Thinking like a drummer: Intros

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Groove Monkee

When it comes to using midi loops, a lot of users fret over song parts (intros, verse, bridge,chorus, etc.). They’ll often say, “I’m not a drummer so I really need loops arranged in ‘song format’.” Yes, it’s nice to have loops arranged that way but what happens if you don’t like the loops? What if they don’t fit your song? Answer: you have to find or create something that fits.

We do offer several Midi loop and Apple Loop packs with loops prearranged as intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outro. That said, no loop set is going to work 100% of the time. At some point, you’ll need to “hear” a part and either find a close match or create it yourself.

In this article, I’m going to introduce a couple of common ideas you can use to spice up your intros. You’ll learn to start “thinking like a drummer”.

1. Simplify the Groove

Idea #1: remove the snares and leave just the kick and hi-hat. A couple of tasteful hi-hat openings can add a really nice touch to a simple “4 on the floor” groove. This technique adds a lot of space to the groove. Sometimes, you don’t need the hi-hat at all!

Idea #2: Use a single snare hit on beat “4” for an “open” feel. This is very similar to standard “half-time” grooves which usually have a single snare hit on beat “3”. Try substituting a floor tom for the snare drum.

2. Displace the Groove

The following ideas add some tension to your intro…a kind of unstable feeling that can be resolved by shifting to a “normal” back beat with snare hits on beats “2” and “4”.

Idea #1: Move the snare on beat “2” back an 8th note to the “and of 2” (the 2nd 8th note of beat 2).

Idea #2: Move the snare on beat “4” back an 8th note to the “and of 4” (the 2nd 8th note of beat 4).

Idea #3: Try adding a extra snare hit on beat “1” to idea #1 above. You’ll then have snare hits on beats “1”, “2 and” and “4”. This is sometimes called a “clave”groove.

One of the advantages of using midi loops is that you can edit them and the ideas I’ve introduced here only require basic editing skills!

In conclusion, it’s often the song writer, producer or singer making the decisions on which grooves to use in each section. If you’re recording in your own project studio that someone is undoubtedly YOU. The truth is that you can use ANY groove for ANY section of your song.

Try these some of these ideas, experiment with your own and most important of all, learn to trust your ears!!

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Drum Fills: Let’s Get Rolling!

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Groove Monkee

If you’re using midi drum tracks, maybe you’re struggling to create your own drum fills. Or maybe you need fills that aren’t so busy or complex? Either way, this article is for you.

Drum fills serve a few basic purposes: they break up the beat momentarily; they add a bit of interest; they help the song flow from section to section.

When dealing with drum fills, less is often more! Some of the most common, useful and effective fills are short snare rolls.

Before discussing the specifics, here’s how I typically think about drum fills.

Three basic elements of a fill:

  1. rhythmic patterns
  2. individual drums involved (orchestration)
  3. volume levels (soft, normal and loud)

With snare rolls, we only need to focus on rhythmic patterns and volume.

Rhythmic Patterns 

Learn these simple patterns because they occur frequently. In 4/4 time, they start on beat 4. The following 1-beat patterns can be mixed and matched to form 2-beat rolls (starting on beat 3). For convenience, the patterns are displayed using a simple code:

x = snare hit

o = no hit

  1. x x x x
  2. x o x o
  3. x o x x
  4. x x x o
  5. x x o x

Learn by doing! Open your DAW (Cubase, Sonar, Reaper, Logic, Pro Tools, Garage Band, etc.) and try program these basic examples. Next, we’ll experiment with volume levels.

Volume Levels

Let’s start with 2 levels by ignoring the soft hits for now. We now have 3 possibilities in our code:

X = loud snare hit

x = snare hit

o = no hit 

Programmer’s tip: In terms of midi “velocity”, accents are usually a minimum of 10% louder than regular hits. Play around with your drum samples and find your preferred ranges for regular and accented hits. If it’s for rock music, don’t be afraid to crank them all the way up!

It’s common to accent the first note as follows.

  1. X x x x
  2. X o x o
  3. X o x x
  4. X x x o
  5. X x o x

Finally, we can add soft hits into the mix. How soft ? They are often barely audible and typically played by lifting the stick about only an inch or two off of the snare and lightly tapping. These hits are often called “ghost notes”.

Programmer’s tip: In terms of midi “velocity”, they’re often somewhere between 20 and 40.

X = loud snare hit

x = snare hit

s = soft snare hit

o = no hit

One common example using a ghost note is:

  1. X s x x

2-Beat Snare Rolls

You can combine the 1-beat patterns into longer rolls. Here are some common examples:

  1. X x x x X x x x
  2. X x x o X o x x
  3. X o x o X x x o
  4. X x x x x x X X
  5. X o x x X x x o

Experiment and create your own rolls by combining rhythmic patterns and using different volume levels.

Programmer’s tip: Save these rolls as midi files and add them to your tracks whenever necessary.

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The Best DAWS: Auditioning MIDI Drum Loops

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Groove Monkee

Some customers have a real problem: they cannot audition midi drum loops. This is an especially big problem for Apple users working with Logic or GarageBand. Others ask which DAW (digital audio workstation) or “sequencer” I personally think is best. So I’ve compiled a list of the best DAWs for working with midi drum loops. ALL of these include a midi audition feature and that’s why they made the list.

  • Reaper (reaper.fm)

Pros: Inexpensive. Easy drum map creation. Media Explorer shortcuts. Mac version available

Cons: no drum sounds included

Summary: inexpensive and easy to use with a Mac version available. This is a great program if your drum sampler (eg. Battery) or DAW (eg. Logic) does not have the capability to audition midi drum loops. Free 30-day trial.

  • Cakewalk Sonar X1 Essential (www.cakewalk.com)

 Pros: Inexpensive. Studio Instruments Drum kits plus bass, e-piano, strings.

Cons: No Mac version available. Poor drum map creation.

Summary: The SI drum kits included are better than nothing if you’re just getting started. Cumbersome drum map system from 1990s badly needs updating to text or xml-based. Free 30-day trial.

  • Presonus Studio One Free (studioone.presonus.com)

Pros: FREE. Mac version available. Free kits, instruments and effects. Easy drum maps

Cons: NO 3rd Party VST or AU Plugins such as Battery!

Summary: Presonus makes great sound cards and now they’ve entered the DAW market with a very nice FREE product. If you want to continue using your current DAW, you can use this to work with midi drum tracks. Download of free content is a separate step.

  • Presonus Studio One (studioone.presonus.com)

Pros: Mac version available. Free kits, instruments and effects. Easy drum maps. Excellent ready-made effect chains. EZdrummer lite also currently included (August, 2012).

Cons: none

Summary: It is easy to use and includes a bunch of good effects, instruments and drum kits. Currently, there are three versions so the features and price vary considerably.

  • Cakewalk Sonar X1 (www.cakewalk.com)

Pros: Session Drummer 3. Powerful, full-featured DAW.

Cons: No Mac version available. Poor drum map creation.

Summary: Session Drummer 3 includes kits from Steven Slate and is decent for “free”content. Includes some free Groove Monkee midi loops. Cumbersome drum map system from 1990s badly needs updating to text or xml-based. Free 30-day trial.

  • Cubase 6 (www.steinberg.net)

Pros: Mac version available. GrooveAgent One. Powerful, full-featured DAW.

Cons: Poor drum map creation.

Summary: Groove Agent One is okay but mapped inconsistently. Outdated drum map system badly needs updating to text or xml-based. Free 30-day trial.

 

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