Help with doing industrial Drum Beats

[Korbain]

Looking at experimenting with some industrial rock/metal, any tips on making some good beats? what effects, timings, etc.

I've tried it a few times and i can't get anything that works/sounds good lol. Have no problem making normal drumming patterns with a real sounding kit for my music, just can't seem to get the whole industrial thing going.

[EtherealEntity]

I don't listen to industrial at all so take this with a pinch of salt, but bits I have heard here and there seem to use pretty standard beats, just defined by the sound.
I'd try distortion on the kick and snare for sure. Some 'metallic' sounding snares like Slipknot and St Anger come to mind. Trash kit pieces..some electronic dance samples etc.
Also try the dance technique of sidechaining a sine wave to the kick for more low end. (Constant sine wave throughout the project, tune it to the track in the lowest audible octave - put a noisegate on it sidechain triggered by the kick drum).

[ZEBOV]

Originally Posted by Korbain

Looking at experimenting with some industrial rock/metal, any tips on making some good beats? what effects, timings, etc.

I've tried it a few times and i can't get anything that works/sounds good lol. Have no problem making normal drumming patterns with a real sounding kit for my music, just can't seem to get the whole industrial thing going.

Something I've noticed about industrial rock/metal is that a lot of times (but not always) is that industrial songs don't have to have the industrial-ness for them to be songs. However, the songs could be too simple, so to speak, especially if it's like Gravity Kills. Try writing the very basics: guitars, bass, and drums. Then try putting the industrial-ness in it.
Let your inspirations for sounds come from everywhere. One thing that has stuck out in my mind for over 10 years is the tornado sirens around here. They're all at different pitches and they spin around kind of slowly, so I hear a higher pitched siren (B) fade in, and as it's fading out, a lower pitched siren (G#) starts fading in, and after it fades back out, I can faintly hear them while they're not pointed in my direction, and several seconds later, repeat.

[Korbain]

thanks guys, i might write my next song by starting of with just bass guitar n drums, then add a bit of industrial pinch to the beats n layer it out with the old faithful electric guitar. Gonna spice my next song up, i always write electric guitar first, drums then bass last, gonna reverse it this time and try make it industrial

[toiletstand]

its very percussive emphasize on big simple beats

[Korbain]

Originally Posted by toiletstand

its very percussive emphasize on big simple beats

yeah i always noticed it's not overly complicated, but very full and in your face. I notice a bit of layering in the drums too for some industrial music, might give that a shot.

[Wings of Obsidian]

It appears hat I have found this thread a little too late. I am making industrial metal right now. Really, I just tuned my snare head on my programming software to give a "metallic" bang and I added a nice accent to the bass drums every few beats to give it that "energetic" feel. Here is a tip: combine actual drums with electronic-techno drums. Have both going at the same time for complex beat patterns, then switch them off for like breakdowns or interludes.

[oddcam]

Industrial metal drumming can be a lot of things, but there are a few elements that are textbook of the genre:

- 16th notes on the hi-hat (or with studio effects)
- Open hi-hat or other accent on the offbeat eighth notes.
- Medium or fast tempo, with snare on 2 and 4.
- Base drum on all four quarter notes, or on 1 and 3.

Industrial metal pretty much requires that you use at least one of these elements. It is partially derived from dance/techno music, which is where those drum patterns originated.

[Sy01]

Industrial music is a thing that has stuck with me throughout my early years, and it's influenced a lot of the stuff I do. I don't particularly listen to a whole lot of industrial music, but I enjoy a few video games that have used industrial music in their soundtracks. The most notable game series is Command & Conquer, which combined stuff like Ministry and NIN with funk and a whole plethora of other styles.

One thing that all industrial music has in common is the focus on percussion.

Industrial percussion is usually enormous; really huge-sounding. I know it's probably not where the name comes from, but I often do go for a sound that reminds me of a factory or machinery. I normally use drum loops or other recordings; perhaps lo-fi stuff from vinyls or old tapes. You could also use random sounds other than drums. Be creative!

Anyway, I normally cut up the samples and rearrange the beats to suit what I need; then push the whole lot through a guitar amp simulator. Have a play around with different impulse responses; amp cabs, mics, whatever; then tweak the EQ and distortion to make it sound really heavy. It's important to have really heavily accented beats, in my opinion. Make every beat count; especially the kick and the snare.

Seriously, embiggen that shit son!

Here's a track I've been working on for a project. It's not entirely finished yet, but I'm happy with it so far. It's not got any guitars in it, so it's not like industrial rock or metal. It's more like industrial electro or something; a few synths with distortion and such. It's got a bit of a breakbeat feel to it here and there, too. The hi-hat sound is actually a copy of the original beat I used, pre-FX, doubled in tempo, then hi-pass filtered to keep everything above 1 or 2KHz.

To show how the drums sound on their own, here's a track made from a few short snippets.