DRUM tutorial!

[RevHeadRaZ]

Hey guys, I finally had a chance to sit down and write a bit of a tutorial on arranging drum patterns on the BR..

Just download the .zip and folow the tutorial..

[rook]

THANKS! That really helped me...although, once I was finishing up I was maxed out at 50 steps. Is there something I'm missing? My changes worked when they were suppose to but I wanted to go longer and the steps I could arrange stopped at 50. ??

[rook]

Forget it... I viewed a similar post below and figured it out. I'm almost done my first song! about f&*^%'n time lol.

[64Guitars]

To avoid reaching the 50-step limit, you should try to design your arrangements from the top down rather than the bottom up.

In bottom-up design, you start at measure 1 and decide which pattern you want to use. Then you decide which pattern to use for measure 2, then measure 3, etc.  This will quickly use up steps as there's a tendency to change patterns more frequently than necessary.

In top-down design, you start with a single-step arrangement that sets the tempo and feel of the entire song. Then you gradually refine the arrangement by inserting steps at certain points in the song in a sort of "divide and conquer" approach. For example, let's assume a simple song with three verses, two choruses, an intro, and an ending. We'll further assume that the verses and choruses are each four measures long, the intro is one measure long, and the ending is two measures long. So, the total length of the song is 23 measures.

Let's say we decide to start with pattern P032:ROCK6-V1 at a tempo of 94 BPM. So, our arrangement looks like this:

Step	Pattern	Start	Tempo
1	P032:ROCK6-V1	1	94
2	P327:BREAK	24

Now we decide that we'd like to use pattern P034:ROCK6-V2 for each of the choruses. So, we insert the necessary steps:

Step	Pattern	Start	Tempo
1	P032:ROCK6-V1	1	94	(verse 1 & intro)
2	P034:ROCK6-V2	6	94	(chorus 1)
3	P032:ROCK6-V1	10	94	(verse 2)
4	P034:ROCK6-V2	14	94	(chorus 2)
5	P032:ROCK6-V1	18	94	(verse 3 & ending)
6	P327:BREAK	24

Now we insert the Intro and Ending:

Step	Pattern	Start	Tempo
1	P031:ROCK6-IN	1	94	(intro)
2	P032:ROCK6-V1	2	94	(verse 1)
3	P034:ROCK6-V2	6	94	(chorus 1)
4	P032:ROCK6-V1	10	94	(verse 2)
5	P034:ROCK6-V2	14	94	(chorus 2)
6	P032:ROCK6-V1	18	94	(verse 3)
7	P036:ROCK6-EN	22	94	(ending)
8	P327:BREAK	24

We now have a basic arrangement in only 8 steps. You could further refine this arrangement by inserting fills between verses and choruses, for example, or anywhere you desire. But, before getting too carried away, you should listen to the arrangement carefully at each revision. You may be surprised to find that you don't need a lot of fills because the patterns have sufficient variation from measure-to-measure to keep the arrangement interesting. For example, P032:ROCK6-V1 and P034:ROCK6-V2 are each 4 measures long and each of the four measures is slightly different. So there's no need for a lot of fills or pattern changes in the verses and choruses.

Of course, if your song's tempo changes, then you can't start with a single-step arrangement. Instead, you'll need to start with a simple tempo map of the song. For example, if we wanted each chorus of our song to slow to 78 BPM, our initial draft of the arrangement might look like this:

Step	Pattern	Start	Tempo
1	P032:ROCK6-V1	1	94	(verse 1 & intro)
2	P034:ROCK6-V2	6	78	(chorus 1)
3	P032:ROCK6-V1	10	94	(verse 2)
4	P034:ROCK6-V2	14	78	(chorus 2)
5	P032:ROCK6-V1	18	94	(verse 3 & ending)
6	P327:BREAK	24

With top-down design, you start as simple as possible then refine the arrangement. You listen carefully between each stage of development and only add as much refinement as necessary. With this approach, the 50-step limit will seldom, if ever, be a problem.

[RevHeadRaZ]

hey peoples!
Sorry I haven't replied for a while..

To get past the 50 step limit, you can start another arrangement for the song (S02 EMPTY), and make your first step-P037 BREAK, and make your second step the same as the last step from your first arrangement(S01), then continue arranging your song as normal.

When you finish the arrangement, select S01 as your rhythm and bounce your finished song with no effects to Track1&2V8 (until you get to the end of your first arrangement). Then select S02 as rhythm, and bounce the whole song again to Track3&4v8, you should have no rhythm until where you continued your arrangement.

Then you can copy from track 3&4v8(from where your arrangement kicks off), and paste to track 1&2v8 (to the same bar you started the copy at).

Now you have your completed song with the complete arrangement on Track1&2v8, you can master it to track1&2v7..

I have done this with a couple of my songs, ("Krazy Kritter" had over 70 steps)

[64Guitars]

An interesting idea. However, the second bounce and the copy & paste aren't necessary. If you bounce the entire song to TR12V8 along with arrangement S01, then you can switch to arrangement S02 and master from TR12V8. TR12V8 already contains S01 in audio form, and S02 will be recorded from the rhythm track while mastering.

[beleg]

64Guitars,

Interesting, I never thought about doing a song with different tempos like in your example (other than cutting the tempo exactly in half to slow things down) . Is there some a math formula that you use to calculate a new tempo that is a fraction of the first tempo so that it is not jarring to the ears?

[64Guitars]

64Guitars,

Interesting, I never thought about doing a song with different tempos like in your example (other than cutting the tempo exactly in half to slow things down) . Is there some a math formula that you use to calculate a new tempo that is a fraction of the first tempo so that it is not jarring to the ears?

I don't think any formula is needed. You just use whatever tempo feels right for the song. The patterns and tempos in the example I posted were arbitrarily chosen. I don't know what that arrangement would sound like.

The transitions might be less jarring if you put a fill between them. And I think any instruments that you record can help to smooth the transitions. So, although the transitions might sound a bit jarring when you play the drum arrangement on its own, it will probably sound alright when played with the other tracks.

[godinqc]

Thanks this is extremely good info ..  I never used the Drum arragements before 'cause they looked too complicated, but after reading your notes, it's a lot clearer now. Thanks for taking the time to write these notes.

[Ferryman_1957]

RevHeadRaz and 64Guitars, you are very clever and helpful people. I would never have thought of this get round for 50 steps (altho I do try to work to the 50 step limit). Many thanks.

Cheers,

Nigel