I am testing out the trial version of cubase 6. I have a licensed version of cubase 5 and am considering the upgrade.
In my tests using the drum quantizing I cant say that this really seems practical. If you have a bad drummer your going to have to spend alot of time correcting the drums. But if you have a good drummer, it still doesnt sound completely natural to me. Right now Ive got 8 tracks for drums and its fairly easy to set the threshold on the kick snare and hi hat but Im not sure what you are supposed to do for the other tracks, especially the overheads?
Has anyone got some tips on how to most effectively use the drum quantizing feature?
In the end, it seems like to me, if you want a professional sounding drum track then you need a drummer that can play to a click and is really good at staying on time. Then you dont really need to quantize, instead just use the best takes and then it sounds natural because it is!
I just did a test and the verse part sounds ok when its just straight hi hat kick and snare but when it goes into a drum roll to a crash it sounds un natural. Im finding that the drum quantizing is very tedious and not straight forward.
just edit by hand man. cut and slip. that way you can add as much or as little natural feeling as you want. and honestly once you get the hang of it its no faster than any of these beat detective type things.
I use midi loops (Groove Monkee has some excellent ones, played by some of the best drummers around) to start the drum tracks, then chopping and changing to taste.
It is very interesting, and quite educational, to see where the hits fall relative to the grid in the MIDI Editor.
Seems to be Quantise day here.
I agree with Bredo. Tuning is as vital as knowing the song. The tuning has also to be sympathatic with the room.
But don’t make the drummer listen to a click on his own. Mortal sin! If the anyone’s not listening to the drummer then the timing just goes upurnanus.
Click rule one: Everyone gets a click.
Then you don’t get the band wanting the drums done in 15 minutes while 12 tracks of guitar are badly layered for nine hours on top of a tottering foundation.
Put the carpet down first before the furniture comes in.
One of my favourite, but unfamous, producers used to do his commercials and make the band or the guide track singer guitarist do the guide track (solo) to click or machine. Brilliant!
Then the drummer’s not stressed by the click limitations and he can work to a performance.
Also usually forgotten is that the drummer may have rehearsed the part in any manner of acoustic space and what, in rehearsal, was “Boom budda badda bad wash” is now “Bink bip bimp dog breath” Quite often for those reasons the part that was rehearsed for two days has to be rewritten.
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