drumnbass.be forum » Production » Production questions & answers » Layering sounds? Layering sounds? Author Post NN2 Tourist Registration Date: 12-07-2008 Posts: 29 I've heard people talking about layering drum sounds. Is this layering done by having two different sounds playing in different tracks with the same timing? Sorry, if this is totally off the mark , if so, could some-one explain about how to layer sounds? Cheers. 13-08-2008 18:23 c_ctrl Wicked Producer Registration Date: 02-06-2008 Posts: 307 Helpfulness rating:  Yep thats pretty much it. It's just to create a greater depth of sound. So say you have a snare which is quite toppy on track 1, layer it with another snare which could be a bit more bassy on track 2, have them hit at exactly the same time to create a hybrid snare. Do the same with pads and you'll get a wicked sound..maybe __ DeCode & Roary Soundcloud 13-08-2008 19:37 Binary Havoc Binary Havoc Registration Date: 25-07-2007 Posts: 730 Helpfulness rating:  ^^^ Yeah what he said Plus some liberal use of EQ could isolate the part of each snare that you like before you layer, so you get the punch of one, the snap of another and the fizz / tail of another etc. __ http://soundcloud.com/binaryhavoc/dropbox 13-08-2008 20:39 BattleDrone 2161... the future. Registration Date: 30-12-2005 Posts: 6,413 Helpfulness rating:  To layer up a good phat snare you could use - a regular snare - white noise to add presence - A punch (search for a sound like a bouncing ball) Avoid layering the low end of kickdrums or basses because it might cause sound canceling. Don't layer 20 sounds on top of eachother, you'll just get noise. Don't layer several versions of the same sound, it won't add anything to the sound. __ Check my soundcloud (exclusive tracks on there) 13-08-2008 22:19 NN2 Tourist Registration Date: 12-07-2008 Posts: 29 Mmm... cool, cheers peeps! 14-08-2008 09:56 PLaGuE CeLL Subwoofer on a Killing Spree Registration Date: 13-01-2006 Posts: 225 Helpfulness rating:  Depends on the context... As always there are no rules but ill generalise to make things easier to explain In Drum n Bass you can choose to layer different individual hits at the same time to fatten up for example a snare or add interesting nuances to an otherwise boring one-shot In Jungle you can layer different breaks playing different patterns to create complex polyrhythms... I've noticed that a lot of producers use both these techniques anyway, it can help to make a beat sound more organic and flowing you may choose to compress the whole thing together afterwards to glue it together, but i know a fair amount of people (me included) like to avoid compression for that purpose for reasons of retaining the dynamic range of their work __ My Myspace 19-08-2008 22:29 J.Rabbit Creativity through Mental Illness... Registration Date: 12-05-2008 Posts: 82 Helpfulness rating:  here's what I do... and if anyone has some helpful suggestions feel free to add... 1st - I put in a kick and lowpass it so it hits around 60-75 hz 2nd - I'll either use the same kick or another and eq all the low end out (like 100hz+) *and possibly tweak the high end if necessary 3rd - I'll put in a snare with a nice fundamental (preferably around 200hz but sometimes 180 - 230) and I eq everything out except the root note at that frequency 4th - I'll put in the same snare (or a different depending on frequency/pitch) and eq the fundamental punch out of it... 5th - I'll then if necessary put in another snare to fill in either the higher end or to fill in around the 500+ *note: 300-450 can get muddy at times so I usually avoid that hz range all together 6th - put in a few hi hats and cymbals going at different rhytms to make the beat stand out and give it more of subtle rhythm 7th - then the loops, I'll use a normal loop like a rock or hip loop - high pass it (500-700+) maybe even cut it up a bit and rearrange it to a new beat 8th - I'll do the same thing again but with a standard amen - doesn't have to be, if I don't use an amen I try to use a loop with a little reverb or echo in the back round - at this point I'll take out the kicks (on top of hi passing it) so that the original kicks I put in before stand out and don't end up sounding muddy... at this point it's really just adding different effects, maybe a small room size reverb on some of the hi hats (not on the kicks or snares) - I add an effect called "puncher" and it gives everything a little more "oomf" then I'll use a multi-band compressor and let the low end go un compressed, and just tweek the mid and hi end range/attack/ratio/threshold/etc.etc.etc. until it sounds how I want... if you find a different method, and remember there is no "wrong" method when producing, it's just what sounds good, but I definetly recommend a compressor on the mid range of the snare to give it a punchy type sound... either way... use your spectral analyzer and make sure everything from 500-15k is about even, you'll always have peaks and here and there, but I always shoot for a dymanic around the snare fundamental range and the kicks sub... also, take a tune you like and watch it through the spectral analyzer and see how it looks and mimic that structure... hope this helps... and by the way if anyone has a recomendation or a correction, I'm always open.... __ www.myspace.com/jrabbit "Clownstep is a derisory term, used by certain listeners to describe a certain style in a negative way, it's not a subgenre as such, but most producers would feel insulted by the labelling of their music as "clownstep"." 28-08-2008 16:28 drumnbass.be forum » Production » Production questions & answers » Layering sounds?