[Serotonin]

So apparently one of the most important parts of the writing process is the 'vibe.' And a fundamental part of that is writing drum parts. Never touched a drum in my life. How the hell am I meant to write the foundation of a song if I don't play the instrument?

PS. This is my third thread this week, let me know if I'm hogging the forum

[PaulAds]

hello

drum loops...there are links to some free ones in the posts here

http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/songwriters-resources/free-drum-loops-and-song-structure-help/

also - i'd recommend getting to know the drummer function in "garageband" if that's possible for you on mac/iphone/ipad...

[Serotonin]

Cheers

I'm guessing copyright does not apply to drum loops?

[PaulAds]

copyright free...they're basically designed for you to just drag and drop into any DAW for use in your own songs...generally they will automatically adjust to the tempo of the current project too...clever stuff!

[Serotonin]

copyright free...they're basically designed for you to just drag and drop into any DAW for use in your own songs...generally they will automatically adjust to the tempo of the current project too...clever stuff!

Nice, those are some great drum tracks thanks! Amazing find on your part man

[PaulAds]

you're welcome...happy to be of help 

[pompeyjazz]

Midi Keyboard ?

The Axicom Air mini for example has around 50 different kits, patterns, loops .........

Around £57 plus another multitude of instruments

John

[Jahn]

I use EZ Drummer as a plugin in Garageband.  Like it says above, you can set a drum loop to play endlessly until you "find the pocket."  Once you're ready to demo something, put your various loops in order and play right through it.  No one is expecting a non-drummer to be a programming genius - usually the strength of a song will shine right through.

Basslines tho?  Oh man, I almost think it's worth learning bass just so I can get some bottom in there!

[Jambrains]

Jamstix (www.rayzoon.com)

[Dan James]

Basslines tho?  Oh man, I almost think it's worth learning bass just so I can get some bottom in there!

Basslines? Easy! MIDI keyboard. Dunno what DAW you're using, but certainly Logic Pro and Mixcraft (the only two I'm really familiar with) have each got a couple, at least, of decent bass sounds.

[Wolfini]

I am also using EZdrummer2 and can recommend it fully. You do need to add some midi packs though, and possibly some additional drum kits to get a variety of sounds. But it is really easy and fast to get great sounding drum tracks.

Bye Wolfi

[tboswell]

I use the drummer function in GarageBand. It pretty much does it all for you. Create the drum track and add to a section, then set it to follow the bass. When you have sections break up the sections to get the fills and crashes in the right places.
It's really quick for knocking together a great track.

[zainalzulia]

Hi Serotonin.

I also using EzDrummer 2 for this purpose. I am lazy ass when come to drum arrangement, but EzDrummer 2 really helps me a lot, because it had 'auto-arrangement' feature.

U can simply 'drag & drop' the song section (verse-chorus-bridge) with very ease.

Gudluck.

pm me if u need help.

[olivergearing]

I'm a drummer, so probably have less of an issue! However the various options mentioned here are fantastic. So much development in this area in recent years.

A couple of words of warning. It's sometimes tempting to put lots of fills into a song. This almost always exposes the limitations of the sequences, and reduces the authenticity of the track. This is something that new drummers also need to learn!

So I'd be really careful about how you use fills, less is quite often more

Cheers

[Boydie]

That is such a good tip OLIVERGEARING

I have found that when you do need to add a fill the more subtle it is the more effective it is

I have 2 favourite drummers:

Michael Bland - Prince's drummer in the '90s and he has such a good feel

Glen Power - The Script - the sound and groove of his drumming on their first album (The Script) is just sublime

Both drummers use really subtle fills and I have got an old drum loop CD of Michael Bland and Sonny T (Prince's bass player at the same time) with some of the funkiest grooves I have ever heard

I must dig them out and do something funky soon....