How To Program Drum Grooves

[@shawnaebbeson7882]

One of the best ways to do high hats is not with one finger, but with two fingers (like the index and middle fingers). This adds life to your programmed drums and gives a big boost to the velocity changes like a drummer would normally do. The same applies to the kick drum (double bass work) and snare (like hitting multiple snare hits during a fill). Another trick I use is to layer multiple kits together. This allows for the snap of a shallow snare sound mixed with a deeper snare.

[@povilasl5383]

This is honestly the best beginner drum tutorial out there. The velocity of the drums and mixing the drum pattern up are one of the key points of making drums sound good

[@MeneTekelUpharsin]

I love this guy. He's like the Anthony Bourdain of music production.

[@bigol9223]

Well let's hope not.

[@frenchiesfrankieandhenry]

@@bigol9223 lol. Dick. 🤣🤣🤣

[@waiqiao6875]

I love the art style of your profile picture. And yeah Beato has really grown on me since I first saw his content a long time ago

[@FrankLinnemann]

Haha wow I was watching this and concentrating on what he was explaining but in the back of my head a little voice was saying he looks so familiar.. Wel you cleared that up!

[@Alex-ox7fm]

that's a great comparison. although i do think rick is probably a better musician than anthony was a chef tbh

[@SwiftSean11]

Non-drummers; a few additional tips to change your world: 1) You can move any HH ostinato to the ride. Just remember to find the “stepped” HH sample, & step it on 2 & 4, sometimes all fours, or even the “ands” to give any beat a “lift”, say in the chorus (or your solos). 2) Study David Garibaldi’s presentation of ghost notes in “Building the Funky Beat”. If you’re smart, you’ll get it by about page 8 (ish). Then watch the Porcaro 30 minute video (with the Garibaldi concepts in mind) on playing straight & shuffle grooves, & your programming will be PRO!

[@Joe-mz6dc]

Thanks drummer bro

[@felipealonso8409]

Wicked!

[@Phoebedumplings]

whether you are a drummer or not, just watch as many Jeff Porcaro videos as you can find. There are pearls of wisdom at every turn RIP

[@s4lroachclip]

I met Garibaldi a few times, he was super cool...I have not heard about him since after he survived being struck by a train... hope he has gotten well past that.... oh and along with your ideas i like to throw in a ghost note on the bass drum too as if you had pushed down on the pedal to hold it on the head but not to strike it, just the sound of the contact before a double really adds personality to the drums imo

[@s4lroachclip]

i guess that would be like bonham's triplets with ghost notes too in like a halftime shuffle, his style sort of but that is where tone comes in.Too long of a chat that is for here ... peace

[@jmkokura]

A good followup might be programming some fills/turnarounds.

[@bluecollarstudio8513]

The amount of knowledge you have in so many different aspects of music is staggering. As a full time blue collar drummer in Las Vegas i completely agree with your process. I never thought of putting cymbals and hihats on a separate track but i might start incorporating it.

[@TheMikeGep]

Dude. Ok, so 20 years ago i was a recording/touring guitarist in a metal band. Then life happened and now I'm a working dad/husband. Things have changed so much in 20 year. Im currently building my home studio and i wasn't quite sure how i was gonna record drums to i get an electric kit and you just showed me the answer. Thank you for always teaching us how to fish! ✌️🤘🤟

[@jaymac72]

No one beats Beato. Beato is on the beat... I can go on all day. His knowledge and generosity in sharing are brilliant.

[@RandomGuyyy]

You can't watch to the end of these videos without launching a DAW and starting a track, I swear! Please do a bass line video so we can see how the bass works together with these patterns.

[@apatia777]

Definitely! btw redchant you might wanna check out Scott Bass "How Bass Players Interact with Drummers: Being Conversational with the Kick Drum" as it gives an insight of what you might be looking for, I would love to hear Rick`s point of view on the topic as well , with special regard on how snare and tom hits could relate to bass note movement

[@MrJC1]

rofl.. 10 minutes in... just about to launch the DAW and i saw this comment. classic. i almost made it to the end.

[@vidflix]

So True

[@Robostomp]

Could be true but I'm at work now...

[@dillonhamilton2914]

Lol

[@qarthmusic8196]

please do more basic programming videos

[@BrockBarr]

Fake Pianist I agree. how about putting a full song together

[@qarthmusic8196]

yeah.. that would be awesome

[@l0wbtry]

Yeah full song tutorial would be great

[@letsplayharmonica]

I was about to ask the same. This tutorial is very handy. So, please make a second part showing how to program patterns such as ballads, raggae, funk and maybe a brazilian rhythm like samba or bossa-nova. 😀😀

[@hushedtones7168]

Drum fills and turnarounds would be very useful to watch

[@jml19221]

I love programming drums. Great tips here. Also try: Quantize kick and snare but leave hhats more loose with no quantize or apply a groove quantization to them. Make an odd bar beat (3bars) and the copy/paste it into even bars. This will create a ‘randomness’ when listening to it. Once the full beat is done, go into step mode and move the snares a few clicks before of after the beat. Listen to those results. Keep your drums in separate MIDI tracks. Rick already said that but its suoer important.

[@olas591]

I'm working with addictive drums, is it necessary to separate kick, snare and the cymbals? I just don't get it because you can adjust some stuff in the software window.

[@tonypcoyle]

@@olas591 separate tracks mean you can do lots of different treatments to different parts of the kit (add gated reverb to your snare but nothing else. Adjust the EQ on cymbals to get rid of the 'noise' and leave the wash, adjust the BASS to fit not fight with your bass melody)

[@aportman58]

Rick hit the nail on the head when it comes to programing drum grooves that the HH and ride cymbals are most important to get right first! Having these elements correct will make a huge difference if adding real instruments to the tracks to help feel and dynamics to feel more real-live performance.

[@TraderTimmy]

Excellent video! I would love you to do more drum programming. - various fills - ideas for verse /pre-chorus/chorus etc - EQ for kick/bass for modern electronic pop drums

[@rhinozz43]

I love the way he says quantize

[@paoloribaldini]

Hi Rick, this is one of your most awesome videos (and I've watched a ton of them!), you're really great at explaining things in a nice and practical way, but without giving up the complexity of the topics. I wish every music teacher had some of this talent of yours. I also recommend everyone who doesn't have access to free education to explore Rick's channels and buy the Beato book. It's a good way to give you your well-deserved cheque at the end of the month and it'd be a great tool for those who can't afford Berklee or similar colleges to learn at least up to a certain degree. Keep up the good work Rick, it might not mean much when it's me saying it, but you're a great guy and a hero of music education. Hope to have the honor to meet you in person someday.

[@devidasa9637]

Rick ... the quality and quantity of your content is insanely good.

[@perrypelican9476]

Why is it called a ride cymbal and not a big cymbal or something that makes sense. Is there anyone like Beato? Of course not. He makes music fun while showing us what it's all about. I don't think there is anyone who knows as much as Rick actually sharing his knowledge with us like he does. His cool personality and heart shines through. Everyone wants to be his friend. A gem of a guy. Thanks Rick.

[@tezzerii]

Makes sense if you're a drummer. It's called a ride because instead of crashing it, you ride the stick on it to play a groove. So a ride cymbal is one that's specifically designed for that, and not for crashes (although we do sometimes), and it doesn't have to be big ! But you can also ride a floor tom, or a snare drum, or even a crash cymbal, for effect.

[@AlbertSimonMosesIII]

Thanks, man! Finally, ​somebody breaking things down the way I fully understand. Keep rock music alive. So many of these tutorials are specific to hip hop. I just subscribed.

[@kenkreisel6890]

I’ve had SD3 for about 3 years. Not once have I tried using my MPK Mini with it and instead used the grid. Making a song along with the video was super fun. I totally forgot that the keyboard is velocity sensitive and it sounds great. I got inspired to write some rock grooves after watching your latest countdown and this video popped up when I typed in “how to write drum grooves”. It’ll suffice as I slowly progress on e-drums so I can still write songs.

[@citizzencain]

Rick...how timely this lesson is! I have been struggling with this lately...this is just what the doctor ordered! Thanks so much for this lesson!

[@anzatzi]

A Rick Beato video I can understand! All your vids are great, just above my current level

[@TheGuitarEffect]

Hey Rick. Love the channel. One of the absolute best music channels on here. Just a thought I program a lot of drums for rock demos and what I actually do is pull in loops from the libraries that have the right hats/toms/ride and move the kick and snare to fit the beat I need. Generally it stops me having to tweak velocity on hats/ride. Just a thought. Thanks for the unbelievable content. Love it.

[@erinelizabeth1971]

this is awesome. yer the first guy i have seen say to record drum machines in more than just one track. a buddy of mine and i used 8 tracks for our drum machine. we recorded one track at a time and yes, it WAS painful BUT when it was done the whole album had a drum track that could be mixed like it was a mic'd drum kit. one track each for: kick,snare, hi hat, tom1 tom 2 & floor tom and two tracks panned one left and one right for cymbals. it really does make for two things a bit more work and a LOT more room to play with your drum tracks. thanks for discussing that in this because now i feel less alone lmao

[@mikegeeguitarman8991]

Rick Beato you are simply a legend..love your work and vids many thanks from UK

[@Жан.джазмен]

6:04 Led Zepeling 9:07 "The way you make me feel " , "Everybody wants to rule the world", great! I had to keep this vídeo.

[@chasingshadows1543]

Rick youre the best . It will take me ages to go through all your videos i want to watch. Cheers

[@maximyanchenko3780]

I personally always struggled with making cymbals (ride, crash, splash etc) sound realistic, especially on fills/runs. Would be great if you'd make a video on this. thanks!

[@michelmoe]

thanks for posting this, Rick. just awesome because I used to program drums to write my own music and I did a single track for each piece so I had full control (kinda freaky, am I not?) but I've been doing this again and trying simpler ways to get things moving quicker. this helps a lot! and the fact that you closed this with Rosanna, is the cherry on top of the cake =) thanks again!

[@anndavis2920]

As I watch Brian Tyler's videos n see the live drummer looking to the side w/,his head while playing, I wondered hoe does a composer of music write for a drummer? So I forgot that Brian has all these amazing toys at home that can record his music for him as he wants it written. Why I'm so inspired by him musically to learn more about music is something new for me. He's been my music inspiration now for months now. He's awesome sauce. Thx for this brief lesson on drums n how to write for a drummer. I woke up looking for this. 4-11-22

[@frederikmarohn6358]

Excellent video as always. Maybe next video you could do "How to coordinate the rhythm section" or "How to coordinate Bass and Drums".

[@arcaneadventures7720]

+1 for a video on fills, turnarounds and crashes!!! Thanks Rick!

[@vic365]

Coming back to these old videos of Rick has been so interesting and rewarding.

[@BradleyLivestreams]

I know this is an older video but one more tip: Program your midi drum tracks by setting up the midi track as a "drum map" track. This way you can program each hit as a drum "hit". Makes programming life much easier.

[@Damian808]

Bradley Bischoff can you expand on this? Not so sure what you mean.

[@georgebarry3153]

@@Damian808 Brad, I also want to know what you mean.

[@Capt-Cran]

You are a musical BEAST - thankful that you share so much with the world!!

[@marc_leblanc]

I use this approach all the time now. I split it in verses, choruses, etc... Now if I could figure out getting better on fills I'd be all set!! Not obvious for guitar player. lol

[@brandoncrabtree7273]

Superb demonstration and explanation! Love all your videos! Also, superior drummer has some basic midi grooves built in with the stock kit, as well as expansion packs for other grooves/kits as well! Thanks for your time good sir! Always appreciated :)

[@allroads8978]

Thanx. - Jazzhop Ableton guy here sometimes we neglect our drums for time sake ( or laziness ) thanx for a more technical approach

[@19tunku]

Thank you so much. Learnt a lot from this video. With regards from India

[@jeradatherton]

I always learn something new from your videos. Thanks!

[@KookyCloud]

Rick, this is EXACTKY what I needed, thanks man!

[@marknicholson5508]

That's really solid stuff Jeff. I've been working this out on my own, and this has really helped me. Thank you!

[@fatkitty4207]

Who is Jeff

[@Davo198]

​@@fatkitty4207 lol

[@amirkahwagy7585]

It's the best KZbin channel for me .. many thanks ♥️♥️

[@sylvercrow6800]

Thank you Rick, I really learn a lot in this lesson.

[@911truthfarmer]

I used to spend hours with my old Boss Dr Rhythm in the 80s and Roland MC50 in the 90s and just loved it, accumulating patterns and fills for later inspiration. Now, I mostly use preset patterns from AD2 and SD3 and Abbey Road kits. Tweak as needed but those patterns are way better played and honestly much mo betta than my own.

[@neilxify]

Those hours with Dr Rhythm surely gave you the knowledge to tweak all those modern sophisticated drum patterns? I haven’t a clue how to do that, so learning the fundamentals like this video shows is essential before I move on to your level.

[@THUNDERWORX]

Great video Rick!!! I'm amazed at your expertise in so many different areas of music and music production.

[@GaryBeilby]

Heh, awesome to come across this very old gem of a tutorial Rick. Been watching you or a year or 2 now - so the shift in production values is naturally quite marked. But, importantly, I love the hands-on nature of this tute. Please do more hands-on stuff like this - particularly using keyboards to do the 1 man band thing.

[@BenCoultryAfishall]

Well this proved valuable in the first 3 minutes on what I'm recording right now, drums are the last building block I need to be a one man band, producer, engineer, etc after quadrupling down on training the crap out my voice and hands the last couple years (on guitar/keys) - Didn't even know there was stuff like this on the channel. I'll be digging. If you haven't yet, I advise getting a Maschine MKIII or something, it's like night and day recording drums with that vs a keyboard (no key travel, more precise)

[@maryanne2025]

I’d love to get that .. thing is it’s $1100

[@BenCoultryAfishall]

That's probably the maschine+(they haven't gotten this model quite right yet), maschine mk3 can be had for $250 or $300 used, and the software is 99 when you aren't buying hardware from them@@maryanne2025

[@Boyerj87]

One of the best video on the subject

[@janwaldekranz2641]

My favorite teacher!

[@housethegrate]

Rick, my favorite drum programming trick is to quantize the notes and then add lite randomization to the velocity and position for a more realistic feel. Never heard anyone suggest this but I've been doing it for years.

[@jopemo1959]

Rick is the man! Thank you very much!

[@thomasmanana2958]

Rick Beato numba one ☝️

[@KeneHyatt]

You did it again great explanation of how the drum beats work thank you

[@tonygonzalez112]

Absolutely great video. Had no idea how to do this

[@jsolethedj]

Subscribed!. I personally enjoy working with stems and breathing new life to a remix, and the first video I happen to see was the episode with 24K by Bruno Mars. I like how you explained every detail on each track. Great information, Salute to you!

[@qarthmusic8196]

saved my life man!!

[@HeadbangersLocal]

It’s good but, I gotta have more cowbell.

[@librasky]

I gotta fever , and the only prescription IS MORE COWBELL 🤠

[@raymondspagnuolo8222]

Super helpful! Thank you for all you do for us!!!

[@mas_3330]

Ah thank you! I was looking for this last week

[@moffatbanda6001]

i have great respect for you Rick you are an all round music legend ,good vid

[@emiel333]

Great video tutorial, you're a legend, Rick! I downloaded the pdf sheet, many thanks! Greetings, Emiel.

[@conanliquid]

Interesting that you program on a keyboard rather than something like an MPC with pads. I started out on an SP1200 and MPC60 and so always programmed on pads but as time went on I switched to a keyboard, especially for live sounding drums because you can get the velocity and swing more varied and natural sounding. Thank you for the video.

[@sarahprevost4248]

Thank you so much!!! So well explained and it helps!!!

[@ArgoBeats]

This is Gold! Thank you for sharing it, Mr. Beato!

[@OpalOmen-OpalOmen]

Watching this on lunch at work, been doing some solo stuff and havent figured out how to inquire the drums yet. I'd say thanks to this video I'll be on my way. Have lots to try when i get home!

[@kidus9069]

SO HELPFUL RICK

[@sanfords]

Hey thanks so much for doing this. There is SO MUCH to drums I don't get and it get's REAL COMPLICATED when you try to do what you hear by artists like Plini - there are so many ways and tools you can use to do them too. I suck, but with your help, maybe I can make something cool!

[@NICUofficial]

programming drums for NICU's first album, it's a lot of fun, but such detailed work. kick and snare are easy, toms aren't too bad, but man - those hats are killer to get right. still, feels great when it works :)

[@REPS-kb7up]

This was very instructive.

[@srwaite7]

Good stuff, Rick! Keep it coming man! 🕶

[@ivandeus]

Pearl jam groove is great, more Drum Grooves!

[@notyetskeletal4809]

The Pearl Jam drum beat I have in my 'sounds like Pearl Jam' is the one from the song 'Go'. Thats the one I thought it was gonna be.

[@Abc-qs8ir]

Congrats on 1million subscribers ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

[@1badsteed]

Great instruction!!! I needed this so badly

[@mitchmcturtle6890]

Idk why but as a drummer this makes me chuckle

[@danmenard200]

Rick do more mixing videos and mix breakdowns that's what brought me here. Great channel :)

[@dustint2482]

Rick you're the best.

[@thomaskreisel5764]

I m definetly going to make an Rick Beato drum loop pack for my ableton library 😊

[@havokmusicinc]

Great video. I use Superior Drummer as well - it's a really nice instrument.

[@glenesis]

Thanks a lot, Rick! Have a great day!

[@wordofmo]

I’d love to see a video on fills. That’s the roadblock for me.

[@janosberes4401]

Thanks a lot! It was very helpful! 😎

[@ginotarabotto]

Supper helpful man, thanks. Creative Drum pattern creation can be tough.

[@bobz1736]

Excellent video. Great beats with just a Bass, Snare, HH and OH 😎

[@giuniral]

I'd love some drum fills. Pretty tough to do it right. I'm only a lonely keyboard player. Great video.

[@sallyiswaiting6860]

I'm in love with this channel...

[@ChicagoJ351]

Good info on basic rhythms. I’d like to see something on drum fills. Creating a drum rhythm isn’t too hard, but I really don’t know much about all the fills that are happening.

[@sunrespecter9874]

thanks so much for this!! I’ve been struggling to find good content on basic pattern technique, everyone’s just trying to sell me a new drum machine

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

Thanks for the video, Rick. Great tutorial as always. I'd like to share a few tips. First of all, plays with the hihat/ride. I think it's interesting when open hats at the different position, and the same goes to ride/bell. Make sure to use all open/close/foot variations of the hihat. Secondly would be, watch some drums tutorial video. I'm not saying that the programed drums should be playable by human, but it will improve your drumming vocabulary significantly. Personally, I've watch quite a lot of Drumeo video.

[@cloud9savagehenry]

Very helpful as always.

[@johnnytsunami7150]

Thanks for the notation pdf, Rick! Great videos always.

[@punkybrewsterrr]

this channel is so awesome !

[@New_Zealand_Music]

Thanks we have to program our drummer every time we have a jam this will help. Lol thanks for the great advice it is much appreciated.

[@EthanRom]

wow good trick, playing it on a keyboard really makes the velocity more realistic

[@hwarang76]

Great video as always Rick! I’m just getting into recording my own music. I absolutely love Toontrack’s EZ Drummer 2. I’m using it with Studio One Professional 4 and aside from a steep learning curve I’m having a blast.

[@JayKay0245]

Great video Rick, thanks!

[@s4lroachclip]

And with no midi controller you have to drag n drop the sounds into the daw track to write the drums, I will take one measure OR one full phrase of 2 or 4 measures then copy that and paste it 200 times but ill put every sound on its own track and get all tracks volumes set add effects if want a delay or a gate or w/e then bounce the drums to a single stereo track til now, now i will try keeping the cymbals on their own track too, i mean when im done and ready to consolodate tracks, Or ill leave it kind of raw till i add guitar, then re-write the drums when i write a tune from it.

[@TihomRecords]

A great helpful tutorial thank you sir..

[@1ptyuch]

Excellent breakdown of quite a few beats! Love your teaching style.. 😀 ..my only (minor) complaint is that I was still hearing the click on one or 2 of your final products.. makes sense having it there to lay the tracks/midi down (prior to quantization), but I couldn't quite hear the final example on at least one of them! But, if I was doing the work "with you" I would have heard what I needed to, so really it's on me.. lol Great video though! 5 stars!

[@viroxrod1]

Please make a video how to humanize drums, pitch changes, velocities and rooms! Love your videos!

[@JohnnyOttosson85]

Thank you for leveling me up:-)