Drum tutorial

[GoneIndefinitely]

This is not a tutorial at this moment because i cant use drums. The point of this thread is for people of OS who know how to use the drums to input their ideas to teach people (like me) how to use the drums. so please if you have anything to say to help people with the drums, please reply to this thread.

Thanks
Alex32124

[Kirbyderp]

Oh geez, where do I begin.

A drumbeat is the metronome of the song. It should be able to augment the melody while still keeping time. It can be fancy, but you don't want to be too extravagant as you might do it in a way that confuses with the beat. I'm not one that really uses the other percussion instruments besides what's in a drumset (as I'm most accustomed to the drumset since I play it in real life), so someone else will have to help you with that.

Hi-hat:
8th's and 16th's: A fast tempo* combined with a hi-hat playing 16th notes can give the song a driving beat, whereas a hi-hat on the 8th notes makes it feel less intense. Generally, a more moderate tempo with an 8th or 16th note hi-hat is a rock song (in any form). 8th note beats are typically used in this case, as 16th notes tend to overpower the song. With a slower tempo, I don't really recommend 16th notes...

Triplets and swing: Playing a hi-hat on triplets generally works for slower and moderate tempos, but generally not for fast tempos. The standard swing (beats 1, 4, and 6 in 2 repeating triplets). This beat is a classic and generally works with all tempos. The shuffle (beats 1 and 3 of a repeating triplet) generally work at all tempos except really fast tempos.

Other hi-hat patterns: First of all, I'm just gonna say, a hi-hat playing 32th notes does not work (unless in a fill sometimes). If you are going to use the hi-hat on quarter notes, then I might suggest turning on reverb (or using the open hi-hat) in order not have it feel like there are gaps in the drum beat. Any other more advanced or unique beats generally only work with a certain genre.

*please note that tempo is relative to the melody in this case.

Crash or open hi-hat: in some songs I play these on the quarter notes in order to give the song some more reverb to it.

Snare and bass drum: There are 2 other quintessential parts to a drum beat. In this case, I generally fashion them to have similar patterns (or sometimes even opposite patterns, its the same principle as dissonance) to the melody (or the accompaniment if the melody is too spaced apart) while still keeping somewhat of the bass drum on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4 standard drum beat. A good example of this is in this song, which shows off both: .

Other drum set instruments: generally I just reserve these to fills.

I think I covered everything....

[Guest]

I would rather make a video, but I don't have a screen recorder. (If anyone knows a good one, pls tell me )

[Kirbyderp]

Quick time player.

[XStep]

A percussion tutorial by Guest would be godly

[Firebolt391d]

I can't say much: mainly my percussion/beat tracks just happen to turn out okay after i mess around in the editor.
I like to think as 1 measure = 1 beat, and hear what I want in my head, and mark in the editor with bass/muted notes to help me remember where I want things.
But idk.
Since I really don't know much about making percussion, I'll just link a sequence that I made percussion (its from one of my sequences, you can click the "based on" link above to hear the original song)
#632717

[XStep]

Personally, I suggest looking at the Genres:

Metalcore (and its related genres)
Rock music
----------------
EDM (and its related genres, such as the ones down below)
Drum and Bass
Moombaton
Breaks
Trap
----------------

To get a better understanding of percussion and how to use it.

[Wafels]

The main problem I see with percussion is that people generally don't put too much effort into it, and that's why it doesn't sound as good. Like the piano, and every other instrument, the percussion needs a good amount of love and effort to sound great too. Another misconception is that OS percussion should be used like real percussion. To an extent, do not do that. OS percussion is very different from real percussion in terms of sound quality and volume.

Percussion has always been one of my favorite instruments, and I use it quite a lot. Based on my experience, the main things you need to take note of when using percussion (specifically OS percussion) are:


1. Percussion stacking and volume.

Percussion sounds extremely soft as is. It almost always has to be at the highest volume setting, and needs a good amount of note stacking. If you didn't already know, putting the same note on top of each other increases its volume. Applying that rule to percussion is one of the main ways to prevent percussion from drowning out due to the other instruments, to make it sound more dominant, to make it sound realistic, and of course, to make it sound great. (At least I think so)

2. Percussion layering.

Most percussion instruments sound pretty bad alone. The simple solution to this is to layer them with other percussion instruments. This makes the percussion louder, more realistic-sounding, more cool-sounding, more satisfying, etc.

Here's a list of percussion instruments I recommend layering together:

>Kick Drum 1 and 2/ High Q (optional)
>Pedal and Closed Hi-hat
>Open Hi-Hat and Crash Cymbal/Crash Cymbal 2/ Chinese Cymbal/ Ride Cymbal/Splash Cymbal (experiment and see which combinations of these you like) I personally like using almost all of them at once for that loud and crispy crash.

>Snare 1 and 2, Snare 1 and Slap, Snare 1 and Clap, Snare 1 and Stick, Snare 1 and Open Hi-Hat (again, experiment which combinations of these you would like) Personally, I find Snare 1 to be perfectly fine alone, but it must be stacked at least 3 times so it'd be audible. With the songs I make, I typically need Snare 1 stacked 4 times with the Open Hi-Hat stacked twice.

3. Interesting variations and fills to your drum beat.

Percussion can get repetitive, and if it's repetitive, it's boring or uninteresting. Spice it up with some sick drum fills towards the end of the drum pattern, or use the other percussion instruments that I honestly don't really bother using such as the Vibra-Slap or Timbale. Again, you have to experiment to find which sounds you want.

In a nutshell, percussion is an instrument that needs to keep up with the other instruments volume-wise, and requires some experimentation for one to achieve the sound they want. Have a sample of my application of the stuff I stated above: https://clyp.it/h4lqwgts, and the OS link (if you can run it):

I lack the music knowledge to get into the nitty gritty details and terms, but as stated by XStep, it's a good idea to check out different genres to get a better understanding of what kind of drum beat you're looking for.

Have fun learning percussion ^^ It's one of the main instruments I use to get OS sounding more professional.

[Nugget Angel]

nice, wafels

[Guest]

A percussion tutorial by Guest would be godly

Lol thanks