use the dissonant mode. Experiment with the comb filter. It's like Pandora's box, it will open up a new dimension of sounds.

HP filters are your friends. This is not obvious but HP filters with resonance can boost your low end. You can also split the signal and use a HP filter to capture the transient and apply some distortion to just that.


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## Pier (Oct 27, 2022)

Another trick is using modal synthesis. Basically feeding noise or a complex signal into a number of resonant peaks.

You can't do that in Zebra but you can sort of mimic it with the EQ in the effects or multiple filters in parallel.

PhasePlant is way better for this since the EQ is like FF ProQ 3 and can used polyphonically (so you get 1 EQ per voice).



And of course MSF has a tool just for modal synthesis


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## doctoremmet (Oct 27, 2022)

Yes, I want to see José succeed with this in the MSF domain!


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## b_elliott (Oct 27, 2022)

I watched the MSF video. Thanks for posting!
The MSF drum sound (one patch) reminds me of Soniccouture's tube drum (Kontakt freebie). Not the same thrill as sound designing; however, the SC Tube Drum + an fx rack could get you what your mind is hearing. An insta-starting point fwiw. Cheers, Bill


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## Pier (Nov 1, 2022)

This newly released soundset by Howard Scarr might be a great source of inspiration and knowledge.






Soundsets for Hive 2 | u-he


Hive - Sleek, streamlined, and supercharged. Easy to use, surprisingly dynamic and versatile with low CPU usage.



u-he.com





I haven't bought it yet but I will later today and write my impressions.


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## SupremeFist (Nov 1, 2022)

There are some great drums in the Zebra "Momentum" soundset by @Whywhy , maybe worth a look?








Zebra Momentum - Yuli Yolo sound design


ZEBRA MOMENTUM* is a collection of synth patches for U-He Zebra2 and Zebra HZ, focusing on impacts, fx, drums, loops and Soundscapes. Momentum comes with 142 patches:16 Bass, Bass Fx,27 Drums 30 Fx 10 Mallets, Keyboards 25 Loops 17 Soundscapes 17 Synths&nbs




yuli-yolo-sound-design.sellfy.store


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## Pier (Nov 1, 2022)




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## José Herring (Nov 3, 2022)

doctoremmet said:


> Any audio examples that can give some guidance to the sound realm you’re aiming for? Faux acoustic sounds? 808 style electronic drum sounds? Something else entirely?
> 
> Depending on what your objectives are, AAS Chromaphone may be a secret weapon. I quite like it for synthy percussion sounds that sound almost-but-definitely-not-real-at-all


Back to this quest. Basically the sound I'm after is just the HZ drums sound. No need to get more creative than that.
I love the score the Black Rain. That sounds to me more like processed samples and Linn Drum. But, what really got my attention were the drum sounds in Inception and Dune. These scores had the sounds that I mostly hear in my head that I've never been able to fully get.


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## Pier (Nov 3, 2022)

In Inception the mid percussion sounds like samples. The constant bass drum at the start of the bar could be Zebra. The trick is really in the reverb.

In the Dune bit, it's basically a sine kick drum where the pitch envelope slowly decays at the end. Again the reverb makes it more impressive than it really is. The mid percussion sounds more like processed samples to me.

I made this Zebra patch to get you started on those kind of kicks/booms. It's really a matter of fine tweaking to get the exact sound you want (pitch, envelopes, compressor, a better reverb, etc). The Zebra reverb is not amazing though.

View attachment Boom José.mp3


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## kgdrum (Nov 3, 2022)

Pier said:


>



Without hesitation! Kling Klong well actually just about anything from the Wizard aka Howard = INSTANT BUY! ☑️


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## José Herring (Nov 3, 2022)

Pier said:


> In Inception the mid percussion sounds like samples. The constant bass drum at the start of the bar could be Zebra. The trick is really in the reverb.
> 
> In the Dune bit, it's basically a sine kick drum where the pitch envelope slowly decays at the end. Again the reverb makes it more impressive than it really is. The mid percussion sounds more like processed samples to me.
> 
> ...


That's cool. Mostly interested in the clicky, clacky fast drums.


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