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Many customers like to know the "behind the scenes" information that goes into producing the drum and cymbal sample sets. While this is not the most excisting information, we'd like to share with you the technical informationr regarding the recording process as well as the drum and cymbals themselves. For hardcore techies and recording enthusiasts only!
Full Drum Kits:
Tama Starclassic Maple
Pearl Masters MMX
Drum Workshop Collectors Maple
Pearl BLX
Premier Artist Birch
Individual Snares:
Ludwig Black Beauty
Ludwig Supraphonic
Ludwig Acrolite
Pearl Free Floating Maple
Pearl Piccolo
Pearl Chad Smith
Pearl Dennis Chambers Maple Snare
Pearl Steve Ferrone
Yamaha Recording Custom
Cymbals:
Zildjian Avedis, K, Z, and A Custom Cymbals (various sizes and product lines, both new and old)
Paiste 2002 cymbals (various sizes)
Sabian AAX, AA, HH, and HHX cymbals (various sizes and product lines, both new and old)
Percussion:
Coming Soon!
Preamp: True Systems Precision 8
Microphones (by drum and application):
Snares: Shure 57, Sennheiser e604
Kicks, Shure Beta 52, AKG D112
Toms: Sennheiser 412, Sennheiser e604
Overheads: Shure SM81, AKG 451, assorted condensers (cheap, expensive or borrowed!)
Each drum sample was recorded with both a close mike (at a distance of a few inches) as well as room mike at a greater distance (three to five feet). The room was extremely controlled and dry. The samples are provided as mono samples for more control in the stereo image. A true stereo image can be created (in most sets) from combining the matching samples in a given set. Attention was given to phase issues. Any slight ambience is purely natural and a product of the room used (again, very minimal).
And, yes, it bears repeating: No processing was added anywhere in the signal chain.
The samples were recorded and mixed in Cubase SX3, at 24/96.
Information about the Snares
The cymbals and snares have the most extensive sampling. In some cases, it is obscene how many hits we have provided so you never get the dreaded "machine gun" or "drum machine" effect in your programmed drum sequences.
Each snare has a full range of sounds, featuring all sounds and attacks from gentle taps to all-out rimshots. We have also provided most snares with both muted as well as wide open sounds. Additionally, we have provided crosstick samples, samples with the snares off, and flams. We really try to coax every conceivable sound out of each snare. In many snare download packs, you will also find multiple tunings of the drum, from classic fatback sounds to high-pitched extreme snare sounds. Again, you can blend, mix and match for even more custom sounds.
If more sounds are need from a particular drum, we will edit and revise the download sets in an attempt to improve the verstility of the drum sounds. As we all know, music is an unending process of producing, revising, and redoing. We will always strive to improve quality on the go in order to give you the best product possible.
We have used many different kinds of snares, be it differences in material (wood, metal, brass), size (deep, piccolo), or age (classics or ones currently being produced). We have some classics like the Ludwig Black Beauty as well as modern snares to provide as many differences in snare sound character as we could. Tastes in snares are as personal as tastes in clothes- we will continue to enlarge the palette of snare sounds as the site grows.
Recording the Cymbals
We really went to town in capturing the sounds of the cymbals provided here at Drum Werks. From soft splashes to aggressive slams, we have tried to capture the full range of expression inherent in each cymbal we have chosen to present. We have also included cymbal chokes, cymbal flourishes, and other nuanced samples that are damned near impossible to program realistically by any means. Cymbals are given full decays so don't be surprised to find individual cymbal samples lasting 15-20 long. Not cut-off cymbal decays here! Admittedly, our attention to detail on the cymbals can at times be overkill (see the download sizes of the individual cymbals for proof of that) but, again, we would rather have you walk away with the feeling you got TOO MUCH for your money than TOO LITTLE. We are confident that you will find the cymbal samples throughly expressive and varied, more than enough to handle any recording/writing situation.
Recording the Kicks and Toms
Kicks were recording with a minimum of two mics to achieve the sounds available on Drum Werks. Both an close (or slightly inside mic for the kicks) and room mics were used, then blended for a full kick sound. Multiple tunings were also employed, from very deep tunings to open tunings to muffled, tight tunings. Again, we hope we have captured the range of sounds each drum (kicks and toms in this case) have to offer.
We also made sure each drumkit voice was attacked in a variety of ways, in a variety of angles and velocities. Again, the goal is to give the user the most complete range of choices possible.
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