Three big tips, on how to make electronic drums sound good

SpookyZoo

I’m lazy.

A repeating 4 on the 4 floor drum pattern is fine.

Besides, my chord progression is shit hot.

I’ve got this balanced. 😉

AndyPlankton

@SpookyZoo said:
I’m lazy.

A repeating 4 on the 4 floor drum pattern is fine.

Besides, my chord progression is shit hot.

I’ve got this balanced. 😉

I’m lazy too.

Repeating 4 on the 4 floor pattern is fine by me too.

My triad is ok.

......goes to google Chord Progression

SpookyZoo

@AndyPlankton said:

My triad is ok.

......goes to google Chord Progression

haulin_notes

When I first heard electronic music long ago, I thought...”Wow! It’s so precise and clockwork!” Now alot of what i hear is “yawn... so precise and clockwork... meh.”

In general, (except for drone and ambient and such) electronic music leans VERY heavily on its beat. It is very central to the whole feel. Not to rip on people’s demos and attempts, but even most “highly produced” stuff fails to have a beat that interests me for very long. Some actually seem to repel me, despite qualities in the rest of the song.

It’s almost like I imagine the producer saying to themself “Man, this is the hardest, funkiest beat ever! Im gonna amp this up and let it play unchanging for five minutes!” Meanwhile... ear fatigue is setting in on me... if I’m even still listening. I may not be the target audience for some of this music... but then again, who wants to be a target? I think the trap style has brought some interesting beats, and classic DnB and Jungle has lotsa energy, imho.

Repetition is obviously an important part of rhythm, otherwise it is all random. And repetition gets one “into a groove”. It’s up to the producer/player not to sound “canned” and too predictable. A lot of “cut and paste” beats can give the listener indigestion from too much Copy-Pasta. Many early eighties hits like Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”, Gary Numan’s “Cars”, and song by Kraftwerk had a wonderful mixture of drum machines and live playing that make them still sound fresh and lively.

ohwell

@haulin_notes I used to feel the same. Now I feel like a lot of truly outstanding rhythm work is just hiding in plain sight. I mentioned Dilla’s donuts above. Just add to that Villalobos’ Alcachofa. Between the two (and so many more) there’s a vast playbook for how to make rhythmic intricacy and complexity pass as familiar and straightforward. IMO since then, there’s been more and more examples of producers disguising rhythmic complexity as simplicity all over the friendly electronic music spectrum.

PhilW

1. Play them don’t program them. It will give you more feel.
2. Use one pass to play kick and snare, use another pass to play hihats and any cymbals.
3. Add a tom fill every four bars.

Alternatively use one of Lumbeat’s apps for drums, it’s like having a proper drummer but without the mess...

haulin_notes

@ohwell said:
@haulin_notes I used to feel the same. Now I feel like a lot of truly outstanding rhythm work is just hiding in plain sight. I mentioned Dilla’s donuts above. Just add to that Villalobos’ Alcachofa. Between the two (and so many more) there’s a vast playbook for how to make rhythmic intricacy and complexity pass as familiar and straightforward. IMO since then, there’s been more and more examples of producers disguising rhythmic complexity as simplicity all over the friendly electronic music spectrum.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree with your excellent examples. J Dilla (rest his soul) was a rhythm craftsman. Have not heard all his stuff, but what i have heard ranges from good to inspired, imho. And like you said: straightforward. Not busy for the sake of being busy. Villalobos i was not familiar with, but checked youtube. Nice! Subtle beats, not dumbing it down for mass consumption, or something. But again... not too busy or fussy. Not sure either of them qualify as “mainstream”, but sure... i agree. Good stuff is definitely out there.

---

...
In counterpoint, for anyone interested. I’m probably not an expert in anything, definitely not in rap music. But....
Compare the rhythm track of these two songs...

With the drums and percussion in this song:

The songs were chosen at semi-random. Despite the slight “dated-ness” of the first two, they have very interesting beats. The last video exemplifies what i hear a lot recently, especially in rap, but elsewhere too. Ho-hum beats. Maybe it sounds more serious not to have a beat you want to tap your foot to? I don’t know. (I have a theory that since the wars on terrorism and the recession of the 21st century, music has been indirectly affected becoming harder and colder. A lot seem like high-tech military marches. Just a half-assed theory. Now get off my lawn, you kids! 😛)

But as a relatively current example of a VERY simple rap rhythm track that imo sounds good- Fancy by Iggy Azalea.

Just my two cents, adjusted for inflation.

bri77

@u0421793 I feel your pain as I am not a big fan of doing drums. Here is an easy solution to get decent drums:

Use Groovebox by Ampify.

1 - Add a drum instrument and hit random until something decent appears. Try different drum kits with each random pattern to give you more ideas.

2 - Add a second drum instrument and repeat step 1. Make sure to use a different drum kit to step 1.

3 - With both drum tracks playing it will sound too busy so start removing sounds from each drum instrument until you have a mixture of both that sounds good then add some swing.