Midi drum programming help

[DevilJaw]

hey guys,

so im just learning the world of midi programming, i just got a korg padkontrol and addictive drums program, working great so far, still building up my working skills with it.

but in the mean time, i have been making simple midi drum tracks for some song ideas and what not, but the problem as you may know is the velocity of the notes and just general midi note placement, i'm learning but i want to see whats really possible with it this stuff.

so here's where you all come in, i got a little midi drum track im playing around with and i want some help with it, if there are suggestions or tips to help make it better (song writing or technical), i would just like to keep the same feel of the track.

here is the file:

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jtsinnie/MIDI/Unbalanced II-DRUMS.mid

Its at 90bpm all the way through, no changes. also, there are empty spaces that are occupied by other instruments btw.

i used guitar pro 5, so its just using the general midi drum map.

if anyone would like to tweak this, feel free, i plan to plug this into addictive drums and see how it goes.

if needed also, here is the addictive drums key map:

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jtsinnie/MIDI/Addictive Drums Keymap.pdf

but have a go at it, rearrange it or do whatever you need to do to make these drums sound good.

i'll finish this song and record it and post it up when its done, i just need some drums,

but if anyone needs any help with anything let me know, i'm always willing to help out where i can.

 

[poidaobi]

I am by no means that good at it. I'm still learning too.

But generally this is what I do.

Kick - Almost always at 127 (MAX)

Snare - Almost always at 127
Snare(Blast Beat) Go between 100-110 aswell as shifting slightly out've time
Snare (build ups) go like 90 95 100 115 120 127 127

Hats - 90-110, From what I've read the drummer hits harder on the Downbeat (is it). Basically when he hits the snare.

Crashes like 120. Increase to 127 when a drummer would usually hit it harder.

Toms. 127
For Rolls (say 4 hi, 4 mid, 4 low) 120-115-110-115 X 3

I guess that's basically it. Just try and remember what a drummer would do. Say he was coming to a bar where he does a huge drum roll he would have that in his mind a few bars before so the crash leading into it (if he indeed did use a crash) might not be as loud as normal.

 

[STINNETT]

I may differ from the pack in that I like to use lower velocities. I use DFHS and I think the best sounds are to be had that way.
I consider 127 to be murdering the drum and most drummers don't play that way at all. For most steady playing I don't go above 110-115 with the snare and for fast fills, etc. I usually won't even go over 100. Fast snare and tom fills sound great at around 50-70 with occasional spikes that go a little higher.
A wide dynamic on the hat or ride cymbal sounds good too. Like poidaobi said, accenting the downbeat or in some way defining the rhythmic pulse of the beat is important for realism.

I don't have time right now to check out your MIDI file, (plus my music PC is dismantled right now), but maybe I can revisit it later.

 

[JonWormwood]

I may differ from the pack in that I like to use lower velocities. I use DFHS and I think the best sounds are to be had that way.
I consider 127 to be murdering the drum and most drummers don't play that way at all. For most steady playing I don't go above 110-115 with the snare and for fast fills, etc. I usually won't even go over 100. Fast snare and tom fills sound great at around 50-70 with occasional spikes that go a little higher.
A wide dynamic on the hat or ride cymbal sounds good too. Like poidaobi said, accenting the downbeat or in some way defining the rhythmic pulse of the beat is important for realism.

I don't have time right now to check out your MIDI file, (plus my music PC is dismantled right now), but maybe I can revisit it later.

I'd listen to this guy, he is the master of programming drums.

 

[JonWormwood]

Aye velocities are very important to getting a real sound when programming, but I think the part where everyone goes wrong at first when doing drums is that they often end up doing too many things at once, so like, tom fill with crash cymbals all over top and things, just try not to over complicate anything, drummers aren't all as good as we'd like them to be!

I've gone back and looked at my old midi stuff I programmed and it has rolls while hitting three cymbals at once.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

This is great input. I'd love to hear more!

 

[Jackal_Strain]

Call me crazy... but sometimes it's ok to program things that no human could play. If that's the sound and feel you want. There's no rules saying you have to do this or that. I usually program my drums like a drummer would play them, but for some projects I just go crazy.

 

[Kenny Lee]

I'd say using only velocities above 120 is a sure thing you'll end up sounding like a machine gun.
I have midi files of 'real' Death Metal drummers and on them usually the hits average around 98-113. No higher. Seriously and these guys are the best of the best!
If you want to do your kicks quick, just pencil or tap them in...then take the (L) velocities and make sure they offset the (R) by a few velocities example...Lefts 109...Rights 113
If you want them to sound like they're triggered.... go higher in velocity numbers.
Wish I had some new stuff to post these, but I've been swamped in other ventures.
Here's a very old one.
DFH 1 and a Pod Pro xt

Good Luck man!

GORILLA​

 

[JonWormwood]

I'd say using only velocities above 120 is a sure thing you'll end up sounding like a machine gun.
I have midi files of 'real' Death Metal drummers and on them usually the hits average around 98-113. No higher. Seriously and these guys are the best of the best!
If you want to do your kicks quick, just pencil or tap them in...then take the (L) velocities and make sure they offset the (R) by a few velocities example...Lefts 109...Rights 113
If you want them to sound like they're triggered.... go higher in velocity numbers.
Wish I had some new stuff to post these, but I've been swamped in other ventures.
Here's a very old one.
DFH 1 and a Pod Pro xt

Good Luck man!

GORILLA​

Would you mind posting up some of the MIDI files?

 

[James-Doolan]

It would be cool if some of you pro's could post up some of the midi drums files you programmed so us noobs can study them and see how exactly it was done to give us a better idea.

 

[Zombietakeover]

it would be even better if you noobs put in the time it takes to do it right......instead of letting one of us hand it down to ya on a platter

 

[Kenny Lee]

Would you mind posting up some of the MIDI files?

It's on my other computer and I just started the process of relocating. I'm using my Ol' Ladies iMac for surfing

But Here's another one.... it's older and I even abused the higher velocities on this one!
And Here's the final mix of it. Never finished it with vocals though.

Anyways... the midi file to this tunes drums are at my Metal Musicians website.

GORILLA​

 

[poidaobi]

Usually when I hear awesome clips with Programmed drums and I ask about velocities the programmers say they use 127 mostly for the kick and snare (obviously reducing where necessary). That's why I do it.

 

[DevilJaw]

cool, thanks for the insights on this topic, i have a good idea to run with now.

 

[JonWormwood]

it would be even better if you noobs put in the time it takes to do it right......instead of letting one of us hand it down to ya on a platter

I'm a guitarist that can play drums at a somewhat decent levels but there many types of fills I cannot comprehend or recreate thus a real midi file would make the learning process much more simple.