Having some trouble with drumwork

[Mimeticz]

After producing for a while, I think I finally got all my synthwork, sound design, EQing skills pretty good but one thing I cannot seem to do well with is the drumwork. I am good with melodies but not with the drumworks that go with it. Anyone know of any tutorials or tips on getting better with having a nice drum pattern? I feel like a lot of drum patterns sound good to me, but I usually have trouble understanding what is better at least for me.

[jshawpro]

You'll get it. Just keep experimenting.

First off, what genre are you primarily producing? That makes a difference because of the varying techniques involved in programming / producing drum work across genres.

2nd, you will find that there isn't an infinite amount of patterns to work with ... especially if your goal is to produce primarily inside of one genre. So what's really important is the quality of your drum sounds and how they are treated and balanced in relation to the rest of the mix.

The more you experiment and put in work in the lab ... You'll begin to develop your "own" way of doing things ... Or your bank of go to drum samples and sounds ... which will ultimately shape up and become YOUR "sound".

The fact that there is a somewhat limited amount of Kick and Snare patterns that will work in a genre, means that you have to be creative and unique with the other components that make up your rhythm section ... to stand out.

When you get some patterns and grooves working well for you ... I recommend a compressor called "The Glue" by Cytomic. http://cytomic.com/glue <-- TRUST ME. This is my favorite software compressor. It's like steroids for your drums!

[botstein]

I recommend starting with a very simple pattern. Doubling the pattern and adding slight variations, with fills to underscore the phrases (in the melody) can be a great start.

For realistic drum patterns, I would recommend imagining the choreography of how a live drummer would play a pattern. For example, it's not technically possible to hit more than two drums or cymbals with sticks at once, so a tom, snare, and crash cymbal shouldn't all hit at once.

Also consider quantizing less or applying grooves to the pattern - this can dramatically change something that sounded forced into something that sounds natural.

[jshawpro]

Also consider quantizing less or applying grooves to the pattern - this can dramatically change something that sounded forced into something that sounds natural.

This is great advice.

[Mimeticz]

First off, what genre are you primarily producing? That makes a difference because of the varying techniques involved in programming / producing drum work across genres.

I produce mostly house tracks, Electro/Progressive sometimes trance.

Quote Originally Posted by botstein View Post
Also consider quantizing less or applying grooves to the pattern - this can dramatically change something that sounded forced into something that sounds natural.
This is great advice.

Wow, this is all great advice, thanks a lot. I'll experiment with basic drum sounds, play with volume levels and add slight variations and may just have a practice song devoted to all drummings or something. The choreography of a live drummer idea really helps imagine how a real drum pattern would work and I never thought of it that way.

[grazz16]

Beats are the hardest and most important part of a track imo primarily because i'd say the majority of us are NOT drummers to begin with, but can very easily hum out a tune we want to use. Get some of your fav tracks and really try and just listen to the drums. Listen to the first 30 seconds to get the basic pattern, notice how very similar they all can be and also vastly different at the same time. The listen to how and where they deviate over the course of the track. For progressive house, you'll notice that the really well produced tracks tend to have drums that really do sound like a live drummer is playing them (as was previously stated): lots of little fills, random cymbal hits etc. If you arent a drummer tho this can be quite hard to duplicate. You need to become a student of the music you listen to. Try and pick out all the various parts of the song and figure out WHY and HOW they make the song sound good in the first place. Drums are no exception.

A really good progressive house example of this is "Headonism" by Chris Reece. Besides being just an overall sick track; listen do this song and you can really picture an actual drummer behind a kit playing it with the little fills and diff percussion hits:

[botstein]

i'd say the majority of us ... can very easily hum out a tune we want to use.

I'd give yourself some credit - writing certain melodies can take time for some.

[grazz16]

I'd give yourself some credit - writing certain melodies can take time for some.

Sure, sorry, i just meant the actual act of humming a melody, good or not, is easier to do than picturing a certain drum beat with all the diff sounds in a drum kit.

[BiggChev]

Deconstruction:

Take a few of your fave songs, by your fave producers, in your fave genre. find the drum groove you like and pull it into your project window. (Acid Pro is GREAT for this)

1. identify all of the drum/perc sounds you can. load them all up into you DAW.

2. start with, one sound (i.e kick) and track it out for length of the loop. try to do it by feel. If you can't double check on the grid to see where it lands. once you've tracked it out, take note of where it corresponds with the grid (beat 1, beat 3 or beats1,2,3,4) this will help you get an understanding of how the kick works into the groove.

3. repeat step 2 with each of the other sounds you were able to identify. Most beats in a particular genre will have very similar structures, but do this with a bunch of songs, to see/hear how different variations work into the groove.

I did this when I started producing some ten years ago, with everything (drums, bass, leads, arrangements) it's a great way to learn. once you've sorted out the "basics" so to speak you can start tweaking it to ur desired taste.

Again, like most people have said, just keep at it.

[liam1895]

I had the same problem with you at the start of producing. It was just a matter of making it right, there is no right or wrong way. Also think outside the box like your not confined to having a 4/4 drum beat, throw in some offbeats. In music their is no real rule, if it sounds right then it usually is.

Try find sounds that don't stand out in their drum selves but rather something that fits into the track. I dunno what your trying to produce but just listen to other track's drum styles and you'll get an ear for it.

I mean sometimes I literally wanna shoot myself. I make alot of hardcore and I dont know if you've ever given it a go but making a good sounding hardcore kick (Distort, EQ, Distort, EQ, Repeat, Repeat) is fucking horrible if you don't get it right.

Just keep trying, you'll eventually get it