Programming Drums

[r3tr0sp3ct1v3]

My biggest hangup with home recording is doing drums. I have Getgood and have come up with some stuff. I also used to use samples and program in FL studio. I am still learning but jesus this is not fun and I don't know if I am even getting it right.

Any tips on pushing through this learning process? What DAW's do you use? What is easiest way to map drums?

 

[budda]

Following.

I plan to scour youtube tutorials as well.

Save templates.

 

[r3tr0sp3ct1v3]

Following.

I plan to scour youtube tutorials as well.

Save templates.

Like I know drum placement. At least kick and snare. I don't know where to put certain cymbals besides china during breakdowns

 

[nickgray]

What DAW's do you use? What is easiest way to map drums?

I largely still compose in Guitar Pro, but the overall method is applicable to a piano roll - start very-very simple, and work your way up. Decide on the note length first - quarter notes, eighths, sixteenths, triplets, whatever, just make sure you understand what you're doing theory-wise. Next, place kicks and snares in as simple a way as possible, unless you have something in mind. Fill in the ride/hats, maybe add some extra kicks or snares if you feel like it. Then add some basic cymbals - maybe start every other bar with a cymbal of some sort (alternate between different cymbals). Next, come up with some basic fills and spice things up a tad, maybe at the end of the 2nd bar do a snare roll, and at the end of the 4th some toms.

Basically, don't try to write something crazy and cool straight away, start with something very simple and add things little by little. It's surprisingly effective. And don't forget that octopuses don't play drums, drummers have at most 4 appendages with which to play.

FL studio

I don't know if the modern workflow is different, but from what I recall, FL Studio was much more suitable towards repetitive loop-based electronic music. So you'll be looking at either doing a shitton of patterns for one song, or one giant pattern for the whole song. Dunno if it's an issue or not, but it seems to me that a traditional DAW (tracks on the Y axis, media clips on the X axis) is more suitable for non-pattern based stuff, but I could be wrong (haven't used FL Studio in a long time).

 

[Valdra]

I find that using premade midi drum loops In superior is the easiest way. You can cycle through them, find one you like, drop it in, and then tweak it to make it your own. There are lots of genre packs out there you can buy for next to nothing and tweak until your hearts content.

Also Google "free midi drum loops" I think I stumbled upon a Reddit thread that was like "80000 free drum loops" or something at one point that might have had some good stuff.

It has also helped me get better at programming drums because I started to have a reference for how a drummer would play something.

And per your question I use Reaper. I just drag and drop the midi from superior into the reaper track. Works great.

 

[BlackFalcon17]

I think it should be approached like learning an instrument. Like others have already said, start with basic patterns then work your way up. I found it helpful to watch drum playthroughs of my favorite songs to see what's actually going on. The more you do that the easier it'll become to come up with patterns for your own songs. After that you can focus on writing out the MIDI which is just a matter of patience and setting up your drum map.

Essentially learn how drums are played then apply that in your DAW of choice.

 

[DrakkarTyrannis]

I use FL Studio. I always come up with drum beats first. Either I have a beat in my head or I just play around until inspiration hits. Going through all of the drum samples in FL studio (and Heavyocity Damage) has made me comfortable with that they have to offer, so I know where to go depending on what I'm looking for.

You can get as complicated or simple as you want. You eventually learn to layer drums samples to make your own, EQ them to your taste, as well as make samples from other samples. It also helps depending on if you want them to sound more real or not.

I'd suggest knowing what's in your sample bank and get used to how the samples sound, how they react to different pitch changes or the intensity the samples are hit, etc. Having a solid knowledge of your arsenal really narrows things down and keeps you from being overwhelmed.

 

[Sylim]

i learned making drum parts by doing some covers of songs i liked. reproducing the drum parts in midi will teach you how the instrument works in a band context and can tell you what´s possible and what´s not possible.

 

[budda]

Something else to keep in mind: to write good drum parts, you have to think like a good drummer. This will take time.

 

[Seybsnilksz]

Like people said, practice by programming drums for songs that you like.

I've also made a video about common mistakes that people do while programming drums:

 

[gnoll]

I think it should be approached like learning an instrument.

Essentially learn how drums are played then apply that in your DAW of choice.

Something else to keep in mind: to write good drum parts, you have to think like a good drummer. This will take time.

This imo.

I'm not clear on exactly what the issue is, if it's writing the parts or putting them into the daw. But for writing for drums, I think understanding the instrument goes a LONG way. Then you can listen to music and hear what the drummer is doing, how he is working with the song. Then based on this knowledge you can more easily feel what drum parts fit for your music. Then put those hits in. If it makes sense to play and it sounds good, then it's right.

I tend to think in terms of snare first. Where the snare lands seems to dictate MOST of the feel. So you have blast, then half-time of that is a thrash/polka-beat, then half-time of that is regular 4/4 verse/rock beat, then half-time of that is more of a ballady/powerful/open type of feel. These can be switched between to add interest. Putting the snare on the first beat instead of the off-beat adds intensity and drive. You can also get more fancy and do 3+3+2 type of things or whatever rhythmic pattern you want with the snare, but that might steal attention from guitar parts etc. (Or complement them!)

After that I think of the right hand, hats or ride? China? Quarter notes? 8ths? 16ths for real drive? I like switching between hats and ride to mark different sections. I might ride a crash where I want more power. Put accent crashes wherever you want, start of sections, every bar, or just wherever you want an accent.

Then I think kick. Kick where snare is not playing is standard and can be boring. Makes sense for very fast stuff/approaching blasts because anything else gets pretty hard to play. Kick on top of snare for extra power. Add double kicks every second hit for drive and interest. D-beat if it fits. Add some space and interest by removing kick hits in some places. Follow palm mutes if it fits/if the music is very rhythmical in that sense, not something I tend to do. Double kick carpet for power. In general the slower the music the more I pay attention to kick placement, and the fancier I get with it.

Then fills... Whatever, wherever. Depends completely. Rhythmic snare/tom stuff, riding the toms descending, hand hand foot foot stuff, go crazy! Fills are fun. For extra spice do a beat that has a fill character, involving toms and stuff. Fun. But do it too much and it gets fatiguing for the listener.

All this is probably useless but I just wrote what I thought of. And I come from an 80s/90s metal background. More modern stuff gets more rhythmical with the kicks, keeps beat with right hand (lots of crashes) and snare in the middle. Or something, I don't know.

 

[RevDrucifer]

The biggest thing with programmed drums is getting the velocities right. If you put everything at 127, it’s going to sound like programmed drums.

The general guideline I use is-

Kick- 119-123; if you keep them at 127, you’re burying the beater (meaning the beater hits the drum head and stays there, not letting the head move/breath and doesn’t really let the full sound of the kick to ring out)

Snare- 123-127, unless you’re doing a roll that really builds in volume, then you’ll want to start way lower.

Toms- vary greatly.

Cymbals- Dependent on how loud the rest of the drums are.

I would buy or find a MIDI pack then load it up in a piano roll and look at the velocities so you can see what they’re doing. If a real drummer played them, they’ll vary greatly.

I use Logic and even though there’s a portion of Superior Drummer to writer the drum track in, I use Logic’s piano roll. I write about 95% of the drum track myself and the occasionally drag a fill from SD3 into the piano roll. FWIW, I’ve played drums for over 20 years, so I know what’s going on and how to play the parts, I just don’t have a kit to do it on myself.

The more you know how drums are played, the better your tracks will be. You can always tell when a guitar player programs drums. There’ll either be way too many fills or all of a sudden, the ‘drummer’ has 5 hands.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Start with the basics. Place your kicks and snares where you want them for the entirety of the song. It lays the foundation of your track (and you can always change them up later).

Then add high hat.

Then add cymbols, crashes and bells either where you want there to be accents or emphasis.

And for the love of god remember that drummers only have two arms and two legs.

 

[bostjan]

And for the love of god remember that drummers only have two arms and two legs.

Or, maybe slightly more realistically, have you heard of this guy?



It's around 35s when he suddenly has four legs.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Or, maybe slightly more realistically, have you heard of this guy?



It's around 35s when he suddenly has four legs.

Yeah, I don't buy it. Too consistent and evenly measured. Sounds like triggers to me.