It ’ s easy to think that incorporating drum samples makes your drumming less authentic . Maybe you think it ’ s too difficult to tackle , or you like your drum sound and don ’ t want to sound ‘ electronic ’. In this article allow me to break down some unfortunate misconceptions surrounding drum samples and help you unlock the true potential they hold for you and your musicality .
1 . MYTH : USING DRUM SAMPLE LAYERING IS INAUTHENTIC .
Maybe you ’ ve heard the myth that supplementing acoustic sounds with electronic samples makes the drummer sound inauthentic , removes the human touch , or even replaces musicianship with a fake performance . The reality is that sample layering cannot happen without authentic musicianship . Think about it : it ’ s the drummer ’ s performance as a whole that creates the final picture .
TRUTH : DRUM SAMPLE LAYERING IS ANOTHER EXPRESSION OF THE DRUMMER .
Drum sample layering isn ’ t about sample replacement where a digital sound hides an acoustic sound , it ’ s about adding to and enhancing the acoustic sound with any kind of sample support . The sample may be a digital or acoustic sound and may be designed to add special tonality and character . These two sounds ( the acoustic sound from the drummer and the sample layer ) merge together as the drums are played forming something that has increased potential . Allowing a painter to blend their paints to form new colours is hardly inauthentic , nor is it when a drummer incorporates samples . The human performance is opened up to more tonality and more expression , all at the hands of the drummer themselves as they pick a sample for a specific moment to achieve exactly what they intend on achieving .
“ Modern technology allows us to expand and enrich our performance and for drummers that often looks like incorporating sample layering . Blending a snare sample together with your acoustic snare isn ’ t fake - it ’ s art ! Put some thought into what you want to achieve sonically and then find the right sample to blend with your snare and embrace the fact that we can now add a new dimension to our drumming at will .” - Bottega
2 . MYTH : USING DRUM SAMPLES IS DIFFICULT AND EXPENSIVE .
There have been many times where I have heard a live service mix , noticed how amazing the drums sound , and thought “ well I can never do that at my church .” I lived under this myth until discovering how easy it is to find drum triggering solutions that don ’ t break the bank or the brain .
TRUTH : USING DRUM SAMPLES REQUIRES JUST A TRIGGER OR TWO AND A SAMPLE ‘ HOST ’.
Whether you are looking to deploy drum samples as a supplemental instrument in a drum pad or layer your acoustic drums with sample triggering , each software or hardware solution requires a couple basic tools : Triggers and a host .
Drum triggers are devices that you place on your drums directly , like you would a microphone , which detect transients each time you hit the drum . These transients are then transmitted to a software , drum pad , or other host to trigger the playing of a chosen drum sample .
Drum sample hosts can be a large variety of software or hardware solutions . For hardware solutions , a popular way to trigger samples both supplementally or as live sample layering is to connect drum triggers to a drum pad , such as the Roland SPD-SX . Many drum pads can house a lot of drum sample presets and be triggered by external drum triggers , or played by literally hitting a pad with your drum sticks . For software , some DAWs like Ableton Live provide “ Drum Rack ” plugins that can receive messages from a drum pad or trigger to play drum samples .
“ It ’ s easy to dip your toes in the water with drum samples and there are affordable ways to do it , too . Our drum and perc pack ‘ Debut ’ is a simple entry point with a variety of sounds setting you up for sample layering with triggers or playing samples on pads . The ‘ used gear ’ market is healthy and will make purchasing hardware lighter on the wallet .” - Bottega
3 . MYTH : THE PROS NEVER USE DRUM SAMPLES .
This is not true ! Many of the most influential bands , in the worship music world and outside of it , have discovered the power of using drum samples to enhance the overall live sound and bring the drummer ’ s performance front and center . Now you can too … with a head start from the pros themselves .
TRUTH : THE PROS USE DRUM SAMPLES , AND WANT YOU TO HAVE THEM .
After years of leading worship , Simon Kobler , Grant Koneman and Benjamin Tennikoff have developed some amazing drum samples , tried and tested on the road and now available through MultiTracks . com . Under the name Bottega , they have created high quality collections of drum and percussion samples that can be used as standalone sounds or for drum sample layering .
“ Samples broaden the scope of what ’ s accessible to you while you ’ re planted at your drum kit , allowing you to perform more dynamically and with sounds next to impossible to attain acoustically . If you haven ’ t guessed by now , we are big fans of drum samples and we use them live each time we play , whether it ’ s a stadium tour , a church service , writing session or working on a track . Not only does it improve our sound , it adds another dimension and it helps us give unique identity to parts we write / perform .” – Bottega
Check out : www . MultiTracks . com
Kristian Ponsford Director of Products & Market Development at MultiTracks . com , and he is passionate about helping worship leaders lead worship well .
MultiTracks . com