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composing percussion


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I've been avoiding writing percussion parts in most of my songs and I suppose it's worked out ok because the type of music I write doesn't per se require it. But now I wanna try. I attempted to add percussion to it but it seemed all erroneous

without percussion:

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with percussion:

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For orchestral percussion are there any particular rules or styles to follow (or are there basic lessons online somewhere)? I listened to a few orchestral battle songs (kinda what I was going for with the above), and they didn't seem to have snares running throughout the entire song, what other type of drums could be used here? Also does anyone know where I can get a good orchestral percussion vst, NI's seems kind of limited.

On a partially related note, would a song like this really need percussion or be better with it?:

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hey,

i'd say that the tambourine in the first part playing on every beat is a bit distracting - either turn it down or get rid of it or maybe make it a little more subtle. The piece really picked up towards the end with the cymbals/brass entry. When the tamb/snare were rolling, it really seemed to work.

another issue is quantizing - it kinda just sounds like you were trying to play all the parts on the keyboard and they're all a bit out of time and that kinda throws it all off. But yeah, half way through or so with the tamb rolls and snare rolls and stuff, it sounds a lot more subtle and in time.

The song at the bottom... hmm, i suppose it works without it but just experiment and see what you think sounds good. I wouldn't just add something because you think it should have it. You're as good a judge as anyone else!

If you want specifics i can help, because i'm a percussionist but i'm a bit in a rush so i was just giving a general overview.

I guess my final word is keep it tight and keep it subtle. Make it confident, yeah, that's what it seems to be lacking, it feels like someone hesitantly playing it on a keyboard at the start and that's not what we want! Give it your all! :)

Keep it up,

Calum

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hey,

I guess my final word is keep it tight and keep it subtle. Make it confident, yeah, that's what it seems to be lacking, it feels like someone hesitantly playing it on a keyboard at the start and that's not what we want! Give it your all! :)

Keep it up,

Calum

Timing is definitely an issue I am playing these parts by hand, I'm still learning to quantize and I don't record drum parts first so that makes it a lot worst.And in all honesty that is the case, I have no idea what to do when it comes to mixing and percussion. Especially percussion, the snare on every beat seems detracting so I'm looking for a tomtom or something that can play at least the 1st beat then maybe a snare on the last 2, it's something I observed listening to other orchestral vg music I think. If only the tomtoms in my sample pack were better >_<

Well the composition is good, but the mix is pretty muddy, some of the instruments don't stand out like they should. Also, I heard some percussion in the non-percussion mix, and it didn't sound too bad.

Yeah my mixes tend to be muddy, but I don't particularly know which dynamics to emphasize or what instruments need to be mixed/stand out.

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