People's approaches to making Drums

Hi, I want to know how people go about making drum tracks or loops. Also what do you find to be benefical or politically correct by doing so? Are there
Like after the sampling of a say a break, do you:

a) chop it up and assign the zones to pads, then play & record a new performance (if this is the case, how do you do this, is it hard, is there alot of overdubbing how do simulate some natural playing? how do you refine this beat if u don't have any playing experience or much knowledge in drum patterns?). What are the methods? Drum rolls?

b)Re arrange the break in a way for example, perhaps placing the break on one track then create another track and place the same break at a position near the first track and mute certain zones for both breaks? These types of approaches including cutting/copying and pacing i presume does not involve actual playing.

c)Or do people time stretch and loop sampled drums.

I'm new to this however i seem to like beats from people like EL-P, J-Zone, MR Dibbs, Jel.

I would appreciate any and as many replies in regards to techniques and approaches to making drum loops, tracks etc. thnks

i don't know, i think you're really making the question more difficult then the answer is, it's whatever sounds good with the sample, or music. sometimes a loop break sounds good, sometimes a chopped up break where everything is individual sounds better cause you create your own pattern that matches the music. i'm not a fan of any of the people you listed, but, even they either chop or loop. hell i'll use sampled drums with programed kit drums any day (909,808, proteus sounds etc). it all depends on the beat, there's no definite formula, if there was, every beat would sound the same.

I slice it up if it was a 'break' and spend alot of time making new beats with it, then making tons of variations on those.
i do not loop.
i do not timestretch.
i do not use more than 2 drum hits/notes per slice.
i have alot of fun making a beat, then running it through granulab, slicing the results all up and making new beats with the new sounds I end up with. that's my methods.

i might sample a break from a record and chop it up to individual hits like the kick, snare, hi hat, etc and just do my own loop. you can get some decent drums from those dj battle records and some crazy sounds. i set the mp to 4 bars and start banging. might add a little swing like 10% to give it that mobb deep feel then lay down my instruments and/or samples. i do my changes in the drums by adding more drum tracks and arranging them in song mode to do breakdowns and all that good stuff, but i always start with a main drum loop that somebody could ride and rhyme over. i was like u though when i first got the mpc i didnt even know where to drop the kick or the snare, but practice makes best man, 8 months later and im crankin them joints out, plus this forum help me out alot too. 1

I do almost the same as brain and jorge!


I never use drum loops..cuz when i want only the snare for example i have to mute the loop and play the sanre bij ti self (so i have to chop it)

and to me the great thing of chopping things up, is that you dont get like a natural kick...there is always some other sounds mixed to it (bass, vocal, reverb of the snare before it) this give yuor samples/music that great atomsphere

if I am samling loops and want to break it down to each individual sound(snare, hihat, kick, etc.), then how would i be able to edit the loop so that i have the loop on one pad but the kick on another pad and the snare on another pad, and so on?
would i have to sample the loop over and over or just be able to chop it and save AND revert back to the original loop?

if you have the XL you can slice it up right on the mpc pretty easily. i think its under zone edit. i dont have the XL. i use recycle. either way you only have to sample it once.

I do whatever it takes to make the drums sound phat.

Approach it from that perspective. Don't think, Oh I just looped some drums and thats all, this must be weak. Nas' It aint hard to tell is all loops. THe drums are looped, the Michael Jackson sample is a loop from human nature and the "da-da-da-da" is also a loop from human nature, but that beat is so tight its scary. Do what sounds good. all of the ways you descibed might work for one sample and not another. experiment. Nobody said all the beats you make gotta slam, but make enough of them and they will SLAM.

'It aint hard to tell/I excel then prevail/ the mic is contacted/ I attract clientele"

-Thanks for the replies, can people tell me where they sample most of their drums from, like what kind of records? genre etc.
-also what famous producers most of the time program their own drums?

Dr.Foo wrote:THe drums are looped, the Michael Jackson sample is a loop from human nature and the "da-da-da-da" is also a loop from human nature, but that beat is so tight its scary."

Amen to that.

Dont forgot Halftime, another song of all loops, ah, I got in a huge car wreck playing that tape....ah...those were the days.

how do simulate some natural playing? how do you refine this beat if u don't have any playing experience or much knowledge in drum patterns?). What are the methods? Drum rolls?

My suggestion would be to listen carefully to music that utilize live percussion in creative ways, like jazz. Or maybe a sample CD with live breaks. Pay attention to the charateristics of the different drums. For instants, a drum may pitch up or down depending on the way it was hit. Watching drummers can also help. See where they place their drums to give you an idea of where to pan your sounds. A good idea would be to leave the full levels function off when programing drums. You can always adjust the way velocity effects your sound in almost any way. Velocity can be adjusted as to where it has little to no effect on volume, but does effect the start point of the sample, filter, pitch, attack, decay, or even switch the sample being triggered. Alot of people ignore this. And for drum rolls use the note repeat button while holding the pad you want to roll with varing pressure, sounds authentic.

b)Re arrange the break in a way for example, perhaps placing the break on one track then create another track and place the same break at a position near the first track and mute certain zones for both breaks? These types of approaches including cutting/copying and pacing i presume does not involve actual playing.

I watched videos of turntablist and the way they juggle beats. I bought that documentary, Scratch, and saw this dude from the X-men juggle Nas' "Dr. Knockboots" and he made it sound like a totally different song. I think of choppin the same way (but dude did it live,..... SKILLZ). Try copying a break a few times and adjust the start points on each but leave the end points the same, assign them to pads with the overlap set to Note Off and immulate how two turntables would sound. Thats how I started and I built my techniques from there. Hope the info helps.

-Thanks for the replies, can people tell me where they sample most of their drums from, like what kind of records? genre etc.

Any form of music originated by Black folks are more than likely drum heavy. Try Jazz, Rock, Hip hop, RnB, Gospel. Live recordings will probly have drum solos..... jus look around.