I see a lot of people trying to get hi-hats the exact way they hear them. Like making them sound they there spitting out so I wanna let the people know how to get it like that at least almost exactly like that without having to do the compression and EQ'ing yet.
First, when you load any sample from your browser presets to your project, click on it, open it's window and click "Normalize". It basically brings the waveform higher making it louder, it might sound super loud for some samples but that's what mixing is for, turn it down through it's channel volume or through the mixer after assigning it.
Second, there's a little knob on the "Channel Settings" for whatever sound you click, in this case it should be a hi-hat, it says "CRF" which means crossfade. Basically what this does is sets two markers in the beginning of the sample and at the end making it to where the sound only plays for however long the note of it is. So if you were to hold a key, the sample would repeat and repeat, if you were to tap it, it would play real fast and cut off. This is essential for hi hats cause if you are putting in fast hi hats without it, all of them overlap. So when you put them in, making them as short as possible without having them cut off.
Hope that was easy to understand. I didn't start doing it until recently but I had to figure it out on my own and it really makes a difference. This works good with sampled 808's too. Which is an essential actually but I don't use sampled 808's.
Just to clear this out as well, you can do this with any sample. It would probably make things sound more clear as well because your sounds won't have that 'flat' sound in the end of it. Especially for people using low quality samples from free drum kits.
tip 1
wow - normalise your sample(s), just wow. Unless the sound is a one shot sample you are removing all degrees of velocity gradient control
A good hi-hat sample set will have a several layers of velocity specific samples so that you can recreate a range of playing techniques and volume levels - to turn them all all the way on is just plain - there is no other way to say this - idiotic or stupid
tip 2
Highlights my point about which daw you are using.
CRF could be implemented as loop start-end points or just plain loop segment depending on the daw in use.
I never read or heard Dilla's original quote, so it's difficult to assess exactly what he said or what he may have meant. However, I interviewed 9th Wonder for The BeatTips Manual(full interview included), so I'm confident that 9th wasn't using the term "scale" in the music theory context of the word. Instead, I think he was using "scale" as in the scale of the beat—an adjective to describe the scope and length of the sequence. So what Dilla most like meant is: playing hi-hats hits (and other drums) much more naturally on or rather across the pattern, sequence, etc. However, that being said, it must be noted that since 9th Wonder used FL Studio (at the time of the interview) and J Dilla used an MPC 3000, 9th Wonder had to translate and transfer Dilla's knowledge and method to a software environment.
Programming through the use of a software program is different than with an MPC. This is not an endorsement of way or the other, it is simply a fact. A fact that must be considered whenever one seeks to emulate ANY method, technique, and/or concept that was first developed and formalized through the use of hardware EMPIs (Electronic Music Production Instruments). Again, I'm not necessarily saying one setup approach is better or worse, I'm pointing out the fact that certain aesthetic approaches and techniques were first developed using hardware, and are therefore, often more suited for hardware. But this doesn't mean that those aesthetic approaches and techniques can not be translated andtransferred to software EMPIs.
For example, hi-hat programming techniques can indeed be achieved (realized in) with FL Studio. But, before one moves to modify and adjust any functions (parameters) within FL Studio (or any other software solution), they must first grasp the notion of how hi-hats work in beats as well as the common hi-hat pattern types (i.e. 1/8th and 1/4 note placements, etc.) In that way, it's not about making hi-hat programs like Dilla or 9th Wonder or any other beatmakker. Instead, it's about understanding how to make hi-hat programs that fit your own unique style of beats.
Another thing want to point out is that to view rhythm abstractly through mathematics can actually be counterproductive to making dope beats. Just as with other black music traditions, rhythm has always been a major aesthetic of hip hop/rap music and its main compositional practice: beatmaking. But rhythm isn't just a mathematical concept, it's a 'time' concept as well. Rhythm, fundamentally speaking, deals with how musical elementsmove through time. When you attempt to reduce (or pin down) rhythm to a solely mathematical principle or equation, you actually subtract away from the "natural essence" of time in music. For instance, think about timing correct. Timing correct is the "mechanical correction" of time. It corrects or perfects—depending your aims—the value of timing that you set in your sequencer. But another way of looking at timing correct is that it disrupts (if not absolutely destroys) the natural—live—sense of timing, by making time artificial.
Finally, it's important to note that when we make beats, we are essentially moving between artificial and natural (live) realms. And the more artificiality we incorporate into our beats, the more likely they are to sound more mechanical, stiff, "stuck," or just plain lifeless. On the other hand, the more naturalness that we are able to incorporate into our beats, the more likely they will have a 'real' feeling to them, more vibe. Hence, hi-hats (and other percussive elements) are ideal for incorporating a more natural feel to your drum patterns and your beats overall. Therefore, the less corrective measures you take with hi-hat programming, the better the chance you'll retain some naturalness and vibe in your beats.
Use the cut/cut by. This is exactly what it's for.
i.e. route close hi hat to fx 1. route the open hi hat to fx 2 (let's say). Then for both channels set the cut/cut by to the same thing. i.e 2 / 2 or 1 / 1.
This means that the two samples will but each other. That means that if either sample is triggered before the previous one is finished the previous sample will be stopped (cut). So, playing the open hihat will stop the closed hihat and playing the closed hithat will stop the open one in this case.
the open hi hats, put that on 'cut itself'
2. where you want to open hi hat to close, you put another note with the open hi hat in the sequencer where the closed hi hats begin
3. then on the top, the button next to the piano roll i forget what its called , the one with volume, pitch, ect. you open that.
4.then at the spot where you want that open hi hat to close, remember, you already put it there in the sequencer, you simply drag the volume down to 0
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