Supplementing Drums with Multitracks

Give your drums a sonic makeover with the power of multitracks and triggered drum sounds. Auxiliary components such as timpani, hand percussion, and pre-recorded sounds make it surprisingly easy to enhance your musical depth regardless of your drummer’s experience.

• Add more components than your experienced drummer can handle.
• Give your less experienced drummer a helping hand.
• Onboard someone completely new.

These techniques will elevate your music, even without any drummer at all!

• Add Sounds the Drummer Cannot Play
• Am I Allowed to Modify Copyrighted Stems?
• What if I Have a Small Team? Does Using Drum Tracks Seem Artificial?
• Is It OK to Add Drum Tracks if I Have No Drummer?
• Add Sounds Triggered by the Drummer
• Develop a New Drummer Without Missing a Beat
  • Here’s How
  • Tips for Success
• Gear
  • Drum Modules
  • Drum Triggers
  • Drum Software

Add Sounds the Drummer Cannot Play

Many of today’s worship songs include parts that a single drummer cannot perform, even with additional drum triggers and advanced drumming skills. Drummers just don’t have enough hands and feet. Pre-recorded tracks can add these components to enhance the drummer’s part rather than replacing or duplicating it.

For example, in the original artist version of “Love of God” (Brandon Lake/Phil Wickham) available on MultiTracks.com, there are eight separate drum tracks! Besides the drum set stem — which would be muted and played by a live drummer — there are aux drums, effects, loop, perc, shaker, tambourine 1, and timpani tracks. A single drummer simply cannot perform all these parts, even if you have kettle drums on the platform. But playing the song without those parts reduces its rhythmic impact. To anyone used to hearing that version, something significant is gone. Without tracks, this modern hymn may lack the energy and musical energy that drew you to it originally.

While track providers such as MultiTracks.com make using backing tracks easy, you can create your own multitracks rather than purchasing or renting them. Many churches prefer to create tracks that represent their specific take on the song and make it their own. Other churches supplement purchased tracks by adding and playing their own stems with MultiTracks Playback Live, a DAW such Ableton Live or Studio One Show Page, or another playback system.

For example, with MultiTracks.com and a Cloud Pro subscription, you can purchase and download the actual stems by the original artists, eliminate or modify the stems in a DAW, and add your own stems to your account. You upload the collection to Cloud Pro as a new song and use it just like a purchased song, including integrating with your Planning Center Online account for your team and ProPresenter for stage display. Then you can use MultiTracks.com’s Playback to run tracks during your set, including the ability to jump between song sections live. Sweet!

Am I Allowed to Modify Copyrighted Stems?

We’re glad you asked! MultiTracks.com’s Jesse Schaefer gives us the definitive answer:

“Regarding modifying tracks that you’ve purchased: yes, you can absolutely do that. In fact, lots of people do that to get more meticulous edits that aren’t currently supported in Playback.”

Here’s how you can edit stems for MultiTracks.com playback:

1.   Purchase the song from MultiTracks.com (or create a new one from scratch).

2.   Download the stems and drag them into your DAW.

3.   Modify the stems you want to change or create your own additional stems. (I recommend making duplicate tracks of the original stems and then editing the duplicates instead of the originals. That way you can always get back to the originals if you want to try something different.)

4.   Upload the original and new stems (up to 20 including click/guide) as a new song on your Cloud Pro account (44.1kHz, 16-bit, stereo WAV files). Modify the song name slightly to differentiate it from the original (e.g., “Way Maker–Extended”). From there, you can add it to your set list and adjust like any other purchased song.

What if I Have a Small Team? Does Using Drum Tracks Seem Artificial?

Hearing sounds that seem to have no source can be distracting for some listeners. Even so, many churches use multitracks to fill roles the team cannot cover. If your congregation is comfortable singing with tracks in this way, then it’s a no-brainer win-win. Some churches may even use this approach to highlight the need for a drummer or percussionist and request congregants to consider stepping up to volunteer.

Is It OK to Add Drum Tracks if I Have No Drummer?

If you’re concerned about adding percussion tracks when there is no drummer on the platform, then use tracks instead as a subtle supplement to support the team rather than as a main music element.

Rather than using every stem from the MultiTracks.com songs that you purchase or rent, Jesse suggests picking specific stems that complement what your musicians play. “Decide what works for you on a case-by-case basis. Personally, I tend to lean on having live instruments shine above the tracks. Supplement the overall sound without stepping on the musicians’ toes.”

The key is being appropriate. When you don’t have a drummer on the platform, rather than adding a full drum track, create rhythm tracks that you can camouflage behind the live instruments you do have. The sounds you use on the track don’t have to be traditional drums as long as you’re thinking rhythmically. This approach allows you to get the groove and highlight important lyric moments while keeping the tracks from drawing attention to themselves since there’s not a drum in sight.

• Add a melodic or rising 808 or a low-passed sub-bass sound in the background under your live bass guitar to subtly simulate a kick-drum pulse for key moments.
• Add a soft shaker or a string strike to provide the percussive impact of a hi-hat or snare — mix it into the background behind your acoustic guitar.
• Use filters and EQ to enhance or reshape a drum sound to give it a unique character.

Supplement a hand percussionist on the platform playing a cajon, congas, or other hand percussion by adding a kick or other sounds that are close to the frequency range of the instruments being played live. For most congregants, the visual reference of the live instrument eliminates the discrepancy that otherwise may be a distraction when the ear hears something recognizable that the eye can’t see (such as a timpani when there’s no drum on the platform). This approach also provides a great opportunity for you to develop new musicians. Read the recent article “Solve Your Recruitment Woes.”

Add Sounds Triggered by the Drummer

You can enhance your acoustic drum tones even if you’re not using tracks. Simply put a drum trigger on your acoustic drum and select the studio-produced drum sounds you want to add on a control console. You can also use a drum pad to trigger pre-recorded sounds and play them just as you would a drum. This is a great way to improve the tone of your acoustic drums or even add drum sounds you don’t have, such as timpani, Japanese taiko, or something you’ve captured from your favorite recording.

Develop a New Drummer Without Missing a Beat

Incorporating tracks allows you to onboard less experienced drummers without sacrificing a consistent tempo or the rhythmic hooks that keep a song engaging. Tracks allow you to simplify the drum part for the drummer by removing specific drums from their role. Those excluded parts can be included in the augmenting tracks.

Imagine all the percussion parts as a pie. The kick drum delivers one slice, and the snare is another. Although it’s easy to think that the drummer is responsible for handling the whole percussion section, that’s not accurate. An important slice may be shared, such as the congregation clapping along with the snare or the hi-hat while the acoustic guitar doubles the same pattern. Instruments sometimes perform compatible parts that combine to create a single slice, such as the kick drum and bass guitar.

The drummer and the pre-recorded track will each cover separate percussive slices. For example, suppose that the drummer can only play the kick and snare parts for a song; the remaining hi-hat, toms, and cymbal hooks are outside their capacity. Rather than disqualifying this drummer from serving until they’re capable of playing the entire drum part, incorporate tracks to help the drummer develop sooner. This may also help you more easily and quickly onboard percussionists coming from other genres, such as band and orchestra students.

Here’s How

1. Remove everything the drummer can play from your drum tracks. The remaining multitrack stems then cover the other parts — cymbals, toms, and tricky turnarounds — that the drummer does not play. (Or you can record your own stems with drum software.)
2. Record a drum rehearsal track with all other parts at reduced volume. (This step can be done easily if you use MultiTracks.com with the Rehearse Bundle and Planning Center Online.)
3. The player can add in the remaining parts as their ability develops.

You can use this approach to develop musicians playing other instruments, as well. For example, I first used this technique to help my son as he learned to play bass guitar. Before long, he could play rings around me!

Here are some drum parts to consider adding to a playback track. Keep in mind that the goal for any worship musician is to highlight specific places to help the congregation connect to the lyrics and emotion of the moment as everyone worships together.

• A single-strike accent before a big chorus or big song element
• Tambourine to emphasize the last beat of each phrase
• Special effects
• A bass drop
• Cymbal swells
• Chimes or shaker

One final caveat is that practicing with the full loop helps the drummer remain consistent with what the band plays during the team rehearsal and set, as long as the rest of the team plays compatibly with the tracks!

Pro Tip: When tracking or replacing drum sounds live, overcome latency challenges by reducing your DAW buffer size to 32 or 64 samples. If using Studio One, then enable low latency on your instrument track for even faster times of around seven milliseconds. Quality ASIO drivers, a super-fast audio interface, and a high-performance-CPU laptop also fight latency to improve speed.

Tips for Success

• Focus on adding parts that your drummer can’t play live to impact the song.
• Consider that creating excellent musical expressions of praise is a step along the way, not the goal. Songs simply provide an opportunity to craft inviting moments for the congregation to engage as we worship together.
• Avoid adding parts that your new drummer must replicate and play along with — any timing discrepancies will really stand out. Instead, think of using tracks as adding a touch of spice to enhance what your musicians are doing. For example, if your drummer strikes the kick on beats one and three in an upbeat, four-on-the-floor chorus, then add a low, 808-style emphasis on the first beat of each measure, every other measure, or the beginning of each phrase in the loop track. A little spice enhances the song while allowing it to breathe.

It can be very discouraging for drummers to hear a pre-recorded part they’re playing for the live set coming out of the FOH. This communicates that the drummer’s investments of skill and time are not needed. Instead, build a framework upon which the drummer can successfully add something vital, even if it’s just keeping a simple, consistent beat.

Gear

Drum Modules

Drum modules turn your drum-trigger outputs into sounds. Dual trigger inputs can be split to send two single trigger inputs. In addition to onboard sound libraries, load your own custom samples and third-party sounds. The output from drum modules can be recorded directly to your sound console for live use.

• Lower Count Modules (2–12 triggers)
• Higher Count Modules (14+ triggers)

Drum Triggers

Attach a trigger to an acoustic drum to send a digital signal to a drum module. Electronic percussion pads have built-in drum modules. RTOM’s Black Hole Practice System mutes acoustic drums up to 80% and triggers your module.

• Single Zone Triggers & Packs
• Dual Zone Triggers & Kick Drum Triggers
• Trigger Pads
• Electronic Percussion Pads
• RTOM Black Hole Practice System

For additional info on drum triggers, watch Drum Triggers 101: How to Start Using Drum Triggers.

Drum Software

Record your own stems or create them with drum software. Expansion modules give you even more options. Sweetwater offers a huge variety. Some of the most highly rated include:

• Toontrack Superior Drummer and Toontrack Expansions
• Steven Slate Drums and SSD Expansions
• XLN Audio Addictive Drums

For an alternative approach, read “Best Beat-making Software for DJs and Producers” and “Boom Bap! Re-creating ’90s East Coast Hip-hop Beats in the Home Studio.”

Filling the Gaps with Expert Advice

When it comes to enhancing the beat for your congregation, you have a huge range of options at your fingertips. Reach out to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700 for personalized recommendations from professionals who want you to succeed.