I SUCK at making drums... Help, please?

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xdrivethru96x

New member
Lately I've been trying to work on a few tracks I'm composing, And I've been having such trouble finding drums that will actually "fit" and truly sound good with my melodies(piano, synths, etc). I'm almost thinking that I'm working backwards, by creating melodies/riffs for a song first, and then trying to bring in drums, but this is how I've made music in a band before (I've been a guitarist for years, and just recently getting into "producing" tracks myself in a DAW), and there's no "rules", right? Are there any tips anyone could recommend for going about making tracks this way? Thank-you so much in advance

And FYI, I have a ton of "Sample packs/Drum kits", I'm not just trying to use the factory sounds.
 
pop music is full of rules whether you want to accept it or not

there is the power of 2 rule about bars and fills

there are rules about overall lengths (radio will not play tracks over 5 minutes as the royalty rate for such tracks is higher)

there are expectations about what instruments to use and what are reasonable topics for lyrics

I have a problem as to whether you are seeking advice on drum sounds or drum parts

elaborate please
 
Coach, you're always one step ahead!

Yeah, +1 on "What are you looking for?" Help making rhythms, or help choosing sounds? Or, just some ideas on where to start a song? The answer to the latter is-- Anywhere or anyplace/element that you are inspired with. I've written from drum grooves and bass-lines a lot, but usually start with chord changes and then add a melody, which leads to some lyrics. Occasionally though, you get the melody or lyrics first, and have to work in that direction. Start with whatever musical element spurs the most creative response from you.

If you have real "drum" oriented questions, get specific and we can answer more specifically...

GJ
 
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I can find one shot samples that sound good with my track, just can never turn them into a "Good" sounding drum beat - So I would say my question leans more towards the rhythm. I can do a basic Kick/Snare and repeat, but anytime I try to expand beyond that It doesn't sound rhythmic to me, never really fitting the rest of the melody, and I don't want to just run a simple Kick/Snare all the time. Any ideas/videos anyone can suggest on creating drum rhythms?

Also, I was also somewhat asking if the way I was starting these songs was "okay" but I think rhythmgj reassured me, that there is no right or wrong place/way to start with a track.

& Sorry If I'm not explaining myself well enough guys, but I appreciate the advice already! Didn't know a few of the things that you had posted Bandcoach, and thats good info in itself to know, Thank you!
 
lots of stuff out there on how create a drum part

you may want to have a look at my tutorials on that - check the siglink
 
I've only just started looking at your tutorials, but man I'm impressed. These are gonna help me out a lot. Anyone that hasn't checked these out needs to! Thanks for the share/help!
 
xdrivethru96x said:
I can do a basic Kick/Snare and repeat, but anytime I try to expand beyond that It doesn't sound rhythmic to me, never really fitting the rest of the melody, and I don't want to just run a simple Kick/Snare all the time. Any ideas/videos anyone can suggest on creating drum rhythms?
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you need to become a better drum programmer.
One way is to listen to a drumbeat you really love and remake it on your own.
This will train your ability to separate the different hits and rhythm instruments/drums used, the way they are played and how to pick samples and process them to get a specific sound.

Just pick a song/rhytm you love and go to work.
 
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Heyclown said:
Sounds to me like you need to become a better drum programmer.
One way is to listen to a drumbeat you really love and remake it on your own.
This will train your ability to separate the different hits and rhythm instruments/drums used, the way they are played and how to pick samples and process them to get a specific sound.

Just pick a song/rhytm you love and go to work.
Click to expand...

This is something I've been slacking on trying -honestly - but I am right now, and its working fairly well - Thank you.

My next question on the subject, is are you guys generally playing your drum beats through pads(or midi keyboard) and recording, or just clicking in the steps in a sequencer? And if you are recording what you play into a controller, are you recording the full drum beat at once? Or each drum sample separately? Such as, all the kicks once, then all the snares, then the hat, etc, or all at once?? I've got an MPK49 w/ "upgraded" pads, but I've generally been trying to program my drums through the sequencer. I'm able to make it fairly close both ways, but I'm thinking with a lil practice playing it through the pads it'll will sound more natural?

I kind of think I'm answering my own questions to an extent as I'm typing this out, but I'm curious to anyone's input that is willing to share?
 
I´m playing my drums on the piano keys off my Roland X8 which actually has weighted keys. Vey often one drum sound at a time.
I have several drum pad systems (Abelton Push etc) but are using the weighted piano keys.
I´m very often quantizing what I have played in. And I copy and paste a lot.
Does not matter if you track all of the kick bars first or not, just work it your way till the beat is done.

What genre are you mostly into these days?
If you are looking into a smart plugin, EZ Drummer II is really something. But it is genre dependant. Try the demo. Not exactly EDM drums but for pop, rock and ballads its great.

Just as a curiosity I´m adding this video to show what it takes to make a great drum track. And this guy does it in one take.

 
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I will usually play the kick and snare in one pass then switch to hihats and cymbols and toms on the next pass..if your using a keyboard lay your drums out on all the black notes they seem to be easier to hit and the separation feels more natural
 
Sometimes play em but mostly I program them point and click style cause I get frustrated when I can't keep time well enough and I hate quantizing them too much cause the feel gets lost and I'm stuck with a pretty static sound.
 
Hey do you guys know where one can learn how to program percussion rhythms? I'm mainly asking about that latin and that african feel... any videos or anything on that?
 
I think I can add a little to this thread by saying that you can learn lots of "drumming" by actually seeing masterclasses aimed at drummers. I like to watch videos made by Mike Portnoy and Mike Mangini (both played in the prog metal band Dream Theater) to get the feel of how drums should sound, how to structure a pattern and so on.
 
I guess this forum thread is regarding drum grooves, and drum programming. If your producing rap/hip hop I recommend you check out the drum grooves of Just Blaze, Bink!, and the Justice League. The last Just Blaze instrumental he did for Kendrick Lamar, has alot of nice drum fills/breaks. Youtube tutorials can help out alot, and check out for books/ebooks that already have drum groove patterns which you can literally copy and paste.

When I first got into music production, I used FL Studio's step sequencer and pretty much clicked in all my drum sounds. This is the best way to learn and experiment with drum patterns because its so fast and easy. Experiment by making 4 bar drum grooves (10 sec) , and just do it the old fashioned trial and error way. Now that im using Cubase 7, I usually play my drums live(sometimes) and then add some minor quantize if im going for that "live" feel.
 
Heyclown said:
I´m playing my drums on the piano keys off my Roland X8 which actually has weighted keys. Vey often one drum sound at a time.
I have several drum pad systems (Abelton Push etc) but are using the weighted piano keys.
I´m very often quantizing what I have played in. And I copy and paste a lot.
Does not matter if you track all of the kick bars first or not, just work it your way till the beat is done.

What genre are you mostly into these days?
If you are looking into a smart plugin, EZ Drummer II is really something. But it is genre dependent. Try the demo. Not exactly EDM drums but for pop, rock and ballads its great.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking this EZ Drummer is just what I was looking for - Loving it so far. Definitely think its gonna work well with my style(Poppy Hip Hop with a rock influence) and workflow, and hopefully teach me a little bit about drum patterns as I'm using it.

Ddream , I'm going to sit down and watch a couple videos from both of those guys as well, I think that'll definitely help me watching a real drum kit be played.

& Thanks for all the advice everyone, gonna get too it now, and hopefully here in the next week or two Ill have something worthy of posting up here and having ya'll give me some constructive criticism on! :cheers:
 
xdrivethru96x said:
I'm thinking this EZ Drummer is just what I was looking for - Loving it so far.
Click to expand...
Make sure it is EZ Drummer II and not version I. Some really smart new features in version II. Here is a video.

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