Drum sequencing help!

[jfloyd]

Have been looking around local book stores for things such as 'Drumming for dummies' or other books along those lines explaining rhythm and different popular techniques... I've yet to come across the actual drumming for dummies book but was wondering if any of you on here have come across any fantastic books on the subject. Im not looking for how to mix or process drums, purely playing and sequencing different rhythms. sequencing rolls and breaks are beyond me at this point.

Am considering taking a few drum lessons so I have a better grasp at what im trying to make as I have no real understanding on how to write with swing unless im using the quantize function in my DAW.

Some people say its all a matter of trial and error, but after a very long time of doing so I still feel my drums are shite. better but still shite.

If someone could point me in the write direction... ill send good karma your way!

[Kochari]

Am considering taking a few drum lessons so I have a better grasp at what im trying to make as I have no real understanding on how to write with swing unless im using the quantize function in my DAW.

Do this, I'm a drummer and being able to play ideas outside your DAW and jam along with your tune definitely helps.

And remember, syncopation, syncopation, syncopation! Make that shit funky!

[ogunslinger]

hmm well i used to drum way back in the day and honestly I'd say I learned far more by myself just practicing with a metronome than taking lessons, if I can remember correctly... teachers usually focus on timing more than any other aspect, or at least my teachers did! haha I remember... 1 2 3 4 .... 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &... over and over and over haha



but i'd say just listen to whatever style rythm you wana play, analyze it then go for it ( trial and error ) drum pads help so you can play it out and kinda feel it if you know what i mean?
but as far as learning how to play the drums, Im not so sure how well that would cross over to a daw? because it didn't cross over to me so well

[street_legal]

Trial and error works for me. I'd recommend playing the drum sequence as your making changes to it so you can hear what difference removing or adding new elements makes instead of trying to make the drum pattern to a set formula. At the end of the day its up to you what sounds good really, no one can tell you so just mess about more. It'll come eventually.

[JemGrover]

Sequencing wise, Vary the velocity of your hits (especially hi-hats and percussion if they repeat within a short succession). It really helps breathe life into the rhythm. Nothing worse then a static progression of hi-hats, Imo.
And depending on what vibe you've got going, I quite like side-chaining my hats to my snare and nudging 'em out of time to give a more humanised feel (takes a while to get a feel for it, which I've by no means got down yet, haha)

[j_one]

Sequencing wise, Vary the velocity of your hits (especially hi-hats and percussion if they repeat within a short succession). It really helps breathe life into the rhythm. Nothing worse then a static progression of hi-hats, Imo.

This. Tap a rhythm on your desk, and then try and match the velocities in your daw.

[breakmonster]

Hey, I'm drummer and I have a few tips.
1 - listen to your favorite drum beats and try to copy them. THEN put your twist on them. ALL the best musicians in the world lift and copy from other great musicians. There's nothing wrong with copying someone else's beat. Think of it as a tribute to them.
2 - Generally in dubstep the kick is on beat 1, and the snare is on beat 3. you don't have to overcomplicate the kick and snare pattern. then layer a cool syncopated hi hat or percussion pattern over top of that. that's just one idea...and u can go from there. Syncopation means accenting beats that aren't normally accented. Like accenting all the "ands" or off beats and so on.
3 - Sampling drum loops can be fun. Get some samples, slice them up, and rearrange them.
4 - Ever tried beatboxing? If you can sing out a dope drum beat, try to replicate it on your DAW. Or fuck it, get a shure 57 and record yourself beatboxing.

Hopefully that gets you started.

[street_legal]

sickest thing i've seen all day!

[Smartyyy]

This is Sick! Randomly found this thread and it was worth it

[press]

just cuz imo hes the sickest electronic music drummer dude out there. couldnt find a straight dubstep one but there are vids out there of him on some nasty breaky dubstep.

and i definityl think reading books is helpful but just going in and making different beats is the best practice. after a while imo theres only so many places you can put the kick and snare so that they are still in beat and not to sloppy so you kinda just learn the rythms that work. its the percs that keep it the most different from beat to beat. i play around with a lot of dnb breaks, house loops and ethnic percs along with my programmed hats etc.

good luck!

[kejk]

Learn and experiment with all the different rudiments.

[th@-pu$$y]

sickest thing i've seen all day!

[legend4ry]

I think half of peoples problem is that they haven't got the right sounds so they think their drums are shit, rhythmically.

Kicks and Snares, laying out wise is probably the easiest, its just a matter of copying - really..

Load one of your favourite songs into your DAW - chop a bit where the drums are playing.

Set it to loop - copy the kick/snare patten with your own samples (this is easier to do by dragging audio in instead of via midi).

Then work on your hats, fill in the spaces in between till its grooving..

Easy but good sounding drum loops:

X - Kick
H - Hat
Oh - Open Hat
S - Snare

Half Step - | X - H - | - - H - | S - H H | - - H OH |

2step - | X - H - | S - H H | X - H S | - - H - |

Add some clones of your drums and pitch them up or down slightly, then just copy that patten 4-8 times, make variations.

There you go, your drums are done .

Experiment with 2 - 4 high hats, spread them out and use them as a musical element.. You'd be amazed at how simple you can be too ..

Hat 1 - normal velocity : X
Copy Of Hat 1 - half velocity, pitched down slighty : x

| X - x - | X - x - | X - x - | X - x x | <- that is one my favourite hat lines to do, find the right samples and you don't need any other hats in your tune .


Hope this helps?

[jfloyd]

haven't been on in a while, just had a look and thank you everyone for the suggestions

[jsills]

i think your best bet is definitely to copy patterns from tunes and put your own twist on them. study the shit out of beats that you like.
Legend4ary is right you dont need a whole slew of crazy drums to have a solid drum beat. even a simple beat with great placement can work perfect. i usually makea 8 bar loop then copy it and do different variations and fills etc.

i had a boy who used to complain that his drums were shit and i noticed that he really just didnt like to take the time to get the drums right because it obviously bored him. just be patient and keep at it.

[Dystinkt]

One word my friend, and that is bongos. They liven up any shitty drum beat.

[LordBid]

dude get this book its suepr cheap and teaches drum programming, its what taught me how to program, and its short and teaches you super fast.

http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Programming- ... 521&sr=8-1

I would send you my copy for free but I can't find it

[RmoniK]

this is all bullshit right here. A proper drum pattern is something you like hearing yourself. I suggest just beatboxing or drumming on your desk to find out what rythm you really like. If you have no idea how to program that beat you like, just play it with your midi keyboard and adjust the notes later.

Just have to count all the time. Triplet feel: 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a......
Straight 8s: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.........

Some programming examples: syncopated beat:
Take the straight eiths pattern and put something on the 1, on the second and, and on the 4.
Swing pattern: triplet pattern:
Fill out everything, but leave the "and" empty everywhere.

[2mb1o]

http://www.simonv.com/tutorials/drum_patterns.php <== some D&b patterns

[EDN]

Sequencing wise, Vary the velocity of your hits (especially hi-hats and percussion if they repeat within a short succession). It really helps breathe life into the rhythm. Nothing worse then a static progression of hi-hats, Imo.

Still this.
Also (depending on what your going for) drag your hits around so they aren't perfectly quantized, this will give them more of a human feel.
For example say we have the traditional kick on 1 snare on three with high hats hitting every note straight, if you drag the snare slightly to the right (im talking really slightly, zoomed in massively) it can give your loop a lazy stumbling feel to it, whereas if you bring it to the left it can have more of a sense of immediacy.

One word my friend, and that is bongos. They liven up any shitty drum beat.

This also. Though not specifically bongos, just little perc sounds like ethnic drums, glitch clicks and pops or aforementioned beatboxing/table drumming.

Unfortunately this article is locked on sound on sound, but if you can spare the quid it costs to read it, its WELL worth your while.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep10/a ... m-prog.htm