Why do hip-hop drum kits sound so sh**

ScorchinBeats

ScorchinBeats

New member
Seriously. I've bought many random drum kits online from popular sample sites.

Why is it that hip-hop drum samples are always so low quality. I mean, the drums are always so unrealistic sounding. And half of them always come with 5db of hard clipping! I'm not pointing any fingers (sonic specialists, producerschoice) but seriously?

Can anybody recommend some drum sample kits (not live kit samples like addictive drums or superior) that don't sound like ****?


NOTE: This is a pointless rant. I'm probably just a bit too pissed off today. F*** it, I won't hold back on you suckas..
 
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Damn I know what you mean [Soundgroupie just blaze and kanye Kits as well as the chronic collection from industrydrums]. What kit did you buy from the producers choice
 
the existence of drum kits should be to get sounds other than hip-hop. you want some hip-hop drums? get hold of the same drum machines and breaks however way. those kits are generic clones.
 
That is true but there are "Starter" Producers who dont understand the importance or have the for these digital converters and transient shapers and all those things that go into making a good and new drum sound. All that takes time. There should be atleast some good kits out there that allows you to skip that stage for a while until your ready to dab into those fields
 
ScorchinBeats said:
Seriously. I've bought many random drum kits online from popular sample sites.

Why is it that hip-hop drum samples are always so low quality. I mean, the drums are always so unrealistic sounding. And half of them always come with 5db of hard clipping! I'm not pointing any fingers (sonic specialists, producerschoice) but seriously?

Can anybody recommend some drum sample kits (not live kit samples like addictive drums or superior) that don't sound like ****?


NOTE: This is a pointless rant. I'm probably just a bit too pissed off today. F*** it, I won't hold back on you suckas..
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Which ones are you referring to - specifically? Just curious :)
 
digiskunk said:
Which ones are you referring to - specifically? Just curious :)
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The producers choice Mike Kalombo and Industry standard kits, the Sonic Specialist Urban Fire 3 kit.

And believe it or not, not every natural hip-hop drum sound comes from a funk record or a tr-808. Lots of producers create their own drum samples with real kits and then tweak the s*** outta them. I've been trying to do that, but it's hard to get the sound I want in programs like addictive drums without having complete control over the room, the kit, mic position, etc.
 
Goldbaby for 808's.

I don't quite understand if your looking for acoustic or synthesized drums though?

If your using a step sequencer it's super easy to stack them. That's what I used to do.
 
Try the stock drums in whatever you own and go for lossless(or as close to it as you can get) data from authentic equipment like MPCs, ASRs, Keyboard Workstations(Triton, Motif, Fantom), ect. If you own Logic, Battery, FL Studio, Reason(especially now with Kong), Kontakt, or Maschine, you have more than a good foundation for solid drums. If you own 2 or more items off that list and inspect your library, you'll realize you have the utilities to make damn near any drum you've heard, most don't even need "tweaking".
 
deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup said:
Try the stock drums in whatever you own and go for lossless(or as close to it as you can get) data from authentic equipment like MPCs, ASRs, Keyboard Workstations(Triton, Motif, Fantom), ect. If you own Logic, Battery, FL Studio, Reason(especially now with Kong), Kontakt, or Maschine, you have more than a good foundation for solid drums. If you own 2 or more items off that list and inspect your library, you'll realize you have the utilities to make damn near any drum you've heard, most don't even need "tweaking".
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I feel what youre saying, but none of the drum souds i have sound like the stuff you hear in modern rap. Hell the best drum kits i own are free! I understan you have to process them, but a polished turd still sounds like shit right? I dont have any hip hop vsts. All of mine are either synths or just traditional samplers none of which have hip hop drums. I have kontakt player but not kontakt.

At inverted, the goldbaby 808s are really good, but an 808 sound is hard to **** up. Im looking for acoustic samples that still have that hard, dry hip hop sound. Most kits i have are pre processed very unatural strangely sampled (the kick samples stop very suddenly instead of releasing smoothly) disorted very clicky etc which contributes to bad sound.

The best ice achieved was addictive drums layered over some 808 drums but addictive just doesn jave that modern urban sound.

I would sample off vinyl, but cant stand the noise and other imperfections, plus you usually dont get that natural release because of other instruments.

@Fnfup, $100 for drum samples is a bit steep because I don't know if I'll like them or not. Do you have any tracks I can listen to that used those drums. The sample beats on BFA site aren't great.
 
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Frankly, the drum kits are from from low quality equipment that people had back in the early 80's. They were FM signal generated. However, it became the underlying sound. People used what they had at that time and it was dirt cheap from Wal-mart then. Yet, it was the foundation. If you put a trash can lid into classical music does it sound like it belongs as a percussion method? No, it becomes something else, like Trashical. Then people will always think of it as Trashical when they hear a trash can lid used as percussion source with classical music.

The cheap FM synthesized voice was something that most neighborhood hoppers could afford and use to make music. Along with rap and suddenly the right thing happened and then there was hip hop.

If you wih to fuse a good rock drum kit with hip hop it might work, but I assure you that a studio will claim it to be something else because it does not sound like hip hop. Good luck fusing the two. We all eagerly await your brain child.

Me? I am working on fusing rock, jazz, and atmospherics. I call it Jatmock. Although some think it should be called Jizzmopherock. Either way the fusion is in final production and is essentially the science of creation.
 
Of course, jizz might be the hook I was looking for. So, do you play your music by ear? Well, not exactly, it is hand made!

LMAOROFL
 
I used to have that problem. now I only get my drums from making them myself either via synthesis or using something like these

92a527f0.jpg
 
ScorchinBeats said:
I feel what youre saying, but none of the drum souds i have sound like the stuff you hear in modern rap. Hell the best drum kits i own are free! I understan you have to process them, but a polished turd still sounds like shit right? I dont have any hip hop vsts. All of mine are either synths or just traditional samplers none of which have hip hop drums. I have kontakt player but not kontakt.

At inverted, the goldbaby 808s are really good, but an 808 sound is hard to **** up. Im looking for acoustic samples that still have that hard, dry hip hop sound. Most kits i have are pre processed very unatural strangely sampled (the kick samples stop very suddenly instead of releasing smoothly) disorted very clicky etc which contributes to bad sound.

The best ice achieved was addictive drums layered over some 808 drums but addictive just doesn jave that modern urban sound.

I would sample off vinyl, but cant stand the noise and other imperfections, plus you usually dont get that natural release because of other instruments.

@Fnfup, $100 for drum samples is a bit steep because I don't know if I'll like them or not. Do you have any tracks I can listen to that used those drums. The sample beats on BFA site aren't great.
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First off, the stuff you hear in modern hip-hop is, in all likelihood, layered. Second, there are no "hip-hop" VSTs. I don't know where the **** you got that from. Hopefully, you're not using that goddamned "Beat Thang" VST crap. That would be horrible. Thirdly, if you want acoustic drum sounds, search for them and/or buy them and EQ them - don't blame them for not being "hip-hop" in quality enough for you. Do you really think the original samplers intended them to be utilized for 1 specific genre use? Use your brain and manipulate the sound of the samples.

Lastly, the kits you're downloading are, in all likelihood, merely samples that people ripped off MP3s. I know, it's disturbing. But if you can use them for your own advantage, good for you. If you don't like Urban Fire or Deadly Drums (and/or "Drumz"), edit them to your liking. They don't clip - I tested them. Perhaps you have everything blasting in volume? They're perfectly fine for me.

LarsLooper said:
Frankly, the drum kits are from from low quality equipment that people had back in the early 80's. They were FM signal generated. However, it became the underlying sound. People used what they had at that time and it was dirt cheap from Wal-mart then.
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No. Most hip-hop "drum kits" or "sample packs" out there (free or not) are merely ripped from tracks off CDs or within MP3 clips. Dead serious. This is why you have samples that end prematurely and/or sound like shit in quality. Ever have a snare sample that had a reverb that just randomly cut off early? Yeah... put the pieces together.

My advice to OP would be to lower his/her overall volume whilst producing and invest in professionally recorded sample packs. And also to EQ + compress. I have never encountered clipping whilst using packs that I've invested in.
 
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The stuff from other songs that are done badly usually only happens in hip hop sample packs. I know I personally don't have those problems sampling from vinyl. Hell even sampling stuff from cds don't give me that issue because I know what to and what not to sample. Knowing that he doesn't know he may be best going to someone like Big Fish audio or another major name and getting samples from them that they do like. Or using something like Addictive drums and tweaking those sounds to make it sound how he wants. Also it may be good to buy a professional sample pack for a vintage drum machine. Go to the ones the electronic musicians use or maybe the ones that come with what you already have. Most hip hop drums in 2011 are drum machine based. And sampled for use in whatever sampler is there.
 
Drum sound kits are about like selling beats. Colorful and animated web pages, overdone drums too outdo the competition so they usually have kicks layered with open high hats and tams and shit, and free samples. The way I see it it's enough free samples to be satisfied.................somewhat like how a rapper feels about free beats. There was a thread where I turned a hi hat into a kick................funny thing is that a lot of these sound kits for sale will fool people using the same techniques..............using the same drums they already have, add some shit to it and sell it to them. If a hi hat can be a nice kick......imagine what "YOU" can do to a kick for free. But I'm guilty too though. I can make drums and all that but then my mind is still programmed to click when I see the words high quality and free samples....with 20 people in a thread hyping it up and 3 people like it's not all that really. :D Get to the site and you have to download them to here them. You know you have a lot of drums when you download a free sample drum kit..load a kick and be all hype that it sounds good....then the next day you go to your old and hardly used sounds and notice that same kick.
 
digiskunk said:
First off, the stuff you hear in modern hip-hop is, in all likelihood, layered. Second, there are no "hip-hop" VSTs. I don't know where the **** you got that from. Hopefully, you're not using that goddamned "Beat Thang" VST crap. That would be horrible. Thirdly, if you want acoustic drum sounds, search for them and/or buy them and EQ them - don't blame them for not being "hip-hop" in quality enough for you. Do you really think the original samplers intended them to be utilized for 1 specific genre use? Use your brain and manipulate the sound of the samples.

Lastly, the kits you're downloading are, in all likelihood, merely samples that people ripped off MP3s. I know, it's disturbing. But if you can use them for your own advantage, good for you. If you don't like Urban Fire or Deadly Drums (and/or "Drumz"), edit them to your liking. They don't clip - I tested them. Perhaps you have everything blasting in volume? They're perfectly fine for me.



No. Most hip-hop "drum kits" or "sample packs" out there (free or not) are merely ripped from tracks off CDs or within MP3 clips. Dead serious. This is why you have samples that end prematurely and/or sound like shit in quality. Ever have a snare sample that had a reverb that just randomly cut off early? Yeah... put the pieces together.

My advice to OP would be to lower his/her overall volume whilst producing and invest in professionally recorded sample packs. And also to EQ + compress. I have never encountered clipping whilst using packs that I've invested in.
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Did you even read my post? I specifically mentioned I don't have any hip-hop vst's (they exist, subboombass, arturia hip hop edition, etc). And I have good acoustic samples, but not ones suited for hip-hop. I asked in my original post if anybody knows some good acoustic sample kits that do sound good in hip-hop.

Some samples in the kits I have are clipped. I don't mean the wav file is clipping - I mean that the sample was distorted and then brought down in level, but still retains that clipping 'sound'. And yes I realize they are just sampled off MP3. I'm just showing my frustration against the companies that rip people off with this lol.

So if all of these sample kits are are sampled off of modern music, where do the original samples come from? That's what I'm looking for. And you talk about professional drum kits, but don't actually mention any.


And @Xab and Rice, agree with you both except that I don't think that all or most of today's music is drum machine. There is still a lot of acoustic stuff.
 
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funny I just used a rex loop from some CD I got from a get one free sale. I can hear the static! I sounds like a break compressed and rexed then I rexed it again and added some tape distortion. You're purchasing the wrong loops.
 
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