Tips on Improving a 909 Snare

S

SimonT

Member
Hi All!

I'm currently working on a house track (of the old skool late 80's early 90s variety) and have a 909 snare in it. I'm using some 909 samples I found online for the drums.

The snare is ok, but to me, it just seems a bit dry, a bit lifeless (although ok).

Anyway, I was wondering if anybody had any tips on how I could improve it. Preferably, if possible, if you guys could link me to any sites for this, even better, as I need links for an assigment I'm working on.

Thanks!

EDIT - Sample of a kick / snare pattern at one part of the song. https://soundcloud.com/creativemind75/kick-snare
 
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you can add reveerb on a snare,
you can add delay ,

for the eq ; you just want to understand the body of the snare which is pulse, smack, wires head , and you make decisions like if you may want more of something less of something
 
There are quite a few things you can play with to give a sample a different sound. One handy tool I use frequently is a filter. I'll pop a filter on the mixer track and maybe turn the cutoff frequency down a notch or two then maybe turn up the resonance a bit. I usually do this to make snares, hi-hats and such fit into my mix better.

You can also take two samples that occupy different spaces in the frequency spectrum and layer them. This creates a bigger sound and can sometimes make a bad sample sound fantastic if done properly. The average snare and clap usually mold together quite well considering they both have their own respective areas on the spectrum. Snare for the snap and clap for the crunch.

If you still can't make it sound good, don't attach yourself to it because it's the one you built the project around. Open up another sampler and try others; you may just find one that better fits the situation. And remember, if the sample by itself sounds good, perhaps it is other parts of the mix that need adjusting and not the snare.
 
-layer it with an acoustic snare
-layer it with noise
-layer it with a sub bass that compliments it
-(do all of the above together then mix it)

-layer it with a copy or copies of itself panned and eq'd differently than the original
-add subtle reverb
-add subtle compression

-serial distortion


just some ideas. if you do a quick search on any of those techniques, I'm sure you'll find a tutorial either here or on youtube.
Do a search for "drum layering" on youtube, I'm sure you'll find several that will inspire some good ideas.
 
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