A Guitarists Guide to Writing GREAT Drums | Secret Weapons

[@john808welk]

Even as a drummer this is helpful. The disconnect between Midi drums and a real kit is pretty massive for me.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Most drummers I know have a fair amount of trouble getting on board with drum libraries and it’s understandable. I think it kind of has to be a “look at this as a hybrid of a drum machine and a real kit” rather than a replacement of either

[@SharpEdgeStandardOfficial]

Lol that intro was awesome it sounds like one of them demo songs that come stock with DAWs or other studio app or plug in demo samples lol

[@Justin-bm7zn]

I see you answered my youtube question from 2 weeks ago with a 30min video...you...you're good. Much thanks for doing this.

[@Justin-bm7zn]

This is sick man...I bought modern and massive last month and learned how to route it in ableton and then lost my way. This is amazing and inspiring and a fun change up on your channel.

[@sunilyapa3018]

great stuff. i love the gear “demo” documentaries but this is incredibly helpful and musical as well. one on mixing bass would be cool. thanks mark!!

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Dialing bass tone / mixing bass is a good one. I think I’ll have a mixing guitars video early 2023 as well

[@austin5756]

Wow mapping multiple drum sounds to one pad is a game changer. This seriously has me considering trying to get some of these plugins and put some of these more polished sounds into a hardware sampler. My favorite video yet!

[@Cers10]

Great Video, thank you for your effort you put in…the Devil Loc Tip is great. Anyway…it is always a pleasure to watch your helpful videos

[@jbmaggs]

This is VERY helpful. Thanks for taking the time to go through this.

[@MaTTheWish]

This is absolutely fantastic resource, thank you for being so generous with your time and showing us your incredible techniques. I love your music.

[@sunnyschramm9650]

another great and educational video - thx ❤

[@BLACKSYNTH]

Great video. One thing to do to get drums to compete with loud guitars is to run the drums and guitar tracks into a bus with say an SSL Compressor with a slow attack so it lets the drum transients through then squashes the guitar a little. Works really good.

[@intersweat]

This video is awesome. You are a very humble yet talented musician and your advice is incredibly helpful. Thank you. You obviously put a lot of thought into your drum parts and the content in this vid. ❤

[@DaveZnoise]

Love seeing your workflow with the keyboard and pads. Simple but effective.

[@gravitysuitcase]

Really enjoyed this video! Thanks for taking the time to share your workflow.

[@bassimprovjams3772]

This was awesome Mark!! Would love to see your bass making process as well one day if possible all of your tips at the end were great! I’m far from this but definitely understand what you are giving us,

[@Subtle-System]

I'm one of the people that asked you about your drums... was definitely curious because they sound pretty legit... very good... so thank you so much for this video... I use the pads on my NI Maschine ... also keyboard sometimes... and recently I've been using Superior drummer with my own playing. Sounds ok...

[@cobe571]

The simple idea to use a keyboard with a drum pad is a really nice and effective solution. Thanks for the hint. Really appreciated 🎸

[@Zan_Halford]

Man I hope I can figure things out… I’m not sure tho! Do a master class man and I’ll cue in🎉❤

[@danielgharmann]

This is why you're the GOAT. Thanks, Mark!

[@pjuliano9000]

I like to send drum room samples to reveRbs. I like to use 3 reverbs, room, plate and hall but only 1 second long. This allows for more REVERB and keeps the snare from falling back into the mix … best of both worlds.

[@pjuliano9000]

Still prefer using a real drummer though

[@pjuliano9000]

Yes ... I agreeb

[@benjaminthancock]

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!

[@alden_music]

Really great mixing tips! Thanks :)

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Glad it’s helpful!

[@streck0486]

This is pretty much everything I've been trying to do, only so much better. 😅 Thanks, Mark! Very informative and also reassuring. My midi drum workflow is slightly different, but ultimately quite similar. I also came to the conclusions you mentioned at the end: keep it simple, do your best but don't be afraid to quantize, study actual drum parts and try to recreate them. Another thing I occasionally do is to record my drum parts at lower tempo. Some things are just too fast.

[@BakerImageGroup]

So incredibly helpful! Thanks Mark!

[@Yahoomediaclub]

Exceptional drum track and the guitar work ..👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@saint__andrew]

Loved this one, mark! Especially the closing thoughts - so on-point with those. Really awesome to be able to see your process and definitely going to check those limiter and compressor plugins (been in love with vintageverb for a long time). GGD modern & massive has been an absolute gamechanger for me producing songs at home over the last few months. It's insane how much of a difference well-mixed drums (and I would also argue, a well-dialed in bass track) make in producing polished, three-dimensional, huge-sounding tracks. I don't typically start to get really "excited" about my tracks until I hear my guitar parts in context with drums and bass...the feeling when they all come together is probably the closest thing I'll ever experience to real magic ha! From what I've been hearing, it seems that adding (good) drums into the equation like this also inadvertently adds an extra element of intentionality to the compositions you and some of the other prolific content producers are putting out there, i.e. pushing you to write more thoughtful "parts" instead of just noodling. It's an extra bit of time & effort that some don't put in, but I feel like it's absolutely worth it for the final product. Been loving your arrangements and content lately man, and look forward to one of these types of vids for bass/guitars hopefully at some point. In the meantime - thanks for putting this one out there!

[@Squidaniel]

I love your disclaimer because I am literally the same musician haha. Subbed. You’re awesome.

[@nickschillace3172]

You create the best content, by far. Everything you do is so informative and helpful. This video in particular is going to help me so much. Thanks Mark!

[@danpechacek3855]

Cheers for this Mark! I’ve been hemming and hawing about getting a drum library/plugin to more effectively demo songs (and likely for pedal demos as well), was leaning M&M but still couldn’t decide between that and other options - this has put me over the top. And with many great tips along the way!

[@markjohnstonofficial]

m&m is a great and versatile library. Cymbals a bit stale but the kit overall does well. I’ve been heavily into mixwave’s Aaron Gillespie library these days

[@danpechacek3855]

@@markjohnstonofficialI was thinking I’d seen you using Mixwave stuff lately too! Ok, so maybe I’m not 100% sold and will waffle between those two 😆

[@brynrietz1862]

great vid! you also have a p chill presence

[@rickfowler3710]

Really love the bass sound. Would you please share what's going on with that.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Bass video coming soon.

[@rickfowler3710]

@@markjohnstonofficial Awesome! can't wait.👍

[@FendCore]

Awesome video that proove that it's good to read your viewers comments and questions! - I work with GGD M&M too, I like the straigh forward approach and the turbo button that "mix" it for you... I really like the room mic too that I use as a natural reverb. I also have some "drummers MIDI packs", I often use one of their loops and tweak them a bit to match my song. The PROS: they're played live with all the dynamic of a real drummer and they often inspire me some stuff that I woulnd't be able to create like a real drummer working on my song... The CONS: this approach is defenitely too time consuming! - I learned a lot about the interest to have a good MIDI controler, I really have to dig into it. - I also learned a lot of your pro tips! - Instead of Devil-Loc Deluxe I use Tone Empire Locness v2 that seems pretty similar but maybe more tweakable (too complex?) and more extreme. - It's not the first time I ear some dytirambic recommendation for Valhalla reverbs, I'm now considering buying the vintage one. Thank you again.

[@michaelshellenberger5935]

This is so incredibly helpful man! Looking to get the modern and big pack but wanted to do my research first and this was everything I needed. Appreciate you 🙏🏼🫶🏼🤘🏼

[@msanguin1989]

Awesome video! I really appreciate the amount of work you put into this thorough explanation cuz drums is what usually holds me down when writing music.

[@Virtual-Media]

Was actually a little bummed when you finished tapping out the drums in the video intro. Impressive..

[@markgueren9633]

Nice!! I use the same drums!! Lol GGD is definitely an amazing drum programming platform..I’m running it with StudioOne professional..I never would have thought I could program and write drum patterns but these tools make it fun and relatively easy. Great vid!!

[@VanDimes]

Much appreciated. Thanks for doing this.

[@valdon116]

Exactly the vid I needed. Thanks

[@ianfreddy3804]

This is so unbelievable, thank you.

[@sunilyapa3018]

a deeply unqualified tutorial. what a great series idea. 😂

[@codyrathman]

One thing that really had me stumped for a while was the latency involved when using a midi drum set in Ableton. I only just recently found out that the perfect workaround is using a plugin like this in standalone mode - meaning to open it up outside of the DAW. When you're done recording the midi performance, just pull the vst version of the plugin onto the track and recreate your settings or tweak further. Same goes for amp/cab sims! I know this is probably obvious to some, but hopefully it helps!

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I have taken that same approach for amp sims like the Neural Tone King. Running it stand alone for tracking and then dropping it on a channel after is a strong fix. Never had any latency issues with my drums in my DAW, though. Kontact tends to be pretty reliable for me.

[@codyrathman]

@@markjohnstonofficial Weird, ableton always introduces more latency for recording midi for me once a session gets filled a bit more with plugins. It's fine on a blank session, but quickly becomes an issue. I was super bummed to find out that Helix Native didn't have a standalone plugin. So I got the Neural Tim Henson Archetype and never looked back! So killer.

[@Captain_Duque]

The great Master class !!

[@alexfletcher9915]

Great insights here!

[@lynoj777]

Awesome video!!! 👍👍👍

[@SnWlf]

Great video. I must have that Jennings bass guitar! 😬😬😬

[@philfyphil]

I’m not a drummer (I play guitar) but I bought a Roland kit and use Superior Drummer. I make a rule, if I can’t play it then it can’t be right. It’s important to not program the impossible.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Yeah this is the thinking behind my “start simple and work your way up” approach to programming. Understanding nuance and restraint when programming is important both for the feel of the track but also for exactly what you’re saying; understanding what a real drummer would and could do.

[@mattcwatson]

That intro song is rad! The guitars and drums sound great but that bass line tho.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

we go where we are excited and bass is my favorite instrument right now

[@mattcwatson]

I can’t wait for the “Guide to Writing Great Bass Lines”

[@samseitz9937]

I find videos like this so helpful as a hobby musician who sucks at drum programming. Are you familiar with Voxengo? They make a reverb called old skool verb which for whatever I absolutely love. I know it’s not the best but somehow it’s got a vibe to it

[@shitmandood]

That's amazing! I love GGD. I've also bought their MIDI drum packs to add into it. Have you ever tried using one of these modern-day drum machines? I've had my eye on the new Korg Drumlogue, but I'm not sure if I can get it to sound as good as the natural drum sounds you put together by hand.

[@rocnroll1715]

Well done video!!!!

[@anthonyrom3110]

Thanks for posting. I've always struggled with Drums(not being a drummer). I'd be interested in learning/listening to your process for Modern Radio or Indie Pop/Rock that incorporate acoustic and electronic drum programming/sounds.

[@raphaelward1711]

I like this guy

[@julienDrcq]

You should Maschine2 with maschine mk3 you will love it! And it’s way better to program and even playing on it !

[@asiergonzalez5260]

Good video! I usually do it very similar but I’m looking for doing brushes also. Does kontact do?

[@InnerVisions68]

Excellent video

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Thank you!

[@craigsi16]

You don't need to programme the rim sample along with the snare samples. In the higher velocities the snare is already being played as a rim shot

[@Andrew05689]

Have you done a video on how you mix guitars in Luna?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Soon…

[@ChrisMooreOfficial]

Great video! 🎉 Is the keyboard the 49-keys or the 61-keys, and why? Thanks again! 🙌

[@AmbientMelancholy]

😎👍

[@worldview3182]

I subscribed within the first 30 seconds 😂

[@loopydemos]

I learned so much watching this. Thank you! Would love to see more of this kind of content.

[@Stu411]

Nice, cheers for the info! I have a launchpad but it just auto maps the drums from the plugin onto it, how do you custom map the drums onto your midi device like you do? Being able to link 2 sample together as 1 is really cool too, I'd love to know how to do it but yet to find out. Please help if possible :)

[@seanbranyon]

Do you use a dream/ mist filter on your camera to get the soft diffused light in your videos?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I don't, it's just one soft box, the two backlights, and a really mediocre piece of glass (a mostly broken Rokinon 35mm 1.tf)

[@Pedalheadshow]

Did you work at axe music?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Nope

[@pod1808]

Boss, how do you record and mix bass? What effects and software do you use?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

There’s a video on the channel that covers exactly that

[@pod1808]

@@markjohnstonofficial thanks! I will search it

[@UmasPapa]

Sounds like digital drums to me. The poor quality reverb kills it for me. I guess I'll have to get a vintage kit and record through a neve console, reverb plate, and vintage 1176, straight to tape.

[@markjohnstonofficial]

We really do need a font for sarcasm I guess.

[@mralgebro]

You play them with your fingers?! 😮

[@markjohnstonofficial]

I absolutely do not have the patience to manually draw them into the midi scroll

[@guylaforce4266]

Nice vid! What brand of bass is it?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

it’s a short scale bass from Jennings

[@guylaforce4266]

@@markjohnstonofficial Tks. I went on the Jennings website and basses aren't available... so disapointing. I wanted to go with Jennings for a change 🙂

[@markjohnstonofficial]

@@guylaforce4266 yeah it’s not like an “official” thing yet. But if you reach out to them they’ll let you know availability and pricing and all that.

[@guylaforce4266]

@@markjohnstonofficial Oh great! thank you Mark.

[@mjs2016]

Do you like the UA Woodrow?

[@markjohnstonofficial]

It's really cool and has a lot of character. just less versatile than the other ones. My least favorite of the three.

[@mjs2016]

@@markjohnstonofficial I see. Do you think UA will make any more amp pedals?

[@martianmurray]

Maybe I needs thicker glasses but I’m pretty sure I’m looking at an unshaven Matthew McConaughey

[@markjohnstonofficial]

This is absolutely the first time I’ve ever gotten this comparison but now that I can use it I’ll never stop. “You know, someone once told me I look like McConaghey…”

[@martianmurray]

@@markjohnstonofficial run with it, especially with the ladies lol

[@masterofreality230]

Fuck it, I will just get a drum set and 10 mics, sounds way easier

[@skypekai]

As far as reverbs go, I'm actually pretty happy with NI Raum which was part of Komplete

[@AROtotheN]

What if I lack all rhythmical acumen??? WHAT THEN?!?!? D'x

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Your daw can fix that 💪🏻

[@nocrumpetspodcast8197]

How does such a basic skilled person make a 30 minute vid about nothinf

[@markjohnstonofficial]

Hey I got you to click on it, nerd.