Best Drum programming?

lo tech

New member
What songs do you guys think have the best drum programming? Hip-hop & r&b?


I realised that my drums are really weak so I'm lookin for some study material.
Also any tips or guidelines would be great.

I would appreciate you guy's advice and recommendations.
 
dj premier, especially on 'the ownerz'. his style gets more defined on each album...
 
timbo and david banner got that tight drum programming so check them out.
 
EL-P and RJD2 have really good programming. Mainly EL, though...

Dude is bananas
 
lo tech said:
I realised that my drums are really weak so I'm lookin for some study material.
Also any tips or guidelines would be great.

I would appreciate you guy's advice and recommendations.


That was a hole in my production for a while. Then i went to my boy's spot, and he was telling me that it's not so much my programming, it's the drum sounds i was using. he played one of my tracks, and put some different drums in it, and it sounded 1000 x's better.

This is what i started doing. Start stacking your drums. I generally mix about 3-4 different kicks to get the perfect kick, and I do the same with the snares.

Also EQ your drums. Boost the 80-300 Hz frequencies and decrease everything above say 3k to get the very bottom of the kick.

With the Snare's (depending on what sound you're going for), try boosting the mid frequencies (from about 2k to 6k), and then boosting everything above like 9k. That'll bring out the middle of the snare, and also put somne shine on the highs.

And COMPRESSION! Makes your kick/snare sound tighter and bang/snap harder.

Try those things. And then too, try to play with different FX settings and stuff. I have something that i ALWAYS do to my drums to make them sound real gritty and dirty. But that's something I can't divulge :)
 
The whole of the Reflection Eternal "Train Of Thought" album. Particulary "Good Mourning", "The Blast" (the snares are actually hand claps)......actually, the whole friggin album.
 
j.troup said:




And COMPRESSION! Makes your kick/snare sound tighter and bang/snap harder.


Good advice, but...............



DONT OVER COMPRESS!!!!
 
Just Blaze - Hovi Baby. Even professionals thought Justin used live drums on that one.


If you want some good advice, here's some easy shyt to follow...


I don't really care if you buy or pull a "Baltimore Love Thing", but get some sample cd's from Spectrasonics. They have a bunch of single hit/loop cd's like Burning Grooves/Liquid Grooves that would perfectly give you that live drum/Just Blaze sound.

You can even GREATLY edit the kits if you have Stylus Remix. You'll need the SAGE VERSIONS of those cd's I just mentioned. I've done some unbelievable shyt that I might have never come up with myself had I not used Stylus' Chaos mode. Believe me...production is becoming so easy today that hoenstly I don't really even bother coming up with ENTIRELY SELF-PROGRAMMED LOOPS myself.


Shyt if I were in Neptunes/Just Blaze mode, I wouldn't have time for that anyway. Time is money so I really have no interest in spending an hour on the "perfect" loop when all I have to do is switch a snare for a clap and change the velocity to raise/lower the snap. Basically it all comes down to workflow.


I also second that Manny Fresh has some of the best programming. Much as I dont' like the guy, I'd say Rodney Jerkins is a PROBLEM on the MPC.
 
Damn Osama, I was asking you, about Stylus on another thread, damn you must have been reading my mind.

But yeah that Hovi Baby had my jaws dropping, the drum programming alone outshined Hov on that track, but yeah Timmy, Manny Fresh, Just Blaze and Rodney Jerkins are real good with the drums.
 
j.troup said:



That was a hole in my production for a while. Then i went to my boy's spot, and he was telling me that it's not so much my programming, it's the drum sounds i was using. he played one of my tracks, and put some different drums in it, and it sounded 1000 x's better.

This is what i started doing. Start stacking your drums. I generally mix about 3-4 different kicks to get the perfect kick, and I do the same with the snares.

Also EQ your drums. Boost the 80-300 Hz frequencies and decrease everything above say 3k to get the very bottom of the kick.

With the Snare's (depending on what sound you're going for), try boosting the mid frequencies (from about 2k to 6k), and then boosting everything above like 9k. That'll bring out the middle of the snare, and also put somne shine on the highs.

And COMPRESSION! Makes your kick/snare sound tighter and bang/snap harder.

Try those things. And then too, try to play with different FX settings and stuff. I have something that i ALWAYS do to my drums to make them sound real gritty and dirty. But that's something I can't divulge :)

Thanks for the tips troup.
 
I am more of a fan of the actual drum sounds. My favorite is Havoc and I love 9th Wonders, crisp drums on the listening album.I love that Boom Bap style but many commercial artists today dont want those old school type drums.
That's Primo's biggest problem.
That's why Just Blaze is the man. He can meet the demand of the today's more commercially driven artists although he likes good old hip hop. The South has some dope drum programmers but I aint necessarily feeling their style.
 
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CASTLE HILL said:
I am more of a fan of the actual drum sounds. My favorite is Havoc and I love 9th Wonders, crisp drums on the listening album.I love that Boom Bap style but many commercial artists today dont want those old school type drums.
That's Primo's biggest problem.
That's why Just Blaze is the man. He can meet the demand of the today's more commercially driven artists although he likes good old hip hop. The South has some dope drum programmers but I aint necessarily feeling their style.

Havoc is great from what i have heard of his. i ain't heard much, but i like what i have heard.
 
niggaz done started something - dmx ft lox and mase (its dark and hell is hot)

pretty hot drums
 
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