Getting started programming drums (switching from rock to electronic)

[rpm]

I just finished a pop/rock album in a studio. I made the demo drums with EZDrummer 2 and it was very helpful. For my next album, I've planned to move away from the pop/rock genre a bit, definitely to drop the acoustic drums for electronic.

I would like to program the electronic beats myself and I have bought some software recently but I'm a bit confused about how to start. I want the beats to be quite sparse actually, so nothing complicated. Here's a song that I think gives a good idea:
https://soundcloud.com/doprah/great-esteem

I have: Reaktor 5, Geist 2 and some other stuff. I would like to stick with Geist 2 as the main platform for the programming. Unfortunately, I am a really weak user in Geist 2 and Reaktor 5.

I've bought a few expanders for Geist. I don't think I will buy a drum synth. I control this stuff with Waveform (Tracktion).

So, what are some good pointers for getting more comfortable programming drums. I guess I could start studying Geist 2 manual, the thing is a beast. Or I could try triggering some Reaktor 5 drum synths with Waveform's step sequencer.

Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[thecontrolcentre]

You could start by copying the drum pattern used in the song you linked.

[rpm]

I've seen that advice in different places and it makes sense. However, I guess I am having trouble breaking through the initial learning curve in Geist 2. It looks so complicated that I want to grab a limited hardware device and just have fun instantly making music, though that's not my long term goal.

When I owned the earlier version of Geist, I had gone through some tutorials and at least learned what pad, layer, engine, scene, song, etc. refer to. But because I cannot find time to make music for months at a time, I forget everything and again, I yearn for something simpler. Same deal with Reaktor.

[deastman]

Geist is very powerful, which means potentially very complicated. However, you can ignore most of that and keep it simple. Just load some samples onto individual pads and creat a single pattern. Record the audio of that pattern into your DAW. Make changes to the pattern and record that. Repeat until you have all the drum parts you want. Done!

This approach doesn't utilize about 90% of what Geist can do, but it keeps things simple so you can get real work done until you have time to more fully master the plugin.

[thecontrolcentre]

Which DAW are you using?

[rpm]

Thanks guys, I use Waveform (Tracktion). I am quite happy and comfortable with the DAW.

Good idea about ignoring Geist's extra feature. I'm a perfectionist and my initial impulse is to first master the thing completely, but that's nonsense. I will load some factory samples and patterns and modify these to create something mildly original. As I go along, I will try to find more original samples or maybe even record some Reaktor drum synths into Geist, and branch out.

[rod_zero]

I enjoy a lot programming drums with Push in Ableton Live, using the sequencer and playing them. Maybe you could get Maschine or Arturia Spark. I really find usefull having some hardware interface for drums.

[rpm]

Maschine (or Spark) may be too much of an investment for me but do you think I could buy something like Korg nano pad stuff and at least be able to program the sequencer by playing the pads instead of clicking on the sequencer cells with the mouse (the latter is quite uninspiring indeed)? Not sure what cheap hardware works with Geist in this way.

[thecontrolcentre]

Maschine (or Spark) may be too much of an investment for me but do you think I could buy something like Korg nano pad stuff and at least be able to program the sequencer by playing the pads instead of clicking on the sequencer cells with the mouse (the latter is quite uninspiring indeed)? Not sure what cheap hardware works with Geist in this way.

You should be able to trigger/program Geist using a midi keyboard (if you have one).

[rpm]

Oh yeah, I forgot that I used to do MIDI keyboard drums 13 years ago when I first started. I have Keyrig, it'll do for now and I plan to switch to something with pads. Cheers!

[thecontrolcentre]

Oh yeah, I forgot that I used to do MIDI keyboard drums 13 years ago when I first started. I have Keyrig, it'll do for now and I plan to switch to something with pads. Cheers!

Pads are great. I'm using Push2 to program my beats

[rpm]

I've done as someone said and just started trying to program beats in Geist 2 without caring about all its other features. This was good advice as I got some progress.

However, I find myself having low inspiration with this way of working (clicking cells in the pattern view). In comparison when I use some iPad apps (e.g., patterning) or the microtonic demo I just downloaded, I have instantly some awesome beats going.

It's probably because I've never seriously programmed beats before but if there's either some varied Geist pattern banks floating around somewhere or some resource with tips to program, let me know please.

[GreenOaks]

Attack Magazine has a great series going where they break down a range of electronic drum patterns.

Its called "Beats Dissected"

Consider learning some of these patterns, then stripping them back to more minimalist forms.

[rpm]

Hey GreenOaks, that is a fantastic tip; just checked it out and it seems pretty useful to study these, even though they use Ableton Live.

Actually, it may answer another question I had for the forum. After demo'ing Microtonic and building a drum pattern with it for one of my short songs, I am convinced that I'll buy microtonic and use it as my main tool, rather than Geist. Tonight, I also tried routing microtonic to separate channels (with Waveform/Tracktion) and it worked fine. So, I started inserting random effects into the channels and got to thinking about what some of the tips are for mixing electronic beats. Seems like they do suggest some things about that in Beat Dissected series as well.

cheers!