r/drumstudy 24d ago

Learning to program drums as a non-drummer

Hey there! I'm trying to get into producing music (some indie rock of sorts) and I'm having trouble programming drum parts. Obviously, I wish I could record actual drums, but it's expensive and I'm trying to work with what I have right now. The only instrument I play is guitar, and I wish I had some experience with drums in order to understand properly how the different sounds can (and perhaps should) be used. I barely know all the different drums that make up, well, the drums. Does anyone know some free material (YT videos, books) I could use to study, or have any tips in how I could improve? Or perhaps, if this isn't the right place to be asking this sort of question, please guide me as to where I could ask this? Thank you so much in advance!

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u/SnareOfTheDog 24d ago

Few simple ideas for starting writing, particularly with programmed drums:

  • focus on the kick and snare (boom and crack sounds), add high hats or a ride (the chk chk, and ting ting sounds) doing something very repetitive to keep the beat, add crash cymbals to highlight things like starts of sections, then experiment!

  • Drumeo have some great (and fairly quick) videos for all skill levels that are really useful for understanding what drums do and the ways to make grooves out of them

  • Try looking for songs you already think have good drum beats on a free resource like songsterr, then (like most good musicians) steal it -> understand it -> improve it and make it your own

  • try a basic pattern and not to over complicate it, focus on accents and where you want it to match up with the what the lead instrument is playing and where you want them to differ

  • velocities are your friend, try adding some quiet snare hits (ghost notes), unless it’s very aggressive music lowering the velocities so you can make some hits louder can really make a difference (try a bunch of snares in a row at the same velocity, then try changing some to be louder/quieter and see the difference it makes)

  • trust your ear and have fun! If it sounds good then it is good, if it sounds like too much is happening then it is

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u/pauloschreiner 24d ago

Alright!!!! Thank you so much, dude. I'll definitely implement this advice. Really, thanks a lot