How to learn basic things about drums ...

aaonli wrote:have you read this? http://www.alandmoore.com/TheoryOfDP.htm

no, thanks for the link. I do looked at www.studydrums.com

yo ieism, thanks for the tip man, really appreciated. I had a look at www.funkydrummer.com and those books really look/"sound" interesting.

Dude if you need help just come here I can try to break a few things down for you but you have a good machine to learn on and one day master.......I too started with a dr-220 back in like 88 but I didnt have the cash for the bigger stuff at that time......I must also comment on breaking your leg that someone posted about..........it you program a track wrong you wont break any limbs......I think that was a bad example dog........What happened to Each one Teach one........listen to some of your favorite songs and focus on the drum.....now try to re-create them this will be your first assignment for now. The loudest click on the Mpc while in record mode is the down beat meaning the first beat of the measure



Phatz

Just do what sounds right to your ears as far as drum programming. In time you will hear what's wrong with it and theoretically correct as far as music and what's wrong, when you compare what you've done to regular recordings you buy in the store and listen to as a fan/critic/consumer.

ieism wrote:. If your into hiphop, get a book called "give the drummer some". It 's a book about the history of James Brown's drummers. it comes with an audio cd with all the famous grooves, and they're written down in notes too so you can see what's going on.
In fact this is not just a fun book for beginners, it's a great read for anyone.

Good looking, ima check that one out.

take some drumming lessons. if youre happy with simple hiphop beats then no need, if you want to explore the wide world of rhythmic nuance then get a few drum lessons to understand the relationship between hi-hats and snare, of backbeat groove and even timing sigs etc.

i highly recommend a drumming rudiments book also, as this will give you some solid practice to have a go at. think about it... if you have advanced rhythmic understand, if you can play paradiddles with your hands sitting on the bus, if you can count in perfect time in any number of timing sigs, then you are going to have the advantage when writing your beats.

dont ever settle for enough... "rhythm" is a beautiful thing. it takes hard work to even think about mastering it.

any fool can tap in some basic hiphop beat. you arent Tito Puente just because you can boom bap.

You may also want to get one of those intstructional DVD's or video's on how to play drums, they sell them at Guitar Center... I was gonna do that to give my drum programming a new approach...

Even easier than doin all that? Check out some live drummers at concerts or what not, focus your ears.... sit around the studios (Most local detroit producers don't care), and just watch how they do it, listen to how they drop thier drum tracks, and try 2 retain it, and recreate it for yourself.... Watching, listening, and remembering is the easiest way to gain knowledge.... and even better, after you've sat around a little bit watchin them skadoodle on the MPC and drop drums, ask if you can collab on a track.... ain't no experience like experience (or some shit like that... you get the point)

~ANONYMOUS~

Even easier than doin all that? Check out some live drummers at concerts or what not, focus your ears.... sit around the studios (Most local detroit producers don't care), and just watch how they do it, listen to how they drop thier drum tracks, and try 2 retain it, and recreate it for yourself.... Watching, listening, and remembering is the easiest way to gain knowledge.... and even better, after you've sat around a little bit watchin them skadoodle on the MPC and drop drums, ask if you can collab on a track.... ain't no experience like experience (or some shit like that... you get the point)

~ANONYMOUS~

the way I thought it always should be is like this:

try the kit your think about

then if you have the cash, buy what ever kit you want to learn.

I bought the mpc 2nd hand with no prior knowledge. But i did have a lot of time to learn its ins and outs - It helps if you have a friend who already rocks an mpc so that they can get you started and show you ropes. its a bit like riding a bike with the stabilizers thing.

EVERYONE: we should be supporting this guy - not being aloof and acting high n mighty.

AS for the drum theory - try the book and if you dont feel your getting the rhythm that you want in your tracks search the forum for a dj shadow article posted on here a while back. It showed how shadow would sample a whole kit with air etc.

More importantly, id say listen to artist that you like and in the first instatnce try to mimic what they do with their drums. (volume, punch layering, diff, sounds, diff loops etc.)- the hope is that you will evolve over time and create your own style using what you have learnt.

good luck man.

m

I just gotta say I was one of those fools that went out and bought the mpc before knowing anything about specific drum techniques or drum machines- the process kinda sucked along the way but you know what i am very happy that i jumped right into the mess of the mpc cause know the beats are coming out tight and i got now regrets...just like anything-you jump into a foreign language not knowing shat and you just focus on memorizing vertbs and vocab and then all of a sudden you start picking up and grasping and being fluid...so i wouldnt say that its necessary to get something more simple to understand something more complex its just a different process.

i second that...i see the mpc as its own instrument (like a guitar or a sax) not as some uber drum machine. as such, its no big deal if you want to learn how to play it "cold."

if some kid wanted to play guitar and he bought a thousand dollar guitar to learn on, it might seem strange, but at the same time we wouldnt call him "stupid." we'd call lucky, i think...

or another metaphor, when you learnt to drive did you start with a golf cart, move on to an automatic and then use a stick shift. no. a case could be made that its better to start with a stick shift (though its harder)...

if you expect to be able to do everything you want with the mpc straight out of the box with no experience, however, you may be in for a suprise.

Not having previous experience with a certain type of drum machine can also be a good thing. A lot of the reason why so many tracks sound boring is because the producers thought that there was one right way of doing things and didnt bother learning/creating/finding out how to do it "thier way."

you see this all the time, people thinking that what they do isnt right unless it sounds like someone elses $hit... but the thing is: we dont need another rjd2, prefuse 73, dr. dre, andre 3000, kayne west, neptunes, (etc)... we already got them...

dont know how to play drums? fine. just play with the knowledge you already have. maybe then you'll create your own sound...

Those are valid points> None of us started with expert knowledge, but I feel it is in the guys best interest to work things out a little b4 spending hella cash and possibly regreting it later on down the line....There are cheaper alternatives

I offer my full support but I advise him to perhaps look into this a bit deeper, then make the decsion on weather to face an uphill struggle trying to get his head around drum machines etc (If he's sure its what he wants)

I say go for it, but be sure!

Pick up Music Theory for dummies

Learn your basic shit, then

Snare goes on 2 and 4

Kicks whereever

Hats tend to repeat at half note, qtr note, 1/16th note

thats your basic drum beat minus the cymbals, and percussion, but you can get away with a nice sample over the basic shit


Atleast while your first starting

yo you need to do a search for basic druming drumtek put up a post a few month back on this and it helped me out 110 % never looked back since then, gives you the basic's check it out.

[quote="descartes"]
if you expect to be able to do everything you want with the mpc straight out of the box with no experience, however, you may be in for a suprise.

quote]

Just to add a little humor. This one cat was on here a while back saying how he took the MPC out the box and knocked out a beat within an hour. Without any previous knowledge. I was like, why do cats feel the need to lie to prove their gangsta.

But yo, I was in the same position as the original poster. I struggle for over 3 months since I had no one to ask questions. But, once I found this site, it was all downhill from there. So, I suggest to him that he gives it a try and whatever problems may arise, just post a message and I'm sure it will be answered. Worked for me.