Layering Drum Samples - Does it Work?

When layering drum samples together to make new sounds, one must consider all the technical aspects and also pay attention to the artful aspect that underlines all musical decisions in a beat making project. The evolution of drum samples, from sampled styles in the 70's and 80's to synthesized sounds from the 80s until now plays a huge role, and the more familiar you are with your history the better and more valid your decisions can be. These days, hybrid sounds dominate the sample scene, but each side has its strong points.

When layering sampled and synthesized drum samples, closely monitoring the distortion is advised.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Synthesized samples can be pretty loudly generated without losing much data, but combining these with drums played by a professional band drummer in a studio can lead to metering issues in most cases.

The start of a sample is dubbed by many as the 'attack', the starting point that lets you know the sound has arrived. This part of the sound is what cuts through other, more release-laden instruments like strings and synths.

The middle of a sample is what sustains it. A drum sample with a boomy middle, like the 808 kick, for instance, may have a slow (soft) attack, so its announcement is not as pronounced as a snappy snare to give an example. But you can sure feel it, and this is what has made it such a cultural phenomenon since the 80s.

The end of a drum sample is not as 'important' to most music producers as the other two phases. It's true that if fading out slowly or quickly, not much though needs to be given to the end, but there are a lot of samples out there right now (mostly free ones and some paid ones, too) that clip at the end. You really must not have this happen! Take the last few milliseconds, drag to the end and fade out three to four times if you want. Even just once will ensure that clipping is made non-existent.

Layering is not as hard as it is said to be. Much of the time, you can't just combine two samples after lining them up. What you should concentrate on is combining the phases of different samples. So if one particular kick drum has a great middle but lacks a punchy entrance, take the entrance from another sample and mix-paste the wave forms to form a hybrid that please the ear both through its announcement and guest talk, so to speak. When it comes time to 'leave the party', the drum sample can simply be faded out or have a reverb tail it out. The possibilities are endless.

Layering Drum Samples - Does it Work?

SAMPLE QUESTIONS