Can you program your own realistic sounding drums without (gasp) a drummer? Some say yes, some say no. Here are a few tips to help you get at least a little closer.
Start at the Source
Programming drums is all about triggering samples with MIDI information. The same rules apply to working with a real drum mer for a recording: You want some rhythm. You want some feel. You want a kit that sounds good. In the world of MIDI this entails having a sample based plug-in of some sort. Our two favourites around the rebel base are Addictive Drums and Battery 3. You can also find drum samples as part of other larger sample libraries like Sampletank and Dimension Pro. It is important to start with a decent enough source sound, or you will just be frustrated if you are trying to make them sound realistic.
Ready-made or Play-it-yourself
Some plug-ins come with MIDI beats built in, like Steinberg's Groove Agent 2 or the aforementioned Addictive Drums. These beats may not be exactly what you want, but they will sure get you grooving in a hurry. With any of the drum sample plug-ins you can also used pre made MIDI beats by companies like Groove Monkee. And then there is the long, often painful, but always rewarding direction of programming the beats yourself. You can do this by using a MIDI controller to trigger the sounds. A typical drum layout on a MIDI controller is found below.
An easy way to program is to play your best through the whole song and then go back and cut and paste the parts you like.
Make Some Frequent Mistakes
You can quantize your drums, which is something that forces the MIDI information into a particular grid, but remember: real drums sound like they are being played by a real person. And real people make mistakes. Don't forget to either leave in some mistakes or make some frequent ones if you have quantized your track. Not big ones, just small changes to make the track sound human. Take the snap off in Cubase or put it to Slip mode in Pro Tools and just slide around and humanize a few of those MIDI hits.
Share Your Reverb
One great way to blend your MIDI drums into the rest of your track is to create a "send effect" with some room reverb, then send not only your MIDI drums, but also a little bit of the other instruments to the send effect. Let them mix and mingle and create the illusion to the listener that they were all once in the same room together.
Supplements
If your drum sounds are not cutting it, maybe it is time at the end to supplement them. Many programmers will record some real cymbals, percussion or snare drum over top of their programmed drums. This can a lot of difference if you take the extra effort.
Wrapping Up
These are just a few of the drum programming tricks and approaches I have used over the years to try to create realistic sounding drums using MIDI. And the best part of all: There is no need to rent a van!
