--- Dave Phillips <dlphilp@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > isabellf wrote: > > > I'm looking for information on the art of drum > pattern creation. I > > don't talk about "howtos" for various drum > machines or sequencers, I > > know how to use these, I just suck at creating > good drum patterns ;-( > > You can find collections of MIDI files that are just > drum patterns, they > may be useful to study. Try Googling for "drum > patterns MIDI files". > > > One of the first thing I should probably do is > study drum and get a > > teacher or something, but I felt maybe some of you > know some tricks: > > what to avoid , what can be used at will, how to > create fills... I > > even though I could receive a pattern library full > of examples. > > You really should take some lessons, if only to find > out more about the > instrument you're writing for. There are a gazillion > playing techniques > for percussion instruments. Anyone of us can learn to read the percussion staff well enough to program MIDI patterns in one afternoon. The reading skills are indespensible because many great patterns and songs have been scored. You don't need to learn to play the kit in order to understand the patterns that great drummers like Elvin Jones, Buddy Rich or any of the rest build their careers with. If you want to understand what that calibre of drummer does or even learn to play like them then study the 26 Rudiments. You start by developing technique on one instrument, snare drum or phonebook, and then apply it to the kit. As you develop command of or a great familiarity with the Rudiments your comprehension of music changes from nuances to interpreting passages and relationships between instruments. I know a handful of talented drummers. Two of them are world class. One of them can play any style of music. What distinguishes the most talented one from the others is his command of the Rudiments. "Ron, listen to me! Here's the parradidle as Latin, here it is as Rock, here it is as Jazz." He demonstrated each style with the same exact pattern by changing the accents." > Some simple advice: If you're designing a pattern > for a drum kit and you > want to make it sound "real", remember that a player > can make a maximum > of only four simultaneous sounds (two feet, two > hands). Watch and study > how drummers actually get around their sets: you'll > be able to write > things with a drum machine that of course are not > humanly possible, and > you'll have to decide whether you want to restrict > your patterns to > "playable" kinds or if you'll just write without > considering playability. > > Another thing to be aware of is panning. It sounds > ridiculous to have a > snare drum panned hard left and your high-hat panned > far right. Agreed and this is very important because it's the drums that define and build the stereo field. > Visualize the kit's layout, set your pan controls to > a rather narrow > range if you want to create a convincing virtual > set. Disagree or at least object to the concept of "narrow." Drums are the base for the stereo field. Think about why...the kit is not one instrument. A standard kit is eight instruments. Panning related to a wall clock; kick=noon, snare=1:PM, hat=2:PM, rack-right=3:PM, rack-left=9:AM, floor-tom=hard left, overhead left=hard left, overhead right=hard right. That is the panning scheme of the modern drum mix. Always pan from the perspective of a listener and not that of the drummer--high hat is on the listeners right side. That panning scheme fills and defines the stereo field which is the stage. All other instruments can be fit as you visualize them on that stage. Backing vocal/mults are another story but they end up being the same as any other stereo instrument/keyboard or whatever. > Use velocity and pitch variation. Yes, percussion > instruments have a > pitch component, and small variations impart much > liveliness. Vary the > velocity too: no player plays two notes in a row > with absolutely the > same articulation. If your software includes > humanization controls (e.g. > Hydrogen) be sure to use them, they can help loosen > up a too-rigid feel > to your rhythms. > > Use effects sparingly. It's a bit of a "false" > effect, but I've found > that adding a little reverb to my high-hat lines > really opens up the > sound, even though the other instruments are not > "effected". OK, Dave and I are gonna have to take off the gloves. Dave you got a sheet of ice we can toss down on? :) It's getting colder in Minneapolis but not cold enough to make ice. Books can be written on this topic and should be. I'm not gonna elaborate but am certain that anything I say here would not be new to Dave or anyone else. I'll try to state my basic tenant. Every song is unique and will tell you what to do if you learn to hear instrument relationships and comprehend the tensions and releases. Did the songwriter leave the back beat, snare, in space by its self? If yes, then it might be appropriate to design a sound; a big room with a long tailing reverb or maybe a big room with a percussive reversed gate. Snare drums are commonly used to build tension and release for the purpose of helping a listener anticipate what's coming and when it's going to happen. Of course any drum can be used to this purpose; the $20,000.00 Grand Piano/Drum, the bass guitar/drum, the electric six string guitar/drum, etc. It's to bad all these other fancy drums aren't as beautiful and elegant as the good old snare drum. OK, I'm being a smart ass and ranting but I'm not entirely joking. James Brown, paraphrased, every instrument on my stage is a drum. Sorry, I can't recall where or when he stated that but I really wish I could. I've understood that perspective for along time but when Brown said it, it helped change my understanding of music and combined with the Rudiments, sad to say, they are more reliable than sex. ron > And be sure to check out the demos for Hydrogen, you > can learn a lot > from them too. > > > I currently use rosegarden4 sequencer, the matrix > editor is nice for > > drum part edition, but I also have hydrogen and > tk707. > > TK707 is a lot of fun, especially if you've owned a > TR707. Hydrogen > rocks solid, it's my drum machine of choice these > days. I just put an > article about Hydrogen on-line for the Linux > Journal, check it out here: > > > http://linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7846&mode=thread&order=0 > > I hope some of that helps. Good luck ! > > Best, > > dp > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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