How I Program Drums

iaresee

iaresee

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I got asked by a Fractal forumite loopie how my drum programming system worked that I talked about over here. I can't take credit for this approach. I learned it from a YouTube video years ago and it has served me well ever since. I tried to find the YouTube video but no dice. It was mainly focused on electronic beats, but I use it for non-electronic stuff too.

The simple explanation is: build a nice bar, double it, change the second bar a bit. Double those two bars. Change bars 3 & 4 and bit. Double all four bars. Change a bit in bars 5-8 now. Now you have an 8 bar pattern that you can loop and it sounds pretty natural, with a little variation from bar to bar. It feels less machine, a little more human. If you run the pattern through a drum engine like EZDrummer you can use their human algorithms to make it all sound even nicer.

Here's a clip:



I start with one bar. Then I loop it. Doesn't sound so great. Mechanical. You know it's repeating the same thing.

So I double that bar and I alter the second bar slightly. Sounds a little better with a longer pattern.

I double those two bars now to get four bars and I alter bars 3 and 4 a bit. Now I've got a 4 bar pattern that's got a consistent feel, but some variation.

Finally, I double the 4 bars to get 8 bars and a tweak bars 5-8 ever so slightly. Not a lot, just a bit. And I'm left with an 8 bar pattern than I can loop without having it feel too precise, too mechanical, too programmed.

The clip was done in Logic 9 Pro using EXS24 running the "Indie Kit Live" factory setup. I added a Platinum Verb to the end of the inserts on the channel with the factory setting "Live Club" in it for more room.

If you want the MIDI file for the full 8 bar pattern you can get it here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u...mming/example #1/Drum Programming Example.mid
 
And always remember, 2 arms, and two legs. Double bass, a hi-hat, four different toms, 8 cymbals, and a snare all in the same beat is just right out...

Seriously though, if you plan on programing drums from scratch, like do, this is a must to keep in mind.

But, I do program mine with the intention of a real drummer getting the basic idea for what we want out of the song.
 
I don't pay much heed to the limbs thing. I just get the beat out of my head. If it's unplayable by the band that's on them not me. ;)
 
BrainalLeakage said:
And always remember, 2 arms, and two legs. Double bass, a hi-hat, four different toms, 8 cymbals, and a snare all in the same beat is just right out...

Seriously though, if you plan on programing drums from scratch, like do, this is a must to keep in mind.

But, I do program mine with the intention of a real drummer getting the basic idea for what we want out of the song.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it depends what you're talking about. If you're talking about 8 things being hit simultaneously... obviously there's a limit to what a drummer can play. On the other hand, if we're not talking actual simultaneous hits... there are some proper freak drummers around. Plenty of times I've watched drummers play and thought, "Well... I wouldn't have thought that was physically possible. :|"

And then on a mysterious Naked Gun-esque third hand, there's always the possibility of multiple takes in a studio environment. What, we're happy to layer 14 guitar parts but a drummer is only allowed to play what they can physically do in a single take?
 
DNW said:
Yeah, it depends what you're talking about. If you're talking about 8 things being hit simultaneously... obviously there's a limit to what a drummer can play. On the other hand, if we're not talking actual simultaneous hits... there are some proper freak drummers around. Plenty of times I've watched drummers play and thought, "Well... I wouldn't have thought that was physically possible. :|"

And then on a mysterious Naked Gun-esque third hand, there's always the possibility of multiple takes in a studio environment. What, we're happy to layer 14 guitar parts but a drummer is only allowed to play what they can physically do in a single take?
Click to expand...

Or you can have an extra percussionist or just an extra snare player for live, like Slipknot.
 
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Very good way of approaching pattern building. The cool thing about EZ Drummer is that they already offer many variations around the same themes, so you don't even need to edit the bars, just need to change them up a bit by choosing available variations. My EZ Drummer/SD2 library is starting to have a lot of choices and my tap to finds are starting to get better % hits than before. Toontrack have an ok deal currently for their Rock library, $119 for 6 midi packs - 2400 patterns.

Thanks much for the good tips iaresee.
 
This is nice, thanks! I'm a dummy with programming drums. I need to take a free saturday and really dig into recording drums. Gigging/guitar is really my second job, recording is my hobby....
 
I use a similar approach. Or, if I'm using existing loops I'll tweak back and forth between different versions of the pattern (in Reason, most rex files come w/ 8 variations in a patch). So I'll go 1-2-1-3-1-2-1-8, or whatever variation fits. I'll also play around with changing patterns on a beat other than 1, or offsetting a pattern by a beat or two, which can add some variety.

I tend to use multiple tracks to get a polyrhythmic feel going and don't worry so much about how it'll translate to live playing. So yea, if there's only one drummer, I leave it up to them to figure out what to do with it... ;-)
 
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