drum programming

does anyone have any suggestions on tight drum programming? i'm talking bout 3-6 mafia,pastor troy,lil john and the eastside boyz type of dirty south drums. i've tried tapping my pads fast but my kicks and snares just dont come out how i want them to. i'm guessing it's some step-recording secret. i've also heard in rap mags about staccatto drum patterns wat does that mean? [


[/quote]"if you dont hustle you dont eat and when you dont eat you dont sleep!"

there really are no secrets to step recording. You just put the sounds where you want them. You really just have to spend some time with it and do a lot of trial and error. The MPC will not make beats for you. You have to put in the work.

Real simple shit.....


1. Lots of 808ish kicks.

2. Highly compressed snares.

3. Decayed hats.

4. Do your basic track at 1/16th.

5. Make a new track for the hats and other do dad sounds like shakers, cowbells, set that track to 1/32 and double up on each take.

6. Play around.

your right about trial and error counterspace.i'm from texas too, so i'm going for that third coast sound.it's just that some of these groups drums sound as if they were programmed a certain type of way.could if have to do with a certain quantize. i quantize at 1/16 all the time,or maybe it's a certain amount of swing for the kicks and snares.

"if you dont hustle you dont eat and when you dont eat you dont sleep!"

good looking out koolsha 178

....................no problem.

Although 666 kicks and snares are mainly 808's, they have a certain type of processing to them (leave that to the engineers or sample some of their drum solos). 666 drum tracks are pretty simple. There kicks are steady and driving and so are their snares and hats. (Take note on how they use cymbals to emphasize certain kicks and snares too.)

Their music seems to have a certain feel to them but I doubt if they are using some complex quantizization tricks. Most beatmakers I know in that style just use 16th or 32th quantization. Sometimes people will turn their swing up barely to like 51 or 52 (has a subtle looseness to it but for most people sounds almost the same as 50) (never be afraid to experiment though). But this style of hip hop uses basically no swing(triplets are a different story). A lot of the feel comes from the turntablism. Listen how they fly in hooks from other songs slowed down a bit. Also check out the scratches they use. To really get into the 666 sound you are going to need a Dj.

Also don't forget sub bass. The best sub bass sounds are the simple ones. Looped 808's, sines, triangles, squares. You might even want to invest in an analog synth like the studio electronics se 1.

Staccato is a certain way of playing keyboards. Staccato involves holding notes shorter than normal and using a lot of subdivisions. (ex Jay z "I'm a hustler baby" listen to the staccato keyboard track). I guess you can consider Timbaland a staccato beatmaker. I really don't consider 666 beats staccato however (I'm talking classic 666).

try using some swing

thanks for the info j-smacks.i just got a couple of questions.you said triplets where a different story when it came to swing. how much swing should triplets have and on what should i use them? like on hihats or something? can you give me an example of a song where triplets where used?

"if you dont hustle you dont eat and if you dont eat you dont sleep!"

Lil wayne new cd. The song with petey pablo. At the end of the song, some 16th and 32nd triplet toms are programmed in. Takes a lil practice to get it to sound right. Also on Missy new cd were she remade a roxanne shante song she used the infamous 8th triplet break.

Triplets are mainly just used for breaks in dirty south beats. They create an unstable feel.

A lot of east and west coast songs use them as well they are mixed in more subtly though (Listen how some dj's scratch). And some swing beats are based off triplets.

Play around with it.

Listen to a DasEFX record. All that "bigity-bigity-bigity" rhythm in their rapping is triplets (16th triplets).
Oh yeah, and that 8th note triplet break on the Missy record is a remake of "Roxanne Roxanne" by UTFO ("explain to me really what doctors must do"). UTFO's DJ - Mixmaster Ice was famous for scratching triplets like that all the time.

thanks j-smack and itchyvinyl, i'ma go bump them songs right now!

"if you dont hustle you dont eat and if you dont eat you dont sleep!"

whuts up junekat,thanx for the info bruh! about them kicks, do you ever move them by any ticks?

"if you dont hustle you dont eat and if you dont eat you dont sleep!"