Patterns? I'm am a rythm idiot

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adauria

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Hi guys,

I decided to give Hydrogen a shot for creating some simple drum patterns for songs. I play guitar and bass, but am a complete moron when it comes to drum patterns.

Can someone point me to an internet resource that would have a bunch of different patterns in different styles for me to manually enter into the virtual drum machine?

I found a book like this on Amazon, but was wondering if there was something out there on web:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...coding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance&n=283155

-Andrew
 
Rythm idiot you say? Why not just educate yourself? The benefit will outway paying for that stuff one million fold, just learn how the drums work for your favorite beats. A little more effort and the knowledge stays with you forever.

Unless you really don't care, which makes this post pointless lol.

Cheers!
 
Truth be told, I don't care all that much. I just want to get some patterns into the system so I can lay them down and play over them. I don't need to re-invent the wheel. I just want some drum parts that don't sound like they were created by a total spaz.

-Andrew
 
Keep it simple.


Here's what I used to do when I first started programming, and it totally changed my life. I got to the point where, I was able to program material and completely fool people with it.


Just keep a few things in mind.

When you do tom rolls - make sure there is no hihat or ride going.
Program the kick drum part underneath the tom fills - that keeps the pulse of the song going -and all good real drummers keep the pulse going with their foot while rolling on the toms. it will disappear into the tom roll or lick, but it's there.

That's why you'll hear these guys play these totally horrendous tom rolls that are all out of time and uneven ,and then they come back inm out of time - they lost the pulse.

Now, get yourself some graph paper, or "grid paper" and chart out your part just like you would on a PC. If you're just after loops so you can have drumbeats to play over - I think you can buy those online for fairly cheap.



Tim
 
Tim Brown said:
Just keep a few things in mind.

When you do tom rolls - make sure there is no hihat or ride going.
Program the kick drum part underneath the tom fills - that keeps the pulse of the song going -and all good real drummers keep the pulse going with their foot while rolling on the toms. it will disappear into the tom roll or lick, but it's there.

That's why you'll hear these guys play these totally horrendous tom rolls that are all out of time and uneven ,and then they come back inm out of time - they lost the pulse.
Click to expand...

I think there's a lot more to keep in mind than that. Drumming has a lot more to it than beat - tom fill - beat - tom fill.

This guys asking for beats in different styles anyway.


adauria, can you tell us what you already know. Do you know about standard rock beats, or would you like that explained? Do you have a particular sound you want to head towards? Maybe we could 'tab' the beat to a particular song for you, so you can SEE what is being played. That will help you understand a little be more about what drum beats involve.
 
I have never been even remotely fooled by one of those tracks that are put together note by note with an individual drum sample for each drum hit. I have however been fooled (temporarily) by loops with very well placed fills. Use loops man.

iancl is talking about drums being more than beat - fill - beat, but I don't know how else one would do it using fake drums. I wanted drum tracks on my recordings that I would do without the band (and its crack-head drummer) so I learned how to play the drums. I had to keep it simple at first of course but now I'm so glad I don't have to screw with fake drums anymore.

If you are going to try to put together a fake drum track, I think sampled loops with fills here and there are your best bet because trying to construct them note for note always sounds obvious to me. Maybe iancl knows more than I do about drum sample and perhaps we can be enlightened. But that's my two cents.
 
the inhabitant said:
I have never been even remotely fooled by one of those tracks that are put together note by note with an individual drum sample for each drum hit. I have however been fooled (temporarily) by loops with very well placed fills. Use loops man.

iancl is talking about drums being more than beat - fill - beat, but I don't know how else one would do it using fake drums. I wanted drum tracks on my recordings that I would do without the band (and its crack-head drummer) so I learned how to play the drums. I had to keep it simple at first of course but now I'm so glad I don't have to screw with fake drums anymore.

If you are going to try to put together a fake drum track, I think sampled loops with fills here and there are your best bet because trying to construct them note for note always sounds obvious to me. Maybe iancl knows more than I do about drum sample and perhaps we can be enlightened. But that's my two cents.
Click to expand...

No, I know exactly what you're talking about I think. I'm just talking about the way I work at drums I guess. I try to avoid simple beats, and try to get away from the norm. Although even when I try this, it's often more practical to play a simple beat and chuck a fill in at the end.

I just think a lot of drumming out there at the moment is standard, and it's one of the many things holding music back in a fixed style. When you hear rap or hip-hop, and metal, with the same beat, you begin to wonder what the point of a drummer is. I think we have to break the cycle to progress.

But really what my post was, was a reply to Tim brown, who is talking about a tom fill at the end of a phrase (I think). I can't stand it when i see drummers, who for every song, play a rock beat, then for the second half of every 4th or 8th bar, play semi-quavers down the toms, and go back to a slight variation of the orginial beat. Whether it's real drums, or triggered, of fully synthed, I can't stand it.

I guess I may have been getting off topic, though I hope someone can appreciate some of my points.
 
iancl said:
adauria, can you tell us what you already know. Do you know about standard rock beats, or would you like that explained? Do you have a particular sound you want to head towards? Maybe we could 'tab' the beat to a particular song for you, so you can SEE what is being played. That will help you understand a little be more about what drum beats involve.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help so far.

Ian, I really know very little. I understand time signatures, as I can basically read music, etc. I can play the guitar or bass rythmically, but can't do much on the physical drums other a real simple beat - kick on quarters, snare on 2&4, and HH or ride on 8ths. Is that a rock beat? I don't even know.

"tabbing" or in some way indicating what a basic beat in a particular style looks like (or fills) is EXACTLY what I'm looking for.

I'm think about getting that Hal Leonard book with the "260 patterns." It's just what I'm looking for. I guess something similar doesn't exist on the web. If figured it would... something like an OLGA.net for drummers?

-Andrew
 
Yes, most people would call that the "standard" rock beat.

There used to be thousands of tabs (kinda like sheet music converted to text files), on the internet, but most of the sites closed down due to sheet msuic companies claiming it was illegal. I never quite understood what happened there.

You can buy books of beats, and I'm sure that would give you ideas. You can also buy CDs full of midi drum beats, so yuou don't have to write them onto the computer from the book. I guess it would help you get ideas, but in the end it's down to you to choose what you want where in a song.

Getting a book or CD would help you at first, and maybe you'd pick beats from it that you think fit the song, and as you progress, you can add to beats and edit them, and in the end hopefully you'll be comfortable "thinking" beats in your head while the song's playing, and you can then just write it out.

Overall, it's all about practice and finding out what fits, but getting a book may or may not help. I suppose it's worth a try!
 
I just think a lot of drumming out there at the moment is standard, and it's one of the many things holding music back in a fixed style. When you hear rap or hip-hop, and metal, with the same beat, you begin to wonder what the point of a drummer is. I think we have to break the cycle to progress
Click to expand...


Drums and bass guitar are the backbone of all the mentioned styles. The problem with todays music isn't the fact that the beats are all the same, its the songwriters and bands are copying their favorite 'flavour of the month' and not experimenting at all with arrangement and composition.

Example: a song at 160 bpms in 4/4 time really doesn't allow the drummer alot of room to breath.

Example: rock songs with the 'quiet verse' and the 'loud chorus'

A drummer can only do so much when the same 4 chord songs ask for the same beat. (Experienced drummers can definately add a little more flavour, but it's still limited to what the song asks for)

You want to 'break the cycle'?... write a song on acoustic guitar that sounds GREAT on its own. Everything ELSE should serve the song.

Rappers are the only ones I know that search for the beat first, and write their lyrics around it, which is why most hip hop beats are similar (4/4 time).
The good ones have an IDEA of what they want their song, and hook, to sound like,..and cater their lyrics and 'flow' to that.

My 2 cents

-LIMiT
 
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