There’s nothing quite like a tight drum pattern to elevate a tune into a surefire hit. Thinking about hunting down pre-made drum loops?
Hold up – it’s time to roll up your sleeves and remix things ourselves. I’ll be your trusty sidekick in this all-encompassing tutorial on crafting that killer drum beat with your own flavor! In the music biz, the real players know how to whip up their beats, setting pros apart from the novices.
So let’s embark on this rhythmic adventure, and I’ll show you how it’s done, every single step!
Understanding the Lingo
Get ready, because we’re about to dive deep into some musical lingo. To ensure we’re on the same beat, let’s break down the terms you need to groove with:
DAW – Short for Digital Audio Workstation, this software is your main tool for recording, mixing, and shaping music.
Plug-in – This software extension adds onto your DAW, either affecting a single audio channel or your whole mix. You’ll hear about VSTs, AUs, and RTAS types.
Reverb – Think of it as a dash of echo, adding depth, and helping sounds to pop in your mix.
Panning – We hear in stereo, meaning there’s a left and right sound channel. In music production, panning determines where a sound sits within this audio landscape.
And talking of panning, that’s just moving the sound around in our stereo field. For instance, centering the snare hit right in the middle.
EQ – Using an Equalizer, you can tweak your sound. Imagine the low bass (40 Hz to 500 Hz), the mids (500 Hz to 2,000 Hz), and the treble or highs (2,000 Hz to 20,000 Hz).
Velocity – This sets how strongly a note is played. Changing this in production affects the volume of the sound.
Decay – How long the sounds take to quiet down to silence.
Tempo – The heartbeat of your track, measured in BPM or beats per minute.
Measure – A timeframe in music that you can slice and dice into beats.
Time Signature – Tells you how many beats you get in each measure.
Sample – Think of it as one specific sound. Like a kick or snare hit from a drum – that’s a drum sample.
Analog Sequencer – This hardware juggles, controls, and layers sounds to compose melodies.
MIDI/Digital Sequencer – This is like a digital canvas in your DAW where you paint melodies with notes.
Step Sequencer – Instead of spreading notes across a timeline, this device assigns notes in fixed time chunks. Both the analog kind with tactile pads or digital ones with buttons abound, offering different numbers of steps depending on the setup.
Piano Roll Window – Here’s where you manually plot notes and sounds within your MIDI sequencer.
Analog Sampler – This gadget wrangles various instrument sounds to create melodies in the physical realm.
Digital Sampler – A DAW-integrated software trove of sounds, ready for you to deploy.
Drum Rack – This DAW feature or plugin holds multiple drum elements, each in its sub-layer. You could say it’s a digital sequel to the classic drum machine.
Drum Kit – Say hello to a palate of digital drum sounds, all prepped to slot into your drum rack or virtual instrument, echoing the variety of an acoustic drum set.
Virtual Instrument – A specialized plugin hosting a whole orchestra of musical notes. These come in many flavors, from synths to pianos, and yes, even drums. And don’t forget about the Click Track/metronome – This trusty DAW component keeps all your other sounds marching to the same tempo, one ‘click’ at a time.
Charting Different Paths to the Perfect Beat
You’ve got a couple of main routes to drum beat bliss using these tools…
The Analog Route: Sequencer and Sampler
Thinking of the Toraiz Squid? It’s a solid pick for sequencers. For in-depth thoughts, check out our review.
Live performers or analog gearheads, this one’s for you.
Analog sequencers come with either built-in samples or can link up with an analog sampler. Flipping through sample banks should be easy. The sequencer lets you trigger drum sounds across time with a series of pads.
It plays back your beat, one step at a time, usually over 16 steps for a full pattern. Want layers? You got it. Devote one channel to kicks and another to snares—layer to your heart’s content.
The Digital Choice: DAW, Drum Rack, and Step Sequencer
Between Logic Pro X and Ableton Live, which reigns supreme? Find that out in our comparison.
This path is all about unleashing your creativity, making the process a breeze, and presenting all the artistic tools right at your fingertips for originative drumbeat crafting.
DAWs come stocked with drum samples for your beat-making pleasure, accommodating limitless quantities of kits and instruments. With support for drum racks, samplers, and sometimes even step sequencers built in, the DAW simplifies the entire process.
Thanks to the visual interface of a DAW combined with a step sequencer, laying down and editing your pattern is effortless. Plus, with plugins galore (think EQs, distortion, gates, and delays), you can tweak to your heart’s content and fine-tune that rhythm to perfection.
We’ll focus squarely on crafting drumbeats using a DAW paired with a Digital Step Sequencer right here.
Choosing Between Native DAW Samples and Extra Downloads
Logic Pro X graces you with some top-notch default samples.
Most DAWs dish out a generous selection of drums and instruments to get you rolling. If you’re engineering your first-ever beat, I suggest sticking to what’s provided in your DAW.
If you’re after a specific sound for a particular genre, like loading up an 808-drum kit for hip-hop or rap, then you’ll want to expand your library.
The same goes for dub-step, house, or any other unique sound. On the prowl for more drum samples? Music gateway has a treasure chest of freebies waiting for you!
Weighing Up Virtual Instruments Against Drum Racks
While Virtual Instruments boast a wealth of striking drum sounds and diverse kits, they’re not so open for fine-tuning – switch out one drum sound and you might have to swap the whole set. Not loving a snare or kick in a particular kit? You have to tackle the entire ensemble. There’s a way around this though – you could assign each sound to a separate track, building a bespoke beat from various kits. However, be warned, it’s a more time-consuming process demanding extra mixing finesse.
There are some virtual instruments out there with stellar drum sampling features. They’re outliers, but they exist. Case in point: Perfect Drums Plugin.
Generally, virtual instruments skip the step sequencer, so you’ll need to get your hands dirty either drawing notes into the piano roll by hand or via a MIDI controller. For those with MIDI know-how, virtual instruments are a solid ally.
Drum Racks, on the other hand, let you swap individual samples without overhauling everything. They also offer deeper parameter control for things like EQ and compression. They often include step sequencers too, simplifying the process of timing your hits.
So, when you boil it down – Drum racks are more user-friendly and offer greater mixing maneuverability.
DAW Rundown: From Simple to Complex
The DAW universe is vast, each with its particular quirks to help you conjure up your own drum beat from nothing. Some are more intuitive than others, and here’s a rundown, easing from the simplest up to the trickier DAWs:
- Laying Down Beats in Fruity Loops
Fruity Loops makes building a beat almost effortless. Some hardened pros might smirk at its streamlined feel, but don’t be fooled – FL Studio packs a punch where it counts.
The studio comes kitted out with a step sequencer. Launch a new session and there it is, with staple drum sounds like kick, clap, hat, and snare set up and ready to remix.
Swap out those sounds on the fly, drag new drum samples onto the sequencer for fresh rhythms. Click away on the buttons to define your beat pattern.
- Concocting Beats in Reason
For MIDI magic, Reason’s the answer. It boasts an expansive instrument library, albeit with a bit of a learning curve for setup and routing.
Once a darling amongst electronic producers, it’s still got the hops for compelling beat construction even if some have shifted to Logic or Ableton for their combined MIDI and analog recording prowess.
For starting from scratch in Reason, lean on the Redrum drum rack. Right-click an empty rack space for the Mixer 14:2, then bring in the Redrum Drum Machine.
First, pick a drum kit from the lower right of Redrum. It’s got 10 channels, ready for a 10-sound beat. Each channel allows for fine-tuning individual drum samples.
A kit autoloading into each channel is just the beginning – swap out for custom sounds if that’s your jam. At Redrum’s base, the step sequencer awaits. Activate it per channel to introduce each sample into the beat.
Select steps for each sample channel and you’ve got yourself a homemade beat. Patterns span 8 memory slots, so you can keep several ready for drops, breaks or to switch things up.
- Beat-Building in Logic Pro X
Many a producer holds Logic on a pedestal. Fair warning, Mac users only; PC folks will need to look elsewhere.
Logic invites you to play with native drum rack plugins – Drum Machine Designer springs to mind. It lacks a step sequencer though, so you’ll be arranging samples by hand. Seasoned drum programmers, feel free to dive in.
The Ultrabeat plugin is an easier path, thankfully featuring a sequencer. Insert it into a track, and a bounty of pre-set samples greets you. Don’t like what you see? Drag and drop your chosen samples straight in.
Ultrabeat lays down its step sequencer foundation for you. Tap your way through each sample, select sequencer buttons to pattern your beat. Flux it, loop it, play it straight – it’s your rhythm now.
- Minting Beats in Ableton Live
A heavyweight in the industry, Ableton Live is the go-to DAW for beat creators. Packed to the brim with jaw-dropping samples and preemptive plugins, it’s a gold mine for artists looking to keep both studio and live performance arsenals loaded.
Ableton ‘Live’ isn’t just a name; think in-the-moment beats with programmable clips for each track, an asset in both live gigs and studio sessions. Eyes peeled for an in-depth tutorial on looping with this DAW.
Kick things off with a new MIDI track in your session. Locate that ‘Drum Rack’ plugin and usher it onto your track. Empty slots in the rack wait eagerly for your drum picks. Find what you need, drag those sounds onto their new home in the drum rack.
Now, double-tap an empty clip to call forth the sequencer, where each drum component gets its own line. Hit the preview (the little headphones icon) to sample each sound.
Ableton skips a dedicated step sequencer, so it’s either manual notes or a MIDI controller for laying down your rhythm.
Beginning with Beats: Keep It Super Simple
Ever heard of KISS? ‘Keep It Simple, Silly.’ Not to say you’re silly, of course – rather, it’s a friendly reminder to start with the basics before venturing into the complex. So, here’s how you might set yourself up:
Stick to a 100 BPM tempo. Too fast or too slow can throw off your rhythm crafting. Adjust your masterpiece’s pace later on.
Crafting the Core Beat: Starting Sounds
While a drumbeat can welcome an ensemble of sounds, simplicity often strikes the best chord, especially in genres like electronic music and hip-hop. Here’s what you need and some savvy mixing advice:
The Kick
Ah, the kick drum: your beat’s beating heart.
The Snare
Sharp and edgy, the snare is your rhythm’s retort to the kick.
The High-Hat
Think tinny and crisp; that’s your cymbal-esque high-hat.
The Clap
An echo of applause, the clap adds rhythm and texture.
Laying Out a Beginner’s Beat on a Step Sequencer
The Toraiz Squid makes an appearance – it’s worth shuffling over to our review for more insights.
A typical 16-step sequencer houses a single measure. Here’s a beginner-friendly guide to inputting your first drum sequence:
Remember, genres and tastes will nudge your pattern into its unique shape. But this is your launchpad.
Swapping Steady for Syncopation
A pulsating
