How to make a good drum loop?

Yo!

I have got question to you.

How you make your own drum loops.
I know that many of you take a loop from wax and then lay drums on it.

But I think that i do something wrong,cuz I all time do the same thing.

I always make 4/4 loop, 4 bars.

And than my snares are in the same places: 2/1bar ; 4/1bar ; 2/2 bar ; 4/2 bar etc.
Than I put kicks. Each time at begin is 1 kick and than I put kicks as it sounds good.

Hi hat,crashes at the end.

Can you tell me how you make it?

Here are my beats to hear that what I mean : https://soundcloud.com/scandaloudz/sets ... oudz-beats

What I do wrong?

Peace,thanks

they sound very mechanical.. I suggest making them looser... either by trying to do some of the sequence recording without quantize... or my preferred method is to chop breaks or record drums into the mpc and not chop it so close and tight for the start point... do it sloppy. sometimes it comes out sounding more loose and natural... also filling in between with some more hats.. or turn the velocity off for some of your kick hits... etc.

to me it sounds like some rock drum kit of one shots that got transferred to the mpc from the computer... and tight 1/16 timing for everything...

it will come with time.

Stop doing the same thing all the time.

Seriously though, listen to some simple beat that isn't as you described, and learn to play/program it. Repeat. Add an extra kick either befor or after your current kick, by an 8th or 16th note. Beats like dum, tsh, da dum dum, tsh. Beatbox along with tunes and learn patterns of kicks and snares.
If you are not already doing it, try finger drumming rather than programming. Also, a really really good idea would be to pick up a book for drummers with lots of exercises. Learn to read the notation, and reproduce them on the mpc. the more you do this the more you develop a rhythmic language for describing beats in 8ths and 16ths and offbeats and accents and doubles. Knowing the language not only helps you play, it helps you hear and understand too. Highly recommended.

Also, you might improve your sample track by adding a little more kick or snare, orr both, at the ends of every two or four bars. Maybe a crash every 8 or 16 bars. Small, quiet little taps of the snare in between notes will help propel your beat along, for instance, 'dum, tsh, da dum dum tsh a tsh a' leads smoothly into the next bar. Its common to have small, subtle little patterns that loop at all diFferent lenghts. A 2 or 4 bar loop going round and round doesn't really add structures of diFferent sizes, hope that makes sense. Also, I didot like your kick, it was sort of plodding along. Do you have some wonky swing or did you offset the timing a little?

maintain wrote:What I do wrong?

I only listened to the first track, but do yourself a favour and get your samples looping in time first before you lace some drums on the top. You're fighting a losing battle if everything clashes every 2 bars.

Ok,thanks to y'all.


Now I now what should I change and skill

If anyone else want add something it will be also helpful.

Thanks again,Peace

The drums don't sound bad a little stiff but your on the right path. Its a process it takes time, you will get more creative with your drums as time goes by. My only advice is don't be scared to go crazy with the drums. You have to experiment a bit.

Also, listen to a lot of music, of various genres and various periods of time. Play along with them in your head. Turn off the quantize and tap out some of random beats in your head your head. Don't like how it came out? Press undo and try it again, or do a step edit and move 'some' things in a little tighter. Listen to more new and old songs and keep tapping out your own tracks...

Drums are not the weakest part in your beats. For me the samples (melody) doesn't work. I "feel" no emotion in the samples. The bass is often not tuned right and play no bassline but just one note. Yes, it is possible to do that kind of one or two note bassline but then the samples need to have some kind of emotion and the bass should be in tune with the sample IMO.

peace