Composing your own drum beats

[kanzer]

hey guys. need help and tips on conposing your own drum beats in a song. especially acoustic songs. is there any way to make it nice? how play less?

 

[actorial]

playing with feeling and dun think of doing add in so much let the music make the song flow and not complicated drum beat...be a background for 95% of the songs and do some 'meaningful' fill in when needed

 

[kanzer]

ok.but

ok but the problem is when i heard the acoustic on the guitar. i cannot think of what to play on the drums. i scared my drumming cover up the song. you know what i mean?

 

[actorial]

if u r always scare, when will u be able to progress? be confident and do wad u wan to do and wad u need to do. love music and you should be able to...no worry

Cheers!

 

[BebopIggy]

hi kanzer, just play and record your jamming session to hear yourself. Also ask your bandmates for opinions. If you don't try, you will never learn. This theory applies to everything in life.

 

[soft]

maybe the song doesnt need a drum beat? maybe use a shaker? or you can pick up the guitar and do some strum strum.

 

[kanzer]

cool ya. thanks

ok icic. yup can do tt i'm a percussionist not a drummer. haha. ok so a shaker a tamborine. etc etc. ya ok i can look at that side of songs. thanks really great help

 

[blurred]

hey dude, check out other acoustic performances for gd bands. all the advice u need is in those performances.

 

[kanzer]

give me examples ?

heh. oh ok. can you give me some examples? i'm really not sure about this man. thanks in advance. drumming rocks. its my life!

 

[SoAp88]

listen to alot of songs which suit your genre then u decide how to fill in for the drum beat. you can always take some ideas here and there and put it in for your very own creation. try to create more groove rather than play more. people feel the song better if everyone is balance at a point which all comes together neatly and feel very tight ! don't overplay.

 

[nkf31]

you may want to try just brushes or hot rods with your snare as the "main thing".

 

[5buckshort]

haha, ok basically what i always do is to actually make the beat with my mouth first. If its good, try to figure it out.

 

[Musicology]

Composing drumbeats or any music for that matter gets better with mor experience as keep trying.

I'll list importrant steps that i can imagine would be the needed.

Identify the time signature and then the down beats. Probably its 4/4. I reckon you will be using sticks so identfy where the snare (hit or rimshot) will be at. identify where the kick drum beat should be by listening to the accents of the songs. Most probably it will be one of the standard drum patterns. If the genre differ greatly then you have to search for essential rhthms for the genre itself eg. bossa, samba.

Other factors you might consider is whether you want to do it linearly or not ie. kick hihat and snare beat are played straight rather than over each otther. you might also want to think on how the main divisions would be appropriate in the song. 8th? 16th? triplet? this will help u in inventing the fills.

To know if its "good" or another idea might be "better"... depend on the music that you have listened to ..your academy. you will have to trust your judgement. thats why to write you have to listen alot.

 

[Chang]

Listen to Nirvana - Unplugged in New York.
Listen to how one of the hardest hitters in drumming plays with so much control.
It's all abt the control.

 

[bluepowder]

check out acoustic alchemy :wink:

 

[mix]

i think its more about the feeling and your connection with the music style.

control comes with good technique i think...it helps you execute your grooves and beats correctly.

 

[daltonsim]

i think practise a few beats and grooves alot, and play them over and over again in songs that you can express your own beats. after practising different beats for a while you kinda get the whole idea and you'll probably be able to come up with something on your own. cos there's kinda no definite way to do it, you know?

 

[hi]

imo, just listen to loads of music, plus what you have been practising and go for sound, not so much notation... unless you are working with a score that could help...

for acoustic songs i guess because it is a soft setting, sometimes playing a lot of small things work pretty well.... like Mr Steve Gadd's paradiddle groove thing hahaha... but yes less is more...

but i guess just make what you want? it is up to you really