DOOOOOOM - the glitched drums are great, feels kinda cinematic sometimes. gooooood times!

DOOOOOOM - the glitched drums are great, feels kinda cinematic sometimes. gooooood times!

Thanks! Manual drum glitching in Ableton is probably my favourite way to do it so far. There were concerns I'd forgotten how to do it, apparently not.

[quote=midimachine]DOOOOOOM - the glitched drums are great, feels kinda cinematic sometimes. gooooood times![/quote] Thanks! Manual drum glitching in Ableton is probably my favourite way to do it so far. There were concerns I'd forgotten how to do it, apparently not.

It's 1986. There's no water left on Earth. We're all going to die, but the Marauders are going to make sure some of us die faster.

It's 1986. There's no water left on Earth. We're all going to die, but the Marauders are going to make sure some of us die faster.

Awesome apocalyptic vibe. I'm personally trying to get better with composing percussion so I'm curious if you manually plotted each rhythm into your midi editor or if you used a touch pad and improvise the structure? It sounds very detailed and varied like it took a lot of time.

Awesome apocalyptic vibe. I'm personally trying to get better with composing percussion so I'm curious if you manually plotted each rhythm into your midi editor or if you used a touch pad and improvise the structure? It sounds very detailed and varied like it took a lot of time.

Big and boomy, love the heavy sound.

Big and boomy, love the heavy sound.

Hey, good question!

I'm going to break my response into a few sections - until I figured out each section myself, I could not understand why I was having issues with percussion.

When percussion happens
Happen right after the atmosphere layer is created. Having an atmosphere layer not only gives a feeling to how the perc can sound, but gives opportunity to see where gaps / variations could happen.

The initial, basic drum sequence is played into Ableton using a Midifighter 3D.

There's always a hit that keeps time. Sometimes this will be the snare, other times it will be the kick or a hat. Once you start listening to more and more tracks with this in mind, you'll start to notice it more.

So when I'm smashing away on my Midifighter, there's always at least one type of hit keeping time.

Being a basic bitch
It's worth noting here that the drum perc starts off pretty basic while recording. This gives me plenty of space to work in variation later.

If it's too busy, you'll find a lot of it is lost anyway because you'll be smashing stuff up.

Clean up
The percussion is then cleaned up in Ableton's midi editor, removing any mistakes and quantizing where necessary. It doesn't really matter if there's minor timing delays on the hits, except for the hit that is supposed to be keeping time.

This definitely brings the "humanity" back into the music.

Creating variation, or throwing your sample down the stairs
I'll then bounce the midi track down to an audio track and get to manually slicing and manipulating the slices. This can be time consuming, but with a bit of practice, can be pretty quick. Learning your DAWs shortcuts will help significantly.

In Ableton, it's really, really easy to do.

There are plugin's that do this mangling for you, however, I would recommend you take the time to learn. You'll pick it up quickly and the skills are transferrable. Learning to do this on my Octatrack was pretty easy because I'd practiced in Ableton for awhile beforehand.

It doesn't take me too long, per track it's about 30minutes to an hour or so. Depends on how in depth you want to get.

It's the vibe
The apocalyptic vibe probably comes from the constant snare to keep time.
Sometimes it will change to the kick, and other parts will be the crash. The snare tends to alternate on a x...2...x...4...

While everything else is getting mixed up, the timing hit will usually be constant.

Getting better

Recommendations would be as follows:
- find a way to input percussion with a device instead of with a mouse. This can be your keyboard (if your DAW supports it), your Midi Keyboard, or in my case, using a Midifighter 3D.
- Use your mouse to make minor adjustments instead of programming everything out. Trust me, it will change your life.

- Download Melodics, it's like Guitar Hero but for finger drumming. They have a free version that you can use for 5 minutes a day to see if it's your thing. The subscription version is well worth the money.

Learning different drumming techniques and styles is incredibly important. Even in genres you wouldn't normally come across.

Weapon of choice
The Midifighter 3D is a great device. It's sturdy, cost effective and very good for both beginners and experts of finger drumming.

It can take a solid beating and the hard buttons seem to work a lot better than the soft-style buttons that seem to be popular in most devices. It's not velocity sensitive, but I've found that's to my advantage. I can always go in and adjust velocity later if I need to.

Conclusion
I hope this helps. Let me know if you've got any further questions. If you want me to elaborate or if you meant something different and I've gone on a tangent in the wrong direction.

[quote=ViridianLoom]Awesome apocalyptic vibe. I'm personally trying to get better with composing percussion so I'm curious if you manually plotted each rhythm into your midi editor or if you used a touch pad and improvise the structure? It sounds very detailed and varied like it took a lot of time.[/quote] Hey, good question! I'm going to break my response into a few sections - until I figured out each section myself, I could not understand why I was having issues with percussion. [b][i]When percussion happens[/i][/b] Happen right after the atmosphere layer is created. Having an atmosphere layer not only gives a feeling to how the perc can sound, but gives opportunity to see where gaps / variations could happen. The initial, basic drum sequence is played into Ableton using a Midifighter 3D. There's always a hit that keeps time. Sometimes this will be the snare, other times it will be the kick or a hat. Once you start listening to more and more tracks with this in mind, you'll start to notice it more. So when I'm smashing away on my Midifighter, there's always at least one type of hit keeping time. [b][i]Being a basic bitch[/i][/b] It's worth noting here that the drum perc starts off pretty basic while recording. This gives me plenty of space to work in variation later. If it's too busy, you'll find a lot of it is lost anyway because you'll be smashing stuff up. [b][i]Clean up[/i][/b] The percussion is then cleaned up in Ableton's midi editor, removing any mistakes and quantizing where necessary. It doesn't really matter if there's minor timing delays on the hits, except for the hit that is supposed to be keeping time. This definitely brings the "humanity" back into the music. [b][i]Creating variation, or throwing your sample down the stairs[/i][/b] I'll then bounce the midi track down to an audio track and get to manually slicing and manipulating the slices. This can be time consuming, but with a bit of practice, can be pretty quick. Learning your DAWs shortcuts will help significantly. In Ableton, it's really, really easy to do. There are plugin's that do this mangling for you, however, I would recommend you take the time to learn. You'll pick it up quickly and the skills are transferrable. Learning to do this on my Octatrack was pretty easy because I'd practiced in Ableton for awhile beforehand. It doesn't take me too long, per track it's about 30minutes to an hour or so. Depends on how in depth you want to get. [b][i]It's the vibe[/i][/b] The apocalyptic vibe probably comes from the constant snare to keep time. Sometimes it will change to the kick, and other parts will be the crash. The snare tends to alternate on a x...2...x...4... While everything else is getting mixed up, the timing hit will usually be constant. [b][i] Getting better[/i][/b] Recommendations would be as follows: - find a way to input percussion with a device instead of with a mouse. This can be your keyboard (if your DAW supports it), your Midi Keyboard, or in my case, using a Midifighter 3D. - Use your mouse to make minor adjustments instead of programming everything out. Trust me, it will change your life. - Download Melodics, it's like Guitar Hero but for finger drumming. They have a free version that you can use for 5 minutes a day to see if it's your thing. The subscription version is well worth the money. Learning different drumming techniques and styles is incredibly important. Even in genres you wouldn't normally come across. [b][i] Weapon of choice[/i][/b] The Midifighter 3D is a great device. It's sturdy, cost effective and very good for both beginners and experts of finger drumming. It can take a solid beating and the hard buttons seem to work a lot better than the soft-style buttons that seem to be popular in most devices. It's not velocity sensitive, but I've found that's to my advantage. I can always go in and adjust velocity later if I need to. [b][i] Conclusion[/i][/b] I hope this helps. Let me know if you've got any further questions. If you want me to elaborate or if you meant something different and I've gone on a tangent in the wrong direction.

Yes that was massively informative, thank you for taking the time to type that all out!

Yes that was massively informative, thank you for taking the time to type that all out!

You're welcome. I look forward to hearing what you do next, feel free to message me again if you need any further information.

[quote=ViridianLoom]Yes that was massively informative, thank you for taking the time to type that all out![/quote] You're welcome. I look forward to hearing what you do next, feel free to message me again if you need any further information.