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The number of bars with drum samples in the average song can actually vary quite a bit. Usually, when determining bar length, one would look at the total run-time of the song and make calculations based on that. It can get complicated with certain loops, however.

One of the most common looping numbers of bars is four. This is usually enough to develop an indicative portion of a song, and then four bars can give groove, tempo and feel to a song, and so is great as a foundation or ’skeleton’ sample. The drum samples in the four bar loop can be organized as one total unique sample, with each bar being totally different from the last. However, most music producers in rap and RnB prefer to keep some element of comfort with the listener, and variance is the keyword. Varying drums from bar to bar using changes towards the end or velocity is much more effective at not inducing stress into your listener.

Sixteen bars is another common loop number, usually because in hip hop, 16 bars is a typical vocal verse length. So if you can develop the 16 bar loop, complete with pre-chorus introduction and an 8 bar switch-up (just an example), you can give a good example of the way the song would be structured. Using drum samples over these 16 bars will give see you test your creative limits, especially if you make a few beats every day. Introducing the hi-hats starting at bar 8, for instance, gives the song a great motion factor.

When considering changes to the music, you can easily look beyond drum samples and even instrument patches and notes. The more advanced composers will start some new harmonic progressions or expand the note selection in current form. If you change multiple things at once, this is a very powerful message to your listener that things are not at rest; movement is in the air!

If you really are serious about sequencing and arranging the next smash hit, think outside the box as well. Combine some methods, and utilize the vocals more, don’t just focus on the drum samples and instrument patches. Your singer could suddenly go from boring and predictable to wild and energetic in a matter of just a single bar. Keep your listener guessing ’til the end!

Drum samples are one of the easiest ways to introduce variance, as it requires no extra input on the vocalist’s part and can accentuate vocal parts and instruments without anything being different in those departments.

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Reverb, when applied to drum samples, is grossly underused in popular music. At the same time, though, a lot of the people who make use of the effect for their drum parts abuse it and degrade the drum samples to the point of annoyance.

When considering using this samples, make sure to specify (at least to yourself) the role that the sound is supposed to fulfill. If it’s for a single sound, you run the risk of making the other drum samples take a backseat to the reverb of this one instance. So if it’s a noise that plays all the time and consistently, you should turn down the bleed/return.

When discussing the length of reverb tail to use on drum samples, we should take all opinions into account to get the fairest idea possible. A lot of music producers offer the perception that you can use more and more reverb as a song becomes slower, and this will help you avoid needing to add extra drum hits in for the sake of doing so – to fill space. The space is instead reserved for the reverb’s ‘tail’ – whether applied to all samples equally or for a single catalyst noise or sound – like a snare, which is a popular choice for this sort of sound application.

Having a consistent reverb – one that spans all drum samples and each of their channels – can help in toning the song to your liking. You can easily imply locations like the Sydney Opera House, the Grand Canyon and more, as unlikely as it sounds, just by using different reverb settings across the whole range of drum samples currently loaded. If going for one of these locations, you may want to apply a bit of the reverb to your instruments as well for the most realistic sound experience.

Having offered these tips, though, you can really experiment as much as you want, as there are no limits in electronic music production. Whatever sounds good for you will usually work – you know your audience better than anybody else.

If any of this information is a bit over your head, don’t worry. You will soon get a natural knack for applying reverb at the right points and at the right speed, but you need to be ready to experiment as much as possible. When you can start to make creative decisions about effects like reverb on drum samples, you’ll be a few steps ahead of the competition. Also make sure to trial different plug-ins and software solutions. There are plenty of reverb effects out there, and different programs will have different workflows and different parameters. You may find something that just clicks with your workflow perfectly!

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The hi-hat drum samples of today are as varied as they are underappreciated. Think about your favorite songs for a moment. You can probably hear the kick and snare working away in memory, but it can be very hard to keep track of the hi-hat. The truth is, most hi-hats (hats for short) are just supporting acts to the snare and kick combinations that dominate our attention, but they are nevertheless an essential part of most music production projects, so underestimate them at your peril!

The two ‘mistakes’ of hi-hat hip hop samples we’re about to look into are no the domain of the beat making novice, but are committed nearly just as much by so-called professionals these days.

The first mistake concerns volume. The role of the hi-hat drum samples is often overstated and overemphasized by many expertly arranged songs. The human ear, it is claimed, has gained a perception of the frequencies that hi-hats occupy throughout evolutionary stages. Apparently some aerial predators made noises that had the same frequencies, and we can therefore hear it above its actual volume.

A good way to go about combating this incongruity is to mix the hat to the point where you think it sounds just about right, and lower it about two decibels further. Any listener will still be able to pick it up due to our superior perception of this sound, so don’t worry about ‘mixing it out’ these drum samples.

The second mistake is about achieving authenticity with your hip hop drum samples… If you’re trying to establish your song as having a real drum part, do not make the mistakes that many others do. Let me give you an example: a constant closed hi-hat in the left channel plays once every 16th note, 16 times a bar, and on the third beat; we hear an open hi-hat that strikes at the same time. What is wrong with this? Well, just about every real drum set only comes with one set of cymbals to manipulate, and triggering a closed hi-hat so often and consistently demonstrates that the cymbals are firmly closed, and yet you also hit the open cymbal at the same time. This is physically impossible, so don’t do this if you’re trying to set a tone of authenticity in your drum beats. Dance tunes, on the other hand, often have two or three different types of hats playing simultaneously, and if it’s the electronic vibe you want to lay down, go crazy. If it sounds good, it’s all good!

You can also go with the default drum samples patterns in programs like Toontrack EZ Drummer and BFD, as well as others. These programs usually include patterns that were really tapped out by a professional drummer on an electronic drum set and do not include these mistakes. You can learn a great deal using programs like this.

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In this modern musical era, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the way snare and kick drum samples sound; specifically, whether they can cut through a mix of several different, heavy instrument tracks like strings and electric pianos. They way your samples sound in a tough mix is referred to as snap in a lot of circles. If you can get your main drum track to snap, your mix will be a lot easier to handle later, but you need to take care in your journey, as too much sound manipulation and be degrading.

If you have any fears about altering drum samples yourself, don’t worry. It’s not too hard to achieve the snap effect; in fact, it can be child’s play with a bit of guidance and a bit of critical and proactive thinking on your part. If you already have tools like compressors and EQs, you are two steps ahead of a lot of people. Software or hardware, these tools will make life easy for you and getting them to modify a sound the way you want it will be easy after learning their menu systems and hearing the effect that different functions have on your initial sound file. There is nothing like experimentation in this case!

Both software and hardware effects usually have factory patches that display the capabilities of the effects unit. This is very useful for the budding audio engineer and drum samples editor; feed the device some standard samples – but first analyze the samples and really listen to them – then start applying some of the default effects, not the parameter levels and starting doing A/B tests on the sound; that is, before and after the effect. If you can start to internalize the changes and link the sound alteration to the settings, you will be well off!

Compressing your drum samples to add snap is a very common road taken by mixers and music producers alike. Sometimes it can be a bit hard working out what the knobs and dials actually do, so writing down – in your own words – what the changes do to the drum samples, will help you out a lot when making critical decisions later on. Try out different software and hardware compressors, as they also sound a little bit different and you will have trouble with some, while others will be easy to work for you.

When writing down the compression settings you are changing, note how they affect the sound according to your ear. Try not to use sonic and producer jargon, but describe it in perfect English. This will reinforce the effects in your mind. After having noted the effects of each pan and fader, combine them two at a time and write down the cumulative effect of each set. Make sure to mix them all up for maximum comparative description!

Now as a final tip, I’d like to mention how important it is to have good drum samples. Not just good ones, but a solid selection to pick from. The less samples you have, the more time you’re going to be twisting knobs and adjusting sliders, and therefore the less time you will have making an actual beat! So if you want to be able to easily convert the music in your head and lay it down into your program or workstation, expand your selection of sounds.

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