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Drums and Percussion
1.Bass drum for beginners
For music the most easily acheivable beat is a four on the floor beat with the pattern 1 2 3 4
2.Hi Hat for beginners To match the four on the floor drum pattern a matching open hi hat is placed half a beat or 8th note between the bass drum hits. This achieves a ticking sound after each bass drum hit and a very simple syncopated rhtyhm ( see 9. ) . This pattern can be enhanced further by having a closed hat on the 16th note positons.
3.Interesting drum pattern, technique 1
Build in Layers, dont have the same bass drum, hi, hat snare banging away all through the track.
4.Interesting drum pattern, technique 2 ( combine with technique 1 ) Have some layers take turns, drop one or the other for a few bars, bring in a new snare in or pan an existing one occasionly around the stereo field, vary pitch ( perhaps volume but only a little ).
5.Accent Snares.
Q. Where is the safest and most successful place to put a snare particularly for the beginner ?
A. The weaker beats between the bass drums. Assuming a 4 4 time signature pattern predominantly used in techno and dance music of the
nature 1,2,3,4 the snares or claps are guaranteed to work well on beats 2 and 4. The snares become the accents of these beats and
the result is a very danceable beat. In other time signatures these accents simply exist on every other beat.
6.Keeping a track with a repetitive melody interesting
If a track does not vary much in melody dont bring all the drums in at the start, bring them in seperately. and at some point drop them ina similar way. In a techno track this gives the opertunity to build the drum layers up again, when this is done well it creates excitement. Of course crashes and cymbals will help too.
7.Using drums to put emphasis on a change in the music.
if a new synth that sounds good on its own has just entered the track you want to make the audience aware of the change, drop all drums or have the closed hi-hat or ligh percussion soloing. Alternatively rock and some dance music using a verse chorus struncture can have a different time signature or simply a different drum pattern on the change between the verse and chorus. If the track is not of looped or repetitive nature such contrasts are less important but can still be used to create dynamic highs and lows in a piece of music.
8.Climax or finale
One way to make a track seem to get more exciting intense or faster during a repeated drum section is to add a previous ununused layer of percussion or snares at the higher frequency spectrum to the mix. This is particularly useful towards the end of a track to create a climax or finale and a natural high. A whole drum layer with extra bass drums can be added too but this requires more care ( and eq ) not to muddy the mix.
9.Simple Syncopation
This one is more advanced techniqe and the artist has to listen to decide if they have it right or not .
The technique involves putting a hit/shake of percussion or drums ( usually a snare ) between the main beats in the mix to create extra layers of rhythm. On a tambourine these would exist as 16th (possibly 32nds) notes between the main beats of 1 2 3 4. The simplest example of syncapation an extra snare on the 8th beat between the 1 2 3 4 beats. In dance and techno 4 on the floor style the best snare syncopations for a rhythmic affect which does not muddy, slow down or clutter the mix to be the following
The strong beats shown in white indicate a bass drum, weak beats with a bass drum and accent are shown in red. The yellow hits are 8th note hits of a snare played on the half beat as a syncopation.Adding them to a drum track will make the mix seem to speed up and more danceable. The popular Hi Hat pattern in 2. illustrates this.
10.Cymbals Crashes rides and cymbals other than the hi hat can help emphasise changes in the music. A crash on the last beat, before a new instrument is added or existing one removed will make the variation far more affective. A crash or cymbal hit can also make a repeating section sound less repetitive if it is either sounded on the last beat of several repeats of a looped set of bars or the first beat of the next repeat. The ride can be used for "ticking" percussion too, and is commonly used in rock music percussively on the 16th and smaller notes to
create tambourine, bell or hi hat like affects.
11.Drum Rolls and Fills
The most common use of a fill or roll is to announce a change in the music and is often used before a cymbal crash. In dance music the most common fill is the 16th note snare roll which is normally 1 to 4 bars but can be up to 8 bars if the snare is varied in velocity( See 12. ) and humanised( See 13. ) to sound like a drummer rolling a drum from soft to hard as they gather momentum.To enhance this the early part of the roll ( first couple of bars) should start on 8th note snare hits instead of becoming 16ths towards the middle or end of the roll. Another common technique is to use with or without a cymbal after a repeat of 4 to 8 bars. When this happens it is usually only rolled for the last 1 or two beats of the bar where the repeat ends. These fills can based on 8ths and 16ths of a beat division.
12.Velocity in context of drums
This is how how hard a drum or percussive instrument is hit. In general the bass drums driving the main beat should be the sameor close to each other for velocity. The snare playing the main rhythm should also not vary too much for most kinds of electronic music otherwise the track can sound disjointed, sluggish or awkward rhythmicly. A long drum roll almost certainly should start off lower in velocity and finish on a at a higher one. This knowledge is most needed when using modern midi or sequencing equipment, most of the early soft synths including those used in the ejay range of software did not allow the velocity of notes to be changed, however with intelligent use of volume and pitch velocity can be simulated. I have done it before, its one the secrets of making an ejay production mix audibly like something created using pro software like Fruity Loops or Reason. Low velocity snare hits tend to be quieter and lower in pitch and higher ones louder and higher in pitch. a word of warning though varying the volume too much will not have the desired affect as the pitch is more important when simulating velocity as a drum being hit harder does not necessarily always sound louder.
13.Humanisation, interesting drum pattern technique 3
This is the process of making the sequenced drum track often via a step time grid, sound human. The methods to this are varying velocity ( see 12. ) and or making all or some of the beats a little early or late.
Example 1 - Human snares for a 4 bar loop:-
Bar 1; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity.
Bar 2; The accent snare on the second beat of the bar in the first plays at less velocity than the one on the fourth beat.
Bar 3; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity but the later plays a little late.
Bar 4; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity
Example 2 - Urgency or laid back; If all notes of a ride or hi hat are shifted early but then the rest of the track is not changed then the resulting overall feel of the music will be more urgent. Alternatively if these notes are shifted late then the feel of the track will be more laid back.
Examples 1 and 2 are acheivable with all music sequencers, Acid Pro, Fruity Loops, Reason and even the ejay range of products using the groove generator or simply by experimenting with drum loop samples by cutting/shifting their start point so they start earlier or later, and and adjsusting the pitch of chunks of the samples. In example 2 if the loop has repeated about 3 times and things need to be kept interesting, the bass drum can also have its velocity reduced or positon very slightly changed easily on beats 2 and/or 4, and with care just the velocity for beats 1 or 3, in order to simulate a human drummer.
2.Hi Hat for beginners To match the four on the floor drum pattern a matching open hi hat is placed half a beat or 8th note between the bass drum hits. This achieves a ticking sound after each bass drum hit and a very simple syncopated rhtyhm ( see 9. ) . This pattern can be enhanced further by having a closed hat on the 16th note positons.
3.Interesting drum pattern, technique 1
Build in Layers, dont have the same bass drum, hi, hat snare banging away all through the track.
4.Interesting drum pattern, technique 2 ( combine with technique 1 ) Have some layers take turns, drop one or the other for a few bars, bring in a new snare in or pan an existing one occasionly around the stereo field, vary pitch ( perhaps volume but only a little ).
5.Accent Snares.
Q. Where is the safest and most successful place to put a snare particularly for the beginner ?
A. The weaker beats between the bass drums. Assuming a 4 4 time signature pattern predominantly used in techno and dance music of the
nature 1,2,3,4 the snares or claps are guaranteed to work well on beats 2 and 4. The snares become the accents of these beats and
the result is a very danceable beat. In other time signatures these accents simply exist on every other beat.
6.Keeping a track with a repetitive melody interesting
If a track does not vary much in melody dont bring all the drums in at the start, bring them in seperately. and at some point drop them ina similar way. In a techno track this gives the opertunity to build the drum layers up again, when this is done well it creates excitement. Of course crashes and cymbals will help too.
7.Using drums to put emphasis on a change in the music.
if a new synth that sounds good on its own has just entered the track you want to make the audience aware of the change, drop all drums or have the closed hi-hat or ligh percussion soloing. Alternatively rock and some dance music using a verse chorus struncture can have a different time signature or simply a different drum pattern on the change between the verse and chorus. If the track is not of looped or repetitive nature such contrasts are less important but can still be used to create dynamic highs and lows in a piece of music.
8.Climax or finale
One way to make a track seem to get more exciting intense or faster during a repeated drum section is to add a previous ununused layer of percussion or snares at the higher frequency spectrum to the mix. This is particularly useful towards the end of a track to create a climax or finale and a natural high. A whole drum layer with extra bass drums can be added too but this requires more care ( and eq ) not to muddy the mix.
9.Simple Syncopation
This one is more advanced techniqe and the artist has to listen to decide if they have it right or not .
The technique involves putting a hit/shake of percussion or drums ( usually a snare ) between the main beats in the mix to create extra layers of rhythm. On a tambourine these would exist as 16th (possibly 32nds) notes between the main beats of 1 2 3 4. The simplest example of syncapation an extra snare on the 8th beat between the 1 2 3 4 beats. In dance and techno 4 on the floor style the best snare syncopations for a rhythmic affect which does not muddy, slow down or clutter the mix to be the following
The strong beats shown in white indicate a bass drum, weak beats with a bass drum and accent are shown in red. The yellow hits are 8th note hits of a snare played on the half beat as a syncopation.Adding them to a drum track will make the mix seem to speed up and more danceable. The popular Hi Hat pattern in 2. illustrates this.
10.Cymbals Crashes rides and cymbals other than the hi hat can help emphasise changes in the music. A crash on the last beat, before a new instrument is added or existing one removed will make the variation far more affective. A crash or cymbal hit can also make a repeating section sound less repetitive if it is either sounded on the last beat of several repeats of a looped set of bars or the first beat of the next repeat. The ride can be used for "ticking" percussion too, and is commonly used in rock music percussively on the 16th and smaller notes to
create tambourine, bell or hi hat like affects.
11.Drum Rolls and Fills
The most common use of a fill or roll is to announce a change in the music and is often used before a cymbal crash. In dance music the most common fill is the 16th note snare roll which is normally 1 to 4 bars but can be up to 8 bars if the snare is varied in velocity( See 12. ) and humanised( See 13. ) to sound like a drummer rolling a drum from soft to hard as they gather momentum.To enhance this the early part of the roll ( first couple of bars) should start on 8th note snare hits instead of becoming 16ths towards the middle or end of the roll. Another common technique is to use with or without a cymbal after a repeat of 4 to 8 bars. When this happens it is usually only rolled for the last 1 or two beats of the bar where the repeat ends. These fills can based on 8ths and 16ths of a beat division.
12.Velocity in context of drums
This is how how hard a drum or percussive instrument is hit. In general the bass drums driving the main beat should be the sameor close to each other for velocity. The snare playing the main rhythm should also not vary too much for most kinds of electronic music otherwise the track can sound disjointed, sluggish or awkward rhythmicly. A long drum roll almost certainly should start off lower in velocity and finish on a at a higher one. This knowledge is most needed when using modern midi or sequencing equipment, most of the early soft synths including those used in the ejay range of software did not allow the velocity of notes to be changed, however with intelligent use of volume and pitch velocity can be simulated. I have done it before, its one the secrets of making an ejay production mix audibly like something created using pro software like Fruity Loops or Reason. Low velocity snare hits tend to be quieter and lower in pitch and higher ones louder and higher in pitch. a word of warning though varying the volume too much will not have the desired affect as the pitch is more important when simulating velocity as a drum being hit harder does not necessarily always sound louder.
13.Humanisation, interesting drum pattern technique 3
This is the process of making the sequenced drum track often via a step time grid, sound human. The methods to this are varying velocity ( see 12. ) and or making all or some of the beats a little early or late.
Example 1 - Human snares for a 4 bar loop:-
Bar 1; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity.
Bar 2; The accent snare on the second beat of the bar in the first plays at less velocity than the one on the fourth beat.
Bar 3; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity but the later plays a little late.
Bar 4; Both the snare on beat 1 and beat 4 at the same velocity
Example 2 - Urgency or laid back; If all notes of a ride or hi hat are shifted early but then the rest of the track is not changed then the resulting overall feel of the music will be more urgent. Alternatively if these notes are shifted late then the feel of the track will be more laid back.
Examples 1 and 2 are acheivable with all music sequencers, Acid Pro, Fruity Loops, Reason and even the ejay range of products using the groove generator or simply by experimenting with drum loop samples by cutting/shifting their start point so they start earlier or later, and and adjsusting the pitch of chunks of the samples. In example 2 if the loop has repeated about 3 times and things need to be kept interesting, the bass drum can also have its velocity reduced or positon very slightly changed easily on beats 2 and/or 4, and with care just the velocity for beats 1 or 3, in order to simulate a human drummer.