In this instalment in the DIY Sample Series I'll show you how to record some big hit elements for use in music composition or sound design. The recording setup is pretty simple, using a single microphone and portable recorder.
I'll show you how to how to record multiple velocity layers and round robin variations so these can be played in faster repetition, like percussion instruments, and they can be used as impact elements.
The first step is to sample some instruments. For this, I went with stuff I had laying around my house. I used a large storage tub, metal folding chair, crappy floor tom with one head, cookie sheet, cake cooling racks, bits of chain, a grip plate for lighting, and I even used the table that I was setting my "instruments" on.
After the samples are recorded you'll see how to chop them up in Reaper, but any DAW will work for this.
Once the files are named properly, it is really a pretty simple process for setting up a Kontakt instrument and dialing in the parameters that you need. A few tweaks with EQ, dynamics, and verb and basic sounding samples are transformed into massive sounding hits.
Screencast
In the example track I used the samples I recorded in this and the last Clicky Ticky DIY Sample tutorial.
The percussion was supplemented with cymbals, gong, and a bit of concert toms from CinePerc. The rest of the track was created with Cinematic Strings 2, CineBrass Pro, and Olympus Elements.
The Result
