Programming and Producing Drum Beats

Knowing how to write, record, arrange, mix, and program killer drumbeats is critical, whether you're into hip-hop, urban, rock, alternative, dance, electronic, jazz, blues, or country. The beats in these styles of music serve as the rhythmic focus around which all of the other instruments play. Without a great drum beat, even the best song can fall short of its full potential and lack the impact, excitement, and energy necessary to make it a bona fide hit.

Programming and Producing Drum Beats teaches the steps involved in writing and producing amazing drum beats for any style of popular music. You will learn every aspect of producing a drum beat—from understanding each drum in a traditional rock drum kit and the role it plays in a beat, to mixing and editing a multi-track drum session, and applying the advanced beat-making strategies and techniques available in professional DAW software programs. The course explores how drums are most commonly played, MIDI drum sequencing tricks used by the pros, and the proper use of compression, EQ, and parallel effects when mixing drums. It also explores how to think like a drummer, so that writing style- and song-appropriate drum grooves becomes second nature.

The material is taught through careful analysis of what goes into making a great sounding drum beat, from studying the drums themselves, to the tools and techniques employed by top producers to get that bigger-than-life drum sound. Artists studied include Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Digital Underground, NWA, Jack Johnson, Deee-Lite, Prince, Gloria Estefan, NIN, Beastie Boys, Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, De La Soul, and Soul 2 Soul. In addition, the course textbook, Producing Beats: Writing and Mixing Killer Drum Grooves, includes a CD-R with demonstration tracks and free MIDI and audio samples from Big Fish Audio, KEYFAX, Multi-loops, and Smart Loops.

Throughout the course, you will be responsible for producing a variety of drum beats in different styles, using different types of production techniques, and culminating in a final production project due in the last week of class. Armed with the production skills and knowledge acquired in this course, you will be able to compose and produce polished, professional-sounding drumbeats.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• identify the different components of a drumbeats used in popular music, including drums, cymbals, percussion, and electronic samples and loops
• apply the mechanics of playing real drums to writing realistic MIDI beats
• create drum beats using different types of MIDI controllers and techniques, including real-time and programmed beats
• compose drum patterns and fills that work well with the rest of the groove and support your song structure
• identify common rhythms and tempos of popular music styles
• employ cutting edge production techniques to produce beats in a variety of styles
• mix drums for maximum punch and presence, using time-tested EQ, compression, and parallel effects techniques

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