Hello and thanks for reading my first article for Audiofile. Thanks to
basehead for organizing it and getting on my case to write something. :)
In this article I'd like to share some of my ideas about tracking percussion.
I'm not going to discuss rhythm or time signatures in this article, but
instead how to lay out the individual sounds within your desired drum track.
The first step to creating a percussion accompaniment for a tracked tune is
to select your sample set. Depending on the style of music you are writing,
you will need to select appropriate sounds which fit into your musical
concept. For example, a distorted 909 bass drum doesn't sound good in jazz.
Nor is a brushed snare fitting to an industrial song.
Some people also fail to assemble a *complete* percussion sample set. This
limits one's ability to create a drum track which varies enough to keep the
piece interesting. Here's a listing of a "standard" drum kit used by rock
bands:
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- 5 toms, decreasing in pitch [3 toms: 2 raised and 1 floor is also common - Ed.]
- Hi-hat
- Ride Cymbal
- 2 Crash Cymbals
You may want to have multiple samples for each of the above instruments, to
help provide different textures. Often people will use more than one tom
sample to cover a wider range of pitches without playing a sample out of its
"sweet" range.
You also should get at least two hi-hat samples to cover "opened" and "closed"
positions. If you can find any samples that would fall between the first two,
use it for an even more realistic effect. The position of the cymbals on a
hi-hat can change slightly and the resulting sound will be different.
Below are some additional percussion sounds which are more common to
orchestral percussion sets:
- Tympani
- Tambourine
- Bongos
- Conga
- Marimba
- Chimes
Fade the cymbal with volume commands or volume fading effects before the
end of the sample is reached.
Use echoed cymbal crashes to cover over a sudden fadeout ending
At the end of a cymabl creschendo, it is usually struck once and played as a
crash.
Trackers can produce this effect very easily by reversing a crash cymbal
sample. However if you're using a sustained cymbal sample that is different
from your crash cymbal sample, be sure to get the pitch of the two relatively
close.
Typically, there are two ways to pan with this method:
- Pan the instruments as if you were the one playing a drum kit
- Pan the instruments as if you were in an audience
With these two methods, everything would be reversed as you would either be
in front of, or behind, a drum set. The description which follows will explain
the position of the instruments as seen by a drummer sitting behind a set.
The hi-hat is best described as two cymbals facing each other, connected to a
pole. At the base of this pole is a footpedal which when pressed will bring
the cymbals together. This instrument is commonly found on the left side of
a drum set.
With a 16-step panning command, I would suggest placing hi-hats about two
notches left of center. I have heard people who like to pan alternating
hi-hats between left and right. Now, no offense to people who do that, but I
just think it sounds silly.
There are different levels of attack on the hi-hat also. Most sample sets
just have "opened" and "closed" hi-hat samples. To really spice up your
percussion track, try to get several varying hi-hat samples with different
attacks.
Toms are drums which are on top of the bass drum, and also on the floor to
the right of the bass drum. Starting at the leftmost tom drum, they go
downwards in pitch. They don't have as definitave of a pitch as tympani,
which can be tuned to a certain note.
Toms are mostly used for fills and solos. When tracking tom drums in your
song, begin with the highest pitch panned a bit left of center, and as the
pitch decreases, bring it through the middle and to the right of the center.
Ride cymbals are commonly used in place of hihats in a drum beat. A ride
cymbal is usually to the right of two toms on the bass drum. I suggest
panning it an equal distance from the middle but on the opposite side from
the hi-hat.
Crash cymbals usually follow a drum fill or mark the beginning of a new
musical section within a piece. Typically, a drum kit would have two crash
cymbals (or a cymbal with a similar purpose). There would be one to the
left of the bass drum, and above and behind the hi-hat. There might also be
one above the ride cymbal.
If one crash cymbal is struck in a piece, it is usually the one on the right,
because the drummer is often recovering from a tom-fill at that point, and
is in the position to strike the right crash cymbal.
Two crash cymbals panned equidistance from the center can provide a much more
dramatic effect. This can help indicate a musical transition.
To give the impression of being similar to a real live band, you might wish
to pan your percussion within the stereo spectrum according to how it fits
with other instruments in a live performance setting. Using this method, you
would use the guidelines discussed above for selecting the approximate
position for each instrument, then be sure your entire percussion section
is closer to the center than lead voices.
Additional percussion instruments which you might use don't necessarily have
to be in the center. Perhaps a backup singer is at the far right of the
stage playing a couple bongos, or a tambourine.
The percussion section at an orchestral performance will be behind all other
instrumentalists. Often the percussion setup will take up the full length of
the stage.
At the center of the layout is usually a large bass drum, a snare drum, and
a cymbal which is often used for creschendos. Off to one side might be a set
of tympanis, and the opposite side might have a set of chimes, some bongos or
congas, a xylophone or marimba, etc.
To track percussion for an orchestral piece, it should first be decided what
instruments will be used. Then in your mind or on paper, create the stage
layout. Set up a maximum panning range (which should wider than that for a
standard drum kit) and begin positioning the instruments within the stereo
spectrum.
If your song has a fast marimba or xylophone part, consider alternating the
volume on every other attack. The percussionist will be playing with two
rubber mallets, most likely. Usually the person playing the instrument will
have a dominant hand and a weak hand, which will affect the amount of attack.