Constructing a Drum Bass loop

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Constructing a Drum & Bass loop

Realism gives way to creativity when making loops , although it cannot be disregarded altogether. The most popular drum machines, such as the TR808 started life emulating acoustic kits, even though they are chosen for different reasons today. Bass drum, snare drum, toms and hi-hats are all present on acoustic kits and function the same way on virtual kits. The beauty of using them in dance music is the knowledge that they do not necessarily have to sound anything like a real drummer . We are limited only by our imagination . Having said that, control is needed. As in most creative forms, no matter how complicated, simplicity lies at the heart of things.

Here's a four-bar loop to examine.

• Load loops/latloop and have a listen.

It's fast, frenetic and Latin in style. It doesn't belong to any particular dance music genre but would be a suitable starting point for a number of uses a carnival scene maybe. All percussion work was done in the Hyper Edit window using the Pencil tool to enter the notes with a mouse. This is how I built it up. I:

1. Decided on a tempo fast, frantic, Latin 140 bpm seemed appropriate.

2. In the Arrange window, on Track 1, created an object between bar 1 and 5.

3. Opened the Hyper Editor [Windows > Open Hyper Edit] and chose a General MIDI Drum Set from the drop-down menu, just above the Parameter box (right). GM drum sets can also be created using [Hyper > Create GM Drum Set].

   
   

   

   
   

4. On the Kick 1 line, placed an event on every beat of each bar.

   
   

   

   
   

5. On the Ped HH line, entered a beat on every other eighth -note. Placing them between the bass drum adds a sense of urgency.

   
   

   

   
   

6. On the O Surdo line, entered a simple back-beat pattern.

   
   

   

   
   

7. On the SD 1 line, entered a pattern between bars 1 and 3, then copied it between bars 3 and 5. It's the snare that brings this pattern alive . I kept it simple to begin with and...

8. ...changed the Grid value to 32 and created snare rolls. For realism, drew a velocity ramp with the Crosshair tool.

   
   

   

   
   

9. On the H Agogo line, entered a pattern in bar 1 and copied it throughout the loop.

   
   

   

   
   

10. On the Vibra line, entered a beat on the last sixteenth of bar 4. As each new cycle begins, this has the effect of anticipating the first beat and adds to the urgency.

    
    

    

    
    

11. On the Splash line, placed an event on the third beat of bar 2.

    
    

    

    
    

12. On the H Bongo and L Bongo line, added some, er ... bongos!

    
    

    

    
    

13. Added a meaty bass line. This was not entered with the mouse, but played in real time and left unquantized. Logic's ES M was used.

    
    

    

    
    
    

    

    
    

    More could be done. Experiment with it yourself if you like. Congas, whistles anything you fancy really!

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