Composing For Drums as a Non-drummer?

Question

As an instrumentalist I am primarily a guitarist, but as a composer I write for a range of instruments. The one thing I am particularly struggling with is writing for drums. Although I've managed to get by alright so far and create good enough drum parts for music which has had some commercial success, I still feel my drums are somewhat lacking in their sophistication and realism. I'm thinking of picking up some books on drums, especially those by Gary Chaffee, but I'm a little apprehensive to splash out on books when I'm not sure if they will be of that much use to me without a drum kit. Do any drummers on here think I would potentially be able to get into the mindset of a drummer without having access to a kit and compose/program drum parts which have a sense of realism? Understanding the rhythms and hearing them realised with the aid of VST instruments is not an issue, it's more the mechanics and playing dynamics (e.g. one hand stronger than the other) which I am concerned about. If anyone could make any suggestions (especially resources on the mechanics of drumming), it would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

One problem that you can run into with drum programming is that the feel of the rhythm can often go missing. In other words, a programmed beat that will always play perfectly straight or swung will sound totally different from a beat performed by a human. So when beats are programmed, it's easy to overlook subtle aspects like phrasing, rhythm, and dynamics that are more consistently present with live drummers. For me, this calls for a meticulous micromanagement of rhythmic spacing and velocity of individual notes, while adding effects like reverb to try and emulate a live drummer.

In my opinion, depending on what style/genre you are composing, I think that sampling has a lot of value in this pursuit. "Breakbeats" are a prime example. You can splice these moments in classic songs/recordings where the drummer is grooving along solo, i.e. Funky Drummer by James Brown. Loads of famous producers have done techniques like this, namely J Dilla, Madlib, and many more artists in hip-hop and various forms of dance music. Samples like these can be stretched, squeezed, fragmented, recomposed etc. to fit your needs, not to mention great sound quality and musicianship that you can draw from these beats.

For resources, in addition to Syncopation (great book), would also recommend Stick Control by GL Stone and Modern Swing Solos by Charley Wilcoxon. The concepts in these books are mainly practiced on snare drum but can be applied to drum kit and percussion. You'll learn fundamental stickings and rudiments, and get a better idea of the language/vocab that some drummers use.

Answer 2

Interesting subject indeed- as drum programming is probably more common than recording live drums, albeit the sound of live drums is hard to replace. Of course the style/genre of music can demand a more fluid or more robotic groove supporting the other instruments. The phrasing and accents are definitely key in duplicating a real drummer/percussionist.

Ghost notes and syncopation (“syncopation” is a well renowned drum book that does have a variety of patterns to practice) are crucial to help fill in the holes of a groove.

for example, maybe there is only a quarter note or eight note feel in the groove. If you add some 16th notes and accents that highlight the heavier hits with more subtle pieces.

the pushing and pulling against the stable backbeat and downbeat creates a pushing or dragging feel which is more lifelike than quantized robotic grooves.

in many cases less is more- just a couple subtle accents to change the pattern- 4 bar, 8 bar fills or accents will keep the parts more interesting and flowing. Nobody wants to hear 100 bars of kick snare, kick snare repetition. Drums need to hold the groove, but percussion parts can color in the empty spaces-just as a hi hat or crashes can also bring out that realistic quality.

happy programming!