Best way to structure a multi-mic, multi-output drum library in HISE?
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Hi all!
I recently finished David's bootcamp and got hooked on HISE (many thanks for putting this together, @David-Healey — it’s been super helpful). I’d now like to start my first real project as a learning exercise, and I’m looking for some guidance before I begin.
Some context:
A couple of weeks ago I built a drum kit library in Decent Sampler. It uses multi-mic samples with 6–7 velocity layers and 8 round robins.
The kit currently includes:
- Kick
- Snare (hit + cross-stick)
- Tom 1
- Tom 2
- Hi-hats (pedal, closed, half, open)
- Ride (tip, bell, crash)
- 2 crashes
Most pieces (except the crashes) have 1–3 close mics, plus:
- Room
- Overheads
- Short reverb
- Long reverb
I also set it up with multi-output routing and a basic UI (volume knobs plus a couple of mute buttons per mic/output), so I can either keep things simple through the main output or send parts to separate buses and mix them later like a regular drum recording.
It works pretty well, but HISE seems much more flexible, so I’d like to rebuild the library there and use it as a learning opportunity.
1) Project structure
My main question is how to structure this in HISE in terms of containers and samplers.
I’ve been reading about HISE’s multimic workflow here:
https://forum.hise.audio/topic/75/multimic-samplesFrom what I understand, multimic samples can be merged as long as each sibling matches properly, including sample length, sample rate, and channel consistency. In my case, I think most of the dry mic samples should fit that requirement, but I’m not fully sure how far I should take that approach. Based on your experience, what would be the best / most efficient way to organize this in HISE?
Would it make sense to create one sampler per instrument (with its articulations inside it), and use multimic merging where possible? Or would a different structure make more sense for a drum instrument like this?
2) Routing / multi-output
I also read this post:
https://forum.hise.audio/topic/11553/multi-output-tutorialMy goal would be to keep a workflow similar to the one I already have: both a simple main output option and multiple outs, so I can mix the kit in Ableton more like a recorded drum session.
Roughly speaking, I think I’d want:
- main stereo out
- separate outs for the close mics / mono spot mics
- shared stereo buses for OH, room, short verb and long verb
So in total I think I’d need around 20 channels / 10 stereo pairs, depending on the best way to handle the mono sources.
Does that sound like a sensible approach in HISE?
And for those using Ableton, is there anything I should watch out for regarding how HISE multi-outs appear there? As far as I know, Ableton can see up to 15 stereo aux buses apart from the main stereo out (in Decent Sampler this was also pretty direct, since I just routed things to a bus).Any advice on a solid “v1” structure before I start mapping everything would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!
Jon
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1 sampler per instrument seems reasonable here.
You can merge samples with different numbers of channels, but the lengths must match.
A couple of videos you might find helpful regarding multi-mics.
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@David-Healey said in Best way to structure a multi-mic, multi-output drum library in HISE?:
1 sampler per instrument seems reasonable here.
You can merge samples with different numbers of channels, but the lengths must match.
A couple of videos you might find helpful regarding multi-mics.
Thanks a lot for the quick reply, David.
I’ll check both videos right away!
