Author Topic: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples? (Read 9042 times)

Tympest · « **on:** May 25, 2016, 05:26:59 pm »

I've seen multiple people, ranging from dudes like Madeon and Feed Me to random people on reddit, mention how the time/timing of a drum sample is more important than, say, an eq or compressor. Basically, I have no idea what this means, or how I would go about applying this...technique I suppose? Any sort of explanation would be very much appreciated, as well as any examples or specific applications. Thanks in advance!

myda · « **Reply #1 on:** May 25, 2016, 05:40:28 pm »

I think what they're talking about is layering drum samples. If you're layering the top end of the drum with the bottom end, moving the bottom end to hit a few milliseconds after the top end will usually make it hit harder or sound better than eqing it for hours will. (I'm talking about snares btw. haven't tried it with kicks, but I'm sure it's the same principle)

Lydian · « **Reply #2 on:** May 26, 2016, 01:10:34 am »

Quote from: myda on May 25, 2016, 05:40:28 pm

I think what they're talking about is layering drum samples. If you're layering the top end of the drum with the bottom end, moving the bottom end to hit a few milliseconds after the top end will usually make it hit harder or sound better than eqing it for hours will. (I'm talking about snares btw. haven't tried it with kicks, but I'm sure it's the same principle)

I don't think that's what they're talking about at all.

Quote from: Tympest on May 25, 2016, 05:26:59 pm

I've seen multiple people, ranging from dudes like Madeon and Feed Me to random people on reddit, mention how the time/timing of a drum sample is more important than, say, an eq or compressor. Basically, I have no idea what this means, or how I would go about applying this...technique I suppose? Any sort of explanation would be very much appreciated, as well as any examples or specific applications. Thanks in advance!

They might be referring to the decay and release of the actual sample.

Marrow Machines · « **Reply #3 on:** May 26, 2016, 04:00:50 am »

attack, decay(or release depending on what you have/use)

The timing is also dependent on the interval between successive hits of each instrument.

you get a swing by delaying hits, or striking in a certain way

a way to capture different feelings is aligning to a different grid as well as adjusting the individual sample itself (which will also dictate striking time as well when quantizing to a grid or not)

all of those elements come into play for the timing, other wise known as feeling, for drum samples or any thing instrument related.

this is important with layering, because it allows the person to not stack transients. which creates unwanted build ups (like frequency build ups)

myda · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2016, 10:42:27 am »

I don't know about feed me, but I know madeon loves making snares, so I'm pretty certain what I said was along the lines of what he was talking about. plus he was talking about it recently on twitter and mentioned it. not to discredit what you guys said, but try what I mentioned!

Arktopolis · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2016, 11:08:23 am »

I'm with myda on this one, the comparison to EQ and compression makes the most sense in the layering context... It also applies to making e.g. the kick and the snare work together so that their transients don't cancel each other out. This video seems to explain it pretty thoroughly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0at8xuPKfU

But both the timing and the decay time (or note duration for non-percussive instruments) are super important for groove. A related concept in music theory is articulation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articulation_(music) . A nice example is this Zedd bassline where most of the groove comes from the varying note durations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqJiXLJs_Pg&feature=youtu.be&t=94

Marrow Machines · « **Reply #6 on:** May 27, 2016, 04:27:11 am »

Quote from: myda on May 26, 2016, 10:42:27 am

I don't know about feed me, but I know madeon loves making snares, so I'm pretty certain what I said was along the lines of what he was talking about. plus he was talking about it recently on twitter and mentioned it. not to discredit what you guys said, but try what I mentioned!

I end up doing that exact same thing given the parameters for my all of my drum hits.

the point is not stacking transients with your layers. Taking that to a larger perspective, that can be applied to when you make loops and synthesizers as well.

depending on what is doing what at any given time, could translate to keeping peaks in your tracks under control.

Author Topic: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples? (Read 9042 times)

Tympest

What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

myda

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

Lydian

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

Marrow Machines

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

myda

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

Arktopolis

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?

Marrow Machines

Re: What do people mean when they refer to "time" of drum samples?