# Drum programming help (noob)



## gamber (Jul 12, 2012)

hey guys im totally new to this whole drum programming thing (im a guitarist) Right now i currently use superior drummer 2 and am a bit confused on how to use a kick drum. What is it supposed to be doing? what ive been doing which is probably incorrect is placing it where palm mutes are located. and as for cymbals and snare im also a tad confused. cymbals are used to keep tempo correct? and when is a snare used? does it accent the guitar part aswell. Thanks for the help im a noob


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## drmosh (Jul 13, 2012)

I think you should listen to some music and pay attention to what the drums are doing


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## Fraz (Jul 13, 2012)

drmosh said:


> I think you should listen to some music and pay attention to what the drums are doing


+1



> what ive been doing which is probably incorrect is placing it where palm mutes are located. and as for cymbals and snare im also a tad confused. cymbals are used to keep tempo correct?


What you sad about cymbals and kicks is correct for more basic beats. The kick adds punch to any "chugs" the guitars are doing so drummers often use this to make the rhythm guitar sound massive. Cymbals work well on the beat but can also work well in other places. If you're unsure about the snare then a safe place to put it (in a 4/4 bar) is beat 3 although this can get a little overused without fills etc.

These are just the very basic ideas that I have picked up by listening to metal. The easiest ways to improve are just to listen to other music and try to use the ideas in your own beats. 

Hope this helps


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## iRaiseTheDead (Jul 17, 2012)

drmosh said:


> I think you should listen to some music and pay attention to what the drums are doing



Yes.

Depending on what kind of genre your shooting, for there are different ways you can approach the Bass Drum. You might (for starting out) want to try putting the bass on all of the down beats in your song.

If there are breakdowns, the bass drum follows whatever your chugging on guitar.

If there is a tremolo picking part... you might want to use straight 16th or 32nd notes.


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## Leuchty (Jul 17, 2012)

Bass drum = rhythm

Snare drum = Beat

Cymbals = accents.

VERY general.


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## BaptizedBurning (Jul 18, 2012)

An easy way is to start out by deciding on the pace of the snare for your riff. Tap along with your foot and you'll get a feel for whether to have a fast or a slow snare beat on your riff. Then lay down your snare on the drum map, spread it out across the riff at a steady rhythm, equally spaced. Then play around with the kick drum, putting it at different places between the snare gives you different beats. Once you find the beat you like, you can tweak things like taking out a snare, adding another kick, adding a fill, etc. Then add all your cymbals. Generally hi hats keep a steady beat while crashes are used on accents. Be sure to record your riff on a click track, this will make things a million times easier since it will generally line up with the lines on the drum map.

I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to drum programming myself, it used to be very frustrating and overwhelming for me. I found the above methods worked for me, along with listening closely to drummers. It takes long as hell at first before you get more comfortable. Fear Factory is a good band to listen to the drumming, everything with their drums is fairly simple and is always on tempo.


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## Jacobine (Jul 19, 2012)

(im a guitarist to. Hardly ever touched the drums too hard for me)

if your too lazy to listen to the music and your writing drums to fit the guitar the kicks could model your plucking hand or for more "different: (lack of a better term) drumming style do it with what the bass is doing. That usually helps me from doing nothing but blast beats. or try something like this



idk what to call it but its kind of a slow lazy drumming style that is more of a less is more approch


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## gamber (Jul 19, 2012)

wow!!! thanks for the help guys really informative! ahaha once again thanks !


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## HollowmanPL (Jul 22, 2012)

look some Derek Roddy, Kollais etc. videos and look how they are drumming. 
That helps a lot to
In case if you're planing to do some metal stuff


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## Handbanana (Jul 22, 2012)

Just come up with a beat in your head and then start tapping it out with your hands, then you should be able to start transferring it over into the piano roll.


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## gamber (Jul 25, 2012)

yeah i get that im pretty much good with everything except the snare i have no idea where its supposed to go


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## Bfox (Aug 1, 2012)

The snare, in a basic 4/4 beat, will always be either on beat 3 or beats 2 and 4. These beats are called the back beat. Putting the snare on beat 3 will make the beat seem less rushed if it is a fast beat, but for slower beats i like to use it on beats 2 and 4. If you're still confused, there are many simple lessons on youtube that will teach you the basics.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Aug 1, 2012)

Similar thread a couple of weeks ago. Have a look here.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/dr...how-do-i-learn-program-drums.html#post3075759


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## thevisi0nary (Aug 5, 2012)

gamber said:


> hey guys im totally new to this whole drum programming thing (im a guitarist) Right now i currently use superior drummer 2 and am a bit confused on how to use a kick drum. What is it supposed to be doing? what ive been doing which is probably incorrect is placing it where palm mutes are located. and as for cymbals and snare im also a tad confused. cymbals are used to keep tempo correct? and when is a snare used? does it accent the guitar part aswell. Thanks for the help im a noob



Hey try downloading some guitar pro files and learning to write drums based on what you see, youll get it in no time.


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## gamber (Aug 6, 2012)

Bfox said:


> The snare, in a basic 4/4 beat, will always be either on beat 3 or beats 2 and 4. These beats are called the back beat. Putting the snare on beat 3 will make the beat seem less rushed if it is a fast beat, but for slower beats i like to use it on beats 2 and 4. If you're still confused, there are many simple lessons on youtube that will teach you the basics.



sweet youre the man


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## StewartEhoff (Sep 25, 2012)

Handbanana said:


> Just come up with a beat in your head and then start tapping it out with your hands, then you should be able to start transferring it over into the piano roll.



Pretty much, even as a drummer who has been transcribing for a couple of years now, whenever I programme midi I always tap it out on the desk or to a metronome to see where the beats will fall in relation to the music itself.

As a very general rule of thumb, all drum beats can be traced back to the roots of a basic rock beat, which looks a little something like this.

4/4: 1 2 3 4
Hi-Hat: x x x x
Snare x
Kick: x

While there are exceptions to the rule, 90% of the songs you listen to, the snare will always fall on the 3, even Periphery and Meshuggah have most of the snares falling on the 3.

Tracking drums on a piano roll doesn't work for some. If you're more of a tappy person, you may want to invest in a drum pad. I believe Chimp Spanner always taps out his drums on a drum pad as opposed to clicking them boxes, but then again it's all down to personal preference!


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