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Ultrabeat drum sets and music style


Ruffen

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Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about the different drum sets that are featured in Ultrabeat in Logic and what kind of music styles they are meant for. I am creating mostly pop/r&B music but I tend to like the drum sets that have a great snare sound, and I find myself choosing Breaks remix kit, Big beat remix kit, Dub smash, Major crush and Massive beat a lot - simply just because I love the sound of these sets. However, I didn´t think about if they actually fit the music style that I am aiming for. So my question is:

 

What kind of music are the drum sets mentioned above meant for?

 

Which drum sets are best suited for POP/r&b (besides the ones that have pop and r&b in the title. However, I usually find these too "weak" in the snare sound according to my liking, so I have not used these on my projects)

 

And should we always stick to the drum sets that are meant for certain styles or just go for the ones that you like the sound of? Will the project sound weird if you use the wrong drum set?

 

I would be very happy if someone has any input for me on this because I am a bit unsure what to do.

 

Thank you for any comments.

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May I suggest that you should just let your ear, and your musical taste, be your guide?  I submit that "there is no such thing as 'wrong.'"  If you "love the sound of the set," then it's just right for your project.

 

Choose the drum set that produces the sounds that you think benefits your project ... or, if you are so inclined, make your own custom set!  There's not going to be anyone to tell you, "no," and it's sure to sound fantastic.

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May I suggest that you should just let your ear, and your musical taste, be your guide?  I submit that "there is no such thing as 'wrong.'"  If you "love the sound of the set," then it's just right for your project.

 

Choose the drum set that produces the sounds that you think benefits your project ... or, if you are so inclined, make your own custom set!  There's not going to be anyone to tell you, "no," and it's sure to sound fantastic.

 

 

- Thank you very much for your answer, Mike. That was actually the kind of answer I was hoping for but I thought that I would get something like "of course you need to think about the style". I guess the reason that I posted the question in the first place was that I was in contact with a professional record producer who listened to a demo sketch of mine on which I had used one of these sets, and he expressed something like " the drums sound like house or something", and then I started thinking about if I had gotten everything completely wrong. But I think I agree with you, if a drum set sounds good to me then it´s right for the project no matter if it´s originally meant for another music style.

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It would be interesting to explore what your friend meant by "it sounds like 'house.'"  Was he referring to instrument selection, performance style, complexity, what?  There are always ways to change drums.  And then, having chosen the basic sounds, to manipulate them in your mix.  It would be nice to be able to ask this person, "just what did you mean by that?"
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It would be interesting to explore what your friend meant by "it sounds like 'house.'"  Was he referring to instrument selection, performance style, complexity, what?  There are always ways to change drums.  And then, having chosen the basic sounds, to manipulate them in your mix.  It would be nice to be able to ask this person, "just what did you mean by that?"

- Yes, next time I see him I will try to remember asking him about it. The drum set I had used for that particular song was "Dub Smash" however, so it might have been just the hard sound of it, because I had not done anything to change the sound of it at all. But I guess it´s possible, as you are saying above, to adjust the intensety of it and the sharp sound to make it more "pop-ish" but still keep the hard snare  that I like. Thank you for your good feedback. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
May I suggest that you should just let your ear, and your musical taste, be your guide?...

 

...I was in contact with a professional record producer who listened to a demo sketch of mine on which I had used one of these sets, and he expressed something like " the drums sound like house or something"...

Commercially released tracks intended for dance clubs do follow general guidelines based on the genre. For better or worse, it seems to be dictated by that which came before...and some genres, particularly house, but also trance or drum n bass, go back 20-30 years, so there's a definite standard to which labels and fans expect a track to adhere to. I'm not stating an opinion for or against the practice, but if you submitted a track to a producer or label who specialize in house music, and you used a drum kit intended for (read: most often associated with) German industrial dance...they'd most likely pass on the track. 

 

So, yes, you be your own guide based on your ear and your taste. But also be *aware of* the general conventions of a given music style if you intend to release your music commercially. Also, many Ultrabeat kits are named in such a way so that it's easy enough to figure out which style of music they are intended for (read: most often associated with!) ;-)

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