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Weak drums are bugging me! (pg. 3)
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echosystm
quote:
Originally posted by pwnage1
What are weak drums?


Drums that are weak
pwnage1
quote:
Originally posted by echosystm
Drums that are weak
Haven't noticed drums getting weaker at all.
echosystm
quote:
Originally posted by pwnage1
Haven't noticed drums getting weaker at all.


It used to be a techno thing. It's things like kicks that are mainly sub bass and very little above that and general drum samples that are very short and snappy - no long snare decays or open high hats. For example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ahxsl7FvPk

That isn't the best example, it's just the only one I can think of at the moment. However, a lot of house and trance is like that now, as the genres merge. Here's an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0XIMkuo81Q
flutlicht junky
quote:
Originally posted by pwnage1
Haven't noticed drums getting weaker at all.


Just go to beatport and listen to the minimal top ten lol :toothless
DJ RANN
I have to agree with Eric on this - and Echosystem explains it well.

Even listen to invo2lver (which is great), but all of the kicks are these whispy little clicks.

It seems the punch of kicks going towards the lower mid is not present at all and there's more sub bass resonance.

Seriously listen to any EDM more than a few years old and the kicks are front and center, with a nice punch. Not saying they are all the same, there's huge variance, just that they were the drive of the percussion.

Also, IMO, the lack of the punchy kick, leads producers to make their percussion differently, and in many cases tone it down and make it more sparse which is why I reckon people are finding a minimal influence in dance tracks.

I'm not saying have this thumping kick that everything else is drowned out by, but it does seem weird that producers are often using such weak percussion. It's a shame because I hear some great tracks but think where is the heart of the percussion or feel the track has not as much life as it could have.

Did someone really say "micro house". Have we really reached that point now with Genres? Give me strength.
Eric J
OK, here is a good example of what I'm talking about.

Go to beatport and listen to some Arthur Deep tracks. Everything else about them is really well done, but the kicks are SO weak! I realize that a lot of his stuff is on the deeper end of things, but its to the point that I can't fit any of his stuff into my sets because they just kill the energy level. I have plenty of tracks that are on the deeper end of the spectrum, but have nice, full kicks.

Now, go listen to some stuff done by Dinka. The kicks are not "in your face", but they are thick, present and provide a nice bottom end to all his (their?) stuff. Another producer like this is Jerome Isma-Ae . He always has nice, solid kicks with plenty of presence.

I realize that a lot of this stuff is purely personal preference, but I can sense from the responses that a lot of you are hearing the same thing, especially those of us who ride a bit more on the progressive side.
flutlicht junky
quote:
Originally posted by DJ RANN
Did someone really say "micro house". Have we really reached that point now with Genres? Give me strength.


Microhouse like minimal techno has been around for along time. Don't agree with all the genres myself, espcially ones that are purely defined by a sound.

I prefer to think of house, techno (inc trance) and hardcore :toothless
DJ RANN
So it was you :whip: , just kidding, I hadn't heard the term before and just thought someone who was in to minimal had too much time on their hands :D

Are you saying you lump techno in with trance as one Genre? Because I know a lot of people who'd make you wash your mouth out!

Totally off topic but I draw my line at : house, progressive, trance, techno, minimal, breaks. The rest are all just sub genre's of these in my opinion.
Stef
quote:
Originally posted by cryophonik
Not that I disagree with you, but to many, the term "minimal" usually implies sparse, which is not necessarily the opposite of "loud". For example, one can build a dense wall of rhythm sounds that is set fairly low in the mix and, conversely, one can have a very sparse drum arrangement with only 2 or 3 elements (e.g., kick, snare, hihat) that are mixed and EQ'ed so loud that they consume most of the mix. I think that when you wrote "minimal" you were referring to volume, but I guess my point is that the density/sparseness of the drum arrangement is a separate, but related and equally important, element of drum mixes that is also worthy of consideration.


Well, in this i did mean sparse rather than just quiet. I have been noticing a lot of the more progressive tracks now have been doing much more with synth work rather than complex drum construction. I like it that way to be honest. I feel like it gives other elements a lot more room to breathe and stand out better.
flutlicht junky
quote:
Originally posted by DJ RANN
Are you saying you lump techno in with trance as one Genre? Because I know a lot of people who'd make you wash your mouth out!


No I lump trance in with techno ;) lol, it is actually a sub-genre of techno, I remember a time when it was even called techno trance.

Loving Jerome Isma-Ae, some tracks follow the same arrangement but you cant argue with the tracks, they sound great.

Kenny.K
Hi guys,

quote:
Did someone really say "micro house". Have we really reached that point now with Genres? Give me strength.


Hahaha... Exactly what I was thinking. Did I just read that..!? :stongue:

I have personally noticed that kickdrums have taken a trend of becoming less prominent, and think that it's just a producer's preference. Personally not my cup of tea, but each to their own.

quote:
Are you saying you lump techno in with trance as one Genre? Because I know a lot of people who'd make you wash your mouth out!


Hmmm, the eternal question. A poster the other day, I think it might have been MrJiveBoJingles... pointed out that what was considered trance in the mid-90's was very techy and percussive. He posted a couple of samples of which contained heaps of random percussion, acid lines, etc. If you listen to the 'trance' that is produced these days (big names - Armin, Rank 1, etc), it is significantly techy. Mind you this is coming from a guy that loves tech-trance so notices this.

To me trance is techy, apart from the purist's trance with is entirely fluffy and uplifting, and the purist's techno which is all percussion and no melody. Just an opinion but food for thought (just realises I'm on a trance purist forum :) )

Kind Regards,

Kenny
echosystm
i only listen to micro tech house breaks, tbh.
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