With hip-hop drums, you’ll want to decide which era you’re going to use as an influence. That’s not to say you can’t be experimental with the sounds that you use but just be aware that what’s considered cool in the dance-music landscape is constantly changing, and as a community, they can be a notoriously picky bunch! If your favourite producer mostly uses big, house-style hand claps and live-sounding hats, and you choose to use a crunchy, dubstep snare, and harsh electronic sounds, then even if the rest of the track fits their style, they’re unlikely to play it, as it will sound out of place in the mix.
In dance music in particular, these sound choices can have a big impact on how your music is perceived and which DJs are likely to play it. Over time, you’ll realise you’re gravitating towards particular styles of kicks, snares, claps and other hits, and this will play a massive part in defining your sound. Although Logic’s built-in library is pretty extensive and continues to grow, it’s important to start compiling your own collection of sounds through sample packs, sampling and even synthesis, as this will help you start to develop your own sound as an artist. In this workshop, we’re going to look at using three different approaches to write a hip-hop beat, a house beat and a drum ’n’ bass beat. That said, don’t be afraid to mix-and-match ideas, such as taking the MIDI from a Drummer track and using it to play more electronic or unusual sounds from a different instrument. Want to layer some tight-sounding electronic beats? Load up Drum Machine Designer so you can fine-tune the sounds to fit your track. Looking to write a natural-sounding drum fill? It can be important to select the right ones for the job in hand, though, as this will improve your workflow no end. Logic has a raft of tools that can be brought into play to help produce drums in your tracks.
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as the saying goes, and the same is true of programming drums in Logic – Alex Holmes looks at three very different approaches for writing hip hop, house and drum ’n’ bass beats…