RE DRUM TYRICKS….MORE TRICKS.

thanks folks.

as there seems to be interest in this topic here are some more drum tracks tricks and tips.
please note what i do , instead of experimenting with drums in bb (or rb) actual song chord sheet ive laid out…I do this in a separate bb file for the song where I can try all sorts of ideas.
eg let's say the song is called 'crazee rock' …
Then I will test out things in a separate file chord sheet called CR+DRUM+TESTS.

So let's get to it.
(note lots of these ideas also apply to rb. advantage of rb being lots more tracks (256) to test and experiment and comp drum tracks. what follows should also apply for mac users except the rb aspects.)

1..you find you really really like a drum sound in a rd. but no drum stem. how to isolate it ? eg a cymbal. how to isolate that cym you like ?
Try the following.
..look in the pg drum picker and note the bpm range.
..then try slowing the bpm in the drum test bb file to see if you can isolate the cym you like.
..if your successfull then simply use editing to just isolate the cymbal.
..note be careful going too far outside the rd bpm range shown in the rd picker.
..also note you should use the tips in my original post ie experimenting with markers and sub styles and where you put them. sometimes at a slower bpm and testing out using the tips in my original post you can isolate a drum sound.

2..another tip is let's say you love a rd sound eg a latin perc here's how you might be able to isolate the drum sound and use it at various time points in your song.
let me say in advance this is a bit of a dodgy tip….and involves auditioning the source bb rd files in windows. so what i do is WITHOUT DISTURBING THE PG FILE STRUCTURES..
copy the whole drum library out to a separate folder ive set up in win....eg called 'RD TESTS'....ie completely separate from the BB dirs/folders thus leaving the pg content as you received it.
let me reinforce its vital you dont mess with the pg file structures or content.
ALL YOUR DOING IS COPYING THE PG DRUM LIBS.
SO DO AT YOUR OWN RISK AND DELETE OR MOVE NOTHING IN THE PG CONTENT.
(note i recommend when you receive the pg ultrapak or whatever you back it up to another drive or more .
in my case i backed up the pg ultrapak sent to a very fast m2 ssd in an enclosure. and THAT is what i hook up over usb to the pc. which might be why my bb gen times for track genning from pg content occurs in the blink of an eye for me. also the fact that pg have sped up the gen routines...ymmv.)
So let's take an example.
In our crazee rock song we have a pretty decent guide bed drum track happening.but testing rd's you discover as i said you like a latin perc sound for use in the crazee song.

youve tried the tips ive mentioned prior to grab the latin perc sound you like..but no go..so how to isolate it ?
answer…go to the end of the pg demo rd youve copied and played in win and often youll find sometimes the drum sound you want is isolated at the end.
and there's another way ive found also.
use bb song ending feature in the chord sheet with maybe a lowering of tempo and sometimes you can grab the drum sound you want. in this case a latin perc sound.
Once again let me say ONLY COPY THE PG DRUM CONTENT TO YOUR DRUMS TEST FOLDER.
then you can test forever in your media player.
Now let's continue with more tips.

3..maybe like me you have various family responsibilities and dont have the budget for expensive drum libraries like many commercial recording studios
can afford.
Thus, here's some suggestions.
..over time build up your own drum library not just with drum sounds you have isolated but also there are lots of free drum sounds on the net as well as in free drum plugins you can try out. There are lots of sources for both natural and synthesised drum sounds.
(note that the synth that comes with bb/rb has synth drum sounds and fx etc etc.)
In summary you could build a huge lib of drum sounds including ones you have created yourself in your studio from scratch. all with the idea of reinforcing basic drum tracks.
..there are free vst plug in sample players on the net you can use.
look for ones that let you load drum sounds into different 'cells'....eg if i remember computer music mag uk has various drum plug ins….
and in total 80 instruments and fx plug-ins for a pittance.
if you cant do a song that wows your fans useing those 80 cm plugins plus the pg dx fx and synth plugins you wont with anything imho.
also often lots of drum samples included with cm mag.
Here's the you tube link for demos of the cm plugins. some are absolutely delightfull…but caution...some
use more cpu than others of course.

https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerMusicMag/videos

now go make some groovy grooves lol.
please note that realband (rb) has some additional neat tricks up its sleeve including quickie drum styles.
just consult the manual. also now rb has 256 tracks.
The skys the limit. in some cases you might be able to isolate a drum sound in rb tracks view and using some of the ideas ive outlined. lots of tricks to discover and your own methods of working in bb/rb.

I hope the above helps further.

happiness.

om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 03/13/24 06:34 AM.
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)