# How do you program Drums and Percussion?



## jononotbono (Feb 29, 2016)

Hi,

So I have been trying to program Drums and Percussion for a while and I just don't really feel I know what I am doing. After a while the Massive Drum hits just creep in there and then the Music is littered with Huge Sounds. 

Can anyone recommend any Drum Tutorials (and Percussion) that I can read/listen/watch to help me get me on my way? I'm also interested in how anyone approaches drums and percussion when it comes to writing their Music. I get confused especially with all the Hybrid/Orchestral/Trailer type Music because it feels like a lot of it is about Production and not necessarily what can be performed live and in which case I get confused as what instrument groups I should or shouldn't use. I know there shouldn't be any rules with Music but I think learning a few "guidelines" may be necessary haha. Also, quantising. Should I? Do you? I feel like like mixing parts quantised with unquantised feels a good way to not be too sloppy and not too robotic. Any help would be so appreciated.

Cheers

Jono


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## Dean (Feb 29, 2016)

http://vi-control.net/community/threads/percussions-mine-sounds-bad-every-time.52012/ see if this thread helps? D


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## Dean (Feb 29, 2016)

and this?


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## Dean (Feb 29, 2016)




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## Ollie (Feb 29, 2016)

I tend to play stuff in live then use an iterative quantize to fix up the timing later. I think the slight flams created from live performance can help some hits sound bigger/fuller. Then layering it with big impact sounds when needed on strong beats every 4-8bars.

There's a drum only album by Two Steps From Hell called "All Drums Go to Hell". Really cool for hearing how percussion can be layered and structured. I've mocked up a few of those tracks and it definitely helped.

You can also find some trailer music on library sites that have alternate percussion only mixes available, which again is great as a guide. Especially when often all the orchestral and hybrid craziness is obscuring the perc in the normal versions.


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## Orchestrata (Feb 29, 2016)

Ollie said:


> There's a drum only album by Two Steps From Hell called "All Drums Go to Hell". Really cool for hearing how percussion can be layered and structured. I've mocked up a few of those tracks and it definitely helped.



I'm speaking under correction, but I seem to recall some of the MIDI files that ship with Stormdrum 2 are compositions from that album.

If you have Stormdrum 2 it's well worth importing the MIDI files, assigning the right SD2 instruments to them and studying how they're put together. I learned a lot from doing that.


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## jononotbono (Feb 29, 2016)

Thank you all so much for your help! I shall check out everything you have linked and mentioned! I watched a Spitfire video earlier called "How to Program Epic Drums". Man I have a lot to learn. I shall report back with more burning questions and/or my findings


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## waveheavy (Mar 6, 2016)

Here's an option, if you just don't have much of a clue of how different percussion styles are done:

http://www.onlinedrummer.com/category/drum-beats/rock/


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## jononotbono (Mar 6, 2016)

Thanks man! I shall have a look. I have a V Kit so I will start learning how to play them as soon as I have a bit of time to do so! V Kit is great for late night playing with headphones!


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## kfirpr (Mar 6, 2016)

Orchestrata said:


> I'm speaking under correction, but I seem to recall some of the MIDI files that ship with Stormdrum 2 are compositions from that album.
> 
> If you have Stormdrum 2 it's well worth importing the MIDI files, assigning the right SD2 instruments to them and studying how they're put together. I learned a lot from doing that.


Are you saying that "All Drums Go to Hell" uses Stormdrum 2? I'm curios about it because I find the spaces the percussion sit in this album are great!


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## Andrew Goodwin (Mar 6, 2016)

Very interested in the percussion only albums, awesome thanks for sharing guys! and I 2nd the mad max method of randomizing quantization. I play in the beat I want, then quantize it to the grid, then copy that midi to all the other layered drums and use freeze then random quantize between 10-15 (different for each track). Some slight tweaking may be necessary afterwards, but it gets you so close. It's so hard to play in certain drums on a keyboard and this helps speed it up dramatically.


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## Orchestrata (Mar 7, 2016)

kfirpr said:


> Are you saying that "All Drums Go to Hell" uses Stormdrum 2? I'm curios about it because I find the spaces the percussion sit in this album are great!



Definitely. Nick Phoenix - i.e. half of Two Steps From Hell - produced the library, and just skimming through the tracks I immediately recognize patches. I imagine they included other libraries and/or some live percussion, maybe, but there's a whole lot of Stormdrum 2 in there. And, as I say, the included MIDI files are very, very helpful.


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