Something I haven't seen asked a lot around here..

Sosan

New member
Does anyone have any idea how to cop the drum patterns used in this song at around 4:40?



Eye know how to edit glitch and stuff (I have a few plug ins that help) but specifically getting drum patterns that are busy sounding, but small and cohesive without it sounding like a cluster**** of random noises.. other examples:

At 1:53 - 2:15


At 3:35


At 1:43


You get the picture.

Eye know typically they gate all their sounds so none of the drums really decay, but they have different attacking timbres so there's a differentiation in what hit is being played.
As usual thanks in advance, eye hope eye can get some help with this.

---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 AM ----------

Bump bump
 
so, my standard approach to something like this to count like crazy and begin by recognising groups of notes rather than trying to transcribe individual notes.

Tempo clues come from the processing of the guitar which is a regular pulse.

For instance the hat like figure at the start is something like: pair of 16ths-quartet of 32nds-octet of 64ths-quartet of 32nds-pair of 16ths; i.e. it is a controlled acceleration and deceleration.

The snare and kick patterns are similar in nature though not necessarily pattern

Given the speed at which this goes by, my next step would be to use time stretch techniques to halve the tempo whilst maintaining pitch and then doing the same thing.

Always good to work with pencil, eraser and grid paper that you have marked up to begin with - granularity should be at the 64th for this type of transcription exercise and even then if you get triplets you need to have a strategy that works for showing them.
 
^^^Dead on. I also think the sound selection is what's really driving those patterns home. There are some mangled drum synth sounds like these in Battery.
 
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I do this all of the time. This is how I do it with Maschine -- just tweak it a bit for your workflow.

#1 Record and import into DAW.
#2 Tap tempo to match BPM (it helps to tap a double-time variant of the tempo). Make sure that your audio doesn't stretch along with your tempo change (REAPER acts like this in its default "beat" time mode). Line up first beat with a gridline in your DAW. Turn on metronome.
#3 Use HP and LP EQ bands to isolate a particular sound without getting distracted by the others.
#4 Open up Maschine in step-sequencer mode, and follow the lighted pad! Place a note in whichever cells you hear a drum hit. Listen closely and rewind for any notes you miss.
For drum patterns which are too quick to discern, follow Bandcoach's advice in using a tempo-synced timestretch on the track.

I remember I did this with the drumline for "I'm On One" -- it's a pretty simple groove, but it makes great use of some ghost notes which are hard to place.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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Since, almost everything else has already been said...

Panning "smaller" sounds like hi-hats and percussive noises will help create space and help avoid a cluttered sound...
 
except that that is about mixing not transcribing, i.e. what was asked is "how do you copy down/write down the patterns used in this type of music?" - panning has nothing to do with it......
 
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I don't think that's all he was looking for. He was asking for ways to make it sound
small and cohesive without it sounding like a cluster**** of random noises..
He then went on to talk about gating sounds so drums don't decay and different attacking timbres.

Seems like it was a relevant piece of advice since he's trying to achieve a particular sound and concept. Without panning, the whole thing will sound stale, forced, and more along the lines of "a cluster**** of random noises".
 
I don't think that's all he was looking for. He was asking for ways to make it sound He then went on to talk about gating sounds so drums don't decay and different attacking timbres.

Seems like it was a relevant piece of advice since he's trying to achieve a particular sound and concept. Without panning, the whole thing will sound stale, forced, and more along the lines of "a cluster**** of random noises".

I can see how you might've gotten confused along the way. The question was a bit vague.

I'm pretty sure he was talking solely about copying the patterns, though.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
Thanks guys, eye was primarily talking about making patterns similar to those ones in the song. Eye know how to make it SOUND like that (click samples, hi-pass, panning, slight reverb etc..) but actually making the patterns sound like a thought out drum sequence and not a a bunch of rolls on different sounds with no rhyme or reason, is what perplexes me. @bandcoach you say use grid paper (which eye have not used), will my DAW midi editor have the same merit? And the hat like roll at the beginning of the sequence (4:40 on All New Materials) eye get what you're saying about that, but what about further into the sequence when there's differences in timbres between notes? And I'm pretty sure Jake Bowen from Periphery uses Battery 3 for those sequences (eye read in an interview.) So if Deranged can maybe help as you seem to be familiar with it eye would really appreciate it. Thanks guys.
 
your daw will do but in some cases it is beneficial to work with the grid paper as you can notate alternatives without destroying what you initially had - i.e. you don't have to erase unlike your daw (although of course you cold just use multiple tracks/lanes to the same effect).

Shifting between sounds is simply a case of following each sound - I do this with any transcription whether it is rhythm or a saxophone line or flute line or whatever - it took me the better part of 3 days to transcribe all of the parts in Theme from Shaft in 1998 - one line at a time violins, saxes, trombones, trumpets, flute, guitar, bass, drums, keys,

Regardless of the tune, the process is the same: concentrated effort and focus on individual elements/lines.
 
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