In beat making and hip hop production, there are a few different opinions as to how exactly to lay down drum samples for sequencing and alteration during the musical process. While a great variety exists, the main two methods are the ones that have been around since music samplers and programs like Reason and Cubase have been out: tapping them out on physical hardware and drawing them in on an editor.
Drawing in drum samples into a piano roll editor is very easy on the eyes and the muscles as well. No physical input or effort is required, and you can even do it while slouching in your chair! It's also very fast to put out, because one can simply click and draw. Getting sounds from your head to the screen and out of the speakers has never really been easier than this, and that's why it's so popular!
If you are a bit more confident of your physical rhythm, consider starting out with physical MIDI hardware to tap in drum samples over beats. You normally do this to a tempo count (and this is sounded live, playing once every beat with a simple tick sound) and it's not too hard once you get the hang of it, although the start can be a bit frustrating. Lately, programs like FL Studio have allowed you to map your computer keyboard keys to actual keys that trigger drum samples. So now dedicated hardware is even optional!
One of the advantages here is that you don't need to constantly look at the screen to see where drums go - you can hear it all. In fact, if you're using a pad controller, most of them now have start/stop/pause message buttons on the actual device, and even undo buttons, so you can take a break from the screen for the entire duration of a drum samples loop recording.
Each has their disadvantages as well, though. If you're drawing or clicking in the drum samples, you need to be aware of the velocity, otherwise your drums will become stale and lifeless. Also, using the appropriate swing is important, as clicking them in by default will trigger 'snapping' to pre-determined grids.
When playing on drum samples pads, it can be a bit hard to keep overall rhythm to start off with. Also, unless you have very nimble and athletic fingers that are flexible and super fast, you won't be able to generate a lot of intricate patterns. At least not in one go of recording, but most even fail at stacking their patterns properly due to a lack of precise rhythm. What a lot of producers do is build the base track by tapping in the main drum samples - the outline. Once the outline is completed, drawing in the other samples using an on-screen editor seems a good idea.
Drawing in drum samples into a piano roll editor is very easy on the eyes and the muscles as well. No physical input or effort is required, and you can even do it while slouching in your chair! It's also very fast to put out, because one can simply click and draw. Getting sounds from your head to the screen and out of the speakers has never really been easier than this, and that's why it's so popular!
If you are a bit more confident of your physical rhythm, consider starting out with physical MIDI hardware to tap in drum samples over beats. You normally do this to a tempo count (and this is sounded live, playing once every beat with a simple tick sound) and it's not too hard once you get the hang of it, although the start can be a bit frustrating. Lately, programs like FL Studio have allowed you to map your computer keyboard keys to actual keys that trigger drum samples. So now dedicated hardware is even optional!
One of the advantages here is that you don't need to constantly look at the screen to see where drums go - you can hear it all. In fact, if you're using a pad controller, most of them now have start/stop/pause message buttons on the actual device, and even undo buttons, so you can take a break from the screen for the entire duration of a drum samples loop recording.
Each has their disadvantages as well, though. If you're drawing or clicking in the drum samples, you need to be aware of the velocity, otherwise your drums will become stale and lifeless. Also, using the appropriate swing is important, as clicking them in by default will trigger 'snapping' to pre-determined grids.
When playing on drum samples pads, it can be a bit hard to keep overall rhythm to start off with. Also, unless you have very nimble and athletic fingers that are flexible and super fast, you won't be able to generate a lot of intricate patterns. At least not in one go of recording, but most even fail at stacking their patterns properly due to a lack of precise rhythm. What a lot of producers do is build the base track by tapping in the main drum samples - the outline. Once the outline is completed, drawing in the other samples using an on-screen editor seems a good idea.
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