[Muso] Electronic drums

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

Reads to me like someone who wants to play rather than programme.

Does it read like someone who wants to "learn to play". I even put it in inverted commas so as we'd stay on track.

Jees Gin you'd try anything just to score a few points sometimes rather than actually discussing things honestly.

_{over this thread}

[NoSleep]

But if somebody buys a new bit of kit, like Claude is proposing in the OP, he's bound to learn stuff along the way, even if he has a good idea about what he wants from drumming beforehand. Doesn't sound like he's played drums of any kind before, but, like me, finds the the thought of sitting down and spending hours editing drum patterns to perfection tedious, so there'll be, at least, a period coming to grips with new techniques, and the possibility of (hopefully pleasant) surprises, which would happen much less in the programming scenario.

[Ginyard]

Does it read like someone who wants to "learn to play". I even put it in inverted commas so as we'd stay on track.

Jees Gin you'd try anything just to score a few points sometimes rather than actually discussing things honestly.

_{over this thread}

Yes it reads like someone who wants to play and I'm not trying to point score whatsoever, nor am I talking about learning to play a kit professionally (if that'd been a case I'd have advocated getting a kit and a teacher). Just learning how to handle sticks (and hopefully pedals) to achieve the 'human touch', to have some fun and connect more with the art of performing rather than the art of note nudging. I'm not sure how many more times I can say the same thing.

[Ginyard]

Does it read like someone who wants to "learn to play". I even put it in inverted commas so as we'd stay on track.

Missed what you were getting at there. To play properly you've got to learn to do so. I'm not sure there's even an argument to be had there.

[HappyTree]

Ok, let me throw an electronic cat amongst the human pigeons.

To quantise or not to quantise? Is that the question?

I suppose it depends on what result you're looking for. When I was making a drum pattern on the drumbox I quantised because pressing little keys is hard to get right on time. But the result was pretty uninspiring. When I used the Handsonic I began the song with a click track but played over the top of it live without quantising, recording the audio straight in. I was much happier with the result.

But for electronic music I do think everything has to be totally precise. Still I do have to admit to a little turning up of the nose at quantising in general.

[Ginyard]

It really depends on the style. I mean, for metal and funk, often no. For quite a lot of electronica, frequently yes. There are also features like 'groove to quantize' in which you can quantize your drum part around parts already played in like the bass, or the other way round  -  or just for locking two loops together. If used carefully it can yield great results. But I never hit quantize until I've got what I wanted live first. Often I don't even use a metronome, especially when its to scoring to picture as it lets me feel and reach the hitpoints more naturally.