What to invest in to solve DRUM/BEAT problem?

[rpm]

Hi,

Things got a bit serious for me: I just produced a track for a production company. But I know next to nothing about beat-making and just put together whatever I can using MIDI keyboard and free drum loops.

I'm determined to learn how to make decent beats. I have all the free plugins for drums. I don't have a big budget but I'm willing to pay for stuff if necessary. I'm going to sit down and take whatever lessons and read manuals/books I have to.

I do not wish to mimic any rock drums and do not want to make dance music. Think of it more like downtempo beats that I write some guitar parts on top of. I use Reaper/Tracktion (if T4 can recognize my plugins). I know Ableton Live is great but it's too expensive for me (but I have the Lite version).

So what should I invest my time/money in? Buying loops/MIDI patterns and learning to slice/modify them? Full-blown drumming software (Addictive Drums, BFD, SD, SSD, etc.)? Learning to program patterns with mouse clicks?

If you can offer some guidance, I would be grateful. Many thanks in advance.

[fedexnman]

One small clue. Poise is a nice mpc style sampler. 4x4. 16 type plugin , there are alot of free samples out there . ex. google " rekkerd acoustic drum samples " and Im sure youll find some descent hits in there for free . Dean aka nekro. here on KVR made them . You can also use Reapers reasamplomatic5000 or whatever its called or Tracktions little sampler too , I know Poise is $49 , but I feel its worth it . Now to program beats youll have to use the midi editor or keyboard/ some kind of midi controller . You can find some generic midi patterns for drums online too and adapt them to your samples and sampler/player . Have fun !

[rpm]

Thanks, I'll look into that. I have Korg padKontrol and M-Audio KeyRig 49 for MIDI. I don't mind paying $49 or a bit more if something will solve my problem.

[EnGee]

The best thing to do IMO is to think like a drummer (I'm not a drummer and this is not my saying!).
The best tutorial or book I have found is this:
http://www.groove3.com/str/drumming-explained.html by Eli Krantzberg (He is a drummer). The tutorial is not easy and needs a serious time/effor and it is not free.

Soon or later, you would need a 'Full-blown drumming software', but if you can't afford one now, you can use a free one like Drum core free or/and Addictive Drums free (the later has only kick/snare/hi hat).

[fedexnman]

Thanks, I'll look into that. I have Korg padKontrol and M-Audio KeyRig 49 for MIDI. I don't mind paying $49 or a bit more if something will solve my problem.

Live lite is great for making midi clips , audio loops too . You can tap out a beat while recording it in clip view and trim it down and export to audio or midi loop to use in Tracktion or Reaper . Live lite also comes with a little 8 samples instrument " impulse " which you can load 8 samples into as well. So you may want to try that out too . I get the most use out of 2 beat making VSTs. EZdrummer and Poise . I like EZ for acoustic stuff and I like Poise for when I want to do my own sound or stamp on a tune . You dont have to blow a lot of money to make beats or music .

[rpm]

I would love to buy both online courses/books and a full-blown software as long as they really work for me. But I have no clue where to start and what I eventually will need. The Krantzberg course might be good down the road, but I need to start with something more practical that will get me up and running.

It's a good idea to demo some of the stuff you mentioned.

[rpm]

Thanks fedexnman. This is the second time I'm getting the EZDrummer recommendation (first in another forum a while ago).

[fedexnman]

Thanks fedexnman. This is the second time I'm getting the EZDrummer recommendation (first in another forum a while ago).

Yeah I like it and it comes with a bunch of midi clips that you can drag into your host and loop it out . I also have some EZX now ,they go on sale alot , I had EZdrummer for years and then JRR shop did some EZX sale for $29 an EZX so I got a couple , Im really digging the Indie folk kit out . Those groove3 videos might be worth checking out too , i think ill check em out myself . hate to try to spend someones money , so I did give you some free alternatives earlier . JRR shop might be running a sale now ? who knows . drumcore slatedrums addictive drums , there are a bunch of them out there . I use a maudio trigger finger and also a keyboard , more than i do the midi editor .

[rpm]

I looked at Poise and I quickly looked at all the free drum samplers. Nothing looks as simple and efficient as Poise as far as I can see at first glance. Very good suggestion. Thanks!

[Davias]

Maybe try DrumStation by midinauts. Very visual to make beats.

[rpm]

Thanks Davias, just downloaded it.

[thecontrolcentre]

Drum Racks in Live works for me. It's so flexible. You can drop vsts or samples onto the pads and route each pad to its own fx chain. Dropping grooves from the Groove Pool into clips can really make a beat come to life.

[fedexnman]

Looks like someone is selling Addictive Drums in the kvr market place for $50. Thats a steal .

[rpm]

Thanks for letting me know.

[rpm]

So I'm playing with Poise now and it's pretty nice and simple. This really makes it easy to set up a drum kit and play it with my padKontrol. It's great for that part of things. But I'm still generally in the dark as to how I should go about creating a drum track from scratch. I just go with my intuition and try to lay some beats.

I guess one thing I could do is to get some MIDI files and analyze their patterns. Seems like I'm headed down the MIDI path instead of .WAV (or .REX, etc.) loops.