Sound replacement - tips & tricks for more realistic sounds?

[Gelatin]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to check if anyone was willing to share some tips on making sound-replaced drums sound more "realistic". I've tried using slight reverb & fader automation (blast-beats snare lower than hard snare hits for example) but I can't seem to get big tom-tom breaks to sound realistic enough (like for example Andy's work on the new Despised Icon.. sounds great!)

I've been experimenting with having drumagog use anywhere from 100% to 0% dynamic samples and I'm thinking if maybe recording my own samples? (have been using the chimaira tom samples)

Please share your experiences/tips with drum-replacement

 

[fooman]

Sample the kit used in the session. I always treat drum tracking like I'm not going to use the samples, meaning I try to get the kit sounding excellent right off the bat and get the drummer to play well and in time.

I sample the snare with light hits, heavy hits, flams, rimshots, etc. I do the same for toms. I sample cymbals as well just in case I need one or two exclamations or if the drummer goofed a crash.

So when you sample the real kit, you can leave the dynamic drum fills and rolls alone. This translates into a more human feel. You can replace the main groove, but then leave the fills alone. It works wonders on a lot of drummers that need samples.

 

[Gelatin]

That's a brilliant idea, given you have a good enough sounding drumset (which isn't always the case - and I haven't gotten enough money yet to purchase a house kit) - I'll definately be trying that approach in the future.

I like the kind of inhuman almost robot-feel of the toms on despised icon's new album as well as the new job for a cowboy, but I can't seem to get it sounding like real toms in my productions. The tom rolls just sound too artificial... also some of the snare comes off as fake in some fills..

I might throw a sample here tonight showing how things are sounding at the moment..

 

[matt youwin]

You can try adjusting the hit volume manually during a fill. In your DAW select each hit in a roll and adjust the volume automation for each one...naturally a typical four hit drum roll would go:

1: Hardest
2: Softer
3: Harder
4: Softest

This helps avoid the 'machine gun' style effect you sometimes get when replacing drums (without multiple velocities). Takes a while but can be worth it.

 

[siegfried]

matt youwin: the problem is that if you automate the volume and than heavy compressing, limiting etc. drums, that the volume of hits will be almost the same again... (maybe it is just my misunderstanding of anything?)

 

[JBroll]

Preserve randomness.

If you only have one sample for a track, have a bit of fun using the dynamics from the original track - maybe try an EQ filter that sounds 'harder', and then place the sample through that on a second track and blend more of it in for harder hits. Sidechain with the original track like it's sex. You may have one sample, but you can make it sound like a gazillion different things if you're creative enough.

Jeff

 

[matt youwin]

matt youwin: the problem is that if you automate the volume and than heavy compressing, limiting etc. drums, that the volume of hits will be almost the same again... (maybe it is just my misunderstanding of anything?)

Depends how/why you're replacing...If you're replacing to get consistent hits then there's no need to compress - except for minor limiting on a full drum buss or on the master bus, but compressing a program like this shouldn't kill these 'dynamics'. If you're using compression as an effect to change the sound of the sample then do it before you replace.