If you don’t want to record your own, click here for a zip folder full of drum samples<\/a> you can download and use!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was going to start this article with a small anecdote about whether or not using samples is ‘cheating’, but Aaron Edgar beat me to it: Are Triggers Cheating<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n While that article focuses on the many ways a trigger can be used to expand your drumming and creativity, I felt remiss not to mention it here. After all, it mentions three important uses of samples that we will focus on in this article: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this guide, you’ll learn what samples are, what they’re used for, their pros and cons, and how to record and edit your own. My goal is to give you, as a drummer, enough tips and tricks so that you can deliver a fantastic performance in the studio the next time the engineer asks you to take samples of your kit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And if you are one of those people who dabbles in mixing your own productions and recordings, we’ll look at a few techniques on how to apply samples to your mixes, and eventually how to get creative with samples and special effects.<\/p>\n\n\n If you’re new to samples and relatively new to recording, there’s a handy glossary at the end of this guide in case you aren’t familiar with some of the terms.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is going to be a long article with tons of information, so strap in! I will also be using a few bits of software during this article and video demos such as Pro Tools<\/a>, Slate Trigger 2<\/a>, NI Battery<\/a>, NI Kontakt<\/a>, and some third-party plugins that will help me illustrate what’s going on in the mix.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you want to follow along, you’ll need:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ll try and approach everything in a simple, generic way, so you can apply the same principles to your DAW and sampler plugin of choice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n All set up? Let’s get started!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A sample is a short piece of audio – in our case, a drum hit – that is cropped to start at the zero-crossing point behind the transient (check out the glossary at the end of this article if these terms are new to you). Usually, that sample is taken from the close mic that belongs to that drum, or a combination of microphones around the drum kit for a more realistic sound.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let’s get a few things out of the way: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It would be wrong to say there isn’t a place for drum samples in any well-engineered recording performed by amazing drummers. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Want a classic example? Jeff Porcaro and Bernard Purdie played on Steely Dan’s \u201cGaucho\u201d, engineered by the legendary Roger Nichols. During the recording sessions, Nichols started the development of the Wendel, the first drum sample replacement machine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That album won Nichols – well, the Wendel – a platinum Grammy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since then, countless hit records by top artists all over the world have used sample replacement, augmentation, or reinforcement in some way or another. Andy Wallace is notorious for using sound samples; Nirvana’s Nevermind<\/em> trick of sending drum samples to reverbs has become legendary. Andy Sneap has been on record saying that using drum samples is the only way to go in heavier rock and metal genres. Chris Lord-Alge has, in multiple interviews, shared some of his favorite samples (some samples were even provided by his friend Steven Slate). Even in the country scene, prolific mixing engineer Billy Decker is using extensive sample replacement and augmentation on his mixes. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n With such a roster of engineers with extensive discographies, I’m sure you’ve enjoyed more than a few tracks that have drum replacement\/augmentation or enhancement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Before the Wendel, there are stories of engineers completely surrounded in tape for days making loops that cover the whole song. If you needed longer tape loops, you’d have to take the tape out of the reel and use microphone stands or use the pulleys between one or more tape machines to achieve the desired loop length.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’ve also heard stories of engineers punching in snare drums or kick drums one by one on tape. Can you imagine how tedious and long of a process that is? Remember, you couldn\u2019t just jump to the next snare hit like you can now. You’d have to press a combination of keys to make the tape safe for scrubbing and manually rotate the flanges so you could find the exact point the snare or the kick hits. Mark the tape with your chalk, and then prepare to punch in – which could easily take a few goes to get right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is not to say there wasn’t sampling before the Wendel. By the ’40s, there was the Musique Concrete movement that was doing a lot in terms of sampling, synthesizing, and even digital signal processing. But what Roger Nichols did for Steely Dan’s “Sweet 19” track was groundbreaking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Wendel was indeed revolutionary, but it was not a fast process. You’d have to feed it the click track (the only means of synchronization back then) and then feed it the instruments you wanted to trigger – one at a time! Once that was done, you’d have to use a very non-friendly user interface to tweak some of the parameters that the Wendel would allow you to trigger.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Other options for sampling (the Fairlight comes to mind) were becoming popular and easier to program. There were also several incarnations of the Wendel that were more accessible to users.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It didn’t take long until effects processors such as the AMS DMX (famous delay processor) or the Roland SDE (famous delay unit) and later on the Lexicon 480L (probably the most recognizable reverb processor in a studio environment) allowed you to load a sample into the memory and trigger it via an audio input. All you had to do was make a copy of the snare or kick and feed it to the unit. You would then record that back to tape, so you could free up the AMS DMX or Lexicon 480L for other reverb duties.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The issue with doing the above was the delay. The sample could come in as much as 20ms late, creating phasing issues or even flamming.<\/p>\nTable of Contents<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What are drum samples?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A brief history of drum sampling<\/strong><\/h3>\n