wrapping around impulse...

tribewalker · Post by **tribewalker** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:56 pm

So, im having issues making my own drum patterns in impulse....

I dont know why, perhaps its the interface, perhaps its something else, im not quite sure....

The impulse kits are nice, but they just arent exactly THAT useful...but everytime i sit down to lay out a drum track of my own in impulse i just....CANT ....

its maddening to say the least.....

Any tips, pointers? maybe even links to good tutorials on how to program drums ??

anyone else have a problem getting into impulse?

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:57 pm

listen to what you like and copy it. practice doesn't come from the internet. don't look at the computer, turn off the monitor and play what you've heard.

bouncing and cutting and recutting and playing with audio gets unexpected results. beat repeat can change things up. the settings in impulse can change beats dramatically.

also, look up MIDI OVERDUB in the manual, it lets you record midi notes and if you don't like them, you hit undo to take out the last pass, with quantise set to 1/16 or 1/8 notes replace each other. So, lay down a kick-snare, then try out hi-hat passes.

also, try making less populated drum patterns, make half a dozen kick-snares, then half a dozen hi-hats, same with other elements. then put them in different tracks and try out combinations of it all, again, bounce and mix it all up, lay down effects, whatnot.

experiment, play.

tribewalker · Post by **tribewalker** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:08 pm

yeah, i know practice doesnt come from the internet, i wasnt implying to have someone practice for me or anything.....

I just am having a hard time with the impulse interface, and maybe programming the drums in piano roll fashion....

dunno.....thanks though

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:12 pm

yeah, weird mood today, really pensive, just waiting for a bomb to drop at work then try to get the boss to let me leave early for an xmas party, anyway...

Impulse aside, this is how I love to organise my drums on the keyboard.
- Group instruments
-- kicks on the left
-- snares in the middle
-- percussion on the right
-- hi hats on the black keys

then just MASH on the keys so you get a layered sound. it's a lot more fun to mash on groups of keys than to hit a single key.

use a scale plug-in to route chromatic (every note) input to the C2-C3 that Impulse requires. with the scale input, the horizontal axis is the input, vertical is the output. Also, use pitch plug-ins to map multiple octaves on a keyboard to multiple Impulses, or use a rack to do the same thing.

tribewalker · Post by **tribewalker** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:20 pm

hasnt a keyboard yet...

well i do...but its the super cool "asdfghjkl" model

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:29 pm

that can work too, I actually like playing on the computer keyboard, it's so simple and basic. remember there's the octave up/down controls on 'z' and 'x' while 'c' and 'v' change up the velocity.

you might figure out a way to use upper and lower case letters for more drum control.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:33 pm

I'm curious, is it the interface of impulse that is more the problem or is it the piano roll that is more the problem for you? or an equal combo of both?

are you used to the fruityloops style step sequencer?

Spiralgroove · Post by **Spiralgroove** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:36 pm

dont limit yourself to 1 impulse kit
find a kick and a snare you like in 1 kit and make a pattern w/ that
then find some highhats you like in another kit and layer that
do the same thing 2 or 3 more times
now youve got some funky drums going hopefully
now start swapping copies of the clips around, routing individual drums to their own channels, tweaking clip envelopes
you should have madness in short order

drez · Post by **drez** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:40 pm

This is very helpful of you guys. I struggle as well with drum programming, but its not just impulse. I just have a hard time gettin a good groove on. Any more tips especially impulse specific would be helpful to me.

Are you guys racking up multilayered impulses and playing with velocities?

Spiralgroove · Post by **Spiralgroove** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:48 pm

drez wrote:This is very helpful of you guys. I struggle as well with drum programming, but its not just impulse. I just have a hard time gettin a good groove on. Any more tips especially impulse specific would be helpful to me.

Are you guys racking up multilayered impulses and playing with velocities?

you can rack em or make em seperate tracks just play with it and try not to get frustrated if you dont find a sound you like right away... theres so many treatments you can do to each sound that even a boring sound can become interesting if you give it some extra attention...

sometims i like to drum out patterns on my padKontrol or sometimes just my computer keyboard with all the sounds muted and just drum around like crazy for a minute without even paying attention to what sound im playing, just make rhythms with my hands... i know when im done that its pretty close to being on beat, just not on the right sounds... so then i quantize it and select notes that sound wrong and move them up or down until they are on a drum sound that works better on that beat... its like theres no wrong note, just the wrong sound on the wrong beat... all you have to do is move it somewhere else... for example sometimes using this method figure out that everything i hit on what is registering as the kickdrum should be a clave instead... so i just click that note name and highight that whole row and move it to a clave sound, or switch the samples (depends on the situation)

take recordings of drums you like, import them in live, warp em and put them in arranger next to your midi track... now open where you can see the waveform and the midi in the arranger at the same time... listen to the audio track while you figure out which drum note you can substitute to make the same rhythm... now you have a rhythm you like using your sounds (this one is tons of fun and a great launchpad for a project for me sometimes)

tribewalker · Post by **tribewalker** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:18 am

I'm curious, is it the interface of impulse that is more the problem or is it the piano roll that is more the problem for you? or an equal combo of both?

are you used to the fruityloops style step sequencer?

as far as the first part...yes i think its a combination of both...

the second part....i cut my teeth on rebirth, so yes more of a fruity loops style drum sequencer....in fact when ive rewired REason into ableton I seem to have an easier time with the drum programming just using ReDrum.

Im not against Impulse, dont get me wrong....Im just having a tough time "getting it" .....its hard to explain, but im getting a little tired of being limited to loops. And i just have no clue with impulse maybe i dont like how it sounds? which may be down to user ( me ) issues, im not sure....

thanks for all the replies....keep em coming.

MacBookDJ · Post by **MacBookDJ** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:18 am

Using a different midi interface can help get you out of a drumming rut, too. Going from my midi keyboard to a Trigger Finger made a huge difference for me.

timothyallan · Post by **timothyallan** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:22 am

I tried playing by hand with my TF, but even a tiny bit of latency really screws me up. So now I just do everything by hand with the mouse

Spiralgroove · Post by **Spiralgroove** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:23 am

timothyallan wrote:I tried playing by hand with my TF, but even a tiny bit of latency really screws me up. So now I just do everything by hand with the mouse

quantize it at 16ths or 32s before you ever listen to it...

jasinski · Post by **jasinski** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:09 am

Not sure if I understand where your problems rize in the process of creating drum beats with Impulse. i think the way they have it working in Live 6, once you get the hang of it, is pretty easy to use.

If you are struggling with the actual drum programs, I put together a couple of tips for you below.

To start out with, create midi clips of only 1 bar in length. (4 quarter notes). Just by double clicking on a midi track, it will create an empty clip of 1 bar. Hit the clip play button and start drawing in notes on the drum hit you want. As it plays you will be able to hear your creation in real time. All the drum hits are labeled so it is easy to add and remove them on the fly (you don't even need the keyboard for that)..

There are endless variations, a lot of them come from experimentation. Another tip is to figure out the rhythmic patterns of your basslines and melodies and strategically use the drums to emphasize those.