When we are done you will be able to build your very own first drum kit and program some groovy beats. So let’s talk drum production!

The two most important parts that make up your drum kit is the kick, and the snare. We will begin with the kick since it is the heartbeat of a song. This is the first sound I think about when creating a new track. If you pick (or create) a good kick from the start you have a very good starting point and reference for the rest of your drum kit. Building a good sounding kit is about finding balance.

How do producers make drum kits?

Think about what kind of track you want to create. What kind of mood do you want to express with the music? Is this a heavy EDM banger track (read Dubstep), a soft soaring ballad, a euphoric EDM track (read Trance) or a laidback jazz track?

Importantly, if you want to set out and finish a track without spending days finding the correct sounds and vibe, it’s a very good idea to define and set the genre right at the very start. Take it one step at a time and you will be up and running with awesome grooves in no-time.

Why a producer selects the mood and genre carefully before production start.

It’s very easy just to dive in and start experimenting with several parts of a song like drums, melody and harmony at the same time. But this is not necessarily very good practise. You are ultimately splitting your focus. Especially if you are not a seasoned producer with many tracks behind your back.

This is why we choose to begin by building our drum kit at the very start. Here we focus solely on the percussive side, the rhythm, the riddim… And we begin by finding a good solid kick for the foundation.

Kick – Finding a solid kick for your drum kit.

The kick is the heartbeat of your track and needs close attention since it’s the pulse which will drive the track. Selecting a kick can be cumbersome if your ears are new to a genre but if you have selected a good reference track this will ease the process tremendously.

Setup some A / B listening in your DAW, this can be done in many ways. Or you can just have a folder open (or iTunes) with the reference song with that booming deep thuddy kick you want to imitate.

A good way to see that the kick fits your genre is to program a beat and switch kicks while the pattern is running. Program a quick looping pattern with some kicks beating similar to your reference track. This does not have to be too extensive and long, 4 or 8 bars i enough. Let the pattern run and swap out the kick until you find the right one for your track. You will instantly hear when it’s getting close to the reference kick.

What defines a good kick in a drum kit?

A good kick will sound punchy and often be the loudest sound in your mix so it’s important to find the right kick sound for your track. If a sound is loud and upfront it’s very important that it “rocks your audience” and has a good sound.

Furthermore, the kick might be the deepest sound in your production, or the bass, depending on your genre and style. This means that the kicks first harmonic resides somewhere around 50hz. A kick is often created by a quick pitch envelope from high-pitch to the low-pitch which will give the sound a bit of high-end as well as the deep bass sound.

Firstly, let’s take a quick look at the different important frequencies of a kick sample.

There is of course information further up in the frequency range in the kick too, but we are focusing on the low end thump.

How do producers make drum kits?Important frequencies in a kick.

20 – 60 Hz – Sub Bass.

Boost in this range to add low-end punch. This frequency is really felt in your stomach. Be sure to have good studio monitors and a good room to mix in to adjust this frequency area properly.

60hz – 250 hz  – Bass.

If you have a weak kick in the bass, you can experiment with adding a few db in the 80-100hz area. The bass area can also be divided further from 150hz to 250 hz if you need to dissect your sound further and make more refined adjustments.

In the 150-250 hz area you can probably cut a few db (decibels) to reduce potential boominess in the kick while allowing the lower bass frequencies to come through. Cutting here gives thickness to the low-end without adding muddiness to the overall sound.

300 – 600 Hz – Low Midrange.

The area where you find the annoying cardboard sound on bad samples. If your kick drum sounds boxy, try with a drastic cut in this area (6 – 8db). Some drum microphones even come with a pre-set EQ curve that scoops out the mids to reduce boxiness and to help the kick sit properly.

2 – 4 kHz – Midrange.

This is where the snap and crack of a sound resides. If you have a hard time getting the kick drum to cut through the mix, don’t increase low-end content, instead add to the mids. A broad boost in this section can bring out the beater sound (if you are working with an acoustic kick sample). In pop you often boost with a broad band EQ at 2 kHz. Furthermore, a narrower boost at 4-8 kHz will bring out the click you hear so prominently in metal music.

10+ kHz – High End.

This area can be left untouched (or filtered out completely) depending on the genre you are working with. You can try to boost this range, if your song has a very minimal instrumental setup. Try to add a bit of “air” to your kick sound by boosting slightly and find out if your kick has content up in the 8-10khz area. Importantly, always remember to leave room.

Glitch Hop Kick for snappy drum kits.

If we were going to create a semi-aggressive glitch hop kit with a bit of retro-ish vibe to it we would select a kick with a snappy attack and heavy body.

On the other hand, if we are going to create a trap / hip hop beat we would rather select a more light thuddy kick with a light body. A kick without too much low end, since we would probably going to add an 808 bass to the track which will really fill in that low end.

Great starter drum kit for producers

Trap Kick

Snare – Selecting a snare to fit your kick sample.

Now when we know what our kick sounds like we can begin the search for a snare to fit in the pocket where the kick does not hit. Well if you are programming a four on the floor kick you will probably have the snare on the 2 and 4, but you know what I mean.

Firstly, a snare usually has it’s fundamental (fundamental frequency) at around 150hz – 300hz.

This is the key frequency you are looking for when selecting a snare for your specific genre. Find out the fundamental of the reference snare (or what’s typical for your genre) and go look for a snare that has a strong hit in that frequency. You can also pitch snares up or down to make them sit in that range. Genres like Future Bass tend to have higher pitched snares.

Should I use a snare sample from a pack, or create my own sound from scratch?

Your DAW probably comes with a range of good snares ready to be used, Though genres and sound evolve quickly these days, and more often those DAW sounds might be a bit dated. So my suggestion is to find samples from recently released sample packs from dedicated and professional sound designers.

Find a pack with a focus on the genre you are working with.

I find it’s a lot harder to pick a good snare than finding a good kick to work with. If you buy some recently released sample packs, like the Producer Essentials Pack Vol 1 for Bitwig you instantly have access to some good and ready to go snares.

Creating your own snare for a custom drum kit.

If you are at medium level in music production I would suggest you start experimenting with creating your own snares. Creating your own sounds will help build your identity and brand as an artist. Furthermore, you can really come up with exotic snares by layering different snare samples (and foley sounds) on top to create new smacks (read snares).

Be sure to use EQ on each snare layer to remove unnecessary frequencies in the sound. This will probably mean some cuts in the low and top end. And maybe some cuts of a few db in the 350-500 hz range. The low mids is usually a problematic spectrum to mix so be extra careful with that.

Now, program some snare hits into the pattern you created above.

Producers layer snares for a fatter sound in their drum kits.

If you find it hard to select a snare to the kick, just play your reference track and A/B with the snares you have at your disposal. If you need more “air” in the snare, try to add a subtle layer of noise on top. Or try a reverberated foley sample. Anything goes as long as it works!

This is what I came up with while selecting the snare for my track.

Kick & snare drum kit pattern.

Great, now the foundation for our drum kit is defined and we can continue and select some more exotic percussive sounds to fill out and sparkle our beats. There are many tracks that just use a kick, or a kick and a snare and are totally fine with that. Be sure to have a lot of high frequency content on your kicks and snares if this is the case.

But we like to add spice and sparkle don’t we? So let’s add some hi-hats and cymbals.

Hi-Hat – The sizzling top layer of your producer drum kit.

In the previous chapters we selected a kick and a snare. This gave us the low-end and mid-meat in the frequency spectrum of our drum sounds. But to wrap it up and close the circle we need to add the icing on the cake, some hi-hat sizzle. This will add the final touch and sprakle to the drums.

Again, listen to your reference track and listen to what kind of sizzle in the top end you hear. A hi-hat isn’t too hard to select if you already made the kick and snare. The top frequency content of your drums can be anything from noise generated hi-hats, to short foley sounds.

I selected a sharp hi-hat typical in trap music. I made it play 8th notes and also sprinkle some 16th notes on a few places to make some variation. This is typical in trap beats.

Drum pattern with hi-hat included.

Furthermore, we can also make this pattern even more interesting. It feels a bit dull and stale. It does miss some soul to make it come alive and make us dance. How about adding some additional percussion or foley sounds into the drum pattern?

I watch for empty spots in the pattern where the kick and snare is not hitting and carefully place some foley sounds into those empty places. Experimentation is key here so be sure to walk through a few sounds before you make the decision to stick with a sound.

Trap pattern with additional foley percussion added to the drum kit.

How do producers make drum kits – Conclusion

With this article I hope you grasp how producers make drum kits. It takes some time and practise to master different drum styles, but begin with some basic patterns and imitate your favourite producers. You will be a rock star beat programmer in no-time.

If you are just starting out as a producer it might be good practise to use pre-existing samples. And select the best possible quality samples you can get your hands on. It will really save you time because there is nothing more frustration trying to get a dull (bad) sample to sound decent. Just give yourself an early / late Christmas present and you should be able to create awesome beats in a few days.

You can grab some great samples in my webshop here.

When you have been creating beats for a while, be sure to explore your own ideas in sound design and start to create kicks, snares and all the other sounds for your kits. It will give your tracks an identity and help you build a brand of your own. These are exciting times and there are million ways to create unique sounds with the tools available.

I hope you found this article useful for your beat creations.

Making Beats like a Bitwig Pro Producer featuring Maschine Jam

A great tool to sequencing drums and give your drums life with dynamic automation is the Maschine Jam from Native Instruments. I wrote an article on using Maschine Jam with Bitwig Studio here.

Furthermore, you can watch a video tutorial on how to program drums in Bitwig for various styles like Hip-hop, Trap, Glitch Hop and DnB.

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

Be sure to sign up to our newsletter for new exciting articles in design, music production and sound design.

The post How do producers make drum kits? appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Finishing music is an art in Itself.

Everyone can write a chorus drop.
…Or let me re-phrase that: Everyone can imitate a YouTube video tutorial and make an epic drop similar to the professional producers and artists.

But to take the track further and actually finish the song you need to do some additional time consuming work, like arranging. Expanding that simple short 8-bar loop into something more. Building a complete cohesive song.

Are you stuck in the 8-bar loop?

Everyone hits a creative block from time to time.

My name is Mattias and I’m a designer & composer for games, media and film. And I am just like YOU, a creator who also face barriers from time to time. But with time I’ve learned some tips and tricks to overcome those creative blocks.

I learned to master my fear of failing, and be able to look past the “misty mountains”.

A few years back I was writing game music loops for a few companies ( Come2Play, Peak Games, Mind Juice Media etc.). I was writing short loops on deadlines all the time for games liked; Backgammon Live, and Sloto Lotto. These were all about 1 min in length and I got really good at writing these short and seamless loops in various genres and moods.

Write more music – faster

When you write cues on a deadline you have to be really creative and you can’t just get a writers block in the middle of a project. You have to deliver, and deliver awesome content. Thus I discovered these tools and tricks to help me write more music faster.

Therefore I want to plant some ideas and a mindset to help you defeat your creative blocks when they appear.

In this article I want to address the struggle many creative artists face when creating content. This post is for everyone facing barriers when trying to finish creative work. I hope you find the information useful for any of your creative endeavours. May it be art, music or some other work you are doing.

The mountain of fear – it’s like climbing K2.

If you are just starting with a new song your inner devil might appear and tell you that the mountain you are about the climb, is way beyond your mortal reach. The cloudy top up there might just have been made only for the gods themselves.

I know the feeling. You might feel discouraged to continue. There are so many paths to choose, so many ways to begin. So many ways to trail off on that winding path up that steep mountain.

Wouldn’t it be great to turn off that anxiety and regain our focus?

Are you ready to get back on the trail up the mountain? With improved  confidence and a big staff like Gandalf to lean upon?

I thought so!

Let first take some statements from the “dusty mountains” down to earth and solid ground.

It’s easy to think that to write a song you need;

1. 100 Chords, 100 melodies and 100 layers Of synths.
2. The most expensive keyboards, samples and Gibson guitars on the planet.
3. Advanced and technical drum programming.
4. Spend a week writing the perfect chorus.
5. Your lyric needs to be a poem.
6. The greatest most angelic voice to sing on the track.
7. Spend another week arranging and mixing.
8. Master the track in the most expensive studio.

All these statements are of course all false.

Well, maybe if you are playing in Dream Theatre, or some other über progressive band like Symphony X (ahhh…I really like the album Divine Wings of Tragedy). If that’s the case you might need a few more chords,  wild melodic content and a drummer from another planet.

Boost Your Productions – Pristine Sound Packs

We tend to be pretentious about our craft and precious melodies.

Perfecting each piece of that first few bars. The melody, chords, drums, percussion, sound design and instruments. These are all things that we spend hours and hours on, just to write that one 8-bar loop. I know, I do it too. We are artists and we want the outcome of our work to shine and the next piece should be our greatest work ever.

Just forget all about this time consuming work and processes that basically keeps you from progressing.

Zoom out to a more comfortable place where you can define a foundation for your song and get you in a better position to progress.

Ease up the work, start out like a minimalist and simplify your process to complete the backbone of your song.

Music comes in the most basic of form.

-Is it a circle? Are you talking about the circle of fifths in music theory?

-Not really in this case.

My idea of music is that it exists in the moment you have an instrument in your hands and play two chords and sing a melody on top.

In fact the songs I am most proud of was written with an acoustic guitar and my voice in just a few hours. It might have been a Friday evening when I got inspired by a topic and just picked up the piano or guitar and sang from the heart. At least some of my most fun songs was created that way.

Sporadic and with little preparations or gear at hand.

I know that not every producer today are comfortable with an instrument, or play any instrument at all. But that does not prevent you from making great music. It’s all about ear, heart and mind…and ideas.

Listen to your heart, like the band Roxette sang in the 80s. =)

How to set the foundation for our song?

Where do we start? How do we go from nothing to something? Importantly, how do we create some steady pillars to lean upon. Something to help us push forward in the writing process?

Begin your writing session by breaking down the sections of production into the following parts / pillars.

1. TEMPO – Select a tempo. Do you want to write a fast track, a slow ballad?
2. MOOD – Select a mood. Is it a sad song or is this a positive uplifting euphoric epic track?
3. GENRE – Select a genre that you love and listened to a lot. It’s always easier to write something that you know and your ear is used to.
   

Therefore by defining this foundation and placing these pillars of the song you already have a great start in your writing process. You will have a solid trajectory leading you forward.

Continue by picking a scale or chord progression and you have a fourth pillar to make your songwriting easier.

4. SCALE / CHORD PROGRESSION – Will give us direction and make it easier to write a melody.

How to finish songs faster!

If you have musical ideas in your mind and heart, you are well equipped to start out producing music. Therefore let us start by creating the first snippet of our song. The important first 8 bars of the track that we can use to extend the loop into a more full arrangement.

Creating the first 4 bars of your song.

Since this article is about finishing music we will play by the rules and minimalize our instrumentation during the writing process.

Keeping things simple makes it easier for us to progress and not get stuck in details of too much sound design. We also make sure to use pre-processed samples. What that means is that we are using samples from sample packs or sources where the sounds are ready for production. Importantly, we do not want to dig into too much EQ’ing and having to cut and carve the sounds too much to fit them into our song mix.

Make sure to use good pre-processed samples and loops from the start.

Actually don’t even think about the mix. Think about the flow of the song, the melodies.

Don’t add too many layers. Not just yet!

Even if we are using instrument layers, which makes it easy for us to replace an instrument. It’s just a simple fact that the more things we add to our arrangement view in the DAW – The more things we will see. And it will affect us, unconsciously. There will be more content to think about and react to. We don’t want to clutter up our workspace, do we?

If you find yourself stuck and can’t write more than 8-bar loops. Be sure to leave the layering to future writing sessions when you have gone past that barrier. And things are feeling less tiresome.

Furthermore, you can always beef up those synth lead parts later when you feel that the melody flows.

Extending a loop from 4 bars into 8 bars.

Copy and paste / double up the first 4 bars so you have 8 bars of music.

Make subtle adjustments to the percussion and background melodies.

Now determine if you want to have the melody over 8 bars or 16 bars. It’s up to you. In the example I created the melody over 16 bars.

Let’s say you wrote a 16-bar loop for a chorus drop (like in the image above) with one main melody instrument, one chord patch, one bass patch and some drums (and some light percussion). Therefore we now have the foundation set for our track.

We really did all the hard work which we can use to extend this “loop” into a more full song. Now it’s just a matter of copy, paste and mute. And maybe add some subtle variations in the extended parts.

Create the verse by expanding the loop into a new section of our song.

No we can copy and paste this 16-bar section (chorus drop) to another section of our song. Maybe this new section can be transformed into a more  laidback and lush verse!?

Remove some of the instruments and make the verse more bare and “naked”. Replace some hard hitting drums with more delicate and light hitting percussion or shakers. Generally you want the chorus of your song to be the most powerful place of your track so keep things gentle and light on your verse.

Importantly this makes sure we have dynamics in our track and that our track probably will sound more interesting. At least the chorus will hit harder.

How can we create an intro for our song?

There are many tricks to make an interesting introduction to a song First listen to some of your favourite artists and listen how those beginnings are crafted. Are they using sounds from the verse / chorus? Is it a completely different chord progression, melody or sound that is not heard anywhere else in the track?

How do they present the melody? Do they use references from the chorus lead melody, but a simplified version with less notes?

If you ask these questions you will probably end up with plenty of options for your own intros and ideas to help you design a cool introduction.

Creating an intro for our track.

Take an instrument from the chorus (or verse) and do some drastic effect layering on that instrument, render this as an audio file and use it as your intro. I explain this intro sound design trick more thoroughly in the video – Stuck in the 8-bar loop.

Stitch your song parts with some exciting transitions to build anticipation.

Furthermore, it’s time to spice your song with nice transitions to stitch all your parts together. I did a video and article on transitional techniques in music production which can give you some tips for creating unique bridging sounds.

How do I finish my song?

To finish your song you repeat the steps above, copy your loop into a new section and refine it to something unique. But remember to not overcomplicate things. As soon as you find yourself fiddling with too many sound design settings, take a step back and rethink the purpose of your songwriting / arranging session.

Remove, add, reverse, replace and try different things. Don’t worry if it sucks. With time your skill WILL improve.

But if you keep doing one simple loop and working on that simple loop for hours. Your ear will tire, your mind will re-tire. Ultimately you might get a creative block for a while.

So loosen up!

Proceed to the next section. Make the whole arrangement like:
intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus and outro. Or maybe you work with the naming convention like; ABABCB. As long as you flesh out the whole song in it’s total length you will be fine.

Have you written 3 minutes of music now? Good!

I hope this article “Stuck in the 8 bar loop” will give you some ideas and a creative mind set to help you out of the loop.

Let me know how your musical adventure goes.

Thanks for checking in!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via the contact page.

AUTHOR – Mattias Holmgren / Creative Director 
@ Morningdew Media

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

Be sure to sign up to our newsletter for new exciting articles in design, music production and sound design.

The post Stuck in the 8-bar loop? How to finish songs faster! appeared first on Morningdew Media.