Holy buttsex Batman!! Drumtracker is AWESOME!

[drew_drummer]

Drumtracker, by Toontrack.

Now, I personally think the Toontrack drumkit sounds leave a lot to be desired, so I use BFD2. But WOW!

Drumtracker + studio recordings of our drummer + BFD2 + Platinum Samples Evil Joe Baressi = Drum heaven!

This is sounding very awesome, I am gobsmacked. So exciting!

 

[Jaymz]

Ive never heard these samples, any clips?

 

[drew_drummer]

Well;

www.platinumsamples.com

There are some examples there. When we finish our album, you'll hear them on there too. Alternatively, if you want to post a short sample of some multi-tracked drums, I can take them into Drumtracker, then into Reaper, and do an example for your own drums - I can't post the drums for our music, as I'm pretty sure the rest of the band will get pissy if I do that.

 

[Jaymz]

No worries man I understand, just had a listen to those demos on the site. I must admit they sound hella natural! Be interested to see how they sound tweaked in a metal situation. Looking forward to hearing your album!

 

[Unavailable]

I'm curious, how does it handle overheads if, say, you want to replace those with the SD2.0 cymbals? Is it a difficult process having to route the different hits to the separate cymbals? Not even sure how it would work really...

 

[drew_drummer]

I'm curious, how does it handle overheads if, say, you want to replace those with the SD2.0 cymbals? Is it a difficult process having to route the different hits to the separate cymbals? Not even sure how it would work really...

You'd have to close mic and isolate your overheads as much as possible - but personally... I'd be tempted to suggest you don't bother. Part of what I think is good about the method I'm using, is that you get a really great mix between triggered samples, and live performance.

My overheads, and toms are all the original drummer. The original snare, and original kick are also in there. But I'm using BFD2 (you can use anything you want btw, Drumtracker allows for anything!) for kick and snare layering - it's not strictly replacement, since I'm still keeping the old sound in there too.

It just sounds really full and (I hate this word, but I can't think of another one) professional.

In the time I've been away from the thread, I've done another track. This one, I decided to trigger two sampled snares from the Evil Joe expansion pack from Platinum Samples, to have a mixture of tones.

It's delicious!

I'll ask the band if they mind me posting a small snippet on here, to demonstrate what it sounds like.

 

[Unavailable]

Cool dude. Thanks for the response. Sounds like something I may be able to use soon.

And definitely get those clips posted!

 

[Ermz]

You'd have to close mic and isolate your overheads as much as possible - but personally... I'd be tempted to suggest you don't bother. Part of what I think is good about the method I'm using, is that you get a really great mix between triggered samples, and live performance.

My overheads, and toms are all the original drummer. The original snare, and original kick are also in there. But I'm using BFD2 (you can use anything you want btw, Drumtracker allows for anything!) for kick and snare layering - it's not strictly replacement, since I'm still keeping the old sound in there too.

It just sounds really full and (I hate this word, but I can't think of another one) professional.

In the time I've been away from the thread, I've done another track. This one, I decided to trigger two sampled snares from the Evil Joe expansion pack from Platinum Samples, to have a mixture of tones.

It's delicious!

I'll ask the band if they mind me posting a small snippet on here, to demonstrate what it sounds like.

Does it not bother you that Drumtracker breaks your workflow, as it has to be used externally to your DAW?.

I'm still trying to get my head around how it would be any more efficient or time-effective than Drumagog or Aptrigga.

 

[John_C]

it's less efficient, but it can potentially give you better results, esp on tracks with a lot of bleed.
You can move the trigger points individually, and it's got much more flexible triggering than drumagog

 

[drew_drummer]

I happen to think it's a lot more efficient than Drumagog, exactly for the reasons you mention at the end of your post, Skeksis

Drumagog is just a pain to setup, and then if you've got a lot of bleed, or very dynamic playing, a lot of the time it will miss hits that you need - Drumtrack is like Drumagog on acid! It doesn't bother me that its a standalone application, I kinda prefer it that way to be honest.

 

[~BURNY~]

I fail to see the point.
I usually trigger drumagog with a clean trigger signal then record the midi out to a midi track then edit if needed. Seems a lot faster to me but maybe I am missing something. I guess it's interesting when you have only mics as a source.

 

[Ermz]

I fail to see the point.
I usually trigger drumagog with a clean trigger signal then record the midi out to a midi track then edit if needed. Seems a lot faster to me but maybe I am missing something. I guess it's interesting when you have only mics as a source.

My perspective exactly. Why would you subject yourself to needless extra processes? Just record trigger impulses and sample replace off those.

 

[drew_drummer]

I didn't have enough inputs to record trigger impulses.

 

[John_C]

mmhmm point taken, i should have said slower rather than less efficient. Direct triggering inside your DAW is useful in order to give you an idea of the sound you'll be getting while you edit though. Drumtracker is def better once all the edits are done though

 

[John_C]

I didn't have enough inputs to record trigger impulses.

same, not everyone has a gazilion inputs

 

[~BURNY~]

same, not everyone has a gazilion inputs

I hear you.
I have 16 inputs myself which is somewhat limited depending on the project.
I could never imagine recording without triggers again tho. I'd much rather remove a kick mic for example cause it's so much more convenient.

 

[Ermz]

Speaking of which, what are some good brands of triggers to look at? None of the studios I record at have an in-house set.

 

[drew_drummer]

I hear you.
I have 16 inputs myself which is somewhat limited depending on the project.
I could never imagine recording without triggers again tho. I'd much rather remove a kick mic for example cause it's so much more convenient.

That's fair enough, but I would still want to mix triggered drums with acoustic recordings - I wouldn't want to have my kick or snare entirely triggered, because I reckon that kick mic that you'd take away... well, the bleed that you lose... can be useful to glue everything together.

Obviously there are many many ways to skin a cat (I like dogs) and I'm not saying my way is the right way, but as far as mixing acoustic with software drums, I sort of feel like I've been told this ancient secret! It sounds fantastic!

 

[~BURNY~]

Speaking of which, what are some good brands of triggers to look at? None of the studios I record at have an in-house set.

I think the general concensus is that DDrum pro are the best. I use TDrum triggers which are basically a black version of the DDrum pro with a slightly lower price tag. Never had a single issue so far.

 

[JoeJackson]

I tried Drumtracker, too. It's absolutely worth the 99$.

I wanted to use it on my latest work, but the drum-performance was good enough so that I didn't bothered too much, but at least I had a chance to check Drumtracker out in-depth. It's fantastic to even out whimpy snare- and kick-performances. I won't bother too much with OH-replacement.