I am quite sure this has been addressed at some point

[guitars247]

but.....

I have pretty much decided that buying an electronic drum kit at this point would be overkill. Plus I have read many reviews on the cheaper kits that make me nervous (triggers firing at random times, hi-hat issues, etc.) So, I am now looking for another way to produce really good quality drum tracks for my demos (I mean, demos that could be used commercially, if need be).

I have read up on drum machines and VST-type drum options. I am also trying to learn more about using a synth to create drum tracks using MIDI (I am assuming, I am completely foreign to MIDI, etc.)

I guess my question is: what are some of the options you guys use.

I would like to be able to record my drum tracks and have everything stay in assigned tracks in the mix (bass in one track, snare in another, hi-hat in another, etc..) so I have total control of my mix. But I don't want cookie cutter loops that every tom-dick and harry can use. I want customizable (programmable) tracks with the ability to create fills and flourishes. The ability to use a variety of percussive sounds (congas, rainsticks, cow bell, etc...) would be nice.

Another concern I have is if I were to start using a synth, for instance, how difficult is it to get used to drumming on a keyboard, rather than a real kit. Can you get good expressions (light taps on the cymbals/toms, brushes, etc..) with it? Am I hoping for too much for too little?

Any help will be greatly appreciated....as I am pretty much clueless when it comes to this end of the recording world. Mixers and guitars I know, MIDIm synthesisers and drum machines I am a total noob.

[Cygnus X1]

I thought I already answered this.

Yup...
Anyways...did you already buy a synth/workstation?
Mine is an old Ensoniq SD1-32. I absolutely love it.
Fairly easy to program...awesome sounds...mutitracking, effects loops, assignable sends and returns.
If you really wanted, you could get some drum pad triggers, but I have gotten comfortable with using my fingers.
I don't know what pad triggers would cost, but they have to be less expensive than a dedicated kit.

And...the keys feel and sound great. Touch sensitive!
Not sure what modern synth to recommend, but I would focus less on samplers, and spend more on workstation functionality with plenty of waveform editing. It might seem too complicated at first, but as you grow, you won't regret it.

[guitars247]

You're right, I just was curious about any and all methods anyone is using to produce drum tracks, not just synths.

On a related note, I just thought of something and since you have experience in this matter, you might have an answer for me.

I have an old school 90s casio keyboard. It sucks, but the thing has MIDI outs. Once I get my audio interface that has MIDI inputs, and I will have the included software that comes bundled with it: Steinberg Cubase LE, Wavelab LE, Cakewalk Sonar LE, Ableton Live Lite 4 for E-MU, IK Multimedia Amplitube LE, etc., CD with E-MU Proteus VX.

OK, so I am sure you can guess the sounds coming from the stock keyboard blow like a Cat 5. hurricane. With my midi interface and software, will that open up pandoras box for me? I am really hoping for a nice B-3 sound, among others. This wouldn't be for drum production, but hey, if I could, we'll call it bonus. If this would be something I could use, then I could use it in conjunction with a full-on synth and have pretty much everything I need.

Again, I have about as much experience with synths/keys/MIDI as I do being the dictator of a third world country.

Any advice, suggestions would be welcome......

[chuckocaster]

i've only ever worked in pro tools, and you can use any outboard midi keyboard or controller and set up a midi track. use your keyboard to trigger and record it and then move onto the snare track. i'm sure you can assign the keys to different tracks if you want to do it all at once. you can then go back assign sounds from an external source, but we had a library of sounds to use on the comp.

on the home computer (pro tools also, but an mbox) i use propreller head to make drum loops and backing stuff. it automatically interfaces with pro tools and the drums are on their own individual tracks.

i'm sure cakewalk or cubase has something along those lines. hopefully someone here (like cj neel) can really set you straight on what's the deal.

[clayville]

I never really could get the hang of midi for satisfactory drum tracks. not really midi's fault but mine. I guess I didn't dig deep enough or stick with it long enough, but the Propellerhead/Reason thing always confused the heck out of me in ProTools.

So... I got pretty creative and proficient doing loop-based things in Garageband and then importing them as audio into PT. That has it's own limitations of course -- like starting with the available drums and building a song around them instead of starting with a song idea and building drums around that (and I've pretty much exhausted the stock and free loops I can find by now). But I do like that they're generally played by someone who knows what they're doing, which makes them an improvement over my impatience with midi.

But... for demo and sketch ideas, or creating practice backing tracks, loops can work quite well with minimal fuss.

[Cygnus X1]

Whenever things get to the point of synching midi between devices outside triggers...I go direct. Then do editing inside the recording device.

I don't even own midi boxes...the workstation handles everything in the background, so I don't even know what it is doing.