# Making EZdrummer sound realistic



## serchnetx (Jul 31, 2008)

so ok, i've learned I can EQ every piece in the EZdrummer-drumkit from hell, but i still got one more problem... can't make it sound realistic (or at least no realistic enough). I've always used guitar pro to write the drums, then export that to MIDI and then use the EZ drummer to play it, but the thing is it doesn't sound good enough to my ears (and comparing to what some people here do). some guy told me to not use guitar pro to write the MIDI, but i don't see any other way, please help!


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## stuh84 (Jul 31, 2008)

Two options, You either plug the notes directly into your sequencer, or you amend the velocities of notes once you are within the sequencer. I use the MIDI from Guitar Pro method, but I spend time trying to make things realistic by changing the velocities of notes. I am still never quite happy, but its better than a straight up MIDI.


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## Thomas (Jul 31, 2008)

I agree with Stuart regarding the note velocities. If the velocity is constant, there is no way your drums can sound realistic.

I am really not sure what kind of advice to give you in this matter. I usually picture myself behind the drumkit, playing the part I want to program, and then translate that into notes (well, they are not really notes since they do not have a pitch) within the piano roll in my sequencer.

If nothing we say here helps, maybe you could try uploading your drum track(s) to somewhere online (e.g. Soundclick or MySpace), and link to them within this thread or maybe a seperate one in the "Recording Studio" section? I'm sure you would get good feedback that way.


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## serchnetx (Jul 31, 2008)

ok so here it is, SoundClick artist: SRCH - page with MP3 music downloads, and below it's the same thing with guitars on it, listen and tell me what you think


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## inflames1919 (Aug 1, 2008)

If importing from Guitar Pro make sure you check the velocity levels. You want standard hits to be between 120-127. For ghost notes and lighter hits you can experiment.


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## TomAwesome (Aug 1, 2008)

It's mainly about tweaking the velocities. Another thing that helps a lot, though, is that most of the drums have separate left and right hits. If you're in a fast passage, going in and editing the MIDI so that the snare, kick, or whatever alternates between left and right hits in the same way a real drummer would be helps a lot. EZD's humanize function is an option, but it's hit or miss. Sometimes it makes the track sound a lot better and more realistic, and sometimes it makes it sound like you've got a drunk monkey banging on the kit.


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## HotRodded7321 (Aug 25, 2008)

serchnetx said:


> ok so here it is, SoundClick artist: SRCH - page with MP3 music downloads, and below it's the same thing with guitars on it, listen and tell me what you think



Sounds pretty good....one thing you may want to do is reduce the *clack* of the kick drum. Not much, but give it a bit more boom and less smack and it should make it a bit more powerful.


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## mnemonic (Sep 15, 2008)

i haven't used ezd in a while, but if i remember correctly that 'clack' seems to come alot from the room mic. i cant remember exactly where, but i'd always put two cuts in the room mic with my parametric eq, one around 4k i think, and then another one lower down. cut too much and it makes the snare and cymbals sound thin and lame so be careful.


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## MF_Kitten (Sep 15, 2008)

the room mic makes the snare and cymbals sound nicer, and the kick sound awful 

the kick makes a "poff" sound in the room mic, which is somewhere in the 400Hz region. make a nice cut in that area, and you´ll get rid of some of that nastiness. then i´d recommend turning down the room mic alot. try with it off, and then turn it up until it´s just barely fleshing out the kit.

note that i separate each part of the kit into different tracks, so i can eq and compress them differently.


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## thewildturkey (Oct 7, 2008)

I know its all been said before, but...

The key is in the velocity of the strikes. Also, keep in mind that guitar pro has way less instrument (drums and cymbals) than EZdrummer, so you can change the cymbal selection up to make it feel a bit more realistic.

Good luck, I'm a longtime drummer turned noob guitarist, and I struggle to get it sounding hot.

Dan.


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## Kronpox (Oct 9, 2008)

some programs have a 'Humanize' (or similar) function for their MIDI tracks where you can make the velocity and timing of each hit randomize a little bit, so each hit isn't exactly on rhythm and isn't hit precisely as hard as the hits before and after it. It's subtle but it really works as a one-click way to make your drums sound a lot more lifelike. If you don't have that function you can go in manually and start editing the hits, but that may take a long time!


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## zeusdeux (Dec 3, 2008)

experiment with the velocities and use an eqing plugin ON ezd after changin the velocities and tweak the bands to get the sound u want...


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## Luan (Dec 15, 2008)

How do you EQ every instrument of the Ezdrummer?
thanks


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## zeusdeux (Dec 17, 2008)

@luan

Open the mixer on dfh
right click "trk 1" -> select multichannel
now u ll notice that everythin has been assigned to different tracks.
go to the exdrummer options and select "enable multichannel output"
now open ur mixer and play u drumtrack and u ll see a lotta channels showin activity

i use FL studio , so on FL after enabling multichannel output i assign a mixer track to my DFH plugin and then on the mixer the kick is on the track i selected (say track 2), the snare top on track 3 and so on, ie it expands automatically startin from the track i selected

now that i ve everything on a separate mixer track i can assign an eq-ing or compression plugin to any track i want dependin on the sound i want to mod, for eg., i assign the eq to track 2 (kick drum) to eq the kick drum

hope that helped
cheers


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