Beat Making & Drum Programming
Learn what each drum does, how the core house, techno, boom bap and trap patterns are built step by step, and how velocity, swing, layering and tuning turn a grid into a groove.
Start the course5 lessons · 41 min · free
What you'll be able to do
- Choose and trim drum samples that suit a genre and sit together as a kit
- Program four-on-the-floor, boom bap and trap patterns from memory on a 16-step grid
- Use velocity and swing to make a pattern groove without sounding sloppy
- Layer and tune drums so the kick and bass work together instead of fighting
Lessons
- 1Anatomy of the Kit and Choosing SamplesWhat the kick, snare, hats, cymbals and percussion each do in a beat, and how to pick samples that work together before you program a single step.7 min
- 2Four-on-the-Floor: House and Techno PatternsBuild house and techno grooves on a 16-step grid: the steady kick, off-beat hats, claps on 2 and 4, and variations that keep a loop alive.8 min
- 3Hip-Hop Drums: Boom Bap and TrapProgram classic boom bap at its real tempo and modern trap in half time: snare placement, hi-hat rolls by note value, and writing 808s as the bassline.9 min
- 4Velocity, Swing and HumanisingWhy quantised drums sound stiff, and how velocity accents and measured swing amounts (MPC 54–66%) create groove without random sloppiness.8 min
- 5Layering, Tuning and the Kick–Bass RelationshipLayer drums without phase problems, tune kicks to the key, and make the kick and bass share the low end instead of fighting over it.9 min
Next up:
Sound Design & Synthesis
Understand the synth well enough to build any sound on purpose.