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[Mark Williams]

ORIGINAL: prr

or the legendary Steve Albini?

It’s hard for me to imagine Albini doing something like this. But who knows?

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

ORIGINAL: tombuur

We are still waiting for the Steven Slate presets. So far we have waited more than three months since some presets were given away to NAMM attendees rather than loyal customers.

Oh, gosh, let’s try not to start that up again. I for one am assuming that there’s been a hold up with Mr. Slate in terms of releasing the product for sale. Maybe I’m wrong on that. But if the stuff is really ready from Toontrack’s standpoint, I imagine it’s a holdup on the other end.

Toontrack has been releasing a bunch of stuff lately, so I’m sure it’s in the pipeline for “soon.”

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

If you have access to any sort of “transient designer” plugin, you may be able to achieve the kind of thing you’re looking for. You essentially want to emphasize the attack, rather than the sustain. Using some good EQs judiciously would help, too. Find the frequency range for the snare attack (somewhere between 1k-8k, depending on the actual snare). You can also boost upward of 12k to add some air, which can make the attack seem more prominent sometimes. There are some ways with the right compressor to make the snare sort of “jump” out more, as well.

You mention wanting more attack on other drums, as well. Usually the next culprit would be the kick drum. Depending on the drum itself, of course, you can find the pedal attack all the way up around 6k. Boost that with a fairly narrow Q, and cut some of the midrange out of the kick to give it more impact.

There are loads of other things you can do, of course. This is just a start. And it assumes you’re using EZDrummer in a DAW host where you have access to general plugs.

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

GC confuses a lot of things.
I really hate that this kind of stuff continues on their part…

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

I haven’t heard of Ricard Nettermalm. Is he known for anything in particular outside Sweden?
I’m sure he’s a good player, I just haven’t heard of him until now.

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

It’s still March 14 where I am, but I really want to know the news!

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

Very exciting stuff, guys. I’m really looking forward to seeing what you all have in store for us.

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

Wow, thanks for all that, John. I’ve been listening to your songs this morning in the studio while getting warmed up for the day.
You’ve got some nice tunes there, man! Thanks for sharing that.

Everything I listened to on your site seemed to be using the tambos (and shakers) as a background layer (esp. tambo during the chorus), which is totally in line with the production of those tunes, of course. Do you have anything (or know of anything) with shakers (and maybe tambourine) being more exposed in a production? Like maybe a ballad or something?

What you shared is definitely helpful, but I’d love to hear something where the shakers are a more prominent mix element. I just pulled up Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” as an example–there are two “sandy” sounding shakers, hard panned L and R, that are really obvious all the way from the beginning through to the second refrain. Likewise on Shawn Colvin’s “Climb On (A Back That’s Strong)” throughout the first verse. Different idea, but also very much present on the choruses of Sam Phillips’s song “All Night.” Or the beginning of “The Pearl” by Emmylou Harris. Or the shaker in “Put It There” by McCartney on Flowers. No idea if Chris played that part or not.

Sorry for a strange, random listing of songs. Just trying to hit several options in case anyone knows any of these tunes.

Thanks for the continued help, everyone!

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Mark Williams]

Thanks so much, godprobe.
I do own Superior and EZPP, so I know exactly what you’re talking about in terms of selecting certain elements of a groove and excluding others.

All the stuff you included is very, very helpful, actually. Just knowing that all those grooves (8ths, 16ths, etc.) are in the included MIDI is great. I wish Toontrack had that kind of info on the product page, actually, but maybe it wouldn’t be as useful to others, I don’t know.

The only thing from your post that might concern me a little is that you said the LP samples sound more “urgent” to you. Hmmm. Very interesting. Is it the samples themselves that sound more “urgent,” or the MIDI grooves? If it’s the samples, is that “urgency” sound due to a certain kind of close-miced, emphasis on transients, brightness? Is it that the shakers in LP are all brighter shakers? I tend towards darker shakers and tambourines in my productions. If it’s the MIDI grooves, is it just that the player was right on top of the beat? I can imagine the kind of thing you might be referring to, which seems present in a lot of Latin music to me. It can sound like a lot of energy and precision and intentionality with the percussion–like the whole song is driven by the percussion section, and it’s usually pretty in-your-face percussion, too.

With everything you’ve given me, I guess that’s the remaining question for me, then. I’m looking for sounds that aren’t overly “present,” generally. Sounds that are secondary (or tertiary) to other elements, whether they be acoustic guitar, pads, or an already-realized drum kit.

godprobe, thanks so much for your help so far. I really, really appreciate it. Anybody else have some thoughts, or even some audio clips in the neighborhood of what I’m talking about?

MBP 2.4 GHz | 4GB RAM | OSX 10.6.8 Logic Pro 9.1.5 | Metric Halo LIO-8/4P | Apogee ONE SD 2.3.0 | EZP 1.1.0 | Drumtracker 1.0.2

[Author]

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