FL STUDIO 11 Drum Placement

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iJackPot

New member
Okay, So I'm finally grasping how to control fl studio. Now I'm stuck on drum placement, I got all the right drum sounds but it just doesn't seem right when I start putting them with the rest of my song. The drums don't at the time when I want them too. I think it's more of timing thing, I'm using the step sequencer to put them all together. I don't think it's the tempo of my song that's affecting the drums. It's just horrible drum placement is what I concluded so i'm basically asking what kind of tips you guys can give me to fathom how the step sequencer works to make my drums hit in the right spot at the right time. I can easily just record midi to get them to hit where i want but i want to know how to do it in the step sequencer too.

Videos, tutorials, websites will help also.

Sorry in advance if I'm making this more difficult then it already is. I'm just stumped!!!

Thanks!!!
 
If drums are giving you trouble, put a kick on every beat and work your way up from there. You can remove kicks, add snares, hats, shakers, toms, etc to get the beat you want as you work. At least having the kick pounding on beat helps you keep everything in time until you can get a serious beat running.

Cheers,

Rob
 
lol i think that's what giving me the problem, I'm trying to sync other drums with the kick but it just doesn't . I need tips on sense of timing. I don't know if i just need practice or what????
 
I don't know if this is helpful, but I mostly prefer to send drum sounds to the piano roll, where I can hold down the ALT-key and adjust the timing, since many samples have a short silence before the hit, which can make them sound offbeat.
 
steffeeh said:
I don't know if this is helpful, but I mostly prefer to send drum sounds to the piano roll, where I can hold down the ALT-key and adjust the timing, since many samples have a short silence before the hit, which can make them sound offbeat.
Click to expand...

I'm just going to just lay my drum patterns down in the piano roll anyways. It's frustrating me, I tried messing with the ADSR parameters, still nothing. I don't think its the drum sample it's self, just how I lay them on the sequencer.

For example -

Your typical drum beat can sound like Boom, Bap, Boom, Bap, Boom but I don't know how to translate it on the step sequencer. It just sounds off and not what I want!!!
 
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iJackPot said:
Your typical drum beat can sound like Boom, Bap, Boom, Bap, Boom but I don't know how to translate it on the step sequencer.
Click to expand...

Each 'row' of steps on the sequencer will be a different sound. For example, the defaults I think are Kick, then Clap, Hat, and Snare. Any steps you fill in on the top row will play the kick drum when that column of steps is played. Each 4(by default) step buttons across is one beat. This means if you put a dot on step 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, etc you will have a simple four-on-the-floor bass drum.

Hats are typically offset by half a beat(the 'upbeat', or as you said 'bap' sound) though this is pretty much only true for something like House music. You can put hat samples on steps 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, etc and you will hear how it complements the bass drum.

If you put the snare and/or clap together at the same time as every second bass drum hit(steps 5, 13, 21, etc) it will give you the alternating hi-low beat sound that most dance and pop music works with.

Beats are so customizable that you can really put the drums in whatever sequence you want, as long as it's coherent and sticks to the timing. If your samples don't start exactly at the beginning of the audio file, use something like Audacity or Sound Forge to trim them so they start as close as humanly possible to the beginning of the file.

Note: MP3 files often add a tiny silence to the beginning of the file, so it is not great for samples. Use WAV instead.

Cheers,

Rob
 
IconDigitalUSA said:
Beats are so customizable that you can really put the drums in whatever sequence you want, as long as it's coherent and sticks to the timing. If your samples don't start exactly at the beginning of the audio file, use something like Audacity or Sound Forge to trim them so they start as close as humanly possible to the beginning of the file.

Note: MP3 files often add a tiny silence to the beginning of the file, so it is not great for samples. Use WAV instead.

Cheers,

Rob
Click to expand...

Thanks I'll have to soak all that in...

As far as the silence on the samples, idk it could be that but they are wav files and I basically downloaded a file that has all the old vintage drum machines sounds. they sound like good quality samples but maybe i can check it out and see if your right.

But thanks again!!!
 
Even HQ samples can have some delay in them.

Maybe you could provide an audio example of your beat?
 
steffeeh said:
Even HQ samples can have some delay in them.

Maybe you could provide an audio example of your beat?
Click to expand...

Damn...I just exit out like awhile back. I was getting too mad and decided to practice something else and worry about drums later. Sorry

But that doesn't mean you can't help me with learning how to find delays in samples and editing them. You know the process?
 
Just open up the channel/sampler-window of the sample and look at the waveform, if there's any "empty space" before the waveform starts, then you have some delay in the sample.
It's an easy fix, just nudge the sample back a little in the pianoroll until it sounds good.
 
steffeeh said:
Just open up the channel/sampler-window of the sample and look at the waveform, if there's any "empty space" before the waveform starts, then you have some delay in the sample.
It's an easy fix, just nudge the sample back a little in the pianoroll until it sounds good.
Click to expand...


All seems good to me, bro I really think its my dumb ass. If you asked me to make the drum pattern of any song, i wouldn't be able to do it, simple or complex. But somebody who is a expert will do it with ease. I think it's more of a practice thing then anything.

But you guys have been a good help though!!!
 
steffeeh said:
Just open up the channel/sampler-window of the sample and look at the waveform, if there's any "empty space" before the waveform starts, then you have some delay in the sample.
It's an easy fix, just nudge the sample back a little in the pianoroll until it sounds good.
Click to expand...

OR record the sample inside Edison, cut out the empty space, and load the sample again in the step sequencer.
 
a lot of daws let you input patterns with your keyboard man.your midi keyboard and your computer keyboard can be used to input notes on the fly.
[And pad controllers]
 
KonKossKang said:
a lot of daws let you input patterns with your keyboard man.your midi keyboard and your computer keyboard can be used to input notes on the fly.
[And pad controllers]
Click to expand...

yeah i know i just wanted to learn on the step sequencer. that's kinda what makes FL unique to other daw
 
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