In a song, the actual number of bars can vary quite a bit. Usually, the length of the song determines the bar length, but there are exceptions with drum samples, especially in songs with a warped timeline grid. If you’re making loops, it doesn’t really have to be that complicated.

When composing an average loop, four bars is a good, solid number to start with musically. Often enough, this number can give your listener a good idea of the outline of the song and the way things will end up sounding eventually. Going any more isn’t really worthwhile, while a few bars less (let’s say, two) will not be a good enough sample to base any opinion on. Four bars is usually enough to also add some variance in the drum samples towards the end. While velocity modification is a great technique to make use of, also introducing instruments towards the end can be a great way to spice things up in your beat. You want to keep the listener comfortable and on the edge of his or her seat at the same time.  Read more...

Using drum samples with reverb is grossly under-utilized in today’s music production. For those who do use it, a lot of it is to take the sample beyond recognition and this is incorrect usage as far best practices are concerned. Using it correctly is an art form!

When considering using this samples, make sure to specify (at least to yourself) the role that the sound is supposed to fulfill. If it’s for a single sound, you run the risk of making the other drum samples take a backseat to the reverb of this one instance. So if it’s a noise that plays all the time and consistently, you should turn down the bleed/return.

The length of the reverb is one of the main points of debate. Some people claim that songs with a slower tempo warrant a longer ‘tail’ (release) on the reverb sound patch, while others ask you to experiment with long and short on both medium and fast tempo songs to see what works for you. Sometimes, a longer reverb will allow the other drum samples to have a little bit more freedom and not need to perform to fill in empty space. If one of the samples takes that burden off the rest, you’ll have a lot more freedom!  Read more...

Why would you want to generate snappy kick and snare drum samples? Well, as we all know, there’s a serious loudness war going on, and what better way to drown out the competition that have the rhythm track in your songs simply cut through any speaker set or car radio and be instantly recognizable and catchy? With the importance placed upon drum samples and their arrangement and sound, budding music producers pay no attention to this topic at their peril!

If you have any fears about altering drum samples yourself, don’t worry. It’s not too hard to achieve the snap effect; in fact, it can be child’s play with a bit of guidance and a bit of critical and proactive thinking on your part. If you already have tools like compressors and EQs, you are two steps ahead of a lot of people. Software or hardware, these tools will make life easy for you and getting them to modify a sound the way you want it will be easy after learning their menu systems and hearing the effect that different functions have on your initial sound file. There is nothing like experimentation in this case!  Read more...

The hi-hat drum samples of today are as varied as they are underappreciated. Think about your favorite songs for a moment. You can probably hear the kick and snare working away in memory, but it can be very hard to keep track of the hi-hat. The truth is, most hi-hats (hats for short) are just supporting acts to the snare and kick combinations that dominate our attention, but they are nevertheless an essential part of most music production projects, so underestimate them at your peril!

The two mistakes made by producers are not just the domain of amateur producers who may not know better, but also of professional music producers and beat makers.

The first mistake concerns volume. The role of the hi-hat drum samples is often overstated and overemphasized by many expertly arranged songs. The human ear, it is claimed, has gained a perception of the frequencies that hi-hats occupy throughout evolutionary stages. Apparently some aerial predators made noises that had the same frequencies, and we can therefore hear it above its actual volume.  Read more...