Optimal processing of wave-samples for boombap drumkit - what would y'all prefer?

1

1st Edition

New member
Aloha.

ATM I'm working on a high-quality boombap hiphop drum-kit. It will consist of: 15 kicks, 15 snares, 15 hihats, percussion and bass sounds.

Sound sources: 60% vinyl LPs, 20% CDs, and 20% 320Kb/s MP3. Sampled primarily from genres: jazz, soul, funk, prog-rock, easy-listening (etc.) mostly from the 60s, 70s, and 80s - a mixture of drums from famous breakbeats and from obscure non-US records.

HOWEVER: Though I have a huge sample library on my harddisk, I have always only used them for my own use. So I'm a little lost when it comes to the "right" processing for such samples. With processing I mean basic general edits, effects, mixing, sample quality and format (etc.) that are to be applied to all the samples with the exact same parameter-settings.

What would y'all prefer for this drumkit?

- quality: 16 bit 44.1khz (mono) - playable on many hardware samplers and since the samples are gritty they don't need a higher file quality. Do you agree? - or would you prefer 24 bit 96khz?

- normalize? - should I normalize all samples?

- all samples need to have same volume, or at least close to it - agree??? - if so, do any of you know of a good method to do this?

- compression? should I compress the samples much, a little or not at all? - your thoughts?

- do yall know of any EQ frequencies that are general enough to cut on ALL the drum samples - that will clear out muddy sound or anything like it??? - of course I'll cut away most of the unused frequencies but without destroying sound.

- any other ideas for how I should process these sounds? - any ideas and feedback will be appreciated.

- should I tune all the samples to be in C key? I normally don't tune my drum samples to each other, but I'll definitely do it if y'all want it.

Finally, I'm 75% sure I can get access to proccessing these sounds through an MPC-60!!! It will cost me, but doesn't matter as this mean it gets done as professional and 'optimal' as possible.

I think this drumkit will rock! It will probably cost 5-10$ if it reaches the quality level I have in mind. Those who help me in various ways will of course recieve a free version - and credits in the drumkit's included documentation (unless you want to stay anomynous - up to you).

Contact me or drop your thoughts here! - I want this drumkit to really work.

PS: for legal reasons I will not include a sample-source list. Most people will not be able to hear where these grimey drums originate from, but there are always the breakheads who can recognize even one-shot snare hits.
 
No point going above 16/441 considering the source. I wouldn't compress, I wouldn't EQ much just light EQ like roll off the low end on say hats if it needs it and I definitely wouldn't try to tune anything.

If you really want to get deep into it you could rent a studio for an hour or so, run them through some pre's, analogue mixer etc.

But thats me, its your kit, have at it.
 
noblewordz said:
No point going above 16/441 considering the source. I wouldn't compress, I wouldn't EQ much just light EQ like roll off the low end on say hats if it needs it and I definitely wouldn't try to tune anything.

If you really want to get deep into it you could rent a studio for an hour or so, run them through some pre's, analogue mixer etc.
Click to expand...

16 bit/44.1 khz - right, that's what I figured. No compression, mhkay, I hear you - it's a job better left to the user. Compression of course makes it easier to make the drums snappy from start, so it'll be a challenge to make them have a hard character and stand out. Love a good challenge though. No or little EQ'ing - check! - again, exactly what I'd thought about. I'll HP- and LP-filter the samples very litely to remove unused frequencies. I'll notch cut a bit to remove some specific unwanted frequencies - although very gently. It's easy to overdo.

Tuning: you are a non-believer in drum-sample-tuning, noblewordz, or...? Because I've recently heard from two top-producers that tuning drums is in fact important, and that you - when listening closely - can hear for example kick and snare jump from pitch to pitch in some beats when they are not tuned accordingly. Correct tuning should also 'glue' the drums smoother together with the rest of the beat - however, I do not speak from experience. If you can find it, try watching UK trance-producer John '00' Fleming's producer-video from CM #143 where he talks about the drum-tuning issue... Anyways, I thought about just tuning all the samples to the same (root) note. However, this may destroy important characteristics of some samples, so I guess I'll have to just try it and see if it'll work...

noblewordz, thanks for your reply BTW - do you have any other advice for my little project?

Gilson said:
nobody gonna buy your kits
Click to expand...

A reasonable assumption. However, I'll still have created a product that I can be proud of, which wasn't rushed, and wasn't packed to the brim with weak-ass oneshots or loops like most of the freebie [insert-hot-producer-name] drumkits found on the net. If no-one else can use it - I know I can.

Anyways, don't get it confused. I know my shit when it comes to sampling, EQ'ing/filtering, compressing, chopping drumbreaks, I know my beat-making- and breakbeat-history. I'm fanatically perfectionistic, and never settle for semi-good if I know it's improvable.

I asked the processing questions in post 1 to:

1. discover the does-and-don'ts of processing samples for drum kits.

2. discover FP members' opinions on how it should be done.

Simple as that.

- ulrik sander
 
Last edited:
Once your here for a while you'll understand.

But I'm not knocking you, go for it!
Like you said, you'll have a quality product you can use!
 
just make it good. i agree most wont buy the kit. they will just bootleg it because thats what people do
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top