Drum Programming

How To Program Your First Drum Pattern…
in 5 Minutes or Less - An Introduction To Drum

howtoprogramdrums.com Programming e-book By Neil Paddock
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer. Let him keep step to the music which he hears, however
measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau
Introduction
If you have been involved with music for any length of time, you may have
experienced one of the following problems:
“Where’s the Drummer (Again)?”

Has your current drummer simply kept you waiting too long, played too loud, played
his favourite beat to each of your songs just once too often, forgotten his cymbals or
has he sauntered off down the pub to see his mates after 10 minutes rehearsing, and
basically…let you down…again?
If so, I suspect you need... “A Different Drummer”.

But what if you can’t easily find a replacement?
Is Drum Programming a viable option?
An Introduction to Drum Programming - by Neil Paddock Page 1

By Neil Paddock
 Have you ever wanted to program a drum machine but didn't know where to
start?
 Are you fed up with hearing the same old tired loops, phrases and patterns
you have heard a million times before?
 Have you ever sat for hours connecting different bits of equipment together,
only to find by the time you get them to actually work, your original creative
spark has been lost?
 Have you ever been completely baffled by incomprehensible manuals,
programming screens and a blizzard of buttons?
 Have you ever just mashed those buttons randomly with mounting anger and
frustration hoping to discover the perfect beat, only to end up with an ear
splitting racket and a headache instead?
 What happened to your inspiration?
 Did your get up and go simply just…get up and go?
 Are you looking for that perfect beat that lifts your music, compliments your
creative genius and sets you apart from your competition?
 To find that foot tapping, crowd warming beat that rocks the house and gets
people on the dance floor? To make drumming fun again? To make more
music, more easily?
Whatever your current challenges or aspirations, there is a solution.
This e-book is the result of over 35 years of experience. Of trial and error. Of trying to
learn and play, and running into problems, and finding solutions. Of trying to make
sense of beats and music notation. With one aim in mind. To provide the solution –
and share it - with you. To make more music, more easily.
To help You become that Different Drummer.

This e-book provides a broad and basic overview of all the things you will need to be
familiar with in order to make more music, more easily, and how to play along with -
or even as - that different drummer. It’s both theoretical and practical. If you want to
dive straight in – skip the theory and program in your first pattern - go directly to
page 12.
Are you ready to amaze yourself?

This is a unique tailor made course written specifically for beginners and it will be
beneficial to those people who are just plain scared of drum programming and
drumming! This e-book will show you and teach you a combined approach so that
you can play the drums, or just program a drum machine easily and without fuss or
confusion, this Introduction to Drum Programming aims to get you up and running
in minutes. You can also follow along with our tutorial videos on YouTube.
Excited? I am! So Let’s Get Started! : )

By Neil Paddock
Chapter 1 – The Essentials
Figure 1 - “The Big Three” (Closed Hi-Hat, Snare Drum & Bass Drum)
Whether you are learning to play the drums, or programming a drum machine for
the first time, there are essentially 3 main components of a drum kit to focus on:
There are others, but let’s stick to The Big Three for the time being.
1. Closed Hi-hat (CH) – It helps you and the band keep time. It is basically
two cymbals kept closed together, producing a tinny, high frequency clicking
sound. The speed will vary, but Hi-hats tend to be played a lot more often than
the drums. It’s the easiest thing for a new drummer to play first, as it plays on
every beat. If you are a right handed drummer, you tend to play the CH with
your right hand – and vice versa. It’s the basic metronome of the band.
2. Snare Drum (SD) – It usually provides the “down” beat or back beat - on 5
& 13. It’s a drum played with drum sticks, with snare wires attached to the
bottom head which gives it a harsh, crispy sort of sound. It’s good for drum
rolls too. If you are a right handed drummer, you tend to play the SD with
your left hand – and vice versa.
3. Bass Drum (BD) – The biggest, boomiest drum of the lot. It is a drum
played by a felt or wooden beater, triggered with a foot pedal that provides
that boomy, bassy, foot stomping pulse on the “up” beat. For the classic “four
on the floor” disco type beat, you get a bass drum beat on the first beat of
every measure - beats 1, 5, 9 and 13. If you are a right handed drummer, you
tend to play the BD (or KICK) with your right foot – and vice versa.

By Neil Paddock
Time Signatures
Most popular music is in 4:4 time (that’s “four four time” also called “common time”
or it has a time signature of four beats to the bar). The 4:4 time signature (common
time) is made up of 4 measures of 4 beats (or 4 measures of 4 notes) each – That is
16 separate subdivisions, notes or beats in total.
Note: A shuffle beat will only use 12 of the 16 "buttons", which would be the first 3
measures. Notice in Figure 2 that the TR-808’s buttons are labelled 1 to 12, and then
start again at the white Measure 4 with 1234. That’s to deal with shuffles and
triplets. But we will stick with four four (4:4) patterns to program our first pattern.
In music notation you may see a C for “common time” or a C with a vertical line
through it for “Cut common time” next to the Treble Clef. Without getting into all of
the ins and outs of musical notation here - It’s all seems to amount to pretty much
the same thing. Everything tends to be counted in fours. Four lots of four to be
precise. We are back to that “Magic” number sixteen again.
When students come to me for drum lessons the first thing I get them to do is to
count from 1 to 16. But literally counting from 1 to 16 doesn’t really work. It takes
longer to say the number “sixteen” than it does “one”, so we want a method where all
the numbers last the same amount of time. In addition, we want to know where we
are at any point in time, in terms of the measures. So we count from 1 to 16 in a
special way, in measures or bars (I will use the terms interchangeably) like this:
1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4 3 2 3 4 4 2 3 4
This forms the fundamental basis of much of popular western music, particularly
rock music, so it is a great place to start.
Song Structures
Most song structures start with four bars (or measures) for the introduction, followed
by four bars of the first verse, followed by four bars of the first chorus, then four bars
of the second verse, then four bars of the second chorus, then a “middle eight” (or
instrumental) which might be – eight bars, and rounding off with a final rousing
third chorus of 4 bars.
Getting used to counting in chunks of sixteen beats (i.e. in four bars or measures) in
this way will help you navigate reliably through most song structures in popular
music. After a few run throughs you can sense when things are going to change. Try
counting along with a popular song like “We Will Rock You” by Queen and see if it
helps you to judge when a change is coming up. It’s all about fours.

By Neil Paddock
Musical Notes - and how to count them

There are also 3 units of musical "currency" that I would like to gently introduce you
to for now – note that each one is half the value and half the duration of the previous
one. Now let’s define each note in relation to our 16 subdivisions of time.
1. The Crotchet (or quarter note) – There is one of these in each measure. It
lasts for 4 beats. You count it on the “1” – i.e. the first beat of the first (and
each subsequent) measure and it is always followed by three rests (on beats 2 ,
3 and 4 of measure 1, and so on). Bass Drums tend to use quarter notes.
2. The Quaver (or eighth note) – There are two of these in each measure. It
lasts for two beats. You count it on the “1” - i.e. the first beat of the first
measure and it is followed by a rest on beat two, an “&” on beat 3 and a rest on
beat 4. Note that in terms of our sixteenth note range, eighth notes only use
the odd numbers, 1 3 5 7 and so on. All the evens are rests and remain silent.
3. The Semiquaver (or sixteenth note) – There are four of these in each
measure. It lasts for a single beat. It is very common to see Hi Hats (CH) and
drum fills played using sixteenth notes or eight notes.
Here is a quick visual summary to see what they look like, how to count them, and
how many there are in each measure.
Crotchets, Quavers and Semi-quavers (i.e. Quarter Notes, Eighth Notes and
Sixteenth Notes)
Now let’s look at sixteenth notes in a bit more detail.

By Neil Paddock
The Semiquaver or sixteenth (1/16th) note [Count: 1e&a]

Count Semiquavers as sixteenths – That’s one on every single note, 1 through to 16.
Visually, a semiquaver looks like 3 sets of goalposts (or four golf clubs) joined
together at the top!
1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4 3 2 3 4 4 2 3 4
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Hi Hats
This lends itself to a typical simple closed hi hat (CH) pattern. It is metronomic like a
ticking clock, that is, you never miss a beat. There’s a constant click to help
everybody keep time - and no rests “played” in between.
If you programmed sixteenth notes into a typical Drum Machine you fill up (i.e.
highlight or light up) the entire row of 16 buttons.
Figure 2 - Using all your 1/16th notes
Drum Fills and Rolls

It also provides the template for a typical 16 note drum fill or drum roll. The sticking
for a right handed drummer (i.e. showing which hand is used for which beat, is
displayed below)
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL
Note: The snare drum has been used in the military for hundreds of years to keep
troops marching together in time. Think of the R L R L being voiced by an excited
Sergeant Major and corresponding to the movement of the troop’s marching feet:
“Right Left, Right Left, Right Left, Right Left”
Note: If the military were using 16th notes, this would be a brisk run or even a gallop!
rather than a normal march.

By Neil Paddock
The Quaver or eighth (1/8th) note [Count: “1- &-” or “1 and”]

Count the Quavers (eighth notes) on every other sixteenth note. So between each
eighth note, you have a rest (shown again as a dash but you can count it out loud as
“rest”). Basically, the odd beats (1 and 3) are played and the even beats (2 and 4)
become rests and are not played. Quavers tend to be joined in pairs and look a bit
like a set of goalposts (or two golf clubs joined at the top).
1234 2234 3234 4234

1-3- 2-3- 3-3- 4-3-
In our alternative counting system, the odd beats (1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &) are played and the
even beats (e and a) become rests and are not played.
1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a

1-&- 2-&- 3-&- 4-&-
Figure 3 - using 1/8th notes (and alternating rests)
Notice this is more of a marching speed – being half the speed or tempo of our
previous 1/16th note gallop!
The Crotchet or quarter (1/4) note [1---]

Count the Crotchets (quarter notes) on the start of each bar or measure - that's the
first out of each of the four notes in each measure, followed by three gaps or rests. I
am showing rests as a dash. Crotchets look a bit like a single golf club. They last for
one whole measure. You could count these out loud as:
“One, rest, rest, rest, two, rest, rest, rest three, rest, rest, rest four rest rest rest.”
1--- 2--- 3--- 4---
Figure 4 - using 1/4 notes (with 3 following rests)

By Neil Paddock
Hint: We are going to use this for our Bass Drum or Kick Drum pattern (on the first or “upbeat”). It
works for the Snare drum too, but in a different way (i.e. on the third or “downbeat”). We’ll come to
that in a little while.
Drum Machines
Figure 5 - The Roland TR-808 (from Wikipedia)
A drum machine (like the Classic Roland TR-808 above) will usually have 16
"buttons", one for each 16th note to be played in a single pattern or loop.
On the TR-808 they are split into four groups of four, and colour coded. Measure 1
[1234] is Red, Measure 2 [2234] is Orange, Measure 3 [3234] is Yellow and Measure
4 [4234] is White. This can make it easier to program your first pattern.
Drum Patterns & Charts

A few drum machines come with a ready made template or chart to help you get to
grips with programming. It is basically a grid with numbers 1 to 16 across the top and
instrument types (CH, SD, BD etc.) down the side. Here’s an example that uses the
TR-808 colour code and splits each measure into Red, Orange, Yellow and White.
Figure 6 - A typical drum chart using TR-808 colour coding for each measure

By Neil Paddock
Anatomy of an Acoustic Drum Kit

Now is a good time to introduce the names of the items on a typical acoustic drum
kit. Kits vary widely in shape, sizes and number of items, but the most popular is the
five piece kit. The number of pieces relate simply to the number of drums – the
cymbals aren’t counted. In addition to the drums, you would normally have a hi hat,
a crash cymbal and a ride cymbal (not pictured in fig 4). We won’t worry about drum
sizes or cymbals too much for this chapter.
Figure 7 – Drummer’s eye view of a typical 5-piece acoustic drum kit
Figure 8 - Front view of a five piece kit (with the author)

By Neil Paddock
Drum Fills
It would be in the tail end of measure 4 that a drummer will normally do a “fill”.
That’s usually a drum roll round the kit (from the snare and around the toms)
leading into a crash on a cymbal, so that band knows when the change in song
structure (i.e. from Verse to Chorus, or Chorus back to next Verse) is coming up.
Figure 9 - A typical 16th note drum fill
The most typical drum fill would be four beats on each drum, starting clockwise with
the snare, followed by the High Tom, the Middle Tom and the Floor Tom.
Incidentally, you may see these toms being called toms, tom toms and rack toms
interchangeably. The rack toms are simply the ones that are fixed to the bass drum
– in this case, the high tom and middle tom. The floor tom is a larger drum and
tends to have its own legs. The snare drum has its own separate stand.
Here is what a typical drum fill using all the toms would look like:
1e&a (on the snare)
2e&a (on the high (rack) tom)
3e&a (on the middle (rack) tom)
4e&a (on the floor tom)
And rounding it off with a simultaneous cymbal crash and a bass drum beat on the 1
of the next measure.

By Neil Paddock
Exercise 1: Rolls
Listen to a favourite track of yours and listen for where the drummer puts in the fills.
For simplicity’s sake we are going to omit the further use of toms toms or rack toms
in this first chapter, but you could put a sixteenth note fill in on the snare drum for
the last 4 beats – before you move from Verse to Chorus, and so on. You would then
follow the fill with a bass drum and a crash cymbal together on the 1st beat of the next
measure.
***
How do we apply Musical Notes to Drum

Programming?
Let's look at this a couple of different ways:
The first way is to count the drum machine's buttons. If like the TR-808 or Redrum,
it has 16 in a row, and we need to decide which of our 3 types of notes (1/4 notes,
1/8th notes or 1/16th notes) to use for each of our 3 instruments (CH, SD & BD).
Our first (very basic) drum pattern

Let's create a pattern using quavers (eighth notes) on the closed hi-hat, and crotchets
(quarter notes) on the snare drum and bass drum. From now on I will refer to the
musical notes we have discussed as (1/4 notes, 1/8ths or 1/16ths) rather than
crotchets , quavers and semi quavers. In fact, for our very first pattern – won’t use
16th notes at all – We will save them for another day.
Now we could use all 16 buttons, (or show the same pattern twice to fill up all the
spaces or buttons) but let’s simplify this as much as possible:
We are only going to count up to 8, and we will only use the first 8 buttons out of 16.
Counting: Instead of saying "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8":
We are going to use "1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4" for the first 8 buttons.
Or, alternatively: “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” instead.

By Neil Paddock
Box Notation – As you can see from the previous notation to count our beats, it can start to look a
little messy. So if we put the notes or beats in boxes, that can help, particularly if we want to
program our first rhythm. So let’s “park” music notation for the time being, and concentrate on Box
Notation instead - to make programming our first pattern a bit easier.
1) Closed Hi Hat (CH)
CH (1/8ths) 1234 2 2 3 4 This is played throughout - eight times in all
Or, if you are more comfortable with it, count:
CH (1/8ths) 1&2& 3 & 4 & This is played throughout - eight times in all
So when you program your first beat, you simply select the row for the
Closed Hi Hat and click on (or highlight) all of the first 8 buttons, 1 – 8.
2) Snare Drum (SD)
SD (1/4 notes) 1234 2 2 3 4 This is played twice – each time on the

offbeat or backbeat (the "3" or third beat on each measure)
SD (1/4 notes) 1&2& 3 & 4 & This is played twice – each time on the
offbeat or backbeat (the “2” of the first measure and the “4” of the second measure)
So when you program your first beat, you select the row for the Snare
Drum and click on (or highlight) beat 3 of each measure. That’s buttons 3
and 7.
3) Bass Drum (or Kick Drum) (BD)
BD (1/4 notes) 1234 2234 This is played twice - on the first beat of
each measure
BD (1/4 notes) 1&2& 3 & 4 & This is played twice - on the first beat of
each measure (the “1” of the first measure and the “3” of the second measure)

By Neil Paddock
So here is what our first pattern will look like with all 3 elements shown together –
For simplicity’s sake, we will show the Closed Hi-hat (CH) first, followed by the Snare
Drum (SD) and finally the Bass or Kick Drum (BD).
This is the Tick Tick Step Sequencer, a Reason Rack Extension.
Or alternatively, like this…This is Acoustica Beatcraft.
In both cases, the software mirrors the box notation we would use for the pattern.
Exercise 2: Playing the actual drums in turn.

Now take a moment to count 1234 2234, and imagine hitting (or better still actually
hit) a closed hi hat (CH) on each and every beat. Be like a metronome, keeping the
beats even. When you are happy with this, transfer the CH to a drum machine of your
choice (like Beatcraft or a Free one like Hammerhead Rhythm Station), listen to it
and play along with it in real time.
Next, try the same thing on the snare (SD), but only play it on the "3" of each
measure.
Finally, try the bass drum (BD), and this time only play on the first note (The “1”) of
each measure.
Combining Instruments
At this point, you might want to repeat the previous exercise and this time combine 2
of the 3 elements – I mean program them to play at the same time, and play along
with them yourself at the same time. Get comfortable with how they relate to each
other and what they sound like together.

By Neil Paddock
CH & SD, CH & BD or SD & BD
When you are comfortable with this, move on to the next part.
OUR FIRST DRUM PATTERN – REVISITED (Using Reason’s Redrum)
Most drum machine buttons tend to be numbered [1 – 16] - to represent the

sixteenth notes used to keep time. Not all display all the different elements at once,
however. This can take a little getting used to, hence the previous examples using
Tick Tick and Beatcraft which do show them all at the same time. The principle is the
same however.
With Redrum, you select each voice in turn, then illuminate the buttons for that
voice.
Whereas we could easily just use the first 8 buttons again – just like last time - we
will “drag” or “stretch” the same pattern we used before over the full 16 beats. It will
sound the same, but this time we will skip over every other button. This is known as
changing the resolution. On Redrum we have turned this up to sixteenths (see the
little resolution button in the graphic below)
Redrum's 16 step buttons for pattern programming
In order to program our eighth notes into a machine set up to play sixteenths we
have to skip every other button and only use the odd numbers.
Thus for our closed hi-hat (CH), whilst we would count 1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4 we need to
program it on 1, 3, 5, & 7, + 9, 11, 13 & 15.
In our Redrum Example above, the High Hat Pattern would look like this:
Redrum CH

By Neil Paddock
For our snare drum (SD), whilst we would count “1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4” we need to

program it on 5 & 13.
For our bass drum (BD), whilst we would count “1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4” we need to program
it on 1 & 9. Note: I haven’t shown the SD or BD buttons in Redrum (they wouldn’t be
visible while the CH is selected anyway), but here’s a little summary graphic with
simplified music notation- which seeks to show you what we just did:
Pattern No. 1 by Program Number
Incidentally, returning to the subject of music notation briefly, notice that the
closed hi hats (CH) - shown in RED - have a little “x” instead of a dot on the
end. This is fairly normal with cymbals, and makes it easier to distinguish
them from drum beats.
For clarity's sake, we programmed each of the instruments in turn.
CH – Every other button, i.e. all the odd numbers starting with 1
SD – 5 & 13
BD – 1 & 9
This is about the most basic drum beat you can program:
Beat 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15
HH x x x x x x x x (on 1, 3, 5 & 7, + 9, 11, 13 & 15)
SD x x (on 5 & 13)
BD x x (on 1 & 9)
Notice that no even numbers were used during the making of this pattern – just odd
numbers only!

By Neil Paddock
Alternatively, you can also squash this pattern up, leave no gaps between the buttons
at all - and the drum machine will play it twice over the same time period. Like we
did with the first Tick Tick and Acoustica Beatcraft examples – only with the same
pattern repeated over the next 8 buttons.
Important: I have shown this in a number of different ways and shown a few
alternatives. Do not feel you have to learn all of them at once. Pick the one you feel
most comfortable with and go with that. Hopefully I have introduced you to most of
the basic variations you will come across, at least as far as 4:4 (or common time)
patterns are concerned.
Exercise 3: Program your own beat

Now it’s your turn.
Grab a drum machine and try it out. For simplicity, I suggest you download
Acoustica Beatcraft (for a free trial). Once installed, set up a new project and plug in
the beats as follows:
1) CH = assigned to Closed Hi Hat (Bottom Row)
2) SD = assigned to Acoustic Snare (2nd row from top)
3) BD = assigned to Acoustic Kick (Top Row)
When you have entered the beats, press the triangular "play" button to have a listen,
and if you are happy with it - use the "render" command on the finished pattern to
create an audio file in wav format. The finished Beatcraft_Example is below.
Acoustica Beatcraft is an easy to program “sample based” drum machine.
Watch our tutorial video on YouTube if you want to follow along to see how
Beatcraft works and how to play the resulting audio file created in
Goldwave.
“How to program "Impeach The President" in Acoustica Beatcraft and create a drum loop”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-lgx_g0iP8

By Neil Paddock
Summary
1) Watch our Beatcraft/Goldwave tutorial video on YouTube
2) Download & Install Acoustica Beatcraft Demo
3) Download & Install Goldwave Demo
4) Copy the pattern above into Beatcraft, one instrument at a time. Play each one
in turn before moving onto the next.
5) When you are happy with it, "render" it as a wav file and save on your desktop.
6) Open it in Goldwave and listen by pressing play.
7) Right click on the goldwave play button and select loop. Now press play. It
should continue to play until you decide to click pause. You now have your
very first programmed drum loop. Well done!
8) Finally, See if you can figure out at least one song where you have heard this
beat before.
Ongoing
We just scratched the surface. This is just the start. Listen to drum beats. Download
some midi drum files. Open them in a Digital Audio Workstation like Reason,
Mixcraft or Reaper. Watch some drum programming videos on YouTube. There are
a few on my YouTube Channel. Have a look at some patterns from drum machine
manuals like the ones in the bibliography. The ones that show the music notation
and the box notation side by side are the most helpful.
Have fun! Enjoy the journey. It’s just beginning.
Let me know how you get on. Thank you.
Kindest regards
Neil Paddock
http://howtoprogramdrums.com

By Neil Paddock
Bibliography:
Drumming Books
Here’s a few drumming books that helped me out when I was learning, way back in the late
1970s / early 1980’s – You could buy cassette tapes (of the exercises) to listen to at the time
from John Savage - which was great if you struggled with music notation, as I did.
1) “So You Want To Be A Drummer” By Eddie McNeil
2) “Drumming In A Big Way” by Eddie McNeil
3) “The Art Of The Drummer” By John Savage.
4) “The Art Of The Drummer – Volume Two” By John Savage.
Drum Programming
I believe the best reference material for drum machines is the original drum machine
manuals themselves. They are pretty self explanatory, generally they use some kind of box or
grid notation (as well as musical notation) displaying the factory patterns they used. You can
usually find them online quite quickly with a Google search.
1) BOSS Doctor Rhythm DR-110 Manual (My first drum machine)

2) Yamaha RX-17 Song Book (My second drum machine)
3) Roland TR-808 Manual
4) Kawai R-50 Manual
There’s also a book I found by John Savage which is good, although it’s very basic.
 “Rhythms for Drummers + Drum Machines” - By John Savage
P.S. If you found this e-book useful, look out also for “The Best Drum Machines
Ever” e-book at http://howtoprogramdrums.com or at our selz.com shop.
E-book Text © Copyright 2011-2014 Neil Paddock. All rights reserved.
Some images used for illustrative and educational purposes. Copyright, Trademarks and Trade Names remain
property of the respective holders. No affiliations or endorsements should be assumed to exist with Josh Levy,
Propellerhead Software AB, Acoustica or other parties referred to in this document unless explicitly stated.

By Neil Paddock
A message from the author
Neil Paddock
29th December 2014
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for downloading this e-book. I hope it proves useful to you and that we
may continue this journey we have started together.
I love music. I am enthralled at the possibilities we now have to produce music in the digital
age. Howtoprogramdrums.com highlights my musical journey and key discoveries over the
past few years - and gives you practical tips for success in making music on your computer.
There are more ways to make music than ever before! There’s so much to share - it’s simply
mind boggling!
So come on in and let’s make some noise! : )
Here’s a few (free) ways you can get (and stay) involved so I can continue to share what I
have learned with you:
Subscribe to howtoprogramdrums.com
Subscribe via email to feedburner
Visit our shop at Selz.com for some great freebies and special offers!
Subscribe to Neil Paddock on YouTube
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Kindest Regards
Neil Paddock

By Neil Paddock

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How To Program Your First Drum Pattern…

in 5 Minutes or Less - An Introduction To Drum

“Where’s the Drummer (Again)?”

If so, I suspect you need... “A Different Drummer”.

Is Drum Programming a viable option?

An Introduction to Drum Programming - by Neil Paddock Page 1

Whatever your current challenges or aspirations, there is a solution.

To help You become that Different Drummer.

Are you ready to amaze yourself?

Excited? I am! So Let’s Get Started! : )

An Introduction to Drum Programming - by Neil Paddock Page 2

Chapter 1 – The Essentials

An Introduction to Drum Programming - by Neil Paddock Page 3

An Introduction to Drum Programming - by Neil Paddock Page 4

Musical Notes - and how to count them

Now let’s look at sixteenth notes in a bit more detail.

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The Semiquaver or sixteenth (1/16th) note [Count: 1e&a]

Figure 2 - Using all your 1/16th notes

Drum Fills and Rolls

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

“Right Left, Right Left, Right Left, Right Left”

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The Quaver or eighth (1/8th) note [Count: “1- &-” or “1 and”]

1234 2234 3234 4234

1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a

Figure 3 - using 1/8th notes (and alternating rests)

The Crotchet or quarter (1/4) note [1---]

1--- 2--- 3--- 4---

Figure 4 - using 1/4 notes (with 3 following rests)

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Figure 5 - The Roland TR-808 (from Wikipedia)

Drum Patterns & Charts

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Anatomy of an Acoustic Drum Kit

Figure 7 – Drummer’s eye view of a typical 5-piece acoustic drum kit

Figure 8 - Front view of a five piece kit (with the author)

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Figure 9 - A typical 16th note drum fill

1e&a (on the snare)

2e&a (on the high (rack) tom)

3e&a (on the middle (rack) tom)

4e&a (on the floor tom)

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How do we apply Musical Notes to Drum

Our first (very basic) drum pattern

Counting: Instead of saying "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8":

We are going to use "1 2 3 4 2 2 3 4" for the first 8 buttons.

Or, alternatively: “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” instead.

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1) Closed Hi Hat (CH)

CH (1/8ths) 1234 2 2 3 4 This is played throughout - eight times in all

Or, if you are more comfortable with it, count:

2) Snare Drum (SD)

SD (1/4 notes) 1234 2 2 3 4 This is played twice – each time on the

Or, if you are more comfortable with it, count:

3) Bass Drum (or Kick Drum) (BD)

Or, if you are more comfortable with it, count:

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This is the Tick Tick Step Sequencer, a Reason Rack Extension.

Or alternatively, like this…This is Acoustica Beatcraft.

Exercise 2: Playing the actual drums in turn.

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CH & SD, CH & BD or SD & BD