The rhythm track of a song creates the foundation for everything else. Hours, days and weeks can vanish trying to tweak your percussion sounds until they almost sound just right. The following 10 tutorials will give you the inside information on how to create a great rhythm track.

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  How to Pump Up Your Drums Using Reason’s Scream 4

  Reason 4 has some great instruments and processors. Even if it’s not your main DAW, it’s a wise move to check it out and use it as a Rewire slave. Scream 4 is one of the standout plug-ins in Reason’s arsenal and can create some really extreme distortion and saturation effects. One of its lesser known modes is the tape compression setting, this can work wonders on just about any sound but really shines on drums.

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  How to Program and Produce Beats with Propellerhead’s Redrum

  If you are a Reason or Record owner you are lucky enough to have access to one of the best virtual drum machines out there. Making great beats quickly is a breeze using its step sequencing system and editing sounds is just as easy.

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  Enhancing the Kick Drum with Sine Waves

  The biggest and most difficult sound to get right in the studio is usually the drum kit. There are many factors involved — the kit is made up by an assortment of instruments, usually with individual mics on every drum, and then room mics on top of that. This makes for a difficult job and usually the part of the tracking process that consumes the most time. Especially in home studios where the acoustics and mic selection don’t really cut it, additional processing is required to improve the sound. Let’s take a look at improving the kick sound with sine waves.

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  Advanced Drum Editing in Kontakt

  I created this tutorial to serve two purposes. First off, I feel that there is a distinct lack of proper in-depth Kontakt tutorials. This tutorial teaches you everything you need to know to get started with Kontakt 3’s amazing Group editing. Second, I find that there are plenty of threads out there where someone will ask “How do I get my drums to sound like ____?” (Usually Squarepusher). I feel that group editing is the quickest, yet most hands-on way of creating incredible, glitchy beats without relying on VST effects as a crutch (and therefore avoiding sounding like anybody who else who uses Plug-in X).

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  How to Layer Hip Hop Drums in FL Studio

  Although it is often seen as a signature move of Hip Hop producers, customizing drums through layering is a technique used by artists in every genre, and it allows you to have fresh, new drum sounds that will energize your productions. Using simple tools and sounds you already have, you can expand your sound palette. In this tutorial, Sean Duncan gets us started.

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  Synthesizing Beats from Scratch in Reason

  In this tutorial we cover how to create synthetic drums perfect for a house/trance track. We’re going to create a drum loop with only the synths and effects included in Reason. No drums from the Reason Soundbank will be used: we will be creating these drums from scratch in Reason’s Subtractor. A couple of known artists use this technique, as you can create your own sound and reuse your signature kit in future tracks.

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  Understanding Ableton Live 8’s New Groove Engine

  Ableton has introduced a huge list of new features into the latest version of Live. Amongst some of the highlights are new instruments, new warp algorithms and even several new effects plug-ins. All these features are impressive (and some of them definitely deserve their own tutorials), but one of the most important updates for many users is the introduction of a brand new groove engine, so let’s get stuck in and see how it works.

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  How to Create Grooves with Edited Drum Loops

  It’s often pretty straight forward to create and program a basic beat. The real challenge comes when we try to introduce a groove that gives our track soul and character. This tutorial looks at how we can build a groove using existing loops in our library without using them in their entirety. The result is an original groove that often feel as if they have been ‘played’.

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  Give Drums Impact with Parallel Compression

  It seems that the more elements your drum mix is comprised of, the harder it is to give them impact. With mics on the majority of drums, plus overheads, room mics and even the occasional hallway mic, there are so many different sounds competing with each other, even though together they comprise one instrument. Parallel compression is a really easy way to give some impact to the most important elements of the kit.

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  Create a Drum Loop From Found Sounds

  Despite the countless libraries of drum loops available on the market, many of them sound the same, become overused and lack any personal style. This tutorial will show you a quick and fun way to add a personal touch to your music by creating your own loops.

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