The World Of Drum Layering

[ESP]

Ok, Now For Those Who Do Not Want To Share Your Tips Or Tricks You Can Exit Out Of This Thread Right Now, No Disrespect Of Course; I've Layered Drumz In My Own Way And Am Curious Of Various Different Ways "real" Producers Do Their Drum Layering, This Is An Enrichment Thread So Any Information Giving Here Either From Myself Our Anybody Else Will Be Well Worth The Post So Again, Back To The Question At Hand, How Do U Layer Your Drumz?

[ATL Crunk Man]

Simple... I just tweak each of my drums differently, so that I can thicken their sound, or give it that extra "sharp pop" since I'm from the south. Once I'm satisfied with the way the drums are tweaked, I just layer them over each other. Dis way, the drums will sound unique, and not generic, or played out.

[ArkaneGotBeats]

This Is What I Do To Bring Out The Drums Somemoe.....
I Slap A Reverb On That Ass An That Does The Trick For Me.....
Have Any Of You Used Reverb? Insted Of Layering........

[Prophecy]

Any drum sample you use, you have to figure someone has used it before. When I really go into mixing and mastering for songs that are featured on cds (not just rough beats) I use at least 2 different kicks, and layers of snares and hats.

Kicks - I always like to have a little thump to all my beats, unless I'm not going for that sound. I get this by tweaking levels on 808 or 909 drums usually. I will start with the basic kick sound I want and get that right. Then, I usually add teh 808 / 909 kick, drop it to a lower tone and then tighten it up to give me that sharp kick. Then I will generally add another kick or two in for fullness and flavor. I like adding more than 2 so that I can obtain a sound that doesn't come off as digitally created, being that I usaully make all my own drum kits on my computer. Once I do that....they need to be tweaked with velocity adjusted so it sounds complete and not scattered. Granted, this is what I prefer to do, find your own drum layers that work best for you and your sound. Be original, eventually you will find your trademark style.

Snares/Claps - Most the time I do roughly the same thing with my snares. I will start with a sound I like. Then I usually add a clap and maybe a snap or rimshot as well. Creates fullness, I love claps undetected behind snares, they sound nice. Sometimes I'll throw in hats or shakers or something for thickness. You can add damn near anything to your snare sounds and make it sound hot... The more you experiment, the more original sound you will have...people will notice that. Snares go unnoticed, but the can make or break a song. Record yourself hitting a piece of plastic with a pencil....it could be hot...

Hats - Have to use at least 2 per each sequence of hats, otherwise you get this empty/mono/solo kinda sounded hat that sounds like it doesn't belong. Layer your hats!!! A slight bit of reverb and/or delay might prove to thicken up the sound of the hats. I also really like tweaking humanization settings with hats. This way it won't sound so digitally seqeuenced. I mean, sequencers are great, but when you plug in a note it plays it exactly. You've gotta throw in some humanizing on your hats, and drums all together, or all your beats will sound like all my old stuff..... = WACK!

Other - You will find that if you can manage to fill empty spots of your beat with various percussion instruments, you will get a fuller song. Try playing around with various percussion sounds that you would normally not use, do this to gain a feel and sound that may be slightly unothadox. Go against the current! You can also insert multiple unnoticed hits to improve your sonic quality. Reference an early issue of scratch explaining this. Sonic Quality can be increased/acheieved even by inserting a simple snare, woodblock, or whatever on every 1/8 of each bar, although its best to switch it up. You can insert a sound and lower the velocity so its nearly unheard, but you may at the same time create a more rich, fuller drum section.


What did we learn?

Layering is the shit....take your time and get better, I pick up something new everyday.

[ATL Crunk Man]

Any drum sample you use, you have to figure someone has used it before. When I really go into mixing and mastering for songs that are featured on cds (not just rough beats) I use at least 2 different kicks, and layers of snares and hats.

Kicks - I always like to have a little thump to all my beats, unless I'm not going for that sound. I get this by tweaking levels on 808 or 909 drums usually. I will start with the basic kick sound I want and get that right. Then, I usually add teh 808 / 909 kick, drop it to a lower tone and then tighten it up to give me that sharp kick. Then I will generally add another kick or two in for fullness and flavor. I like adding more than 2 so that I can obtain a sound that doesn't come off as digitally created, being that I usaully make all my own drum kits on my computer. Once I do that....they need to be tweaked with velocity adjusted so it sounds complete and not scattered.

Snares/Claps - Most the time I do roughly the same thing with my snares. I will start with a sound I like. Then I usually add a clap and maybe a snap or rimshot as well. Creates fullness, I love claps undetected behind snares, they sound nice. Sometimes I'll throw in hats or shakers or something for thickness. You can add damn near anything to your snare sounds and make it sound hot... The more you experiment, the more original sound you will have...people will notice that. Snares go unnoticed, but the can make or break a song. Record yourself hitting a piece of plastic with a pencil....it could be hot...

Hats - Have to use at least 2 per each sequence of hats, otherwise you get this empty/mono/solo kinda sounded hat that sounds like it doesn't belong. Layer your hats!!! A slight bit of reverb and/or delay might prove to thicken up the sonic quality of your hats...try it


What did we learn?

Layering is the shit....take your time and get better, I pick up something new everyday.
Exactly! You said what I was going to say, but I didn't feel like typing all of that shit.

[Prophecy]

Thanks I edited some more in.

http://www.rocbattle.com/battle_details.php?id=11997&section=pb

^Reference my battle posted above where I did virtually none of the things I spoke on. Funny...I should be a teacher...

"DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO"

Like I said all that effort I like to put into my drums for beats people either have purchased from us or are going on one of our cds, it can be hard work, but really pays off just to hear someone say... "man! I really like your snare hits"

************************************************** ******************

Then again, some people can make a beat in 5 minutes with no layers a simple melody and wack ass drums and make a hit.......*cough*.....LAFFY TAFFY.....

Props to them on that though... I'm not good with real commercial sounding beats, so if you can do it, do it... I like to make beats that you can listen to without lyrics...if i can

[EddieKain]

Props to you Prophecy... Im sure there are some noobs and maybe even some vets that could use that advice.

[ATL Crunk Man]

With the exception of Dem Franchize Boyz, I hate dat snap music shit (i.e. Laffy Taffy, etc...). Even though I'm from da south, I just have no love for dat simple-ass shit, but I can't hate on the producers who are getting paid off of it.

[Prophecy]

Props to you Prophecy... Im sure there are some noobs and maybe even some vets that could use that advice.


Thanks...I've been trying to go back and edit/adjust anything I've posted to add to it.

You can have a mod sticky this, or even better.... We should start a member tutorial section with help topics and info BY members FOR members of things that you may not be able to find help topics on... Surely, I can use some help on sampling techniques...

Yes, I think stickied threads in a new section would be cool.

[ESP]

I use various ways , but to put a little tip out there for anyone who never layered drums , try this effective trick:


1. GET 2 DRUMS SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO BE LAYERED
2. IMPORT THEM IN YOUR DAW (CUBASE, PRO-TOOLS, LIVE, ETC...)
3. PUT THEM ON SEPERATE TRACKS
4. CREATE AN FX TRACK (A TRACK THAT U CAN INSERT SOME PLUG-INS, FOR THE PROS, THIS IS AND AUX/FX SEND TRACK)
5. APPLY A COMPRESSOR AND EQ PLUG-IN TO THE FX TRACK (AND YES, YOU CAN USE THE EQ OF THE ACTUALLY CHANNEL STRIP TOO, BUT I MUCH RATHER USE A HIGH END PLUG IN LIKE A Q-8 FROM WAVES)
6.NOW, ON THE 2 TRACKS THAT YOU HAVE THE SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO LAYER, DECIDE WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR IMPACT AND PUNCH ( MID FREQUENCIES) AND WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR BOTTOM AND DEPTH (LOW FREQUENCIES)
7. AFTER YOUR FIGURE THAT OUT, TURN THE FX TRACKS VOLUME FADER ALL THE WAY DOWN!! SEND THE TRACK THAT WILL BE THE BOTTOM FREQUENCY TO THE FX TRACK( AGAIN PROS, THIS IS SENDING A SIGNAL TO BE RETURNED TO MASTER TRACK)
8. NOW, ON THE FX TRACK, USE THE EQ BY APPYING +6 GAIN IN THE 65HZ- 100HZ ( THESE ARE GENERAL SETTINGS AND SHOULD BE APPLIED TO YOUR LIKING)
9. NOW, USE THE COMPRESSOR BY LEAVING IT AT A GENERAL SETTING AND APPLYING +3 db ON THE OUTPUT GAIN OF THE COMPRESSOR (AGAIN, THIS IS TO YOUR LIKING!!)
10. TURN THE FX TRACK VOLUME FADER UP SLOWLY !!!!
11. YOU SHOULD START TO HEAR SOME HIDDEN LOWS APPEAR AS YOU RAISE THE FX TRACK VOLUME.
12. ONCE YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH WHERE THE BOTTOM IS GO BACK TO THE TRACK THAT DEALS WITH THE MID FREQUENCIES AND RAISE THE VOLUME TILL YOU CAN HEAR THE MIDS LOCKING WITH THE LOWS.

NOTE: IF YOU ADD A LIMITER TO THE FX TRACK ALONG WITH THE COMPRESSOR AND EQ, YOU GET AN EVEN STRONGER DRUM WITHOUT DISTORTING IT OR CLIPPING IN THE RED


THIS TRICK IS A WIDELY USE TRICK BUT ONLY SOME CAN MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S WORTH USING, I'VE USE THIS WITHOUT LAYERING DRUMS AND STILL GOT A BANGING DRUM EFFECT!!! OnE

[Drugz]

I keep it simple. I just make sure I use good samples. I always stress the low end theory. Just relayer a sample with a filter out copy of its self.

[azzlover123]

a yo im in 2 battles now and im on A basic membership later im gonna call you out nothin personal im jusa wanna see your skillz

[Drugz]

a yo im in 2 battles now and im on A basic membership later im gonna call you out nothin personal im jusa wanna see your skillz


Um are you talking to me............no disrespect but with a name like Azzlover you better have some hot beats.....if you are talking to me dont worry youll get ya chance just dont post the beat you posted in 2 back to back battles. Have a good day at school!

[ATL Crunk Man]

When I layer my drums, I also add a multi-band compressor. If you choose the right preset, it'll thicken your sound, and give your drums more bang/knock.

[slinkco]

Ok, Now For Those Who Do Not Want To Share Your Tips Or Tricks You Can Exit Out Of This Thread Right Now, No Disrespect Of Course; I've Layered Drumz In My Own Way And Am Curious Of Various Different Ways "real" Producers Do Their Drum Layering, This Is An Enrichment Thread So Any Information Giving Here Either From Myself Our Anybody Else Will Be Well Worth The Post So Again, Back To The Question At Hand, How Do U Layer Your Drumz?

The name used for this is called (STACKING)...a number of sounds played at the same time... for example: drumz

KICK== 2 kicks 1 808
SNARE= 1 snare 1 clap 1 percussion

alot of people forget to "TUNE" their drumz to the beat before they EQ it...

[Che Boogy]

When layering, I do it different ways. It really depends on the feel Im going for or what frequencies are already being exploited in the song.

Some things I do:
- Kicks. Gate them all differently. Increase the mid range on 1 of 'em. Add a compression on all. Add rev. on 1 of em and then mix em into one drum to make sure it sounds like one complete drum sound and then resample it.


- I might sample drums from songs, but Ill export it out of my comp to my MPC and ill use a smaller sample rate and make it sound dirty and vintage. After that, Ill mix it with a cleaner sounding drum to bring out the sound im looking for.

- Panning. Different sounds at different sides on the spectrum can make ur drums really authentic. I combine many drums together and pan them and also move back the point that they start by shifting the sound by a couple of milliseconds.

[The WiZz]

Any drum sample you use, you have to figure someone has used it before. When I really go into mixing and mastering for songs that are featured on cds (not just rough beats) I use at least 2 different kicks, and layers of snares and hats.

Kicks - I always like to have a little thump to all my beats, unless I'm not going for that sound. I get this by tweaking levels on 808 or 909 drums usually. I will start with the basic kick sound I want and get that right. Then, I usually add teh 808 / 909 kick, drop it to a lower tone and then tighten it up to give me that sharp kick. Then I will generally add another kick or two in for fullness and flavor. I like adding more than 2 so that I can obtain a sound that doesn't come off as digitally created, being that I usaully make all my own drum kits on my computer. Once I do that....they need to be tweaked with velocity adjusted so it sounds complete and not scattered. Granted, this is what I prefer to do, find your own drum layers that work best for you and your sound. Be original, eventually you will find your trademark style.

Snares/Claps - Most the time I do roughly the same thing with my snares. I will start with a sound I like. Then I usually add a clap and maybe a snap or rimshot as well. Creates fullness, I love claps undetected behind snares, they sound nice. Sometimes I'll throw in hats or shakers or something for thickness. You can add damn near anything to your snare sounds and make it sound hot... The more you experiment, the more original sound you will have...people will notice that. Snares go unnoticed, but the can make or break a song. Record yourself hitting a piece of plastic with a pencil....it could be hot...

Hats - Have to use at least 2 per each sequence of hats, otherwise you get this empty/mono/solo kinda sounded hat that sounds like it doesn't belong. Layer your hats!!! A slight bit of reverb and/or delay might prove to thicken up the sound of the hats. I also really like tweaking humanization settings with hats. This way it won't sound so digitally seqeuenced. I mean, sequencers are great, but when you plug in a note it plays it exactly. You've gotta throw in some humanizing on your hats, and drums all together, or all your beats will sound like all my old stuff..... = WACK!

Other - You will find that if you can manage to fill empty spots of your beat with various percussion instruments, you will get a fuller song. Try playing around with various percussion sounds that you would normally not use, do this to gain a feel and sound that may be slightly unothadox. Go against the current! You can also insert multiple unnoticed hits to improve your sonic quality. Reference an early issue of scratch explaining this. Sonic Quality can be increased/acheieved even by inserting a simple snare, woodblock, or whatever on every 1/8 of each bar, although its best to switch it up. You can insert a sound and lower the velocity so its nearly unheard, but you may at the same time create a more rich, fuller drum section.


What did we learn?

Layering is the shit....take your time and get better, I pick up something new everyday.


Good lookin out!

[DjBigTymeBeats]

old ass thread. but still good posts..

[Grindhouse]

I use various ways , but to put a little tip out there for anyone who never layered drums , try this effective trick:


1. GET 2 DRUMS SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO BE LAYERED
2. IMPORT THEM IN YOUR DAW (CUBASE, PRO-TOOLS, LIVE, ETC...)
3. PUT THEM ON SEPERATE TRACKS
4. CREATE AN FX TRACK (A TRACK THAT U CAN INSERT SOME PLUG-INS, FOR THE PROS, THIS IS AND AUX/FX SEND TRACK)
5. APPLY A COMPRESSOR AND EQ PLUG-IN TO THE FX TRACK (AND YES, YOU CAN USE THE EQ OF THE ACTUALLY CHANNEL STRIP TOO, BUT I MUCH RATHER USE A HIGH END PLUG IN LIKE A Q-8 FROM WAVES)
6.NOW, ON THE 2 TRACKS THAT YOU HAVE THE SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO LAYER, DECIDE WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR IMPACT AND PUNCH ( MID FREQUENCIES) AND WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR BOTTOM AND DEPTH (LOW FREQUENCIES)
7. AFTER YOUR FIGURE THAT OUT, TURN THE FX TRACKS VOLUME FADER ALL THE WAY DOWN!! SEND THE TRACK THAT WILL BE THE BOTTOM FREQUENCY TO THE FX TRACK( AGAIN PROS, THIS IS SENDING A SIGNAL TO BE RETURNED TO MASTER TRACK)
8. NOW, ON THE FX TRACK, USE THE EQ BY APPYING +6 GAIN IN THE 65HZ- 100HZ ( THESE ARE GENERAL SETTINGS AND SHOULD BE APPLIED TO YOUR LIKING)
9. NOW, USE THE COMPRESSOR BY LEAVING IT AT A GENERAL SETTING AND APPLYING +3 db ON THE OUTPUT GAIN OF THE COMPRESSOR (AGAIN, THIS IS TO YOUR LIKING!!)
10. TURN THE FX TRACK VOLUME FADER UP SLOWLY !!!!
11. YOU SHOULD START TO HEAR SOME HIDDEN LOWS APPEAR AS YOU RAISE THE FX TRACK VOLUME.
12. ONCE YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH WHERE THE BOTTOM IS GO BACK TO THE TRACK THAT DEALS WITH THE MID FREQUENCIES AND RAISE THE VOLUME TILL YOU CAN HEAR THE MIDS LOCKING WITH THE LOWS.

NOTE: IF YOU ADD A LIMITER TO THE FX TRACK ALONG WITH THE COMPRESSOR AND EQ, YOU GET AN EVEN STRONGER DRUM WITHOUT DISTORTING IT OR CLIPPING IN THE RED


THIS TRICK IS A WIDELY USE TRICK BUT ONLY SOME CAN MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S WORTH USING, I'VE USE THIS WITHOUT LAYERING DRUMS AND STILL GOT A BANGING DRUM EFFECT!!! OnE

You must use Logic 8 or 9 huh. Cause you explained this like a Logic user. Good shit, cause i know alot of people that have told me the same thing you just said. They actually believe in your way than layering drums, they hate layering drums.

[Freek van Workum]

I use various ways , but to put a little tip out there for anyone who never layered drums , try this effective trick:


1. GET 2 DRUMS SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO BE LAYERED
2. IMPORT THEM IN YOUR DAW (CUBASE, PRO-TOOLS, LIVE, ETC...)
3. PUT THEM ON SEPERATE TRACKS
4. CREATE AN FX TRACK (A TRACK THAT U CAN INSERT SOME PLUG-INS, FOR THE PROS, THIS IS AND AUX/FX SEND TRACK)
5. APPLY A COMPRESSOR AND EQ PLUG-IN TO THE FX TRACK (AND YES, YOU CAN USE THE EQ OF THE ACTUALLY CHANNEL STRIP TOO, BUT I MUCH RATHER USE A HIGH END PLUG IN LIKE A Q-8 FROM WAVES)
6.NOW, ON THE 2 TRACKS THAT YOU HAVE THE SOUNDS THAT YOU WANT TO LAYER, DECIDE WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR IMPACT AND PUNCH ( MID FREQUENCIES) AND WHICH ONE WILL BE USE FOR BOTTOM AND DEPTH (LOW FREQUENCIES)
7. AFTER YOUR FIGURE THAT OUT, TURN THE FX TRACKS VOLUME FADER ALL THE WAY DOWN!! SEND THE TRACK THAT WILL BE THE BOTTOM FREQUENCY TO THE FX TRACK( AGAIN PROS, THIS IS SENDING A SIGNAL TO BE RETURNED TO MASTER TRACK)
8. NOW, ON THE FX TRACK, USE THE EQ BY APPYING +6 GAIN IN THE 65HZ- 100HZ ( THESE ARE GENERAL SETTINGS AND SHOULD BE APPLIED TO YOUR LIKING)
9. NOW, USE THE COMPRESSOR BY LEAVING IT AT A GENERAL SETTING AND APPLYING +3 db ON THE OUTPUT GAIN OF THE COMPRESSOR (AGAIN, THIS IS TO YOUR LIKING!!)
10. TURN THE FX TRACK VOLUME FADER UP SLOWLY !!!!
11. YOU SHOULD START TO HEAR SOME HIDDEN LOWS APPEAR AS YOU RAISE THE FX TRACK VOLUME.
12. ONCE YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH WHERE THE BOTTOM IS GO BACK TO THE TRACK THAT DEALS WITH THE MID FREQUENCIES AND RAISE THE VOLUME TILL YOU CAN HEAR THE MIDS LOCKING WITH THE LOWS.

NOTE: IF YOU ADD A LIMITER TO THE FX TRACK ALONG WITH THE COMPRESSOR AND EQ, YOU GET AN EVEN STRONGER DRUM WITHOUT DISTORTING IT OR CLIPPING IN THE RED


THIS TRICK IS A WIDELY USE TRICK BUT ONLY SOME CAN MAKE IT SOUND LIKE IT'S WORTH USING, I'VE USE THIS WITHOUT LAYERING DRUMS AND STILL GOT A BANGING DRUM EFFECT!!! OnE


where did you copy this from ? :D

i just take 2 (or more, i stick with 2) sounds, and silence the parts I dont like in m

and try to complement them. I did what you described before, (read it somewhere)

but its to extensive/non creative/ineffective (imo)

[411productionz]

id use compresser and eq instead of layering. everybody been layering to create the resonance of lower frequencies, and they think that their drum is bumpin that way, but dont think its a professional method of doing something like that. Eq and compressor is fine