How layer drums?

B

Bloody Snort

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Hey!
How do I layer drums in FL Studio? And is there any "rules" in layering? I've been producing for a while, but I've never layered drums. Never understood the deal. Help anyone? Please? :D
 
All you do is stack the drum samples... One on top of the other. If you wanna create your own sample from that then export the sounds together as 1 track...
 
Yeah just as homie said, find sounds that compliment each other and stack to them to thicken the overall sound of it. Not too hard really.
 
I made this video in Reason but the same rules apply everywhere. I use this technique in Ableton, Sonar with Giest and Reason as well.
 
I'll layer drums like this..

Drum 1 ---X-X-X-X
Drum 2 -X-------X
Drum 3 -X-X-----X
Drum 4 ---X-X---X
Drum 5 -X-X-X-X-X

You get the picture I hope. I know i messed up a lil but check it out.
 
I usually put about 4 or 5 different kicks together, 3 snares or claps, and always one hi hat. With kicks I find some that have different frequencies. One that's a good low or 808 and the other four have some punch or pop to them.
 
Platinum Ear Drum said:
I usually put about 4 or 5 different kicks together, 3 snares or claps, and always one hi hat. With kicks I find some that have different frequencies. One that's a good low or 808 and the other four have some punch or pop to them.
Click to expand...
What kits are you using that you have to do that with? 4 or 5 kicks plus an 808 sounds like u have some weak kits no offense intended just saying it may be time to look into some higher quality kits (most of which are going to be paid) to help improve your workflow
 
The purpose of layering drums is to get the perfect drum sound. Ideally the drum sample should be fine on its own but sometimes its too punchy and high or too boomy and low. Usually what i do is take a bass drum that is super bassy and i eq to get the best sounds from that particular drum. Then i find another bass drum that has more high end punch and i eq that as well. This gives the drum an all-around full sound. Then i just parallel compress the shit out of it and get a monster bass drum.
 
MPC-SAMPLES.COM has an interesting looking book about drum layering & production. Audio production tutorials - learn how to layer drums and produce and eq stereo mixes

I don't really think there is a "true science" to this. We always find kicks that compliment each other, compress & EQ. If you have a kick lacking low end, or nice rounded mids... find another kick with those characteristics, layer them, & EQ/Compress to taste. Most of this stuff is using your ears and experimenting! There are no rules or presets when it comes drums... just general guidelines. I can tell you that if your source sounds sucks to begin with, no amount of layering can make that particular sample work. Don't use weak sounds... have a solid foundation and EXPERIMENT!
 
I make the beat and then I'll copy the midi data and layer it with another sampler on the next channel and the same MIDI data to layer.
 
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