yeah i would lean to the flexibility of programming my own. if i wasn’t that adept at coming up with realistic drum patterns, fills, etc. and just wanted to use it as a songwriting tool, i would go for the prefab’d loops or something like jamstix. but for me, the drum pattern is the big part of the creativity and song writing process. fruity loops all the way for me.
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| yeah i would lean to the flexibility of programming my own. if i wasn’t that adept at coming up with realistic drum patterns, fills, etc. and just wanted to use it as a songwriting tool, i would go for the prefab’d loops or something like jamstix. but for me, the drum pattern is the big part of the creativity and song writing process. fruity loops all the way for me. |
Yeah, been doing the programming thing for years… midi initially, and Fruity for the last three or four years. I’m just looking for another way of getting versatile tracks together quickly.
My son plays drum and we have a kit in the house. I can play a bit too, but I’m not really in a position to start recording drums just yet, so I’m hoping the DD-55 will be a half-way-house so to speak.
Mark
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| OK, I played with loops, I played with Jamstix. Both great but just not quite flexible enough for what I wanted (I am very particular about my drum tracks!). <!–QuoteBegin>
So I got a DD-55. Haven’t taken delivery yet. Wouldn’t take clams in payment though; infact no seafish at all, so I had to pay english pounds. gtr4him, Ted, any tips? Will let you know how I get on with it. Mark |
Hey Mark,
Well, honestly I have had little time to mess with my DD-55. I can say that most of the kits sound excellent in the “cans”… except for cymbals. I ain’t heard a decent cymbal in there yet. However, using the MIDI outs and triggering some good sampled cymbals might work out well. I have not tried the MIDI stuff with it yet.
It’s a cool gadget, easy enough to play and I can see great expressive potential versus tapping pads with fingers.
Good luck!
TG
PS Tips? Make sure you hook up the pedals to the correct jacks! They are different! One is velocity sensitive…(Kick) and the other is just a switch (Open/Close Hats)… as a matter of fact THAT is my only gripe at the moment. The Hi-Hat control should be velocity sensitive as well but I suppose Yammy did not want to fool with all the layered samples needed to pull it off convincingly. I dunno. Velcro or tape the pedals down or your feet will be chasing them all over the place. Some kits have way to much 'verb on 'em. If you wanna record the internal sounds, you should wack the 'verb and add to taste in software IMO.
Thanks TG
Hi Mark 
I just saw your post but i am on the way out the door to take my son out to eat. I will get back to you with more info. If i forget, start a new post that says HEY TED, YOU FORGOT, hehe. I think you will really like the DD 55, I think the samples are super. You have the ability to make a custom kit as i described in my earlier post in this thread. Look into this, if you want to put together a super incredible kit.
I’ll be back,
Ted
I find Jamstix very customisable now except for the fills. (although yu can just program your own rhythm and use that as a fill…)
What I do when I want to get a particular drum part (eg. accents on a beat or a stop) is find a rhythm that is close to what I want (feel, style etc) and then copy it and then change the rhythm to be what I want eg. put the the snare and cymbals where you want them, remove any unwanted hits etc.
So what I do is work out a basic pattern of rhythms I want for verse, chorus bridge etc. and put that into the arranger
Then go and work out where I want a custom rhythm (usually at the end of a sectio where you want an accent or stop and make the custom rhythm as described above and add them into the aranger at the applicable bars
Also for creating the drum track I use the midi automation envelopes to vary velocity, powerplay etc.
And now Ralph has added envelopes for percussion (tambourine on snare etc) but I haven’t had a chance to try that out yet.
Really makes getting a drum track that doesn’t sound programmed easy for me now.
If I don’t like a bar that JS plays I just reset the bar and get JS to replay it and see if I like that bar. Once I like a bar I lock it so it plays the same way everytime
Here’s the first song I recorded with JS if you want an example.
http://www.mp3.com.au/RichLum
Click on the song "Flower"
That was with build 1846 of N
Rich
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| Hi Mark I just saw your post but i am on the way out the door to take my son out to eat. I will get back to you with more info. If i forget, start a new post that says HEY TED, YOU FORGOT, hehe. I think you will really like the DD 55, I think the samples are super. You have the ability to make a custom kit as i described in my earlier post in this thread. Look into this, if you want to put together a super incredible kit. I’ll be back, Ted |
Thanks Ted.
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| I find Jamstix very customisable now except for the fills. (although yu can just program your own rhythm and use that as a fill…) …… Here’s the first song I recorded with JS if you want an example. http://www.mp3.com.au/RichLum Click on the song "Flower" That was with build 1846 of N |
Thanks Rich. I had a listen to this over in the over part of the forum. My feelings with Jamstix is that it’s a great technology, but it’s an emerging technology. It seems like a drummer who’s just joined the band and doesn’t play anything wrong, just not quite right. As I’ve said before I’m very picky - perhaps too picky.
I’m beginning to think that there may not be just one solution to this problem for me. I will probably still continue to program in Fruity, I have bongos, a tambourine, maracas for “live” percussion, I used my drum machine on a song last week, and now I’ve got the DD-55 to try. Perhaps I’l be adding Jamstix to the list once I’ve got more comfortable with it, or the next generation comes out.
Mark
Hi Mark
Finally gettin back to you here. That was a really big meal 
The DD 55 in my opinion is really easy to operate, the manual explains things well, it is well written and uncluttered. After you have done a few things with it, the controls feel almost intuitive.
There are some great hand percussion samples in the unit in addition to the regular kits.
I don’t use the Midi feature, so I am afraid I can’t be much help with that aspect of it.
When I am playing parts I usually reassign the bass drum pedals to the pads on the main console rather than the foot pedals. Not being a true drummer, this makes things easier for me. As I mentioned earlier I may spread the drum take across several tracks so I have less to coordinate at any one given time.
I like the level of reverb on the parts I have recorded so far, it seems to sit well in the mix. However, if you feel it is more than u need, then you can adjust it easily, as Gtr4him mentioned. You can also adjust the volume of the individual kit pieces.
Of course there is much more you can do, but i should probably let you play with it a bit and then field any additional questions you may have.
HAVE FUN It really works
Ted
Thanks Ted. Looking forward to getting my hands (sticks?) on the thing.
Mark
I hate drum machines/sequencers because the feel is just never right (if you’re not a techno / 80’s synthpop lover). Occasionally I still punch in something in Fruity Loops just to get an idea going, but I find it’s so stiff & mecanical.
Punching real time parts in with a keyboard is difficult as well–it’s hard to get the timing and feel right, and it takes multiple dubs to get a complete drum part.
I’ve gone to recorded loops and much prefer it. I’d rather work an idea around a basic loop (with real drums, dynamics, and timing) and then go to a real drummer when it’s time to make a real song.
This site (Jim Dooley) has some very good loops for a great price: http://www.dooleydrums.com/
I’ll go with the loops. Betamonkey. Got three cd’s now of loops and they are great. As far as customizing a drum track, Betamonkey has single hits for toms, snares, cymbals etc…all at different velocities for each, more than enough samples to create your own drum track. I’ve used drum machine, drum software and hands down, drum loops…at least from Betamonkey has u up and running in minimal time. My deux cents 
Bob
i’ll second the betamonkeymusic loops. the guy does a good job of putting together usable variations and fills.
i’ve learned that sometimes i have to write and create off of the drum loop. i usually find something close to what i heard in my head, find some good fills and variations for chorus and bridge and go with it.
betamonkey and acid helped solve a lot of my drum track woes.
hope you find your groove.
later…
I also have started using Loops after a 1 1/2 years of midi based drums. As a drummer of 35 years who had to quite because Mr. Arthur got to the joints, the midi drums where just getting too “tedious”. So after my first CD I went looking and found out about drum loops. It came down to Smart Loops, Drums on Demand, and Beta Monkey. For my first set up I went with Beta Monkey (Pure Country, DrumWerks 5 & 6) and am extremely happy with them. I set the grooves up in Mixcraft, if I need to adjust the tempo I place them in Acid. Beta Monkey has some some cool stuff, tho I am going to try out the DOD ones next.
I think these beat programmed drums hands down, but don’t come close to rhythms being played by the songwriter. But they work well for me…
So just to close this off, here’s my thoughts on the DR-55 after a day’s playing…
* The in-built sounds are pretty good/useable, but there are only very few cymbals.
* It’s wierd playing the hi-hat in the wrong place. In fact the whole thing is a bit strange to play but you can quickly get used to it. My son, who is a drummer, got going on it quite quickly.
* Because the pads are touch (hit) sensitive, it’s possible to do some subtle things, especially on the snare… little frills etc that would be hard to programme.
* I got the midi out going into my DR880 drum machine… got some better sounds in there. Had to play with the pads midi assignments. The DR880 is touch sensitive too which is cool.
* Got n-Track to record the midi out too so I could assign it to a soundfont or the DR880. n-Track struggled to sync the midi in a song with lots of tracks, but in a new song it was fine. More work to do there methinks.
So all in all, another string to the bow or stick to the kit. Not perfect, but very useable. Think I’ll probably end up recording the midi out rather than a wav track so I can cut/paste/repair after a take.
Mark