hihat technique

i just did this the other day....improved my hihat dynamics. Might be an obvious tip, but spark ideas.


well, normally i use 1 hihat sample for my tracks....i never get too much into other percussion sounds, or even dynamics on my drums (like hihat open and closed) I pretty much stick to kick,snare, hihat.

So this will work with just one hihat sample, and make it sound a million better.

say you are using 2 bars:

Step 1: On track 1, Select 1/8 on your mpc. Step in hihat at full velocity on the 1:1:00, 1:2:00, 1:3:00, 1:4:00, 2:1:00, 2:2:00, 2:3:00, 2:4:00,

Step 2: Select another track, track 2. Step in hihat at full velocity on the 1:1:48, 1:2:48, 1:3:48, 1:4:48, 2:1:48, 2:2:48, 2:3:48, 2:4:48

Step 3: Turn the velocity on track 2, down to 20% this is at the lower right hand side of the screen on the mpc2xl.

FInally lay down your sares on the 2 and 4, and kicks to taste.

Essentially you are defining the upbeat and down beats. step one being the up beats, step two, the down beats.

works good with length variations of the hihat as well, but velocity is good start, and can make basic boom bap hihats more realistic

here is another.

i always find using "swing" setting easiest if you do the hihats first.

Normally this technique works great if you are building your tracks from the drums up.

sequence a basic 1/8 hihat pattern. Even adding 16ths or whatever you like.


Then quantize the track adding swing: you can pretty much pick what you want, but i usually use 53%. occasionally ill mess with the shiftin later or earlier....some times 1 or 2.

then go to the next track, TURN TIMING OFF. Freestyle the kick and snare to the hihat.

Essentially the trick is, that you freestyle the kick and snare so they flow to the hihat well. If you quantize the snare and kick, then it might displace the swing settings, making them not sound so good or natural.

If you freestyle and groove to the hihat, youll match the snare and kick to the swing and get a more human feel.....and that bounce lil jon gets.

yah that ones good


also.......i forgot which effect it was(maybe sweep)

But the you have the hihats running from left to right. Its nothing spectacular but it just adds to the dynamics of your track

When I want to get into dynamic detail with hats I just hold the REC button and hit the pad according to the velocity scheme I'm goin for or I'll use the 16 level velocity function while holding the REC button. If I do decide to just play the hats in real time I'll load the same hat onto two different pads and adjust the parameters to taste.

As for the freestyling the kick and snare, I actualy do it the opposite way, I freestyle the hats.

word thats how i do bout all my drums anymore by holdin record down and just programing my shi*

only 53% swing? Try bumping that up to about 67 or so and you'll be pleasantly suprised

This might be a stupid question, but what does holding the rec button down do?

i usually do something similar,ill put the same hi hat on like 2 or three pads and adjust the decay and attack and velocity on each, usually gives it a little something

Anders wrote:This might be a stupid question, but what does holding the rec button down do?

It's enables you to step record without being in the STEP window.

you learn something new every day!!!


tommorow i'm gonna bust out the MPC and try some of these things what you're sayin

cooocooo1 wrote:

Anders wrote:This might be a stupid question, but what does holding the rec button down do?

It's enables you to step record without being in the STEP window.

this is why i absolutely love the mpc........im suprised that alot of people dont know this?

its all good, youll definately appreciate it! But its great......you can go in and out of recording so fast.....its especially nice when you do it for the snares.....then immediately afterwords hit record and play, then noterepeat in a hihat.

btw....use the step keys to advance in the measure. And you can also use overdub to "overdub" with out erasing current notes