Re: Laptops, Drum Loops, etc.

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

EDWARD YUHAS schrieb:
>
> You guys/gals (there are others on the list I can't think of now) 
> always have such rich, deep sounding drum tracks with world beat 
> influence, or tweaked, with ambient sounds, etc. What programs are 
> good for this, and how simple to use are they, and how do you trigger 
> them on/off, or add drum parts from files if you've got hands on a 
> guitar, ebow, etc.?
>
> Also, if you're running such software, or soft synths...how do you 
> record with your laptop while everything else is running? I'd be using 
> a Tascam US122L interface.
>
As others did already mention, there's a big difference between live and 
studio use, and I understand you're after the live aspect mostly.

While I didn't use drum parts on my last two albums, there was a lot of 
stuff on those before (all of those are "kinda live", meaning everything 
is performed on the spot):
One approach is to use prerecorded drum loops (I used some from the 
Kontakt 2 library), such as the grooves in the track "The Streets" 
(Weird Specialist). Another approach for me was to program the drums on 
the fly, using the drum grid view in Ableton Live and then controlling a 
sound source (mostly Battery 2).
To get this more interesting, I use VST plugins to treat the audio 
signal - a lot has been done using the (free) SupaTrigga 
(http://bram.smartelectronix.com/), some MadShifta ("Weird Specialist, 
Part II) and the Ableton Live Frequency Delay (or what it's called) on 
"Virtual Baggy Pants" (Quelques Papiers D'Abord).

It would (in theory) work well to record the parts via some controller 
(MIDI keyboard, trigger pads e.g. Akai MPD24), but I didn't do that (at 
least there's no released example I remember where I did that).

In short: use some basic way to get the groove you're after into the 
computer - or use something prepared. Then, use effects to make it 
interesting.

Album links:
"Weird Specialist": http://moinlabs.de/index.php?id=273
Relevant Tracks: everything except "Errico's Grave".
"Quelques Papiers D'Abord": http://moinlabs.de/index.php?id=272
Relevant Tracks: Aspirin Age, Virtual Baggy Pants

The only track where pre-recorded drum loops were used is "The Streets", 
all other drums were programmed on the fly.

As for recording the output, I use TapeIt (the freeware version) on the 
2bus: http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:TapeIt

       Rainer

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