| Velocity and Volume: Effect on Drum Samples |
| Articles - Lifestyle |
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The easiest mixing stage to apply when sequencing and organizing drum samples is the volume dynamic. Many producers like to do this on the fly, immediately have done the drum channels or after the beat is made entirely. Because it is such an easy process, most big-time producers factor this in as early as possible to get it out of the way and make a path for other samples and instruments to occupy certain sonic space.
The easiest mixing stage to apply when sequencing and organizing drum samples is the volume dynamic. Many producers like to do this on the fly, immediately have done the drum channels or after the beat is made entirely. Because it is such an easy process, most big-time producers factor this in as early as possible to get it out of the way and make a path for other samples and instruments to occupy certain sonic space. Adjusting the volume is possible in multiple places in most major sequencers and on keyboard workstations. For instance, Propellerheads' Reason allows you to adjust volume on each bus for each drum sample, on the Redrum drum console and also in the main sequencer mixer, making it easy to make major and minor changes on the fly. This certainly helps the creative process as you can be altering this whenever you feel like it at a moment's notice. On the most important mixing 'rules' considering volume is that if the instrument or drum sample is so quiet that it really cannot be heard with the other instruments, it should probably go, because you're just filling the sonic space with garbage that could be used for instruments that actually contribute to the mix. This does make sense, and any mixing engineer will offer a similar viewpoint, so ensure that if you keep lowering decibels and realize that something is not identifiable in a complete mix, it adds nothing and could actually be lowering the value of your instrument selection. Did you know that a sound can be lowered by six decibels and lose half of its perceived volume? This is actually the same when increasing by six decibel - that is, you will increase the volume by one part. When mixing drum samples like hi-hats, a popular tip is to lower it a few notches below where you think it should sit. This is because our human ears hear the higher frequencies at a higher level than the others. Velocity and volume are not the same things. Lowering volume does make a sound quieter, but velocity comes in at another level as well. If you are manipulating a multi-sampled drum samples patch, then playing at a different velocity can even trigger a different sample entirely. This is true performance playing and synthesizing. You should always take care when lowering volume, and never make decisions recklessly. Pay attention with every creative decision. One tip offered by a lot of professional mixers is that sounds should be lowered and never increased in volume. This will ensure that no clipping occurs and that sounds are the best volume they could possibly be. With drum samples, try to mix it in as a group, separate from the mix, before mixing it together. DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as information only and is not to be taken as financial advice. Want to find out more about drum samples? Then visit http://www.mydrumsamples.com/ for all your needs. |