I suck at this

[MrSounds]

So for the past couple of days I have layed a couple of tracks down (guitar and vocals), I've read the entire Manuel for Reaper and have been using that. It seems to work alright. The tempo changes from time to time and that's a pain in the dirty area. But what I really suck at.. Creating beats. I can jam with the best guitarist (25+ years) old dog here.. But I don't know crap about drums or what sounds best with my music. I use to play a lot of death metal and progression. Now I'm more into the acoustic guitar playing acoustic rock, blues and classical. How does one learn beats LOL, yeah right like one is able to answer that. I guess if you were a drummer it would not be a problem creating these. But for someone who just jams guitar, this crap is difficult.. Any way to make this easier then using FL Studio?

Does anyone have any tips/tricks about creating beats that have seemed to work for them?

Also because I jam guitar I usually play and record the rhythm section first, I then double track that, following that up with vocals, and then follow the vocals up with lead guitar.. And trying to place beats in them is hard..

Is this about right, or am I screwing this all up LOL

 

[Bisson820]

well a beat isnt something you create with your mind, its what you feel. its a lot like the strum pattern on a guitar... its what you feel and its what you hear in your head and then transpose it to your hands....

same concept.

ok, your not a drummer... but everyone hears drums and everyone has rhythm (well...most of the time) ...

but listen to your rhythm guitar tracks over and over and try to imagine where you'd hear the kick and where you'd hear the snare... thats your starting beat...

from there you can add fancy stuff like symbols and fills.

your method is fine.. its what works for you and what matters is the final mix...

... however i have found it harder to place a drum beat in something that has leads and vocals

drums/bass/rhythm guitar = the foundation.... mostly just drums and bass.... but thats the root of your song... those should be down solid and then add to them... thats what i go by at least.

 

[TeyshaBlue]

So for the past couple of days I have layed a couple of tracks down (guitar and vocals), I've read the entire Manuel for Reaper and have been using that. It seems to work alright. The tempo changes from time to time and that's a pain in the dirty area. But what I really suck at.. Creating beats. I can jam with the best guitarist (25+ years) old dog here.. But I don't know crap about drums or what sounds best with my music. I use to play a lot of death metal and progression. Now I'm more into the acoustic guitar playing acoustic rock, blues and classical. How does one learn beats LOL, yeah right like one is able to answer that. I guess if you were a drummer it would not be a problem creating these. But for someone who just jams guitar, this crap is difficult.. Any way to make this easier then using FL Studio?

Does anyone have any tips/tricks about creating beats that have seemed to work for them?

Also because I jam guitar I usually play and record the rhythm section first, I then double track that, following that up with vocals, and then follow the vocals up with lead guitar.. And trying to place beats in them is hard..

Is this about right, or am I screwing this all up LOL

If you are moving from death metal into acoustic rock and blues, it sounds like you're sorta in unfamiliar territory from a stylistic standpoint. That would explain the difficulty in establishing a groove (what we old farts call beats).
I'd recommend you start listening....alot. Pick an artist and go somewhere like Pandora Radio. www.pandora.com You can plug a blues artist in and hear a virtually unlimited number of artists that write in that genre. Listen to what's going on with the rhythm section and then incorporate what you hear into your own drum tracks. You'll get there and you'll understand more about what you're trying to create. Good luck.

 

[kcearl]

use midi files at first...most of them are named with the genre they represent..

when you bring them up on a piano roll you can see how they are constructed, I learned by gradually removing the midi files beats then adding my own sounds

a midi trigger pad like m audio trigger finger or akai's mpd24 can also help with creating rhythm rather than a stock keyboard just as its easier to play like a drum (if that makes sense)

 

[legionserial]

I'm primarily a guitarist, so when I'm creating drum patterns generally what I do is record some scratch guitar tracks, and sit there and listen to them, trying to imagine what the beat would be.

Or often I will start with something very basic. First I have to establish what the feel is. I'm the not the greatest musical theorist, so the best way I can put it into words is "on a basic beat, how often per bar you want the snare to hit". That is usually the first thing I do. LAy out the snares for a couple of bars. Then the kick, then the hi-hats. Once the basic beat is down, I throw in some embellishments and kind of experiment till I find something that either gels nicely or adds something cool.

Or course, I've been listening to the kind of music I make (thrash and death metal) most of my life, so I have a few set patterns that work well with certain things. If I'm going for a specific sound, then I already know what the beat is before I record the guitars.

If I'm working in a style I'm not so familiar with, it's down a combination of experimentation and some musical sensibilities I've aquired over the years.

If I'm still stumped, I listen to other music for ideas. This is kinda theoretical though because I haven't ever been stumped for a drum beat thus far. I'm pretty good at imagining music in my head. I suck at working out what I'm imagining on guitar, but transferring the drums from thoughts to something tangible has never been a problem, for obvious reasons.

 

[Dogbreath]

I agree with the whole "listen to other music" ideer.
I'm a metal head that recently finished a country/gospel CD for my bro. I listened to a lot of different styles of music to get my head outta the metal groove and diversify my understanding.

Course, now that it's done.....

 

[TeyshaBlue]

I agree with the whole "listen to other music" ideer.
I'm a metal head that recently finished a country/gospel CD for my bro. I listened to a lot of different styles of music to get my head outta the metal groove and diversify my understanding.

Course, now that it's done.....

Looking forward to hearing some gospel metalacolypse soon!

 

[FunkDaddy]

Also because I jam guitar I usually play and record the rhythm section first, I then double track that, following that up with vocals, and then follow the vocals up with lead guitar.. And trying to place beats in them is hard..

If you want to track guitar first, you should do so, then lay down a drumtrack and re-record the guitars to groove with said drumtrack. Trying to fit a drumtrack, MIDI or otherwise, to an already recorded guitar track is very unlikely unless you get lucky finding the right groove.

Check out the programs like EZDrummer/Superior Drummer 2.0 or BFD, they have all you'll ever need for solid drumtracks.