| Top music producers will tell you that picking drum | | | | we can do after sequencing. A common effect or |
| samples is as much of an art form as the actual | | | | reverb is one way to 'bind' the drum samples, and one |
| process of making a beat. Why is this? Because the | | | | of the most popular ways to achieve the effect is |
| pop tunes of today are so focused on drum samples. | | | | using a compressor. A lot of beat makers generally |
| In fact, just about all of the top forty songs have great | | | | use this on a few drum samples at a time, such as the |
| drum tracks. | | | | kick and snare sounds. |
| They say that a song is only as good as its weakest | | | | Tip 2: Style. Don't be afraid, though! I'm not saying that if |
| part, which explains the importance many top beat | | | | you're using live samples you must only use more live |
| makers place on the drum sample track. In rap and | | | | samples; no, no, no. But what I want to send across is |
| other urban tunes, the drums are given preference as | | | | this tip: use common filters and make a space for |
| the rhythm and bass parts of the pertinent tunes can | | | | each sample. If you can do this, you could end up with |
| make or break the song. Styles like Jazz are not even | | | | the majority of your drums frequencies within a 10khz |
| wholly musical, with the unique drums painting the | | | | range or so, for example. This is useful when going for, |
| sound space. | | | | say, a hi-fi only sound, but it's not the same as just |
| Tip 1: Coherence. This is kind of a problem for many | | | | using an EQ on all of the samples at once. It's about |
| amateurs to accept, mainly because electronic music | | | | dynamic adjustment. |
| is supposed to be all about choosing the different | | | | When figuring out the type of sample to pick next, |
| sounds you want and then throwing them all into the | | | | consider the previous help. Also make sure that your |
| same pot, right? Maybe, but any song - however | | | | sound banks are quite varied, as you will have a much |
| experimental - should have some coherence among | | | | easier time picking complementing drum samples for |
| instrument groups; otherwise, the dissonance factor is | | | | your existing, chosen kicks, snares, hats and more. |
| perpetually increased. | | | | Staying within the same range every time will not be |
| Coherence in rap drum sounds can be achieved | | | | very beneficial for your creative selection process, so |
| through a number of different ways. Let's see what | | | | do yourself a favor and expand! |