Drumstep Drums using loops [TUT]

[ucario]

This tutorial is applicable for all programmes: Cubase/ fruity/ reason etc but it's based around fruity.

This is off my memory and rushed, so please comment if you have any edits or spot any mistakes!
Tempo should be 175bpm, First we are going to separate a break into 3 parts: the kick, the snare and the cymbals, so we can tighten it up bit by bit and make space for more synths etc. Then well join it up to create one sound.

So Load an amen style break into a beat slicer. Do this 3 times but each time on a new track.
Send each one to a separate mixer channel, and then take them of the master track so they cant be heard. Route them all to another mixer track, and route that to the master.

Now with the first track, open your sequencer/piano roll and remove all the cymbals and snares.
With the next rack, remove the cymbals and kicks.
With the next track remove the kicks and snares.

So now if you play it back, you’ll have the whole drum loop, but we can edit specific parts.

So, now we want to edit the kick, so in the mixer that the kicks are routed to, cut everything below 60hz so we have room for sub. (well also sidechain it slightly later, and do more to it, but when there is no big synths- I.e the intro, we can leave the bassier parts of the kick in.) Cut as many highs as you can afford to lose without making an audible difference, but be careful because there are some cymbals attached to the kicks and snares from where we split it up.

with the cymbals you can afford to lose at least 100hz and less, but because it's sliced be careful you don't cut off any of the snare.

with the snares workout what frequency your snares hitting on, (180-200hz is ideal I find) and eq anything less.

Pop a transient shaper on the kick, and watch the waveform of the kick using some sort of waveform VST. Tighten up the tail of the kick, and compress it so there's not much of an audible difference, but the peaks (random loud parts you often cant here them, but they exist) are removed (so it won’t fuck up in a club if there’s a limiter) .

Do a similar thing for the snares, just tighten the tail and neaten it up without as many peaks.
And the cymbals.

On the track you routed all the drums to, cut out everything below 60HZ and anything above 20k hz.

Now, fuck around with the pattern.
You want the kick to be on the start of a bar, and the snare in the middle. In between use the cymbals.
Because they've been sliced and your re-ordering them, they sound jumpy and have a nice groove to them.

On the whole thing, slap on a bit of reverb about 3-7% (barely noticeable) and make the room size about 25/100 and the decay quite small. It just widens it but doesn’t make it sound too loose and all over the place.



Tell me if this did/didn’t help

[filthy_]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

[dj nation]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

true say but ive actually been cutting up break loops recently, just like taking a kick from one, another snare that i like and so on, just a different way of doing things really, maybe even just doing that to fill out your own drums ever so slightly.

[Sinisterbeats]

http://drumstepforum.com/forum/

[upstateface]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

stfu they're breaks you nutsack

[dj nation]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

stfu they're breaks you nutsack

boy better know!

[filthy_]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

stfu they're breaks you nutsack

you're a fucking idiot.

[deadly_habit]

why not just write your own music instead of using/cutting up loops?

stfu they're breaks you nutsack

you're a fucking idiot.

if you don't know the difference between chopping breaks and using loops than you my friend are the fucking idiot

[virks]

cutting and shit is so 1996,it just kills all musical freedom
tehh is great but lets mouve forvard eh?

[Recessive Trait]

some of you kids have some pretty backwards views on breaks. have you never listened to hip hop? jungle? they are a real thing. and to say that they kill musical freedom is so...i can't find an emoticon with its head up its ass.

[rhek]

The fact there's actually a Dumstep forum makes my cry a likkle bit..

[hifi]

http://drumstepforum.com/forum/

ahah I never knew that ever existed.

and chopping up loops isn't wrong or anything. seriously though who doesn't do that? I have loads of quality loops that if I hear a cool hi hat pattern in there I will just chop it up to get that. I usually just create my own kicks and snares/claps because the loops I have are kind of dull with the kicks/snares.

[makemerich]

there is no wrong way to make music. all that matters are the feeling and the results.

[Sirius]

now now... ya can still chop up loops & use em too!!

!!chea

[wub]

cutting and shit is so 1996,it just kills all musical freedom
tehh is great but lets mouve forvard eh?

Yeah, I mean look at that flash in the pan genre they called 'drum & bass'. That was nothing BUT people chopping up drum breaks and rearranging them, and hardly anyone makes or listens to that anymore!


Oh, wait...

[Sinisterbeats]

musical freedom

[Filthzilla]

Uhhhhh Drumstep can be any tempo ffs...
Clearly it wouldn't really be Drumstep if it was 140..

But seriously, it doesnt have to be 175!

[deadly_habit]

it seems like every year in mainstream dnb the bpm goes up 1 or 2 bpm
last i knew 174 was all the rage

funnily enough when i chatted with twisted individual when i opened for him here, he said all the tunes he was playing and got sent were 175 including the half step stuff, he said he was gonna start making tunes at 174.5 or 175.5 so people actually had to do some beatmatching

[Fbac]

it seems like every year in mainstream dnb the bpm goes up 1 or 2 bpm
last i knew 174 was all the rage

funnily enough when i chatted with twisted individual when i opened for him here, he said all the tunes he was playing and got sent were 175 including the half step stuff, he said he was gonna start making tunes at 174.5 or 175.5 so people actually had to do some beatmatching

Quality!
belive it or not but 187 bpm i find to be quite good for drumstep type stuff