Recording - January 2014 - 44

Also, for the record, I have been a MOTU user since the
release of the first Apple computer (not kidding) and I use Digital
Performer now because it works for all of my music needs. I recommend you find whatever DAW program works best for you
and learn it as you would learn an instrument, inside out.

By Terry Wollman
I love drummers. They are possibly the
coolest tribe in the musician family. Drums,
along with voice, are the original instruments
of human history, so it makes sense that percussion is a major force in how we hear and
respond to music. I have had the privilege of
making records with the best drummers and
percussionists in the world, and yet I still enjoy
working with loops and libraries. There is nothing like hearing the overtones and the feel of
live drums in a recording studio, but there is
also a place for drum samples and loops, and
I am a firm believer in using the best that each
has to offer.
I remember powering up my first drum machine, a Roland
Drumatix (check your history books), and delighting over the thrill
of programming a song with cool sounds and a rock-solid
groove. I also remember moving up to the LinnDrum and being
able to do the same for the first time with "real" drum sounds. As
drum sample technology (and my programming skills) grew, I
experienced an interesting change in my point of view-the more
proficiently I was able to program, the less I wanted to! I eventually found a uniqueness and value to having a foot in each
world, and over the years I have come to a comfortable balance
of combining the best of both worlds-live and programmed.
There are many sample and loop libraries to choose from and
I recommend you explore as many of them as you can. Just like
you can't have too many guitars, the same applies to drums. I
know many record producers and TV/Film composers who
make it a point to be the first in line to buy the latest libraries in
order to remain cutting-edge, but they still rely on the sound templates that continue to work best for them.
Tools
I have two personal favorite "go to" programs that I start with,
Toontrack EZdrummer and Spectrasonics Stylus RMX. I am also a
big fan of the IK Multimedia T-RackS plug-in, which I sometimes use
for adding a little extra color or compression to my drum tracks. I
use these programs because they sound great, are intuitive to use,
and offer the option to easily edit performances and mixes (individual drum levels, EQ, effects, etc.) as I go. This gives me the ability to build the foundation of my track quickly with interesting loops
and patterns, and then go back and refine or replace things later.
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RECORDING January 2014

Let's get started building a drum track!
First, I determine the tempo of my song and set the click track.
I prefer using the Urei click (a free download from anonemusic
.com/motuMac/clickClipping) which is easy on the ears when
recording live instruments. Then I begin to make music by finding a simple shaker or triangle pattern to build on. Stylus RMX
has a section called Groove Elements that has a collection of
percussion instruments (traditional and eclectic) with programmed loops (image #1). Find a "simple" part that captures
the musical feeling that you are going for and drag and drop
the groove to a MIDI file on your sequencer (image #2). (See
tinyurl.com/RecMagJan2014SampledDrums for larger images.)
Performer has a "repeat" command (image #3) in the pull-down
edit window that will copy your 4-bar pattern for as many bars as
you need (image #4). Now you have a more inspired click to work
with using the combined Urei and percussion pattern. You have the
option to add a few more percussion elements or start to build your
drum track with Stylus RMX, EZdrummer, or your other tool of choice.
Stylus RMX has some great drum grooves and you choose them the
same way you would search for percussion elements. Here's where it
gets to be fun! Stylus RMX also has editing win1 dows that include "FX" (image #5) and
"MIXER" (image #6) which includes 4 Aux
sends, Pan, and Level for each instrument. You
can create subtle to extreme changes on any, or
all, of your parts. The possibilities are wide open
to make each drum part uniquely your own.
EZdrummer is an elegant program with
superb natural drum sounds. Toontrack also
offers a great library of add-on drum kits, so as
your need grows, your percussion collection can
2

grow with you. One of the best things about this
program is that you can mix and match drums
and cymbals within each kit. On the bottom of
each instrument (image #7) there is an arrow tab
that allows you to choose between various sizes
of drums and cymbals. You can customize your
4

http://www.tinyurl.com/RecMagJan2014SampledDrums

Recording - January 2014

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