Ok so I'v been working on 2 step garage and deep stuff a lot more lately but I can't get my drum beats sounding the way I want them to. They sound way to upbeat and happy and in my head I want more of a hollow, deep, sad sound. Pitching everything down, adding small reverb, and slowing the tempo from 136-140 to 130-134 helps a little bit but it just doesn't seem to work the way I want it to. I thought I might be focusing to much with the swing on the hats, but if I make the hats more simple it doesn't have the garage sound. Here is how I have been making my beats. I start with the kick on the 1, 3, 5, and 7, and snare on 2, 4, 6, and 8. Then the strong hats on the 1 and 3 of each number ( if that makes sense? so the way i look at its 1234 is 1 (in 16ths) so the hats go on the 1 and 3 of 1) Then i take out a couple strong hats and shift a couple over and move them off grid because they are on the (offbeat)? Then i add in all the other hats randomly and shift them around while the grid is off and change the snares and kicks around to. So im not sure if it is still a 2 step beat at the end but w/e. I have been reading as much about drum programming as i can here, on future garage forum, and anywhere else. But i still can't get a beat that i like and can work with. So if any of you can help or teach me something that would be great
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:54 am
by ehbes
Low pass hats and snares a bit
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:55 am
by Hircine
You won't find much shit on my soundcloud to serve as an example but I get sad vibes with large and dark plate reverbs low passed at 5khz~6khz. Try using cold sounds like darabukas and metallic snares, sparse claps heavily reverberated and white noise going through a resonator / sound generators bandpassed with shit tons of reverb. So yeah, it's more sample choice, reverb and ambience than the progamming per se.
I maybe wrong though, I'm sleepy as fuck.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:43 am
by Smiles
Thanks guys im going to sleep so il try those in the morning and tell you guys if it improved anything. But heres a simple thing i can't figure out.
If this is at 140 bpm and 16ths is it 2 beats long or 4 beats long? b = bass drum. s = snare. o = open hat. h = closed hat.
Edit: typing it didn't work so took a screen shot and posted it sorry if its too tiny.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:12 am
by RandoRando
this is what i think of when you say sad drums, this tune is fucking amazing, and vaccine is a girl! and a frequent poster on this forum! well at least she used to be
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:15 am
by ogunslinger
Find some happy drums and flip them upside down
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:22 am
by jrisreal
Not too bad of an idea actually. Not sure how it would sound, but you can convert sound to images (representation of the frequency spectrum over time) and images to sound. If you could convert the sound to image, flip the image vertically, and then back to sound...that could be interesting.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:32 am
by alpz
You want something that portrays the constituents of sadness. Reluctance, lack of motivation, brooding, apathy, pessimism. Try and think of how you would play a drum kit if you were in the depths of depression. Lazily tapping the cymbals, sparse percussion, apathy to your very act of drumming, maybe the occasional attack of aggression on the snare or kick, dropping the drums out all together for certain stretches. Try to balance these elements with carrying the rhythm of a track, not the easiest task but definitely doable. Vaccine's track has excellent percussion for what you're after from what I gather.
Also samples, like previously mentioned, are a huge part of this vibe. You'll probably want samples that aren't so clean and crisp, but have some grit and character to them. Reverb is an easy way to get some darker sounds into drums too.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:34 am
by alpz
Understated is a good word for the drum track here.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:38 pm
by Smiles
All of you guys have been a big help thanks. Think i got almost all the info i need.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:42 pm
by Eskimo
Try layering rimshots with snares too
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 6:45 pm
by Hircine
follow objekt's advice: besides the volume, link velocity to a low pass filter cuttof and to the envelope decay to obtain a more fluid and expressive sound.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:01 pm
by dubesteppe
Soundcloud the drums in this sound pretty sad. i think its the old samples/ vinyl distortion in combination with the pattern
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:08 pm
by jrisreal
Those drums are nice...but I don't think it's the drums giving it the sad sound. Either way, awesome tune.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:29 pm
by dubesteppe
its a shame hes wasting his talent making generic techno tunes under his new alais "space laces"
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:38 pm
by DIGIPLAST
jrisreal wrote:Those drums are nice...but I don't think it's the drums giving it the sad sound. Either way, awesome tune.
my thoughts, too.
kick and snare are always present, use hats only occasionally. the rest comes from the surrounding instruments.
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 11:24 pm
by Kochari
Most emotional drums I know. In fact, whole album is a masterpiece. To me, glitchyness can be really sad.
I've been told I have sad drums in a lot of my tunes. Though not the one in my sig
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 4:36 am
by tuckerlinen
any excuse to post this
Re: Sad drums?
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:43 am
by wub
Hircine wrote:follow objekt's advice: besides the volume, link velocity to a low pass filter cuttof and to the envelope decay to obtain a more fluid and expressive sound.
Probably one of the best 'tips' I've ever read on here.