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S2E31 – Seeing Past the Drum Kit

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A big problem new producers face when starting to make beats and wanting to make drum loops (SAFE SPOTS), is they think they need to learn how to play the drums.

This is not a good mindset to have, because you will fall into a very bad creative-block trap of thinking you need to program your sounds so perfect, that you’ll never reach the creative level you’re wanting as a beatmaker.

In this episode of Music Production Made Simple, I explained to you that good beatmakers are so good at what they do, their beats are actually so simple they become creative (try my free 5 Keys beatmaking book).

As a beatmaker, who wants to make amazing custom drum loops, there’s only two things you need in your drum samples:

  • VARIETY
  • QUALITY

You can learn more about how to buy drum samples here.

Further, as a beatmaker, you need to learn to BREAK FREE from the trends, and you’ll only do that by trying new things out for yourself.

I highly encourage you to take my SAFE SPOTS Drum Loop Training Curriculum, or you can become a member and access all of by beatmaking courses based on FL Studio!

Please feel free to contact me directly any time!

Audio Painting Drum Kits Drum Loops SAFE SPOTS Xclusive-Audio

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S2E31 – Seeing Past the Drum Kit

  1. Season two, episode 31, seeing past the drum kit.
  2. Now, you must see past a real drum set as a beatmaker when making drum loops because
  3. it's all about finding unique sounds within drum loops, okay?
  4. Now, many of the same principles apply from a real drum set, but we need to see past
  5. that drum set and be creative.
  6. We need to know when to break the rules, okay?
  7. So if you're a real drummer, I really feel that you have a lot of advantages over
  8. someone who doesn't know anything about music at all.
  9. But you may also have some of the biggest disadvantages compared to somebody who has
  10. no music theory who wants to make beats.
  11. Alright, we'll talk about that in just a second.
  12. I want to let you know I have a free beat making book for you guys.
  13. If you're serious, if you want to learn how to make beats in FL Studio, check out my
  14. five keys to a successful beat.
  15. So simple it becomes creative.
  16. You have to remember when it comes to a lot of these catchy beats back in the day,
  17. if you really listen to the beats, they are so simple that they have become
  18. creative. And you need to learn that mindset.
  19. And essentially, that's everything I'm trying to say in this episode is keeping
  20. things so simple that they actually become creative.
  21. If you want to download it for free, just go to it's gratuitous.com forward slash
  22. five keys. Okay, so let's talk about how drummers have some advantages, but those
  23. advantages may also be some of the biggest disadvantages because they have really
  24. solid core music theory principles when it comes to drum loops and rhythm.
  25. For some advantages, so they understand timing super good, right?
  26. They know sound placement and they know when and where to use certain sounds.
  27. But the downfall is trying to maybe program those notes to perfect, like a real drum
  28. set. They're not using unique sounds in their drum loops because they're so used to
  29. using the real sounds off of a real drum set, and they may be trying to follow real
  30. music principles too closely. When you listen to some of the catchiest beats
  31. over the years, they're unique.
  32. Sometimes, yes, there's actual real drummers within the beats, but many times these
  33. beat makers have taken these sounds and they've made them unique in their own way,
  34. and they're just so fresh and they're just so unique, and that's what you need to
  35. learn as a beatmaker, okay? So let's just quickly talk about how we
  36. acquire one-shot drum samples to make our drum loops.
  37. Okay, so we call them drum kits, sound packs, or sound kits.
  38. And the biggest thing I always tell you guys when it comes to purchasing a sound
  39. pack or a drum kit is you need variety and quality.
  40. Okay. I talked to you about this in my safe spots book.
  41. It's all about creating awesome drum loops.
  42. Safe spots is a book as well as a course.
  43. There's also some drum samples that you can get in a bundle by going to it's
  44. gratuitous.com forward slash safe spots.
  45. You guys can always reach out to me if you want more information about that.
  46. So when it comes to variety in our drum kit, I'm always telling you that you don't
  47. need millions of sounds. The more sounds you acquire, the bigger hard drive you
  48. need, but you also need enough sounds that enable you to be creative.
  49. For example, do you have different styles of shakers?
  50. Do you have different styles of hi-hats?
  51. Do you have different styles of kick drums, different styles of snares?
  52. And then for quality, you know, that's pretty straightforward, but essentially it's
  53. no distortion, and that the sounds hit nice and hard, they're clean, they just
  54. enable you to be. creative Now, when it comes to using our one-shot
  55. drum samples to program our drum loops, because again, around here, we are not using
  56. pre-made drum loops or pre-made MIDI, you know, MIDI packs or anything like that.
  57. We like to create everything from scratch.
  58. That's what I always teach you.
  59. So, to use your one-shot drum samples, we do use many of the same principles of a
  60. drum set, but again, we're just looking past that drum set to be creative.
  61. For example, we still use the kick drum for the bass and for like the rhythm of the
  62. track. The snare, right? We use the snare to keep the beat on time, and we also use
  63. hi-hats and cymbals for excitement.
  64. And when it comes to toms, yes, you can add those in your drum loop, but many times
  65. those are really powerful for a transition, right?
  66. When I talk to you about audio painting, again, you can check out my audio painting
  67. book on Amazon, or just visit my website and you can grab my book bundle.
  68. So, we beat makers take these principles, right?
  69. Of a real drum set, but we don't follow them in common ways.
  70. So, here's some examples for the kick drum.
  71. Okay, so for the kick drum, we may have various styles of drums.
  72. For example, we have 808s, an 808 is a hybrid between a kick and a bass line, it's a
  73. very unique sound, which a drummer doesn't really get to use.
  74. And we as the beat maker, we gotta learn how to use that.
  75. And essentially, it's like an instrument, a kick drum, and a bass, all in one.
  76. It's really really powerful. It's called an 808.
  77. We have big drums. Now, these big drums they can't be created from a real drum kit.
  78. These are typically processed off of a virtual instrument through synthesis, and
  79. they're big and they hit hard.
  80. Sometimes they're tricky to mix, and you have to use them in such creative ways..
  81. We also have short-tailed drums
  82. Okay, these are drums that hit you in the chest, they cut through super hard, and
  83. we're using them in unique ways.
  84. Now for the snare and clap, right?
  85. So the sound itself, when it comes to a snare and a clap, like I said, it does keep
  86. the beat on time. But the actual snare and clap break free from actually
  87. using a snare and a clap. And what does that mean?
  88. Well, the actual sound still has to follow that same principle for like an
  89. aggressive, transient, and it really has to kind of pop through, but it doesn't have
  90. to be a snare, and it doesn't have to be a clap.
  91. And how you can break free from always using like the same kind of snare and clap
  92. sound is try layering, or again, just like trying different effects, or just
  93. chopping them up, or whatever you want to do.
  94. Try to break free from the snare and the clap for that two and the four.
  95. Okay, so when I make my drum loops, typically I do stick to you know more basic my
  96. snares on the two and the four.
  97. I know that some producers like to use double time where the snare goes on the
  98. three, but if you do do double time in FL Studio, you're not really able to take
  99. advantage of the swing knob as much.
  100. So I like to keep it more original or like more kind of classic, in a sense that
  101. keep your snare on the two and the four, then you can use the swing knob very often
  102. when you're making your drum loop within FL Studio, okay.
  103. So again, those are just some ideas for the kick drum, right?
  104. We have 808s, big drums, short tailed drums.
  105. We're still using that same kick drum philosophy from a drum set,
  106. but we're being creative with it, okay.
  107. When it comes to the the snare and the clap, again, yes, you can use the clap, yes,
  108. you can use snare, but you want to try to break free from that rock music sound.
  109. All right, so here's some ways to see past the drum set.
  110. You want to try unique things and try to find something that works.
  111. It's the only way to find your own sound.
  112. And it's really hard for someone with a drummer mindset to come in as a beat maker
  113. and make a unique drum loop because their strength as a real drummer can actually
  114. be their weakness as a beat maker because they are following music theory
  115. principles. But beat makers are all about breaking them and having fun.
  116. All right. So if you want to keep learning about drum loops, I highly encourage you
  117. to check out my safe spots book.
  118. Okay, it's called Safe Spots, creating amazing drum loops.
  119. You can search for Riley Weller, or just visit my website, it's gratuitous.com.
  120. It is in my book bundle. Or if you want to get the best safe spots learning
  121. experience, again, there's a book, there is a course, and there's also the premium
  122. drum bundle trio sounds that have over 2300 drum samples.
  123. When I talk to you about the variety and the quality, all of that is jam-packed in
  124. there, and you get the drum loop training experience.
  125. So you can go to it's gratuitous.com forward slash safe spots, and you can get
  126. special pricing towards the whole bundle for the best learning experience.
  127. There's not just a book, there's not just a course, there is examples like actual
  128. project examples, and that's all included within the book itself.
  129. Okay, so that has been a very helpful book, very in-depth.
  130. I'm very proud of that book. I've worked really hard on it.
  131. There's over 150 pages, over 80 images showing you teaching you all about custom
  132. drum loops. Okay, so closing out here again..
  133. So, guys, I am an FL Studio trainer with over 10 years of beat making experience
  134. I have now 30 courses in the platform.
  135. If you would like to access them, just go to it'sgratuitous.com forward slash
  136. courses. And if you would like to start slow, check out some of my free tools for
  137. beat makers by going to it'sgratuitous.com forward slash resources.
  138. Okay. On that page, you will find that five keys to a successful beat book.
  139. Tons of valuable tips in there.
  140. I'll talk to you guys in the next one, and always feel free to send me an email and
  141. reach out. Thanks for listening.
  142. I'll talk to you in the next one.
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