Drums driving me crazy help.
Drums driving me crazy help. Posted on: 22.07.2010 by Kandy Ahdoot Ok i come from a rock group background so used to playing like rock/punk/metal type stuff where the drums are allways changeing.now been working on my own edm stuff for a while but i believe the thing that is holding me back is the drums i am over believeing them to much. with most edm the beat hardly changes but if i was to keep the same beat for a whole song i believe its boring and know one would like it so i am trying to change it every 8 or 16 bars but i know thats not right and it starts to get messy and no flow to it.so just wondering if anyone has had this problem and is the away round it all so when making edm is it best to make drums first? all so what is the best order to make a song i believe that would help cheers | |
| Kandy Ahdoot 23.07.2010 |
Originally Posted by BradCee
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| Kandy Ahdoot 22.07.2010 | Ok i come from a rock group background so used to playing like rock/punk/metal type stuff where the drums are allways changeing. now been working on my own edm stuff for a while but i believe the thing that is holding me back is the drums i am over believeing them to much. with most edm the beat hardly changes but if i was to keep the same beat for a whole song i believe its boring and know one would like it so i am trying to change it every 8 or 16 bars but i know thats not right and it starts to get messy and no flow to it.so just wondering if anyone has had this problem and is the away round it all so when making edm is it best to make drums first? all so what is the best order to make a song i believe that would help cheers |
| Harold Jaras 23.07.2010 | the way i work is to make the complete drum section first. start building and layering to the point where, as rusko put it in his masterclass vids "the drums are interesting by themselves". once you have that, you now have all the pieces to start laying out the different sections of your track. build them up as you wish, and then every 16 bars or so just tweak the rhythms of the instruments (maybe 1 or 2 at a time), and bam, a solid drum track. hope this helps |
| Kandy Ahdoot 23.07.2010 |
Originally Posted by BradCee
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| Marcel Ei Gio 22.07.2010 | i tend to do a REALLY simple drum loop to begin with, just to get me going and get the feel. after i have most of a track down, i will go back and tweak it, add the variation and whatnot. |
| Dorcas Bassignani 22.07.2010 | i made a 32 bar drum loop once, had a minor change at the end of every 4th bar which a less minor one at the end of every 8th, a major one (snare roll) at the end of the 16th, and a kick and snare roll from 3rd to 4th beat of 32nd bar, and then a tripplet-esque snare pattern on the 4th beat (use 1/16th grids when i do drums). and tbh, it didn't really make much difference. the moral is, if you spend time over believeing the drums, you waste valuable time on other things and can't be arsed to finsih the track. |
| Kandy Ahdoot 22.07.2010 | cheers for all the tips guys will work on this toevening |
| Verona Fashbaugh 22.07.2010 | In addition to what these other fellows have said, you can also do this: Suppose you have the main beat for your song, we'll call it "1a". Now, make a copy of the "1a" drum pattern, we'll call it "1b". Make some slight changes to it. Maybe add in an extra kick or an off-beat snare, just to add in some spice. Change up the hi-hat order for a part. But for the most part, keep it the same. You don't want it to sound like an entirely different beat. Now copy 1a again and make a "1c" pattern. Again, make slight changes. Maybe make the end of 1c a little distinctive, to signal the end of a part of the song. Now that you have your three patterns. Cycle through them, 1a-1b-1a-1c. Or however you want. Then, as the other gentlemen mentioned, bring in other percussive sounds (I recommend also creating slightly varied patterns for these as well). When youre done, you'll have a drum pattern that is varied, not boring, and sounds like it belongs together. (Typically, each of my drum patterns is eight beats long, just because that's what I like to work with.) Hope that helps! |
| Riccardo gava 22.07.2010 | The drums dont change that much in rock/metal! Try writing your drums in sections like you would with a rock song. so make an Intro beat, which can be a simplified version of the first Verse beat. Do a straighter more driving version for a chorus section. then something else as if it was for a mid8. Now you've got 4 'beats' loop them out into sections, e.g intro/outro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-mid8-chorus-chorus-intro/outro. I'd make every section the same number of bars to start with - you can always lengthen or shorten sections later once you start getting more stuff going on. faeruithir is then BANG ON saying adding little extra bits of percussion or loops every 16 or 32 bars or so, just to keep every new block sounding fresh and building (or, if you're approaching a breakdown you can remove elements to get the same effect but in reverse) I'd prob start working on other elements at this point like bass etc, but the only other thing you really need to look at is making some cool fills into the different sections, just like you would in rock music! They're really not to different, EDM just has tighter timing (so tight by default that you NEED to program some swing into your beat to make feel right ;-) - dont forget the swing!) and more options on the sounds you can use to compose with! |
| Susann Blachford 22.07.2010 | Try subtly introducing new elements or taking them away every 16-32 bars. You don't have to change the actual beat, but maybe bring in the high hats here, take away the cowbells there...just subtle changes will keep it interesting without disrupting flow. I usually do drums first just so I have something to write the rest to other than the annoying metronome sound. P.S sent you a PM about Live! |
| Andy Essenpreis 22.07.2010 | i believe just makes what sounds good to ur ears. Coz what might sound good to 1 person doesnt mean the same for another |
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