How to get great drums for hip-hop beats

ckunke002

ckunke002

New member
Im curious as to what combination of live "one shot" recording combined with sampling breaks combined with drum machines/stock samples/kits that it is my favorite producers use. I feel like Im getting better at making beats, but the one thing I really love in a beat is crazy drums, and using the resources I use (drum sample libraries) I never come up with something like how it is in my favorite beats.


Producers that come to mind for great drums are Nottz, Dilla, Madlib, Kanye sometimes, Black milk, El-P, RZA.

Some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02w8N-sdYRY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMkGcEGW4U4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S07Q1yKLMkE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDfgPOXbqK8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJj3UJkyiKg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm24iy4veJk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_1apOLypPI

Thanks for reading
 
Methods for drums in general is live sampling, drumkits off the net drum modules like kong/drumaxx/ultrabeat.
Synthesizers are flexible too. Sampling breakbeats as you said [james brown is so...omfg]
And experiment with effects till you can tell what effect sounds like etc.
 
May I suggest a DAW? the one you have. I heard many DAW's got cool stuff already. try learnign that stuff.
 
those producers you mentioned usually do about the same... get live or sampled drums, layer with either 808 or 909 and then sculpt them together according to each beat. compression plays a role, layering plays a big role and EQ plays a big role. but the most important part is sound source and selection. start with the best quality sounds to begin with and it makes the later stages that much easier. also, the more experienced you become, you'll be able to pick sounds that almost seem like they were meant for each other, to combine and layer. running all sounds, not just drums, can give them a unique sound, so experiment with sampling in/out of different gear and resampling.
 
That Madlib Brazilian beat is just the standard drums from the sample. No more, no less.

The rest have different compression settings, EQ, machinery, etc. to create those trademark drums. J Dilla used MPCs most of the time for example.

When you layer drums in any MPC, they are automatically sexy. From mine and others experience anyway.

Cheers,
Jordan
 
Exclusivo said:
When you layer drums in any MPC, they are automatically sexy. From mine and others experience anyway.

Cheers,
Jordan
Click to expand...

When you layer drums they are sexy... MPC or not. It's the process, not the tool.

Start with good samples. Build on them. Play with EQ, Compression (although I advocate that less is more; cut rather than boast or find better samples that need less EQ). Remember that reverb is your friend.
 
MPC adds a different texture/"crisp". I don't know anyone who has an MPC that disagrees. People argue the same for other hardware like the SP1200.

I agree that it is the process... But tools have a lot to do with it as well, after all they are a part of the process... You get a different sound from the analog process. Currently, the digital process cannot replicate that sufficiently.

Definitely agree with the statement of less is more. Generally, I find that's true with drums.

Cheers,
Jordan
 
You can also try taking a fast break like around 120 bpm not double timed and put it on the piano roll and play at a lower pitch sometimes you can get a cool effect like that
 
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