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programming breakbeat
 

offline death-pengwin from Medicine Hat (Canada) on 2003-10-01 18:32 [#00886143]
Points: 601 Status: Lurker



ok, i have been making music for three years now and i
still am extremely intimidated by the drum machine.
i use cool edit pro (and have been for 3 years) and i know
it inside out... i know it better than my own mother.
i read the reason manual back to front, and many times
over... i know it really fucking well.
i can reason pretty well.
but i can't program a drum beat for the fuck of me.
it has been and endless source of frustration and confusion.
most nights are spent curled up in the fetal postion crying
because of this.
i can make sorta of beats... but not anything good......
,,, like break beat.
i have searched the internet for tutorials on programming
break beat, but with no luck.
so i can only hope someone out that can hook a desperate
brotha up with some links , or tutorials.
for the love god help me........


 

offline pomme de terre from obscure body in the SK System on 2003-10-01 18:38 [#00886149]
Points: 11941 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



holy shit dude, i haven't seen you in a long time.

anyhow..

the sound of a breakbeat is particular to just that, break
beat.. that have been sampled.

you can not get a breakbeat sound from a drum machine
(unless you are really, really good)

you need to d/l some classic breakbeats and work with them.

maybe if you posted a sample of some of your work i and
others could give you some pointers?

my first thought would be start punding out beats with your
hands or some pencils or something.. nothing will get you
more familliar with the behavior of a break beat than
knowing how they act in a real-live, real time
environment..

there are some great threads on breakbeat programming i can
dig up for you if that will help.

but yeah, post what you got and ill try to see where its
lacking, if it even is.. :)

snuh~


 

offline corticalstim from Canada on 2003-10-01 18:46 [#00886161]
Points: 3885 Status: Regular | Followup to death-pengwin: #00886143



where is Cranbrook?

i would suggest listening to a lot of old funk tunes and
getting a feel for how they used to use their sounds, and
how to use fills correctly - then grab a few old loops and
mess around with them, slice em up and screw around with
your sounds

it took me months to learn how to make breaks and sliced
beats - just keep practicing and expirimenting


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2003-10-01 18:56 [#00886166]
Points: 21454 Status: Regular



I have never used either of those programs, only modplug
tracker. Percussion organization seems much simpler than
melody because any percussion sound can overlap with any
other one without sounding awkward.

Here are my suggestions:

1) use a really fast tempo even if you don't want a fast
beat. pretend as if only every fourth or eighth row exists
so that you have empty space to work with in rearranging
positions.

2) usually it seems the beats that sound good are the ones
that have repetition with a slight change. for example a
base drum could go:

0--0--0-

on the first repetition and then go:

0--0-0--
on the second repetition (a slight change). I could send you
modplug tracker probably with simple examples and
explanations if you want.


 

offline od_step_cloak from Pleth (Australia) on 2003-10-01 18:58 [#00886170]
Points: 3803 Status: Regular



dude breaks aren't that hard, try this:

closed hihat every two steps
snare on 5th and 13th step
bassdrum on 1st, 8th and 11th step

really simple break.

from there you just gotta really learn by yourself, it's not
too hard, shit, even i did it and i'm really really stupid


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2003-10-01 18:59 [#00886173]
Points: 21454 Status: Regular



3) make seperate but simultaneous patterns using about 4
different percussion samples, each sample in a different
pattern. Make sure that step 1 and 2 are taken into account
above. Now make about 4 identical patterns of this. Now make
each of these 4 patterns unique by randomly copying small
parts and pasting them elsewhere.


 

offline death-pengwin from Medicine Hat (Canada) on 2003-10-01 19:02 [#00886174]
Points: 601 Status: Lurker



pomm:

yes it is good to see you too!
that is what i want to do is make that break beat right from
scratch.
i can't bear to use someelse's drums!!
i have no clue where to start!

mmmwwwMwwwmmm

thats usually how i do my drum programming. fast tempo and
choatic placement, but the tranisitions are always obvious
and sound so shitty



 

offline death-pengwin from Medicine Hat (Canada) on 2003-10-01 19:07 [#00886178]
Points: 601 Status: Lurker



od_step_cloak

i just did that in reason... holy fuck! that is amazing that
is the beat sounding beat i have ever made!


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2003-10-01 19:21 [#00886194]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular



try making two loops of a simple hip hop beat. snare on the
3 and the 7 and kick on the 1 and 5. throw some hats in
there and loop at about 90 bpm. then double the bpms and
move those snares around a bit but keep the kicks the same.
add a kick here and there but don't over do it.
try raising the pitch of the last snare in a set of 4
loops.
add a crash on the first kick in each set of 4 loops.

does any of that make sense?

i don't know if that's considered a break but awkward
hip-hop beats with steady kicks sound phat at higher bpm's.

another trick that i have heard works (never tried it) is
find a song you like and sample the whole fucking thing.
then build your drum beat right on top of it, putting in
your own snares and kicks on top of it's snares and kicks.
then delete the song you used as a template and make some
adjustments to your new loop.

this is a good cure for writers block too.


 

offline oxygenfad from www.oxygenfad.com (Canada) on 2003-10-01 19:45 [#00886231]
Points: 4442 Status: Regular



Buy a drum kit and understand how beats work. Sounds gay but
its the truth.

Other then that as long you have a snare for ever 5th and
13th note , everything else doesnt matter .... it will sound
good lol.

I got some tutorials I can scan for you, anyone email me if
interested.


 

offline mimi on 2003-10-01 21:24 [#00886320]
Points: 5721 Status: Regular



no shit, rudament books help too



 

offline od_step_cloak from Pleth (Australia) on 2003-10-01 22:30 [#00886435]
Points: 3803 Status: Regular



for variation try adding open hihats 2 steps before the
snares (ie on the 3rd and 11th steps) that close on the
snare. ie don't let the hihat sound continue after the snare
sound.

also try adding a snare with slightly lower volume on the
7th and/orr 16th steps.

this is kind of hard to map out in my head (esp. with the
step umbers!) without like fruityloops or something in front
of me...


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-10-01 22:32 [#00886437]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Try experimenting otherwise you will just be one of the
other formulaic clowns like everyone on this board.


 

offline pachi from yo momma (United States) on 2003-10-01 22:44 [#00886447]
Points: 8984 Status: Lurker



FL works for me. just open up the FruitySlicer, load up a
break sample, and open up the PianoRoll and you're good to
go. way easier than CoolEdit (older version) in that regard.


 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2003-10-01 22:46 [#00886449]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #00886437



except you of course


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-10-01 22:53 [#00886454]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag



Nice of you to recognise my talent. Normally people of a
lower standard are less willing to accept this fact. I
applaude you.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-10-01 22:55 [#00886455]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to ecnadniarb: #00886454 | Show recordbag



I didn't mean that as a put down. There are a lot of people
who would be happy to make do with your talent.


 

offline od_step_cloak from Pleth (Australia) on 2003-10-02 00:15 [#00886499]
Points: 3803 Status: Regular



hahahaha this coming from a guy whos name is braindance
backwards :P


 

offline rockenjohnny from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2003-10-02 00:18 [#00886502]
Points: 7983 Status: Lurker



i got breakbeats in essence in safe scrunch, but its
filtered into gescom oblivion :]


 

offline oxygenfad from www.oxygenfad.com (Canada) on 2003-10-02 00:26 [#00886510]
Points: 4442 Status: Regular



Back in the fasttracker days I use to download XMs and study
how people would program things.
Like with anything its a process of learning. Go out on a
limb and find some reading material. There is no BREAKBEAT
secret we arnt telling you. Knowledge is power.


 

offline rockenjohnny from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2003-10-02 00:29 [#00886512]
Points: 7983 Status: Lurker



i gotta say death pengwin, your avatar is the original and
best


 

offline pf from Finland on 2003-10-02 04:05 [#00886722]
Points: 3316 Status: Lurker



i agree, knowledge is power.. even tho i dont know shit
about breakbeats.. but overally


 

offline lucifer on 2003-10-02 04:33 [#00886744]
Points: 328 Status: Lurker



use your ears to listen - eyes to see -> combination of
these 2 + persistance and don't give up.then you'll become a
ninja.....
sorry can't help you really .why don't you sample a
breakbeat first ,.figger out the original speed..timestretch
it to the speed you're using in you're track. Cut it up so
you've got seperate kick snares and what not--or start out
using larger portions of the wave and mess with that....good
way of getting a grips with the fundamentals. You can always
alter the completed sequences later on for originality sake.


 

offline ecnadniarb on 2003-10-02 07:37 [#00886898]
Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to od_step_cloak: #00886499 | Show recordbag



I was trying to get a rise out of someone for a laugh. I'm
still a long long way behind a lot of you fools, but I can
keep plodding on and eventually I will get to where I want
to go :P


 

offline Ceri JC from Jefferson City (United States) on 2003-10-02 11:31 [#00887117]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to ecnadniarb: #00886898 | Show recordbag



You should plough because you want to plow. Keep your head
facing down and when you look up, the others will be far
behind you.


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2003-10-02 11:36 [#00887126]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #00886437



lol

"formulaic clown?" i prefer to sound more like a
cookie-cutter boob.


 

offline japes from Suriname on 2003-10-02 12:00 [#00887152]
Points: 520 Status: Lurker



Perhaps you're just not suited to making breaks. I'm shit at
ambient, it all comes out sounding flat and predictable. I'd
like to do it well, but I can't.

Just do what you're good at mate.


 

offline japes from Suriname on 2003-10-02 12:11 [#00887170]
Points: 520 Status: Lurker



Though come to think of it I really wanted to be able to
make breakbeats and I can now despite being shit so maybe it
is just practice. I love beats though and I'm quite happy to
work on a pattern for 3 hours at a stretch.


 


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