This article will teach you adjust sound levels on a drum machine. There are two elements to adjusting sound levels on a drum machine: the relative volumes of each of the individual components of your drum kit and the overall master volume. We will study both of these concepts so that you can get the best sound possible out of your drum machine.
Instructions
1. Study the default volume levels of the individual components of your drum kit. The volume of each component of your drum kit can be adjusted individually on the drum machine. The goal is to create a balanced sound that is appropriate for the style of music you want to create. Study the relative volumes of your current drum kit. Ask yourself, How loud is the kick drum compared to the snare? How loud are the cymbals compared to the other elements in my kit?
2. Determine the style or genre of the song you are programming. What genre or style category your song falls into will have a great effect on your approach to adjusting the sound levels on your drum machine. For instance, if you are programming a hip-hop song, you will want to crank your bass drum up fairly loud. If you are playing a rock song, the cymbals will be much louder than they would generally be in a hip-hop song.
3. Study the levels of individual drums in the style of music you plan to follow. Before you started trying to program your own drums on your drum machine, you may not have thought about the relative levels of one drum sound to another in the songs you enjoy listening to. Now is the time to start paying closer attention. Closely study how the drums are mixed on songs you love, so that you can emulate that feel when mixing drums on your drum machine.
4. Adjust the relative volumes on each of the drums in your drum kit. Inside each drum patch in your kit will be a number representing volume. You will press the Up and Down arrows or move the scroll wheel to adjust the volume up and down to the level you want.
5. Start by setting the level of the kick drum. Find a comfortable level for the kick drum and then, one by one, adjust the volumes of the other components of your kit, relative to the kick drum. Keep adjusting the levels on each of your drums until you find the right mix for the style of music you are making.
6. Adjust your master volume. Once the levels of the individual drums in your kit are mixed, you then need to turn up the master volume on your drum machine. If you are wearing headphones, turn the master volume knob up to a comfortable level. However, if you are recording or playing live, it is very important that you turn the master volume up to the maximum. Many people don't realize that, to get the best sound quality out of a drum machine when recording or playing live, you need to turn the master volume ALL the way up. This will give you the best signal-to-noise ratio. Don't worry, you won't blow out anyone's ear drums, and here's why: When you are playing live or recording, the actual sound level is set by a separate mixing console. So you want to send as loud a signal as possible to the mixing console that will be adjusting the overall volume of your drum machine. If you have your volume set too low, your audio levels will be very weak, and you may hear hiss coming our of the speakers attached to the console. Even worse, it will be difficult to take your volume levels higher without generating feedback. You definitely don't want that. So make sure that your volume is at max when using your drum machine in any other application than with headphones. That's it! You now know everything you need to know to get started adjusting sound levels on your drum machine!
