Recording Challenge #8 - It’s the Digital Era

[CrowsofFritz]

I have a drumb machine of course ...... a Boss DR550
But I mostly use my keyboard as a drumb machine.

So a question:
Does the keyboard count? ..... it's a sequencer.

Or is the point to use those cheesy pre programmed drum beats?

Yeah, a keyboard counts. It’ll be hard to get it like the good fake drums with a keyboard, so that’s still a challenge in my eyes.

I like this idea, I guess I just don't actually know what a drum machine is. They're all fake drums to me. If it's not a real drummer playing real drums, then it's fake drums.

So do you mean this has to be done with one of those things where you have to tap on pads with your fingers to make drum sounds?

Yes, or one of these but the digital version of that is okay, too.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... lsrc=aw.ds

None of that software with “smart” drummers that sound really damn good.

[Greg_L]

I have a keyboard out in the garage. I think it can MIDI trigger drum sounds. Would that work?

[CrowsofFritz]

I have a keyboard out in the garage. I think it can MIDI trigger drum sounds. Would that work?

Yes.

[CrowsofFritz]

Here’s a rough track with a drum machine [mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention]

As you can hear, my use of the drum machine as a click “bleeds“ in to the recordings. It’s not supposed to start until you hear the toms and the louder drums. All will be fixed with the new interface.

[Lt. Bob]

Yeah, a keyboard counts. It’ll be hard to get it like the good fake drums with a keyboard, so that’s still a challenge in my eyes.

actually my keyboard does drums as well as any of these VST's ya'll use.
I'm gonna wait and see what others are doing but I may try to use the drum machine .... way more challenging than the keyboard to get something good.

Although more challenging means more effort and I'm pretty lazy!

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, a keyboard counts. It’ll be hard to get it like the good fake drums with a keyboard, so that’s still a challenge in my eyes.

actually my keyboard does drums as well as any of these VST's ya'll use.
I'm gonna wait and see what others are doing but I may try to use the drum machine .... way more challenging than the keyboard to get something good.

Although more challenging means more effort and I'm pretty lazy!

Damn really? Because I heard Armistice’s songs when I was at the computer and those drums sounded pretty good. But yeah, a 16 step sequencer can give you a fun 90s sound.

[Lt. Bob]

Damn really? Because I heard Armistice’s songs when I was at the computer and those drums sounded pretty good. But yeah, a 16 step sequencer can give you a fun 90s sound.

almost everything I've ever recorded the last 20 years was with keyboard drums and mostly no one has ever commented on the drums at all which i consider a win because if they were bad someone would have said "you need some real drums" ...... and I have had a few comments that the drums sound good.

Since I think the point of a challenge is to be challenging, I'm a try the drum machine because the keyboard is my normal process.

[CrowsofFritz]

I’m too inept to do anything manually, especially a real drum set. My lower and upper limbs don’t move independently from another enough.

[Tadpui]

Last night I dusted off my Bleep Labs drum thingy. It was a DIY kit my stepson got me for xmas several years ago, and it's a lot of fun. It doesn't sequence, but I have to tap the 4 pads to make sounds with it. I'm already half way through a quickie project with it. Maybe tonight or tomorrow I can post the results.

This has been a fun way to shake off my rust and make music.

And [mention]CrowsofFritz[/mention] I hope the interface works out great for ya! I submitted the license transfer yesterday so hopefully the software will be all ready for download by the time you've got the interface in hand.

[CrowsofFritz]

Last night I dusted off my Bleep Labs drum thingy. It was a DIY kit my stepson got me for xmas several years ago, and it's a lot of fun. It doesn't sequence, but I have to tap the 4 pads to make sounds with it. I'm already half way through a quickie project with it. Maybe tonight or tomorrow I can post the results.

This has been a fun way to shake off my rust and make music.

And @CrowsofFritz I hope the interface works out great for ya! I submitted the license transfer yesterday so hopefully the software will be all ready for download by the time you've got the interface in hand.

Nice! And yeah, this is pushing me out of my comfort zone. I don’t normally do songs with drums of any kind in them.

[rayc]

This is, probably, my most obviously drum machine based song...from about 86 or 87 and then remixed in around 2008...
Roland TR505 - best known as a door stop...it came after the super famous TR707 as an attempt to cash in one that machine's popularity and versatility. The 505 had fewer tweakables, fewer bits and was very unpopular nevertheless it serves me well for a couple of decades.
Revolution Blues

04. Revolution Blues.mp3

[BBvideo=560,315]https://youtu.be/4uDc8emGzCM[/BBvideo]

[CrowsofFritz]

This is, probably, my most obviously drum machine based song...from about 86 or 87 and then remixed in around 2008...
Roland TR505 - best known as a door stop...it came after the super famous TR707 as an attempt to cash in one that machine's popularity and versatility. The 505 had fewer tweakables, fewer bits and was very unpopular nevertheless it serves me well for a couple of decades.
[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uDc8em ... aycochrane[/BBvideo]

The video is unavailable for me

[rayc]

Yeah, I don't know why. It's on Utub and I played it thrice - oh well, I've swapped it for the MP3 above.

[CrowsofFritz]

Yeah, I don't know why. It's on Utub and I played it thrice - oh well, I've swapped it for the MP3 above.

Dude, nice! How did you record that? It sounds like it could have been recorded today.

[rayc]

Dude, nice! How did you record that? It sounds like it could have been recorded today.

All but the cymbals were recorded to four track cassette in the 80s.
DI bass n guitar vocals & sax on a cheap dynamic mic straight into the four track...though we tracked the sax in the shower for the refections.
I bass, I guitar, 1 drum plus a combined sax n vocal track were recorded into Cakewalk ProAudio 9.3 using the aux in of an old PIII PC running a quarter gig of ram and less than a gig of HDD, the cello and the cymbals, from the drum machine, were overdubbed.
Badly mixed in there and mastered in Germany.
Sounds a bit dark...I may have a clearer version but the point - DRUM MACHINE.
Search Youtube for
Revolution Blues - Pygmy Beat
for a brighter version.

[Tadpui]

Here’s a rough track with a drum machine @WhiskeyJack

As you can hear, my use of the drum machine as a click “bleeds“ in to the recordings. It’s not supposed to start until you hear the toms and the louder drums. All will be fixed with the new interface.

That's just a good song, man. It's got all of the influences I like, all melted together. Once the end is trimmed to length, it'll be great. The drums actually sound fine, if not just robotic like a drum machine looping. I like how the first verse turns upside down against the drum loop, but then comes back strong. Nice work.

This is, probably, my most obviously drum machine based song...from about 86 or 87 and then remixed in around 2008...
Roland TR505 - best known as a door stop...it came after the super famous TR707 as an attempt to cash in one that machine's popularity and versatility. The 505 had fewer tweakables, fewer bits and was very unpopular nevertheless it serves me well for a couple of decades.
Revolution Blues

04. Revolution Blues.mp3

That's really good, Ray. That sax solo! Heck, these drums sound better than anything I was trying to use in 2008. I think that by then I was trying to use a dubious version of Battery, or maybe a sound font from SoundBlaster/EMU that came with my old MIDI controller. I don't think that I discovered decent drum sounds until I bought EZ Drummer around 2012-ish.

[Tadpui]

Well, here's my attempt. I started the project last night after seeing the challenge, and "finished" it today at halftime of the Chiefs game. It's a quickie!

The drums are the Bleep Drum kit from Bleep Labs. It's just a little guitar pedal sized DIY kit with 4 pads, a couple of knobs, and a couple of different modes. Since there's no sequencer on board, the 3 or 4 tracks of it are "performances" of varying lengths, looped or copied/pasted (and reversed for one section).

Bass is through a DIY clone of an Ampeg Scrambler. Vocals are through an SM57, driven hard into a 1073 for distortion.

I think that's it...just drums, bass, and vocals on this one.

20201121 Drum Machine-003.mp3

[SweetDan]

Well, here's my attempt...

That's great!

[WhiskeyJack]

You guys are maniacs. HAHA. This is awesome.

[CrowsofFritz]

Well, here's my attempt. I started the project last night after seeing the challenge, and "finished" it today at halftime of the Chiefs game. It's a quickie!

The drums are the Bleep Drum kit from Bleep Labs. It's just a little guitar pedal sized DIY kit with 4 pads, a couple of knobs, and a couple of different modes. Since there's no sequencer on board, the 3 or 4 tracks of it are "performances" of varying lengths, looped or copied/pasted (and reversed for one section).

Bass is through a DIY clone of an Ampeg Scrambler. Vocals are through an SM57, driven hard into a 1073 for distortion.

I think that's it...just drums, bass, and vocals on this one.

20201121 Drum Machine-003.mp3

Duuuuuude, nice! You churned that out pretty quick. I like those vocals.

Thanks for giving a listen to my idea. I’m really excited to do the real thing!