Programming drum rolls

I am going to throw a guess, Scott. What if the velocity changes on each tap? Would that make it sound more like a roll than a machine gun?

Have you tried using your keyboard and trilling D1 and E1? Then set the velocity to fairly low. In my set of Garritan percussion instruments, drum roll is provided since it is so difficult to emulate. By try the above and see if it helps get you closer.

Here is what I did in GB that came pretty close. I created a track using Rock Kit and inserted two very low velocity notes, one on D1, the other on E1. I shortened the loop down so all there was to it was D1 for 1/32 measure then E1 for 1/32 measure. I looped these two notes over a period of 10 seconds. I then adjusted the volume rubberbands so that the volume did not stay constant, but rose and fell here and there. The result sounded pretty good at a tempo of 100.

Scott, if you need a drum roll AIF file for you to create a loop with, let me know.

I just created a very nice drum roll in GarageBand 2. I basically followed the same instructions I gave above (using GB-1) and reduced the notes to 1/64th. I created 4 notes this time D2, E2, D2, E2, and set velocities of each note to 44, 47, 42, and 45 respectively. With the volumes gradually rising and falling, and the velocity for each hit slightly different than the others, the drum roll sounded quite authentic.

I'll do you one better, Scott, I'll send you the MIDI loop (just made it--my first!) All you need to do is assign Rock Kit to the track. But I need an email address from you again because I am not at home to get it. Send it via my home page...

http://www.schneblin.com

Schneb

OK, I uploaded it here.

Just unzip the file and drag the aif onto the editing window. Assign Rock Kit drums to the track and extend the loop as long as you want it to go. I think it works best at 60bpm.

I thought Day Tripper was mostly Tom work at the beginning. That aside, copy and paste the notes provided in the AIF you downloaded, adjust the volume if you want it to increase emphasis, even adjust the individual velocities of each note until you get what you want.

I actually downloaded the MIDI of Day Tripper and extracted the drums. I put together this loop from the beginning drums. It is not a snare roll, it is a Tom roll. See if this is closer. Note: If you still want the snare, select all the notes in the provided loop and just move them down a couple of keys till you hear the snare. Extend the loop and adjust the volume rubber bands till you get the sound you want. 120BPM is recommended for this loop.

Oh, like when the MC says, "drum roll please" before they annouce the winner?
Yep, couldn't resist the pun.

Ahh, woopsie.

Yeah, play with it. Remember, to keep it from sounding like a machine gun, you have to put the human touch into it. No drummer can get every hit to be exactly the same velocity or deadon accurate. Copy and paste the notes and do a little messing around as well as slight changes in the volume rubber bands.

Do you know any drummers? Maybe you could record nothing but a series of different rolls on different heads and cymbals and make a soundfont with PolyPhontics GB?