Punk Short

[The Suitor]

I've been playing with some guitar tones, and drum loops. I'm planning a punk-ish album (going back to my roots for memories' sake), and I'm thinking of getting a new Drum Loops set from beta monkey.

Anyway here's a sample of the drums in a short recording I did in about 10 minutes (never mind the playing).
http://www.mediafire.com/?wyjkhcwmctw

This was just a quick test with a sample of the Beta Monkey Punk Drums, I need critique on the quality more than anything.

[kaputtnik]

Well, it sounds like punk, in a pretty stereotype way. The way punk "should" sound, now, after it has lost any importance or feeling. No offense, but guitar punk music combined with sequenced drums is a thing I absolutely cannot stand, it sounds completely ridiculous in my book, especially if the sequenced drums keep on clicking like a clockwork, but in front of it is an average guitar player (no offense) with timing flaws and just tears the whole thing down.

If you want to record punk music, the first thing to do is to stop caring about things like a drum sound. And if you want to record punk music, don't try to do *punk music*, but punk music.

[Evil]

As far as quality goes, it sounds fine. It's a little quiet, but once the guitar starts, it's an okay volume. It is a very typical punk beat, but it works. You're going to want to have some interesting drum change ups. Every few measures have something a little late, or an extra snare hit, just to make it sound less digitalized. Once you have some of those things in there it'll sound less loopy, but may make the quality of the sample stand out more. You'll just have to play around with it. If the music is good, no one will even notice or care about the drum quality.

[The Suitor]

thanx for the c&c, I sometimes get to paranoid about quality. But after reconsideration, the music I'm writing is merely influenced by pop-punk and not punk, and I think I've decided to stay with my Drum Werks I. As for the playing in this, I don't play this crappily, and I do damned good for serious endeavors (and no offence taken, btw ).

But the sound quality was the only thing I was worried about. I just want to record something that people will listen to without saying "man that sounds like it was recorded in a toilet."

As for the drums being... well loops. I don't know a drummer that plays anymore, so If it sounds ridiculous its all I can do. 

[Evil]

Reverb and layers can be your friend when it comes to making samples sound real and have an authentic flow, just don't go overboard.

Did you have the drums slightly panning left and right? Something about it felt like it was moving slightly, like it was recorded live.

[The Suitor]

Did you have the drums slightly panning left and right? Something about it felt like it was moving slightly, like it was recorded live.

They were recorded in a studio, and that might have something to do with it.
Here's the website: http://www.betamonkeymusic.com

and the actual loops I used from the sample download: http://www.betamonkeymusic.com/V10.html

[creatorlars]

The drums sound okay, but you should look into the BFD or DFH plugins for acoustic drum simulations.   They sound the most convincing and have the most realistic options for humanizing velocity/timing.  Each drumkit piece is sampled dozens of times at up to 128 different velocity levels.  So it's very rare that each drum hit for say, snare, is actually going to play the exact same snare sample.  Repetitive sounding samples are the most unnatural sounding thing about sampled acoustic drums.

I have worked with various drum machines and sampled percussion in a punk context for years, and I've always been of the opinion that if you want real sounding drums -- play real drums.  Drum machines and sampled percussion are a different beast, and you have to make a different kind of music with them.  My old postpunk/nowave act Undoing of David Wright used drum machines exclusively.  Here's some links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-VtY9O0nDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4saNL_Naf5s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oric-_Irda8