Fanu's Short Studio Masterclass 3: How to do drums in D&B

I'm now on Patreon: / fanufatgyver … so let's build a community and exchange info and knowledge!
Short studio masterclass 3: how to do drums in D&B.
In this episode, I’m touching a topic I've been asked about for years:
How I do my drums in the type of D&B I like to make.
Topics:
* Break (drumloop) selection
* What to look for in a break
* Chopping up the drums
* Arranging the drum hits
* What makes a beat "broken"?
* Looping the drumhits for length
* The importance of ghost hits
* Using Ableton Multiband Dynamics
* Using Izotope Neutron
I'm a mixing and mastering engineer and a producer.
My website:
www.fanumusic.com
My social media links:
/ fanumusic
/ fanufatgyver
/ fanufatgyver
/ fanufatgyver
bandcamp.com/fanu

[@Maxflay3r]

I finally know what that sound is called. Ghost snare, neat.

[@fanusamurai]

This is something i've been asked about for years. I hope it's useful! Use headphones to hear it all properly especially where I mess with the "air" and tone. I'd love to hear what else you'd like me to cover and what you feel I left out.

[@R4NS0M]

I liked that you played the new beak with and without the air, the explanation made a lot of sense for me. I would like to see & hear your approach to a beat sourced from multiple breaks, and how you would get the different drums to work together. I guess the idea of making them sound like they're from the same room. Also, maybe a stretch, but touch on how you might do a beat sequence where the break sound changes over the course of 4 or 8 bears, sort of like in "Polar Chord".

[@droidcommand2861]

Personally i get a bit lost on carrying the break forward as i want to use drum fills etc but it ends up like a messy sack of shit with no structure so maybe one day if you get a few minutes a masterclass on arrangement . I have a years worth of 33 bar going knowhere music. Really enjoying the videos.

[@elmortobeats5919]

Fanu what FX and workarounds can i do to make kicks and snares bigger and crispyer?

[@fanusamurai]

Saturation, EQ!

[@vvraped_archive]

Fanu = genius

[@Digiphex]

I have been watching tuts for years now and finally see some things I will use. Good techniques. Thanks for your time on this.

[@eph_kni]

i love coming back to this video - learned a lot from you and i wanted to stop by and say thanks

[@justintaylor3805]

That was a good video. Some of the tonality tips that you referenced where very helpful. Adding saturation for example does bring life to the tone. The gating function on the multiband dynamics effect was simple but effective. Thanks Fanu,

[@DarkLord-cv3iy]

Superb Tutorial, thank you Fanu. Learned some critical elements here that I was missing, and well explained. Big Up!

[@bigrick4905]

watched this video a few times now and each time I pick up something new. great job

[@dumafuji]

So much great stuff here. Really like the breakdown of ghost hits and beats falling on the 3 and 4

[@fanusamurai]

Thanks! If you want more, I got more on my Patreon, where especially the new series “breakbeat of the month” (four episodes now) continues in the same vein!

[@nealschlatterjr6919]

Thanks, Fanu for sharing some of these techniques used to make those iconic DnB drums. I love the gating you used for reducing noise and making a clean vibe. Now need to figure out how to do in Reason or think about a new DAW.

[@sutusmihaly]

..you are awesome dude..I always really liked how your drums sound and how you sequence them..lo-ve-ly to be able to watch you doing it 🖤 and your approach to programm them by feeling..I totally feel you as I havent had any music theory either, but growing up with a father being a jazz drummer..and we listened to a lot of rhythms at home..thanks a lot for sharing..drumfunk forever 🖤🖤🖤

[@Unders]

Much love for what your up to Fanu

[@davecatalyst]

Absolutely wicked tutorial

[@berndamlauern]

That was very helpful. Thanks for that and keep up the good work. Cheers mate!

[@makhnist]

I thought I've seen it all on youtube but goddamn it, your channel is so nice and inspiring. For someone who's no longer a newbie, it's so freakin' nice to see how someone else works.

[@elbee321]

Great tutorial. Just what I've been looking for, programming and arranging some proper dnb rolling drums!🔥🔥🔥

[@stonepowers]

Perfect masterclass! More like this and next I would like to see from 2 or 3 breaks a new custom beat! Thanks!

[@erazeTHEborders]

Great video! Just what I was looking for at the moment. Thanks a bunch!

[@sToRmZzDsG]

half way in and it's already safe to say that this is the best in-depth breakbea tutorial on youtube, thanks fanu!

[@fanusamurai]

Cheers :)

[@danielmoore6469]

You’re a legend Fanu. Cheers man.

[@baxtronicxavier]

You taught me something I think once knew but haven’t done for so long in my long winded audio chopping (I don’t use the exs much for drums) that I must have un-remembered it, because I constantly run int the problem of having to lengthen an odd snare or kick. The reverse trick is so simple and so effective I’m like, doh…! Nice one.

[@ShaneNewville]

I really appreciate you sharing this. Also your quick mention of Photek (hehe). I found out about drumfunk wayyy late. Ive always wanted more of the technical stuff like Photek since the 90s but never really found quite like his work. drumfunk comes very close in general, which is where i heard of you. I love this technique. I spent way too much time manually chopping every drum sound in CoolEditPro2, labeling every sound, etc. I've rarely messed with looping the tail. I've manually edited in a similar way but doing this in Ableton is such a time saver. I've been looking around to see how artists like you do their drums. Thank you. This is encouraging and always cool to see behind the scenes

[@KCinSD84]

Excellent!

[@DJEventHorizonz]

Great use of the multiband compressor besides the OTT Preset...cheers!

[@danielrhoads8676]

Your video here is dope. it's good. It also agrees with many other drum and bass producer's master class style of editing and using iZotope's Nuetron for tone too so watching the full length of your video really hammers home for me that this is the necessary processing to dnb

[@SungazerDNB]

Great video Fanu, thank you very much.

[@12tribes61]

Very good insight from the professionals 👍

[@kernelpanique9361]

I discovered your channel through the polyend tracker video and from your channel i discovered your music and maaaaaaaaan what a hughe LEGACY of timeless Bangers you have created ! Much respect and thank you for all your excellent work big man !

[@fanusamurai]

Big thanks man, I really appreciate it

[@mkyboy]

Amazing stuff. Thank you for giving clarity to this :]

[@kingbabilla]

amazing!

[@FilipMacioszek]

Thanks Fanu. 🙏

[@addictedtocraic]

thanks a million for the insight. please do one on combing breaks. Legend.

[@elliotvdubz1187]

cool video very clear and helpful !! It could be also nice to see how you sample that kind of breaks into the akai to give that warmth and crunch . respect

[@AlayMansurov]

Thank you for this video!

[@UNDERGROUNDCALLING0161]

cheers for this i use an old akai and this video has lots of tips i can use whin i make my kits

[@droidcommand2861]

Thanks again Sir.

[@poldekh1]

great tutorial!

[@ianlittle1653]

Thank you so much !!!

[@SawWaveSurfer]

Honestly, the MB Comp bit alone was worth the watch. And I am always happy when I see that the "magic" of somebody's work is just subtle processing and the necessary knowhow. No snakeoil. No expensive gear or plugins. (But let's face it, if you don't like old samplers you are probably a bad person.) I love you and your work.

[@fanusamurai]

Thank you man :)

[@elmortobeats5919]

Great! Ive never really understood how to make breakes sound good. I Will try this techniqe when i wake up. BTW ny first time watching you,this was helpful 😋

[@losangulos]

Ghost notes adds to the feel of a real playing drummer, adds speed, and fills the gaps between the main hard hits

[@justintaylor3805]

I'm also very interested in using original sound content for the production of the breakbeats. I'll be looking for the same transient characteristics the kick , snare, and hats have. I agree, using originally created content for breaks is somewhat of a lost are. I'll keep you updated. Thanks again, enjoy creating.

[@Loki_365]

These masterclasses are awesome, thank you for making them! It's nice to finally see some of the techniques that go into making those crazy breaks. I'm just left wondering how the hell Photek managed to do what he did two decades ago.

[@fanusamurai]

Photek…great sound selection. I guess the question would be, rather, how the heck aren't we getting more stuff like that today.

[@groovining]

Really enjoyed this vid man! Thanks for the content! :)

[@fanusamurai]

My pleasure! Glad you like it 👍🏻

[@chug_dnb]

Fascinating stuff again Fanu, that ghost snare just brings the funk!! Thanks!

[@fanusamurai]

Man, isn't that the truth? Such a small thing, but makes such a big difference in terms of vibe!

[@chug_dnb]

Do you ever layer kicks and snares on top of your breaks, or do you purely use just the breaks themselves? Also would love to see your take on specific breaks Amen, Scorpio, Think, Worm, Cold Sweat etc...

[@fanusamurai]

I rarely layer. I try to make the break as fat as I can just on its own.

[@chug_dnb]

Interesting. Also do you ever apply a bit of swing in D&B ( and Hip-Hop). I find I have started using the Ableton groove stuff more and more...(mpc-75 and the drum and bass preset)

[@fanusamurai]

Hip hop can swing nicely, but I dont do that in DNB…i dont find it good with that tempo.

[@Artersa]

Yo, that gating with the multiband is excellent.

[@illmagnetic]

EXCELLENT VIDEO! one person gave this a dislike. that person must timestretch his drums

[@samdubmule]

great video

[@gizmord1984]

Thanks you!

[@pjdahmen]

great Tutorial

[@dickbagel859]

Legend

[@alwithadot]

bruh this vid is great, thank you

[@1710000huh]

thank you

[@KaosVerket]

Thank u bro!

[@magnafide]

Much respect and appreciate the knowledge dropped! One suggestion, can you show us also a few ways you personally do FX to your drums? Like delays, filters, etc. Big ups from Los Angeles!

[@fanusamurai]

I can cover that later on, maybe. I don't do a whole lot of FX trickery though…the occasional reverb comes in every now and then etc.

[@fairchild2008]

Thought its called ghost notes, but however, you are a legend mate! Thank you

[@nate-lc1tj]

You are an absolute legend for this video thank you very much 👌✌🙏

[@fanusamurai]

Thanks:-)

[@aspex100]

Really opened up another use of the Multiband Dynamics for me...brilliant!Thankyou muchly.Now WHAT is that break??

[@MikeBalk]

Nice

[@chidamole]

Thanks for this Video Fanu, very nice. Do you think you could do a video on console emulation or your thoughts on it/them. Don't see you using any I don't think. Would be interested to hear what you think!

[@TropicalMelonMan]

Born in 97 I'm a little late for the oldskool party, but I've always loved the sound of it, especially the atmospheric kind of jungle. Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for making this, always wanted a good tutorial on working with drumloops like this.

[@fanusamurai]

Glad you like it…cheers!

[@TropicalMelonMan]

Are you going to cover related topics, for example that old school rolling sub bass?

[@sannamati4571]

Good explanation :)

[@GuyHarwood]

that reverse looping at the end is a great idea

[@fanusamurai]

Akai samplers started doing it in the 80s :)

[@GuyHarwood]

Fanu gonna have a bash at it on the emu this afternoon. I know there are some options under loop type in sample edit.

[@fanusamurai]

@@GuyHarwood The EMU sadly doesnt have the looping; gotta do some copypasting to a sample to make it work, but fairly easy to do in the EMU,

[@WomboBraker]

hyvää duunia! kiitos!

[@paintedred1]

You uncovered the magic of the breaks. That is really useful. Do you use pads and velocity while producing drums?

[@fanusamurai]

I never play drums with pads when doing D&B as I find the tempo too fast. Hip hop, sometimes yes. Velocity I do mess with sometimes…especially with ghost hits when it's needed. Sometimes, especially in hip hop, I make velocity open an LP filter for kicks a bit, so a quieter ghost kick sound a bit more muffled.

[@gatty.]

Fantastic video Fanu. I really like your words regarding changing hits around to other unconventional / informal locations. Secondly, your input on Dynamic processing is very useful! That will come in handy. I'm very interested in how long each hit is, but I can see that varies from break to break, processed or not. Some may be 1/16ths, others shorter, or longer depending if it's a kick / snare or ghost note I guess. I'd like to see some videos of post processing, ie, making the breaks louder if that's okay? Or, do you generally just have them like this, then balance out other elements so they can all speak clearly within your tracks? Thank you Fanu for your video! :D

[@fanusamurai]

Glad you like it man! I do make them "louder" sometimes by saturation: using saturation plugins, running things red on my analog desk, sampling things loud into my samplers etc. To me, drums and bass come first, then the rest.

[@LinardsBerzins]

Aweaome stuff. Would it be too much to upload a video where you do a dnb track from scratch using native ableton plugins?

[@edgarsrutkovskis1846]

thanx)

[@stonepowers]

And btw what is interesting and I haven't noticed till now is that the 'Multiband compres-gate OTT' from Ableton is more amazing for drumz then the 'Izotope Multiband Dynamics'. I didn't expect that.

[@danielmoore6469]

Did you ever do a video on layering multiple breaks like Photek?

[@syfenx]

Please do a short video on quickly taking a 16 bar loop to an entire song, I need the quickest way to finish a tune or at least trick myself into not hearing the same loop for 5 hours. Another idea is do you start with a sample, add on to it and then take it away? How do you start your tracks etc. My main problem is getting out of that 16 bar loop...loop

[@BookooZenny]

syfenx Picasso had once said "In my case, a picture is a sum of destructions." I believe he's encouraging us not to be so precious about our ideas, that we don't rearrange or "destroy" them entirely once we've manifested them. I get caught in those loops, myself. I think what's happening is that I fear something essential to the idea I'm chasing will be lost if I tamper with what's already been done too much. This is a corrosive mindset that impedes the creator's endeavor. Nothing is set in stone, so chisel away!

[@tomfallon8930]

Does anyone have a solution for looping the reverbs? I've been using Groove agent in cubase as my drum machine and the loops are too fast and unnatural sounding.

[@TimWJones123]

Fanu -- Fascinating tutorial, much thanks! Do you ever layer in additional sounds with your drums? Of course many producers will use synth tones, white noise, foley fx, etc. Seems like you are focused purely on the breaks tho?

[@fanusamurai]

Sometimes! Not super often, but yeah. Mostly making it subtle to add weight. I do that more often in hip hop.

[@GamesExposed]

next video , how to give personality to your tracks with small bits of reverbed atmospheric samples and where to get them lolz

[@haui82]

TIL: How awesome ghost snare are and Multiband Dynamics as a gate. Thank you. And wow, this looping in Sampler gives a nice texture to the drums. I would never call that noise :D When you cut samples with BeatCleaver, do you take care to cut on a zero position to avoid clicks? Does it matter at all or only from a certain point? I sometime like to use Nerve for chopping and changing loops. I love it's "Precalc" functions to go crazy.

[@fanusamurai]

Yeah, the reason I love being in control of my chop points is that i can avoid clicks.

[@haui82]

Man, BeatCleaver seems to be one of those plugins where you first think they are way too expensive but in reality they help you more than you could imagine and they are worth every cent. (Like LEVELS for example. For me the best mixing/mastering helper I've tried).

[@haui82]

So in the video you just put the markers in BeatCleaver for training purpose because some markers were not on zero I think? Sorry, I can get very picky about small details :P

[@fanusamurai]

Probably finetuned them a bit while doing all the chops. Finetuning in Live, too.

[@haui82]

The kind of work that everyone of us love :D

[@fairchild2008]

That hit stretch is legendary as well,I always thought it was texture/noise added, or from analogue mixers etc, and/or from the vinyl itself The Vibe😊 Since you sliced a already mixed drum loop, you do not use any FX like reverb on the drums?

[@fanusamurai]

I seldom use reverb for that. However, check a video of mine called "using mono reverb to fill in gaps between drums" from two years ago about just that!

[@mathiasrenggli9063]

Apprechiate the quick answer man, very encouraging! Once more, thank you man, i really enjoy your videos! Great guy, where are you from? Best regards from Switzerland

[@fanusamurai]

@@mathiasrenggli9063 I'm from Finland.

[@FlamingHotPants]

i never knew there was a term for ghost snares, or that ghost snares were...snares...

[@sndrcve]

Did the mentioned "Photek Style" of mixing kits followup ever get made? Really enjoyed this vid and have watched it quite a few times. What are those headphones btw?

[@fanusamurai]

Audeze LCD-X are the headphones I use for mixing and mastering

[@sndrcve]

@@fanusamurai Cheers man. They look tasty. Any thoughts on the follow up vid?

[@cgarden23]

U know how photek did his breaks?

[@justintaylor3805]

I really enjoy the Intelligent Drum and Bass productions. They're a bit jazzy, somewhat slower or looser, and definately funky. are you familiar with the production of these? LTJ Bukem is one of the IDB producers that are more well known. I'd really like to bring back that vibe. Have a good one.

[@fanusamurai]

I started listening to DNB around the time when Logical Progression 1 came out, so Bukem was a huge inspiration to me. His Progression Sessions made me buy my first pair of Technics turntables in 2000 and become a DJ.

[@IepsyI]

I notice the funk breaks appear to have very loud transients. Is there a process of limiting or turning loops mono that you use to prep beforehand?

[@fanusamurai]

Hmmm, strong transient are great. So you want to limit or turn something into mono? Easy.

[@IepsyI]

I know, I was asking what prep work you did to these breaks ahead of time. The waveforms of that break you start with looks like it's been processed already.

[@SungazerDNB]

Fanu, I want to use the reverse looping for drum hits but I am on FL studio. Any suggestions? Is there a sampler like VST perhaps? Thanks!

[@fanusamurai]

Ez Sungazer! See this video; might help you :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/moa5pZifaZmjZrM

[@SungazerDNB]

Thank you man. I love your music by the way, keep it up :)

[@porpsi]

can you recommend a 3rd party multiband gate VST for those of us who may use other DAWs?

[@fanusamurai]

This is a good Q actually; I don't know! Maybe there are some, but I haven't had to do much research. Ozone used to have a grrrrreat gate up to version 5. If you can get Ozone 5, get it!

[@lug00ber]

Fabfilter Pro-MB is brillant for this, just switch the bands to Expand mode instead of regular compression. I tend to use that to remove low frequency rumble and reverb, and then use regular compression for the mids to tighten up a bit. And then perhaps upwards expansion on the highs to bring up the attack in the high frequencies (like Ozone is used in this video).

[@quantumeseboy]

F***, I used to do all that without computers or even samplers, in a way it was fun doing it on dr-660.

[@BookooZenny]

Hey man! Quick question: So I dragged a Sampler over to that folder you mentioned in the video and it's still setting me up with Simpler every time I slice to MIDI. Very frustrating! Any pointers? Thanks again for this tutorial!

[@fanusamurai]

You can change this in User Library: defaults>dropping samples>on drum rack … if you drag an instance of sampler into that folder, it'll load up sounds in sampler on drum rack when you drop them in

[@pinetreeYT]

"it's still setting me up with Simpler every time I slice to MIDI" you need to create an empty drum rack, then drag a sampler to a pad on the drum rack, finally drag the drum rack to the folder User Library > Defaults > Slicing. You just created a slicing preset. When you do 'Slice To MIDI' just select your new slicing preset from the drop down menu. Fanu's tip is only for when you drop samples into a drum rack, not for when you slice to MIDI. Hope this helps.

[@fanusamurai]

Ah yeah sorry! I missed the point / gave wrong advice :) Pine Pine nailed it!

[@fanusamurai]

Seems I've even done a video about it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z526oqqseNiNppY

[@jrmaffia01]

Great video. Am I right when saying Beatcleaver is redundant when you make that slicing preset for sampler? Because it's definitely faster to do this straight away in ableton.? Just curious why you use beatcleaver even though you have that sampler slicing preset.

[@ceounicom]

Any particular advantages between Beatcleaver and ReCycle? I still use the latter sometime

[@fanusamurai]

I barely remember how the latter worked. To me, BC is quick for marking chops and exporting them into audio.

[@ceounicom]

i was fooling with it just yesterday, taking some of your 'ping-pong looping' point into consideration. Recycle will do exactly that for all the hits (by adding a 'stretch %' and then release times) automatically. I was recently trying to do the slicing and reverse looping directly from push2, but had trouble slicing from Simpler (on push) to a Sampler-based drum-rack. Can't figure out how to make the chops in Push, then dump them to a drum rack with sampler-modules rather than simpler. it doesn't respond to the default-settings the way it does when just using Ableton directly

[@fanusamurai]

Yeah, I never timestretch drums at all. Don't like it. And yea, you can't convert simpler>sampler with Push. I've expressed that wish to Ableton (I'm in the beta team).

[@ceounicom]

*i think technically the term "stretch" - as used by recycle - isn't actually time-stretching the audio at all. Its taking the tails of the slices and 'echoing' them by having them play back a short loop in reverse. as you turn the 'stretch' knob up, it gives you a longer 'reversed tail'. even @ 100% 'stretch', all it does is add a few milliseconds of extra tail length, but does nothing to the rest of the hit. I don't think it does any time stretching at all to the audio, even when you lower the output tempo drastically - it just makes the 'echo-tails' longer the slower you make the loop. when you get slow-enough, they basically are 'reverse hits' pasted on the end (you can hear the entire slice being looped). I'll whip up a quick screen cap if i can to show you what i mean. I only mention this because i think it might be a faster way for some people to achieve the same effect you recommend.

[@ceounicom]

Here's a quick video where i think you can hear that the transients of the drum hits aren't changed when you "stretch" the sound in ReCycle; it just adds a short, looped, 'echo-tail'... which basically emulates your technique, albeit slightly more automated. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHbEn3uXgKxoqsk I'd been using it for this purpose for 20 years :) but i'd never visually done the 'cut/paste' tails and then ping-pong loop them.. because it already doing something very close to that.

[@mirceastaicu4131]

16:06

[@stuckinastairwell]

What did he mean by this

[@Flux_One]

Do you ever use reverse drums, hats or snares?

[@dimitrifernando6455]

[@DeepDarkDanger]

sho us da wea masta !!! he now da wea !!!

[@BookooZenny]

Night Lightfull what?

[@telkmx]

Such a nice video. This isnt just usefull for dnb tho. All the kinda brokenbeat music can use such techniques

[@fanusamurai]

True! Maybe we can get people to make more slower-tempo breakbeat stuff :)

[@fanusamurai]

You're welcome! Yes, looping is key. Whenever I hear people say they timestretch their drums, I say noooo pls dont do it to your precious drums and transients!

[@alancchapman]

Fanu I wish you would do some more if that! I loved the 130ish tempo thing I heard under your own name :)

[@djdocius]

moist_

[@danielrhoads8676]

I'm gonna sample you at 15:min 30 sec and i'll throw you 20% margin on my bank. hahahaha your subcomment was funny. jk not sampling but i laughed. nice INB4 there haha

[@fanusamurai]

Dooo iiit!

[@oussmayo]

ill

[@12tribes61]

Technically you made a Jungle beat instead of dnb. Dnb doesn’t have many variations of even a any breaks. Jungle beats way more better than Dnb!

[@12tribes61]

Dnb is clinical wheras Jungle is more humanised real sounding drum patterns.

[@fanusamurai]

@@12tribes61 Yeah I know the terms overlap quite a bit. Jungle is more syncopated and makes a good use of ghost notes while DNB is stiff. Jungle ftw. Been into it for 25 years.