Help with drums!

[StraDivaRius]

Ok here is the deal after the last beat this I kinda reviewed drums on some of my tracks and they are generic and plain, i tried to add fill ins, hihats,the whole nine but still suck. basically my drum programing suck. As for my setup it sucks even more: Fruity Loops, Cool Edit pro, turntable and a dj mixer. I had a triton but i had to sell it to pay for school.anyways i need help, tips, suggestion to fix my problem so please be serious.......oh yeah im broke so dont go somethin like dude buy a mpc....

Thanx
One

 

[HaZwaiOh]

changing the software won´t solve the problem.
do you have a midi keyboard? you can use that to trigger drums and give them a more "real" touch, but busically i just encourage you to try and work on it - after a while you´ll discouver your groove and be alright

 

[old supreme]

is your problem the drum patterns or the sounds?

 

[StraDivaRius]

its the programmin not the sounds

thanx hawai

One

 

[MaximeRobin]

My 2 cents. I try to listen closely to track with drum I like and then understand why I like them.

 

[Fade]

If your problem is the programming and not your sounds, then try this in FL:

-Set the swing to around 32, it works for me every time.
-Start off with simple patterns like KICK-SNARE-KICKKICK-SNARE and put the hat on every other spot.

Get this loop going and listen carefully, making sure the kick is not too loud, or the snare and hat too. There's not much else I can say except that if you're working with good sounds, then your drums will sound good. Simple patterns always work best. If you listen to some of your favorite songs, you'll realize that their programming is simple (unless you're listening to Timbaland).

Stick to the basics and you'll be ok.

 

[StraDivaRius]

See i do get the basics, actually i got pretty good average drum pattern but im tryin to step my game up. I got pretty good local artist liking my music but it's just that i feel my drums lack of something. Imma try and borrow a midi controller from someone and see if my drums would sound better in real time instead of step. Thank ya'll

 

[HaZwaiOh]

you could also try to add more samples. adding different highhats, claves, shakers etc. can sometimes be a good idea too.

 

[Copenhagen]

The way I got to where I am now was simply by listening to the beats I liked in my headphones, trying to seperate each instrument and found out how it programmed/mixed...like fx, panning hats, cabasas, maracas etc, anyway trying to copy the beat exactly until I got it right. I had then learned how had done it and afterwards I just tried it with my own style...worked for me.

 

[J-UK]

Good advice everyone. I have been trying to improve my drums and what I find is you just have to spend ages perfecting them. Even if you are using a really simple hat, kick and snare pattern you need to listen hard. Listen to live drums or even better play them yourself to get a feel for it. Like HaZwaiOh says, add different drums and percussion just to liven things up a bit, to keep it interesting.

 

[PHILharmonic]

As others have stated, definitely study other drum programmers and live drummers(in varying types of music as well). The addition of percussion(i.e. shakers, maracas, calves, tambourines, congas... you get the picture) will always add texture to your drum track and you don't have to use much.

Anyone here record drum tracks in realtime and then quantize? And I mean record at least the kick, snare, hats on one pass/take. Just curious.