drum rolls?

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luciduk

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Oct 25, 2009
something i have not even begun to attempt yet is a drum roll,

i know that it must involve messing around with velocity and having several different toms or snares sometimes, but has anybody got any good advice on how to achieve a decent one in drum and bass?

they always sound intimidatingly impressive so i have not attempted one yet at how pathetic it may sound ahaha.
 
luciduk said:
something i have not even begun to attempt yet is a drum roll,

i know that it must involve messing around with velocity and having several different toms or snares sometimes, but has anybody got any good advice on how to achieve a decent one in drum and bass?

they always sound intimidatingly impressive so i have not attempted one yet at how pathetic it may sound ahaha.
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u answered your own question.

tap the table or something to work out which kind of roll you want, then recreate it, using hits, in your sequencer.
 
find a break with one in, use it as it is, or cut and rearrange it to taste
 
Learn how to do basic beatbox, I found out it can be very helpfull.
Sometimes I have something in my mind and I just don't know how to create it.
Then I start beatboxing it, which gives me a clear view of where every sound has to be placed.

This also works voor snare and drumrolls, but keep in mind, beatboxing is not that simple.
 
something i have been doing recently is 'copying' loops i like... so lets say you have a drum roll, using the waveform of the loop you can see where the drums 'hit', i then try and find individual drums similar to the ones in the loop and then arrange accordingly... it can help to play the loop over the top of your patterns to see everything 'sits' nicely and mirror one another!
 
Practise with basic snare and kick rolls. With a kick roll, the good old 4x4 kck that double times every 16, 8 then 4 bars. Also a 16th snare roll that fades in or step-fades in is good before a drop. I've been experimenting a lot with little fills more nowadays, tends to give a more dynamic sound every 16 bars.
 
lots of different methods here thanks guys i will try some of these out :) i like the idea of tapping z table to get an idea of how to roll it
 
luciduk said:
lots of different methods here thanks guys i will try some of these out :) i like the idea of tapping z table to get an idea of how to roll it
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And because I'm better with my mouth I prefer beatbox. :D
But it is the same idea.
 
Just sample a good one from somewhere and get on with your tune. Try not to get too hung up on little details too much or it will destroy the vibe of the track. Think to yourself 'I need a drum roll in there' stick one in and move on. :)
 
sato said:
Just sample a good one from somewhere and get on with your tune. Try not to get too hung up on little details too much or it will destroy the vibe of the track. Think to yourself 'I need a drum roll in there' stick one in and move on. :)
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i disagree man, being able to create a drum roll or write your own drums in general is far better than stealing someone elses. how can making something yourself detroy the vibe of a tune?
 
sato said:
Just sample a good one from somewhere and get on with your tune. Try not to get too hung up on little details too much or it will destroy the vibe of the track. Think to yourself 'I need a drum roll in there' stick one in and move on. :)
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i can see what this geezer is saying... don't get bogged down in details (this would apply early on in the tracks production)

however, i would consider the beauty is in the details, so making your own shit (even if your roll is sampled drum hits triggered on a drum machine) wins
 
i remembered this old chesnut when i was messing with cooledit just now, write a break, sample it and loop the bit just before the snare and the attack of the snare, depending on how fast a snare roll you want. and then volume env that or something.
 
Krispy said:
I agree with tongueflap, knowing how to make your own shit is what this is all about
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Cool man, each to their own and all that but dnb is built on sampling and while in recent times there has been a bit of a trend to move away from chopping sampled breaks make sure you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
 
logikz said:
do you use sample cds for alot of things sato?
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just wherever man

I have a folder of drum rolls I've taken from all over, some off sample CDs some I've been listening to a song (60s and 70s rock is great for them) and sampled that and some I've made myself. When I need one I go to the folder, find what is closest to what I'm hearing in my head when the loop is going round and put it in there. If it isn't quite sitting right (which they usually never do) I'll move some hits around or whatever I need to get it to work.
 
sato said:
Cool man, each to their own and all that but dnb is built on sampling and while in recent times there has been a bit of a trend to move away from chopping sampled breaks make sure you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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this is what i was hinting at earlier... although a drum roll made with single drum hits that are sampled is still sampling!

loops or individual hits... i think the context should dictate what is used
 
im going to sample drums for 3 hours on sunday, after that ill only use my own samples for everything. for a bit and see what that might come to. if it doesnt work ill try something else but im real excited about this.
 
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