Electronic Musician

MODERN DRUM INSTRUMENTS

DRUM TOOLS

Can you hear that? It's the ever-pacing tick-tock of change. Or is it a kicksnare beat? In modern music, it's pretty obvious that the drums are an intrinsic part of any beat-led music's success. Sure, every single part of your music is vital, as is the treatment and processing that helps them stick together, as we regularly spend pages and pages explaining. The drums, though, set a piece of music on the road. Done right, drums can add energy, create pace, and generally define the energy level of a piece, whatever the mood. But that's not to say that perfectly-produced drums are the goal every time. Depending on the genre, drums might need to be stunted, vibey, repetitive or simply subtle. Staying within the confines of a genre's rules may put some limits on the drum sounds and programming you use, but those drums still define the same traits of the track that they do in any other. In this article, we're going to lift the lid on some of the techniques behind getting a modern drum sound, and we'll do it through the lens of some of the best instrument plugins that you can grab today for getting your beats to the next level. We'll tackle not just heavy-hitting ‘drum’ instruments, but some ways to play them better as well – there's MIDI effects on display to help you get a grip

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Electronic Musician

Electronic Musician2 min read
Deeper Parameters In Modulation Effects
There's usually a bit more to a modulation plugin than just basic controls. Here's how some of the other parameters that you might find work… ‘Voices’ refers to the number of copies of the original signal that the modulation effect creates. For examp
Electronic Musician1 min read
All-in-one Plugin Solutions
You'll still find phasing, chorusing and flanging available mostly as separate plugins, but there are some options for getting those three effects out of a single one. Waves MetaFlanger, for example, offers flanging into higher rates that cover choru
Electronic Musician2 min read
Effects
Out of all the modules available, effects units are possibly the most widely varied. These come in many styles and types, so let's deal with a few of the most common here. Perhaps the most widely used is reverb. Spring reverbs, whether digital emulat

Related Books & Audiobooks