The Score Magazine January 2018 issue! | Page 42

MALIK ARSHAQ DRUM REPLACEMENT TIPS Every sound engineer will tell you that getting a good drum sound on recording day is always the most challenging aspect since there are a lot of factors involved in determining the end result. From the room that you record in, the placement and positioning of the microphones to the way that the drummer plays and the tuning of the drums themselves, everything contributes in deciding whether you end up with a good recording or a bad one. Ideally, you would want to record it well in the first place, but since there is a lot of room for error, especially in a home studio set-up, sample replacement or sample enhancement can be used a last resort to get that ideal drum sound that you're looking for. Sample replacement or enhancement is the process of bringing in a pre-recorded sample and blending it in with your recording. This way you'll be able to bring in a more polished and consistent sound and match it up with the dynamics and realness of your recording to achieve a good balance. The process would involve placing the sample and synchronising it with the corresponding drum recording. This would obviously be a very long process to edit out accurately. Luckily, on certain DAWs like Pro Tools, we have an option called "Tab to Transients". What this allows us to do is every time we hit "Tab" on the keyboard, the marker automatically jumps exactly on to the next transient or the beginning of the hit. So, if you need to replace your snare, you just need 40 The Score Magazine highonscore.com to paste your selected snare sample and paste it every point that you have a transient in your snare track. Maintaining the intensity when the drummer is more dynamic or complex can be a bit tricky. Once you've edited in your sample in sync with the corresponding transients you can blend in the level of the drum replacement based on how much of it you need in the balance. A more easier approach would be to use sample triggering plug-ins to trigger a selected sample with the recorded track. Triggering plug-ins like the Slate Digital Trigger and the XLN Audio Addictive Trigger allow a lot more flexibility and efficiency while making the editing process a lot less tedious. These plug-ins allow you to choose exactly what the threshold for the recorded track should be in order to trigger the sample. This way the softer bleed signals will not trigger the sample. The dynamics and intensity of the recorded hits also translate well through these trigger plug-ins. A built-in tool in these plug-ins allow you to control how much of the selected sample you want to hear in your output. In the kind of scenario where you want that perfect kick or snare sound and your drum recording just isn't going to make the cut or if you aren't able to re-record to rectify recording errors, drum replacement serves as a great option to make up for what your drum recording is lacking.