Drum Patterns - Software Recommendations?

[ADen101]

Folks
First off - thanks for excellent forum.  It has provided me with much inspiration after picking up guitar after more years than I care to count.
I am thoroughly enjoying playing with my micro BR (following sister in law recommendation  ).  However I am struggling with the drum patterns on the system.  To me - it is just not intuitive.  While I can see how it's done, I just don't have the time (or talent) to be able to replicate some of the songs I want to strum along to.  Even putting together a basic beat to go along with 12 bar blues took a couple of hours I would have better spent practicing on the guitar.  I fully acknowledge I may be missing something....
 However I can 'click' with PC based time-line type editing apps (hope you know what I mean...?).  Do you have any recommendation for a Windows based application to put some rhythms together - drum/sound by sound?  I have searched for a few freeware apps on the the internet (not sure if it's appropriate to mention brand names in this forum?) and tempted to play with a few but I would appreciate your recommendation before I fill my PC with spy/ad ware etc. 
Freeware prefered but willing to indulge in limited $ licence on the basis of solid recommendation.
Thanks (and apologies if this question answered elsewhere in the forum - as late arrival there is a lot to catch up on....)

[ADen101]

Oh Nuts....
Just spotted the "free drum machine" thread posted below which probably answers my question.
However appreciate any recommendation for a novice.....
Thanks!

[64Guitars]

Understand that a big advantage of the built-in drum machine is that it doesn't use any of the BR's recording tracks. Also, you can edit the drum arrangement (change tempo, drum kit, patterns, etc.) at any time up until the final mix because the drums are not recorded as audio. Rather, they are stored as data that merely describes what's to be played. The only software I'm aware of that's directly compatible with the Micro BR is Tommy's Drum Pattern Arranger. It is shareware and costs £20.

However, if you don't mind using a pair of tracks to record the drums on the BR, there are lots of programs available for drum programming on the computer. These are usually a lot more powerful than the Micro BR's limited built-in drum machine and give you access to a huge library of percussion sounds to use in your songs. But you must save the drum tracks you create on the computer as WAV or MP3 files, then import these files to a pair (stereo) of BR tracks (see pages 103/104 and 113/114 in the Micro BR manual).

I've recently tried LMMS which I think is quite good. See this message:

https://songcrafters.org/community/general-discussion-b8/free-drum-machine/msg19653/#msg19653

It's a Linux program but a Windows version is also available (free).

[ADen101]

Excellent - thanks for the prompt reply 64'! I will download and have a play with your recommendations.  However - not sure why I need to use a pair of tracks - is this just to do with the two line/ stereo output from the PC?  Can I define a mono input to the MBR?
I am not so far advanced as to need to worry about track usage as yet - drum / bass / keyboard for the moment however - guess I can always bounce the stereo drum track up onto a v-track once I am happy with it?
Thanks!

[64Guitars]

not sure why I need to use a pair of tracks - is this just to do with the two line/ stereo output from the PC?  Can I define a mono input to the MBR?

You need a pair of tracks to preserve the stereo positioning of the various drums and cymbals within the drum kit. After you create a a drum track in LMMS or some similar program, you will need to export it to a stereo wave file. You could import that stereo wave file into a single track in the BR, but then it would just be mono. The drum kits in most programs will have each drum and cymbal positioned in the stereo panorama much like they would be to a real drummer sitting at his drum kit. The snare will be a bit to the left of centre. The hi-hat will be a bit further left than the snare. The kick drum will be about centre. The crash cymbal and floor tom will be to the right, etcetera. If you record to a single track, all of this positioning within the kit will be lost and all of the drums and cymbals will be positioned at the same point within the stereo panorama instead of being spread between left and right like a real drum kit. So, you can use a single track if you want to, but the drums will sound a lot better in stereo, which requires two tracks. Also, you need to make sure those two tracks are panned correctly on playback or when bouncing or mastering. The odd-numbered track (1 or 3) should be panned full left (L50) and the even-numbered track (2 or 4) should be panned full right (R50).

[ADen101]

64Guitars - thanks for your patience and excellent advice!
I've installed LMMS and it looks exactly what I was needing - now I have some manuals to read before I get back to my MBR.....
Cheers 

[jackofall]

I've installed LMMS and haven't the remotest idea where to begin. I cannot find even the slightest hint of instructions. It look so interesting...Can someone get me started? How do you turn it on? How do you get a sound out of it?

[64Guitars]

I've installed LMMS and haven't the remotest idea where to begin. I cannot find even the slightest hint of instructions. It look so interesting...Can someone get me started? How do you turn it on? How do you get a sound out of it?

Instructions are here:

http://lmms.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Start with the link for "Getting Started". At the bottom of the page is a Navigation area. The "Next" link loads a page called "Your First Song with LMMS" which should be a big help, although it's about melodies rather than drum beats. Continue through these tutorials by clicking the "Next" link in the Navigation area. Eventually, you'll get to the page for "Composing Bass Lines and Drum Sequences" which will introduce you to the Beat + Bassline Editor.

http://lmms.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Composing_Bass_Lines_and_Drum_Sequences

The Beat + Bassline Editor is also described here:

http://lmms.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?title=Beat_Bassline_Editor


This blog might help too:

http://digitalramblings-0612.blogspot.com/2009/04/getting-your-head-around-lmms.html