Do This to Add Energy to Your Drums (Shadow Layers)

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MY GEAR:
DAW (Music making software): Logic Pro and Ableton Live
Studio monitors (speakers): Yamaha HS8's
Headphones: Audeze LCD X (open back)
Camera: Canon 80d
Computer: Mac Studio with M2 Ultra chip and 2 TB hardrive
Midi controller (keyboard): Komplete Kontrol 61
Interface: Scarlett Clarett 2 pre
Desk: a cheap one from ikea
Chair: also a cheap one from ikea
My favorite plugins that I use the most:
XFER Serum
Sylenth 1
Nexus 3
Kontakt
RC 20
Valhalla Shimmer
Valhalla Vintage Verb
Shaperbox 3
XFER OTT
Fab Filter Saturn 2
Fab Filter Pro C 2
Arturia Pigments
Baby Audio Comeback Kid
Output Thermal and Portal
LABS Soft Piano
Hardware that I use behind the scenes but not in videos:
Elektron Octatrack (my fav)
Elektron Digitakt
Korg Minilogue XD

[@JackWebMusic]

Day always gets 20% better when Alex Rome posts

[@HitLock69]

I honestly love how excited you get after making your beat sound classy, it's so wholesome to see

[@daddylacus]

Super cool video for introducing shadow layers to drums for people but just so nobody gets confused, there aren't any polyrhythms or any poly meter things happening, just syncopation.

[@DynastyUK]

I remember learning all this from listening to sample CD's back in the 90's. Things like the Emu & Mo Phatt would have drums layered with random things like little vocal chops or synth buzzes. you don't hear them in the mix but if you took it away you'd notice something's missing. That's the key. Also Remember to strip right back when structuring your song, it's easy to go overboard. Some things are just meant to be felt, not heard. Nice video btw! It will surely help people so long as they don't just do it just because!

[@A-Z-U-R-E]

Keep on the grind man you’re doing amazing, it’s been Awsome seeing you grow over the last 7 years.

[@raidencoombs]

Your drum videos are the best on KZbin

[@musicgeniusful]

Your tutorials are simply the best.

[@Prefesuersheen]

at 1:25, when you have the toms highlighted, you can just press command + D and they will copy and paste to the next unhighlighted part, a little quicker than clicking and pasting

[@PreFusah]

It was painful to see him click each time 😂

[@LokiBeckonswow]

this is a seriously great video proving that it doesn't take much to really make a beat come alive - less is more, and knowing how to use these smaller elements to fill out the space in the groove and compliment it, great video dude thx

[@infographie]

Excellent

[@danielsails50]

This was an awesome video. Love how passionate you are about the music - feel the same way when I’m producing. Super helpful tips!

[@upturn2.]

This is a great tutorial!! Thankyou for this man!

[@danabu-reish8743]

Actually got a 42.7% improvement. Seriously tho, great vids and u just give out the best vibes and energy making them. Thanks for all the vids

[@FelpsxDK]

man this video its just the right tip on the right time thanks a lot !

[@bionikpulse]

Zaps are great also for layering with your snares and claps.

[@olivia1769]

this is actually so helpful, thank you!!

[@worksofein6449]

Really neat ideas. I'm going to use these in my metal productions.

[@jeffreywendel7076]

Dude!! This is amazing! I can’t wait to try it out on my beats

[@davidpaschal6963]

Amazing, Much Respect.

[@deadmenwalking3013]

Some great tips there bro. Thanks

[@nebula1266]

This is amazing

[@edglue6138]

Great video. Thanks dude

[@GaryTurenne]

As a producer I look to grow in all types of genres as best as possible. This video popped up 8n my feed and I must say definitely deserves a subscribe. Thank you for this info. Your channel is dope! 🔥

[@skmakka3166]

Thanks Alex

[@oktaviopd5279]

Love this!!!!

[@youbethejudge5135]

Man that was great thanks so much your the best

[@chocolatemoose7761]

Thanks, my dude!

[@FVTUREDYL]

love this thank you king

[@viktorramirez9171]

Great explaining on this, thank you.

[@quadrantzero3161]

Yes! I use ableton in my music tech class in high school! This helps a lot! 🙏🔥🔥🙌🤩

[@joeyconwaymusic]

Cool! I love that u use all the daws, I use Logic Pro X I’m a beginner u rly help me get better man ty💯

[@rjleo1925]

Hey buddy 🤝i wanna connect with other artist 🙂 i m also beginner producer..can i share with u ?

[@DeuceGenius]

Always awesome

[@markmallory2528]

OMG, ANOTHER 20%! DUDE, I’M BOUT’ TO RETIRE! YOU’VE GVEN ME 100% AFTER ONLY FIVE VIDEOS! Just kid’n, but your videos really do help me with an insanely amount of production value, so thank you! 👍🏽

[@wowwow133755]

the last piece was actually piece ofo art, that groov...damn feels good

[@miklee87]

super super super video! thank you!

[@antenehgetachew9950]

Thank you, Alex. I don’t what to say. You are an inspiration to me. You are selfless, brilliant and a good teacher. I tried my best to take the full courses. Unfortunately, I am in a country that doesn’t allow purchases in dollars. Your KZbin videos are helpful for me. I have nothing except to say thank u so much and may God bless u.

[@AlexRome]

thank you (: I appreciate your comment.

[@parsamoalemian5008]

wow love this!!!!!

[@EngeniusBeatz]

This is so good I feel like I've been doing this without even knowing 😅 thanks man !

[@busybobo]

You’re incredible

[@m5istyle]

Thank you so much

[@JonathanClark99]

awesome thanks!

[@DAVIDDAMIENR]

THANK YOU

[@ALEmix-zw2sc]

Alex the man 💯

[@JShul]

That was great. Thank you. Now I need to learn how you stretched that audio file like that.

[@vijayadhitya6002]

Very useful information brother

[@amrowahbymusic]

Great Indeed

[@Littlegun5]

Omg I f*ing love you man!

[@paulmcmc4005]

Thanks buddy - new sub👍

[@StageShout]

I came.....I watched.....I gained 20%. My biggest dilemma in writing music is finding good drums for the song I'm writing. I can't find the drums I need for the song I wrote. Then I sit for 40 minutes just trying to find the right kick or snare. Then frustration sets in.....and I leave the project. Only to come back and pull my hair out again. We really need a "Set up your Drum Library" work flow video. Maybe you can help Alex.

[@williamz8212]

这真的很有帮助.只是一个非常棒的隐藏技巧!我爱死它了

[@kristianfagerbakk4122]

Most sneaky ad in history x)

[@bradparsonsmusic]

Yess!!

[@barcker4]

20%, yes sir 🔥

[@piotr803]

Good tutorial. One complaint. Polyrhythm is a very specific type of rhythm. And definitely not the same as what you refer to in this video.

[@NappiMusicVideos]

Alex rome da goat

[@jsohi0082]

I've never layed my hands on music production but I find these videos interesting and help me appreciate music better (since im normally pretty picky). Thanks! And also i was wondering if you have any full songs that you've created

[@AlexRome]

yes i do. but since my youtube channel has taken off, I don't release music as much because I release my music as track-build masterclasses for my EDM Bootcamp course. I'd like to release music in the near future and build an artist brand so that y'all can listen to and enjoy my music (:

[@jsohi0082]

@@AlexRome Sounds awesome and I wish you luck with that! Is your EDM Bootcamp free, and if not, what would you recommend as an alternative to learning production in this genre?

[@jsohi0082]

@Crater Sure, I'll spend money for the course if I can. Alex seems very helpful. Thank you for the recommendation.

[@AjayTheDjay]

Bro great fkn video!

[@naimareija4654]

Great video bro,, would like to know a vst having that type of kick, thanks in advance.

[@Dishamonpow]

Neat.

[@Chalisque]

Another thing to do is to map a small collection of percussion to a few keys, bash up some random interesting patterns, then cherry pick the best bits and chisel away the hits that sound wrong, rather than being systematic and trying to calculate where to put the hits. This works better with e.g. synthwave than house.

[@THE.FAKENEWS]

Aye bro. Sick vid. Do you have any vibration issues with your mixer on your speakers like that?

[@raidencoombs]

Like I can take what you explained into any genre

[@AlepouTV]

Alex, Do a video with edm songs bro! 🙏🙏

[@trypto6204]

I love your vids Alex and I'm a huge fan. I'm Also a big proponent of music theory and I would just say that this is not a correct example of polyrhythyms. But still a great vid that highlights ghost notes and percussive variation.

[@MattxYo]

I just realized youre now working in Ableton. thanks! lol

[@gooddays2679]

Mastering tutorial please

[@bunbee267]

How were you able to stretch the perc loop on the time line like that?

[@strongmaurice1364]

Cmd+D or Ctrl+D my man 🙏

[@madal75]

Wow..!

[@brettlafleur27]

Could you do a walkthrough with Maschina

[@TaaTyron]

Real music tips,☑️☑️☑️

[@TheWeedhack]

Alex, use ctrl+D i h8 to see you pasting every time :)

[@SohamChowdhuryMusic]

🔥🔥

[@EngeniusBeatz]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Amadeos-Salvadore]

Hey Alex, awesome stuff; I can see ableton is not your thing tho - use ctrl+d while you have selected a segment to duplicate it at the end of the segment; make sure you select exactly on the grid when doing that with notes; Ive actually been struggling with percs a lot, thanks man !

[@I.K.]

FYEEE

[@squirrelhallowino29]

Gotta admit the dude's persona start to grown on u

[@C_Corpze]

I wonder if this in some ways can also be applied to trap and hiphop beats.

[@arjanpetersen]

Nice vid:) but that’s not a polyrhythm ;)

[@user-ub7ln9yp5v]

Iam asking for a system that you use i like it

[@lilian896]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@quadrantzero3161]

🔥🔥🙌🤩

[@speakingcolors]

What's the keyboard shortcut to stretch out a loop? (Asking here in case others are wondering the same)

[@DeejayWilly]

every producer MUST follow this guy. he is incridable

[@GoddIssHP]

🙌🏿🔥

[@andysandell4070]

10/10

[@tanvirhussain7355]

Should i also bring these element to drop, or chorus section.. or it depends on the situation and song itself..

[@idostuff2527]

Prob depends on the business of the drop and what elements you added to spice up the drums

[@hanyani7078]

Damn by 7:00🤯

[@wesmellbad123]

Regarding those toms, how do you mix that with a sub bass?

[@AlexRome]

I typically take a tom that has a got high frequency transient that perceptually sounds deep. So, for example is not actually low, but sounds low even with the lows are eq'd out.

[@nikosdanelakis3613]

👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@heberwav1099]

Sorry to be that guy but you are mixing concepts here, this technically isn't a polyrhythm it's a syncopation. Polyrhythm would've been for example making that tom hit a 1/16th note before the 2nd kick, then on the off beat in between the 2nd and 3rd Kick and then a 1/16th note after the 3rd kick, that way you would have a 4/4 going on the toms under the 3 first kicks, that would be a 4:3 polyrhythm which it's also pretty common on house music. The rhythm it's commonly referred as the phrase "Pass-thegoddamn-butter".

[@elysiannigho1875]

20% gang 😂😘

[@ChoolweO]

20% GANG!!!!

[@101iswhatsup]

🤯 toms = 808's. If my math is wrong, correction is cool, just the dots I conneted. Great advice sir👍🏿. (Enhancement not oversaturation. Balance..act..= music well cooked is a "balancing act".) Thanks again, I may as well "like and subscribe, let the ads roll even 😆 ✌🏿

[@da4mula885]

Its not wrong, but all depends on what level of abstraction we are speaken. Cause lets deepen it..: Every sound is in its core based on a set of single differences in amplitude over time (like 0/1)=> everysound is based on frequency=> every sound is based on sine waves (fundamental/single frequency) Which both toms and 808's are. Its just that the total set/form of all frequencies, resemble a large sinewave in both samples, and other sounds a certain set of sinewaves give a new form, like a saw (stack of odd and even frequencies rolling off) or a square (stack of only even frequencies rolling off) But even though some other sounds might have a wave looking more like a square for example, its still based on combining sinewaves, like all possible sounds

[@lufphou7240]

20% gang

[@skygazer3696]

20% gang is here alex

[@mikekarloff2894]

This guy us basically EDM Frenchie from The Boys

[@randyjohn8326]

What program is this?

[@Karlush]

Ableton Live

[@kiranmeena7494]

Yes that's polymeter

[@JushuaBandin]

What monitor speaker was that?

[@AlexRome]

Samson’s, they’re terrible. I don’t recommend.

[@JushuaBandin]

@@AlexRome thanks for heads up