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Internet Technologies Hi-Hat Drum Samples - 2 Mistakes
Internet Technologies Hi-Hat Drum Samples - 2 Mistakes
| Hi-Hat Drum Samples - 2 Mistakes |
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| Written by John Gellei |
| Saturday, 05 December 2009 08:32 |
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There are so many different-sounding types of hi-hats (or just hats) available today, and the range of drum samples that go along with them is also ever-increasing. Many people, when thinking about their favorite songs of the year, could probably tap out the snare and kick drum samples without thinking, but the hats? That's another deal. You see, the hi-hat has resigned itself to be simply a supporting sound, backing up its big brothers, the snare and kick drums. This is not a bad thing, though. The two mistakes made by producers are not just the domain of amateur producers who may not know better, but also of professional music producers and beat makers. The first mistake we will look at concerns the volume of hi-hats. There is definitely a battle of the loud out there, and we try to compress and tighten everything up, but the fact of the matter is we don't need to do this for hi-hats. Hats are plenty loud as it is. Many hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans were pray to aerial monsters that let out sounds that share similar frequencies with hi-hats. We have developed a tendency to pick these sounds out quickly, so drop those hi-hat drum samples down a few decibels - your audience will hear them. Mixing the hi-hats in a little bit lower is great practice - two or three decibels should do. Unless you're going to 'mix out' these samples completely, you can go pretty low and still be sure that your audience will pick them up. Remember that for every six decibels up or down, the sound doubles or halves respectively. The second mistake that gets a lot of attention in audiophile circles regarding hi-hat drum samples is the lack of authenticity in songs. If you're developing a MIDI track for a rock song and decide to include, say, a 1/16th constant hi-hat pattern throughout every bar, you need to be wary of the possibility of other instruments to play off this constant hit. Your drummer should not be hitting the hi-hat, snare, tom and cymbal all at the same time, as this is practically impossible to achieve with two and even three arms if that came along. So aim for an authentic pattern, especially if you're producing rock tracks and other genres where the ability to replicate the sample track in a live setting is a necessity. If, for instance, you're making a dance track, the realness can be toned down a bit or completely dismissed, as there is a general acceptance in your listener that this is all made on a drum machine or sequencer. So you can really go wild here and not worry about those rules. If you can manage to get your hands on professional programs likle BFD ('Big F'n Drums') or Toontrack's EZ Drummer, you can learn a great deal when it comes to organizing and sequencing drums properly for use in live settings, like those for rock and metal songs, for example. Then make note of what appeals to you and what you could implement. About the Author: Are you after the best hip hop samples on the net? Check out drum samples for all your music production needs. Kindly provided by MoneyHunter.org You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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