Drums

[blackwax]

Hi Dennis
Many thanks for this session it is truly appreciated

My question is what is your favourite piece of kit for making beats and why
Please explain the process you use for beat creation

Many thanks

[dennis f]

In all honesty my favoritism tends to shift on a at the moment need.
I'm currently into Native Instruments Maschine. It's sort of fxpansion's Guru but with a dedicated controller. Since I tend to mangle as I create, I like the idea of having knobs and a pseudo drum machine controller. I think a big part of the creative process is in getting tools that make you feel comfortable. So while there are competitors that basically kind of do the same thing you tend to want to work with the current fruit you're digging at the moment.
When i'm looking for a clap i'm not just randomly go through presets till i find them. Most who know me....know that i have a particular sounding clap in my head when i make the drums. I usually mimic it by vocalizing it. I then go about finding a clap that has close to the timbre makeup that i'm looking for. This is where a bit of educating yourself in the process of synthesis comes in handy. If the clap is too long ...I straight away reach for the ADSR(attack, Decay, Sustain, Release) and adjust. Most of the times i'll tune the clap down a few steps and then adjust the adsr to suit. Next I'd play around with the cutoff filter and envelopes to see if anything interesting comes out of that. If i'm in ableton then this is where it gets fun as Live allows you to mangle to your heart's content. If i'm in Nuendo then it's more a traditional approach where I begin to maybe put in a compressor...maybe a short 40ms delay with hardly any feedback. You sort of invent as you go...sometimes it works sometimes it won't. That's what makes making music fun. You just don't know where a process will lead you until the magic moment where you go..
OH SH!T That's HOT!

lmao

BTW Compression is over-rated. You don't need it on everything...trust me. You only use it as a.) a sound creation tool or b.) to control amplitude variances and if so just enough to keep it in line...not crushed(unless that's what ya want..then see a.) ) lol



DF

[blackwax]

Thank you very much
Some good tips there and in other questions/answers posted

:-)

[Chris Burns]

BTW Compression is over-rated. You don't need it on everything...trust me. You only use it as a.) a sound creation tool or b.) to control amplitude variances and if so just enough to keep it in line...not crushed(unless that's what ya want..then see a.) ) lol



DF

I've read in other interviews how you like to beef your sounds or softsynths up with hardware preamps. I guess this is instead of reaching for a compressor to try to handle this task?

Also, from what you have been saying in these thread, it sounds like you are flushing certain sounds/ideas out in Ableton, but bouncing down and finishing your in Nuendo? Or is it a project to project type situation?

[dennis f]

..... I guess this is instead of reaching for a compressor to try to handle this task?

yup...vintage preamps or tape decks. Anything that can tame the non needed extreme high end that the digital domain can reproduce.

....flushing certain sounds/ideas out in Ableton, but bouncing down and finishing your in Nuendo? Or is it a project to project type situation?

Project to project situation....but I do dig the creative flow that Ableton seems to get you into. They can't be beat at that...but I have issues with sound quality with it. Not as drama filled as other people tend to think. It's quite on par with every other daw except for the extreme low end..like around 30 - 40hz. Something isn't quite right down there. Or maybe Nuendo adds something down there. Either way I prefer Nuendo for mixing....Live for writing.