[sdiy] harmonics & vibrato

[Richard Wentk]

At 02:19 19/12/2002 -0600, Robert Kent wrote:

>   I remember the thread on this a while back. Perhaps a more
>productive approach might be to slightly vary the amplitude of
>the impact, rather than (or along with) the tempo.

More productive still would be to:

1. Use a selection of very similar but not quite identical samples for each 
hit, and choose them randomly.

or

2. Use your amplitude idea with velocity switching so samples could be 
controlled either randomly or with a (MIDI?) sequencer.

and/or

3. Apply a slight random-ish variation to the overall tempo instead of 
individual hits.

and/or

4. Apply some randomish timbral variations to each hit

3 is an interesting one. You'd think a lot of dance music would be right on 
the nose, but in fact if you listen closely the tempo will vary slightly 
throughout a track - although it's usually more of a smooth and subtle 
accel/decel than a random change.

And that's not getting into groove/feel programming, which is where the 
most interesting variations come from.

>I suspect
>that timing is more of a matter of psychology and coordination
>than physical ability, and that a competent(!) drummer may be
>better able to keep on tempo than to ensure that each beat
>sounds the same; muscle fatigue, small changes in position,
>and many other factors can affect the speed and force of the
>impact. Maybe it's a bogus theory, but I believe that's a
>significant "humanizing" element electronic drums lack.

I suspect it's academic, since most people *like* the fact that electronic 
drums don't sound human. A good swinging sampled groove trumps a real 
drummer for almost anything outside of the proggest of prog rock. And - er 
- rock 'n roll.

Personally I cheat by combining loops. My drum programming always sounds 
really crap. But in something like Acid I can stack up ten loops or more, 
and that always sounds a lot more believable.

I think what Jurgen was trying to say was that randomising event timings 
doesn't make drums sound human. It makes them sound random, which is a very 
different thing. Basically you either swing/groove beats or you leave them 
alone to get on with the job. Shuffling the timing at random never does 
anything useful. Shuffling the *sound* of each hit can work very well 
though, as long as it's not too intrusively blatant and distracting.

Richard