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So until I manage to find a drummer, I need to program drums..... Does anyone know of a way to de-quantize programmed drums to make them sound a little less robotic?

Thanks

i think there was a semi recent thread about drum software that touched on this.

u can add some swing. or turn the quantize off completely (or to something super high like 64ths) and play them in (instead of programming the step sequencer)

kinda depends on what u are using. some devices have a thing where u can shift notes + or - ticks on the sequencer. sometimes this is called microtiming.

u can also mess w/ the velocity, pitch, filter. etc of each drum hit to give it a more natural feel.

I already just fill the hits in by hand and shift the velocity and such around. Don't really have a good way to play it in. It's the timing that I think makes it still sound a bit much artificial. I haven't played around with swing much, but I'm not sure if there's a "swing" that will fit with my style of playing

I'm kind of hoping for a tool or trick that will randomly offset the notes just a tiny bit so it's still in time but not quite so mechanical feeling. Something that involves less work on my part

gunslinger_burrito wrote:I'm kind of hoping for a tool or trick that will randomly offset the notes just a tiny bit so it's still in time but not quite so mechanical feeling. Something that involves less work on my part

this is essentially what swing does alebit in a somewhat mechanical way. i know what you're saying tho. just maybe apply a real small amoutn so u don't get all ragtime w/ it.

what r u using for drums btw? definatley helps the conversation.

also cutting up some drum loops instead is a good way of getting some feel too

You should read this interview with Roger Linn (inventor of the Linn Drum, the MPC series, etc.), there's some stuff in there that's very relevant to what you're looking for.
Basically, it's not that simple .

http://www.attackmagazine.com/features/roger-linn-swing-groove-magic-mpc-timing/

What DAW software are you using...?

I'll read the article once I'm not at work....

I use fruity loops, and I've been using addictive drums. They sound the best and generally do everything I need them to. I just would like to tweak them a hair so they're not so mechanically timed

With most DAWs you can add swing to quantized midi, as has already been mentioned, but you can apply it only to specific sections. You drag the cursor over certain parts, adjust and go on like that. So you can vary things in a bit more seemingly random way. You can also do it manually, which is what I do a lot. Sort of, I kind of cheat it by making 2 or 3 versions of a beat that have slight variations in swing and velocity, then mix them up, so it seems more "humanized" without having to go through and mess with every little part individually. Then I will also typically tailor small parts to specific riffs, to help them match the feel. A lot of times I will do that with scratch tracks, then record the final guitar/bass tracks to the more "humanized" drum tracks, then I might go back and fine tune them again a bit to the final tracks.

To ever-so-gently fuck up or humanize the timing of a beat from a drum machine, intermittently turn the tempo up/down by 1 to 2 bpm while it plays. If it's playing say a 115 bpm beat, try turning the tempo down to 114 after the bar starts, up to 116 after a few beats, back down to 115 again near the end of the bar, and so on. A sort of manual tempo modulation. Continuously doing this while recording can add a very believable 'slightly flawed' feel to the track.

I do this with my DAW in tenths through out. Also kicking sections up or down a few bpm helps, like speeding the chorus up 3 bpm.
Helps out a lot. Pairing this with randomizing the attack and tone a little will go a long way.

I think I need to mess with the BPM a bit more, that's the only thing I haven't really tried. I've only done it when a certain section felt like it needed to be faster.