I’m in the process of tracking LP, this is done in a rehearsal room so no amazing acoustics. Our previous EP was tracked in very expensive studio and I had the drums sampled. Since this LP and previous EP will be merged in one package, I’ll have to match parts of the drums, if not whole kit. I’m thinking probably snare and kicks at least.
What would you suggest for software plugjns?
I’m not using Drumagog as I had iLok software woes recently, and won’t be bothered wuth it again. I guess if I have to I can try again but rather not.
Slate requires dongle, so not going there.
So what does that leave me with as far as options? SPL DrumXchange any good? Other suggestions?
Actually, THIS is the method I used - MUCH more straightforward. Not sure if the Quantize/Groove funtcion is available in v2, it’s been years since I’ve use it.
I’ve done the built-in drum replacement via triggering from the gates, right?
I’ve found out 3rd party solutions trigger much better.
Thanks though. I might try that for comparison.
By the looks of it Addictive drums seem to have one that looks pleasant to use. Drumagog is nice but I can’t be bothered with iLok BS. Another iLok plugin took a dump on me recently, so I’m done with this type of validation.
Really, you don’t have to do this. Just record / sample your drums how you want them to sound now.
At the end of the day, stuff will sound how it sounds.
Many top bands hire new producers and studios in search of NEW sounds for each project, I would go as far as to say its not the right mindset to try to do otherwise.
Ugh it’s too bad iLok has sucked for you, because Slate Trigger is glorious for this kinda thing.
I think if you can generate MIDI/hit points though, there’s a lot of options for just triggering the samples you have. Not sure if S1 has that sorta function… I use Cubase and it’s a got a really good hit-point detection function.
I dunno if you’d want to do it for a whole EP/LP but manual replacement isn’t horribly difficult either… plus even with replacement plugins, they’re never 100% accurate so you usually have to go through and manually align some stuff anyways.
S1 has a noise gate that can pipe out midi, but for the genre I work in (speed metal) manual or relying on S1 version is an absolute nightmare. Just too much info to run through at one point. Drumagog has been good to me in the past but the current iLok version wrecked my system so I’m not going that route again.
Well, in the metal genre drums are apparently edited to death. Everything starting with productions circa '98 onward up until few years ago - you could count on your fingers how many metal bands will have natural drum sounds.
There was even one band that first sampled their drums and then played an absolutely triggered set off of their own drums…it was crazy.
Thankfully, some of the NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal) revival circa 2015, think of bands like early Priest, Maiden, etc., have gone back to a normal production, capturing real sounds. So it seems vocalist and the guitarist are in one camp, while the drummer is in the pre-2015 over edited and time aligned drum camp
Here are some examples:
Heavy Metal (modern production)
NWOTHM (harking back to old school production)
I guess the NWOTHM has more variety in production styles and is more 80s in its use of reverb. For the most part, bands are on super small labels so probably haven’t succumbed to big industry pressure yet. For the most part, these productions, while flawed, have been a breath of fresh air.
Used to have Drumagog 5 and you need iLok software or dongle. I just had horrible experience with iLok software as it broke several of my installations and even lost paying studio customer.
About sampled drums, etc. - just getting the triggered, time aligned performance has always sounded stale to me. A lot of big names do it and I’ve done projects with. Just don’t see a reason to have live drummer if I’m going that route, might as well just program it all.
No ilok for me either with drumagog. I use 4.0 and 5.0. Regardless of what trigger software you select, you want great, realistic samples that do not robotocise. Drumagog handles this incredibly well. Message Rim Buntinez the owner and tell him about your issues with ilok and ask him if he can give you an older version that doesn’t need ilok. He’s a good guy. I like 4.0 better than 5 to be honest and use it religiously with samples I’ve created over a span of 20+ years.
Why would you time align, and how does that work when you have overheads?
The key to all of this is the overheads. All you’re doing with sample replacement is substituting the close mics. If it sounded crap we wouldn’t do it, the whole point of any audio processing is to make stuff sound better, not worse.
BTW getting an iLok account is a very simple process, it’s just a method of validating your plugin online. You do it once and that’s the only time you use it.
Generally the only time I time align is when there’s an existing live mic track. Like either I’m blending with an existing snare or there is one I’m replacing. It’s been my experience that no replacement plug is 100% time accurate so I’ll print the track and then manually align with recorded track. That way, provided your tracks were in proper alignment/phase with the overheads, there’s no issues with the sample track
