I’ve always recorded my own drums when producing music. However, I have a few songs (light/medium rock) I can’t play that well so I wrote the drums in another software package and imported from MIDI into Cubase. Everything is separated out in its own track. I’ve tried using Halion 7 to choose a drum kit but everything I choose (Standard Studio Kit, Standard Rock kit, etc…) sounds really computerized. I know nearly nothing about MIDI drums and there are a lot of videos out there regarding drums and Cubase and I’m having a hard time finding anything that works for what I’m doing.
Question is, am I even going about this the right way and is there a recommended video/link that would help the drums to sound ‘real’ in terms of tone? I did find videos to add some dynamics and slight variations in the timings and velocities so I’m good on that front. Below is a screenshot to show where I’m coming from if that helps.
A MIDI drum kit will never sound like a real drum kit recorded in a room where the number of microphones can be very limited depending on whether you’re recording in stereo or mono, or very extensive if the room and each drum kit component have their own microphones.
Trying to emulate this environment can help create a sense of cohesion, but you’ll need a stereo or mono track where all your MIDI instruments are grouped together (a single drum track) which you’ll then combine with your individual grouped instruments.
Here’s a setup where all the MIDI tracks have been converted to audio for mixing:
Could you post some example audio of the drums so we can make specific suggestions. Also keep in mind that even very realistic sampled drums can sound robotic when played in a non-realistic manner.
When I’m aiming for realistic sounding drums I’ll typically use BFD3 (which fully emulates a studio environment where you can control the mic placement, leakage, levels, etc.). And Sun Drums or Moon Kits from Soniccouture. Sorry I don’t have any Halion kit suggestions.
Years ago I watched this video on Groove3 on how to think like a drummer when programming drum parts which really helped me a lot. Unlike YouTube Groove 3 isn’t free - the most cost effective thing to do is get a pass for one month and binge on how-to videos.
