How to make VST drums sound REAL (Addictive Drums, EZ Drummer, Steven Slate)

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Have you ever struggled with getting a realistic drum sound from your virtual (VST) midi drum software? (Addictive Drums, EZ Drummer, Steven Slate Drums, Superior Drummer, etc...)

If so, then today you're going to learn my top 4 tips for making virtual drums sound REAL.
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0:00 Intro
0:51 Tip #1: Record it... Don't draw it in
3:59 Tip #2: Never ever ever ever ever...
6:34 Tip #3: Think like a drummer
8:56 Tip #4: Use these 3 plugins

[MonsieurVersatile]

Your 'every plugin on' clip is about 15dB louder than without the plugins on so of course it sounds much better!

[swangonzalez]

I always draw. You can get away using fingers on a pad if the song is simple 2 and 4 stuff. But I prefer drawing. Always. It takes more time definitely. But you can program more intricate and complex fills and beats that way. Given that you know how a real drummer plays. Ghost notes on a keyboard or pad might be too difficult to record live. So I draw. It gives me more control. If your'e not lazy. The real key in drawing however is the quantizing. I almost never quantize using the command. I do it by altering notes or group of notes. Nudging them by hairs off the gridline. It's tedious but well worth the effort. I randomize the timing in subtle ways. I also mess with the velocities. The trick is to keep everything subtle. That human feel is really just.... very subtle timing deviations from the grid and fluctuations in velocities. All very subtle. If you were a drummer you can use electronic drums. If you program techno or simple pop beats you can get away with a pad or keyboard. But if you want to simulate what a real drummer can do and are not a beats drawing. You just have to understand how a real drummer plays. And believe me you can have killer drums if you learn how to draw.

[marcoscortelazzo]

I use Reaper with ezDrummer. I often choose between the midi loops that the vst offers me, staying as close as possible to my idea. Then, before the ezDrummer vst, I put the reaper MIDI humanizer: it's a plug in that adds randomness to velocity and timing. the result is very good and time saving. thank you for your video #bbesoundstudio ❤

[sheLovesG]

I don’t draw it in or play. I either find existing midi files of pro session drummers or extract from the plugin. You can do this on most of them if not all but there are also many 3d party creators. I just find the most appropriate basic part to start, edit a little if needed but usually I don’t as there’s enough content available now to find the right basic groove and usually I just loop it and get started. I also will often find one alternative loop just to mark verse/chorus changes but no intros/outros or fills until I’ve got a robust structure going. Singers and musicians will give you more consistent performances without all the fills and changes. I know that sounds counterintuitive but musicians and singers react to the groove like anyone else and when it’s get hyped or drops to say just a hat and a kick they follow those cues and you don’t want that. Again it sounds weird but the final product will be of higher impact if the melodic performances stay really locked in while the groove varies underneath. So after all that you go back and add or edit the midi track and again you can find pro midi performances everywhere now.
And I still do actually play things in too once in awhile.

[sword-and-shield]

Former drummer. You can grid it, then humanize it, kinda like you are already doing, just top down instead of bottom up like you do. Some workflows might be more efficient having it to the grid as the whole song is coming together, especially with other instruments. I get ya tho, and I prefer playing in the drums for the groove creation. Its just wrong to assume no grid its the best way to work. I can grid the drums, work, and then bring em right where they need to be feel wise quickly at the end. This makes editing, or comping parts, different fill ideas, bridges, pre chorus etc. far more efficient as the song is coming up. The groove creation part? Yeah gotta be played in. There is no loop chopping going to get me halfway satisfied to what I would create by playing as I listen....But hey this is Art ! work the tools as you need for you to produce your art for you, that is what matters.

[ChrisMichaelsChicago]

Before I start gluing the drum group, I kind of need to hear how it sits in with the rest of the music. It's subjective on ones mixing methodology. Some mix on the fly while tracking, some times it's already in your head. Some nice tips

[Randuski]

I would add something else to "think like a drummer". Understanding how drummers play is important. Most drum plugins prevent you from certain things, like playing an open hi hat sound and a closed hi hat sound as the same time. But you have to keep in mind drummers have two feet, and two hands. You can't really hit 3 or 4 things at the same time. Usually you're not hitting the hi hat when you hit the crash cymbal, if you're doing rolls on the snare and toms, you don't have enough hands to also hit hats and cymbals. I've heard a lot of goofy things in tracks that don't make sense like these things haha

[trippingjune]

Do you send your drums to individual channels, for instance to send reverb only to the snare... or do you just effect the entire kit with the same plugin?

[edisongarcia]

Thanks for this awesome video. You really gave much helpful advice for improving sampled drums. Also I dig the recording it’s pretty good man!

[Rgdonaire_]

I use midi packs. Recording myself playing pads only works on a very simple part. But for subtlety and complexity, midi packs from real drummers are by far the best. With addictive drums you can tweak them for more authenticity.

[BillGraper]

I do write in my drum beats & then copy/paste, but then I'm constantly making small edits for weeks, while I'm adding other things. I do drum fills, raise & lower the volume of hits, etc... I'm guilty of having everything right on the grid. Reaper does have a feature where you can quantize everything & set a certain percentage to offset the hits, or "humanize" them. You can set the amount of offset, and even pick which percentage you want to come in early or late. It's actually a pretty neat feature. I'm about to lay down a drum track for my new rock song, and I'm going to make it as human as possible. I'm thinking about playing the whole thing live & then make subtle changes, because no matter how good I am at drumming, I know I'll have some beats that are a little too far off. Anyway, NICE video! Everything you said is pure gold. :)

[avtordonny]

I’m brand new at this and trying to figure it all out. This is very helpful. Thank you!

[GeorgeAmodei]

yeah, we all think to Quantize thinking it will be Accurate, but then found out soon that need to Play LIVE on the PADS or Keys to REC. like you said Kick/Snare CLosed/Open HH, Toms, Crashes. is the way that works best for me. Great Videos, Thank you for taking the time to so people this! George Amodei

[abeahmed]

The thing where you said it's hard to add in clicked drums with variety or that it isn't optimal is 100 percent untrue

[StratsRUs]

Logic X Drummer, following a rhythm track of my recorded guitar works a treat for me.Can still play in certain regions too.All adds up to a very rhythmic groove.

[spagloballegalconsultancy]

This was a really good video. Really enjoyed this. There are dudes who charge for online courses that teach these exact steps and tips. Nice to see you opening this up for the community. Loosey Goosie baby :-D

[burningstar]

Just got your guide. Great to meet likeminded people.

[ravigunslinger]

I was interested in this video, because I use “fake drums”. Personally, my top tips would be:

1) get ezdrummer or superior drummer - both of these sound way more realistic than anything else I’ve heard, and they have quite a few expansions - there’s even a steve albini one (nirvana, pj Harvey, pixies). The caveat to all of this being, I’ve been so happy with ezdrummer that I haven’t properly researched other samplers, so maybe there are better ones available?

2) use midi files that have been triggered by real drummers - again, ezdrummer is great for this. It’s worth paying £20 for a pack of midi files, it sounds far more realistic than triggering with pads and infinitely better than programming the drums yourself. You can then make small edits to make the midi recordings suit your song.

3) try to route the individual drum tracks to your daw. This way you get a lot more control when mixing.

4) don’t over process. Personally I feel that any processing you do should have a specific purpose and be solving a specific problem. There’s a very real risk of making something sound less natural. Definitely don’t over compress. Slamming the compressor will turn something dynamic into something very uniform and machine-like. I have the tiniest amount of compression on the drum bus for “glue”. It’s barely audible. A nice tape emulator is good for glue too.

5) take time to get your levels right. I love ezdrummer, but the crash cymbals don’t sound particularly realistic to me, so I have them quite low in the mix.

Check out my soundcloud, all of the songs were done using ezdrummer. You can see my journey from over-compressed programmed drums to something that hopefully sounds more realistic.

[Sangejzer]

You said sidechained reverb is the same concept as gated reverb just different intensity. But isn't it actually something exactly opposite?

[omerktee]

That's was so informative and important. Thanks