Customer Reviews

Drum Programming: A Complete Guide to Program and Think Like a Drummer

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Ages ago I was in band, playing guitar, writing and recording songs. I've just started getting back into music again, and have purchased a Boss 880 Dr. Rhythm drum machine. Played around with it, lots of fun, and then thought "ok, so how do I program some of my own beats into this thing?". Everywhere I turned, the responses were "read the manual" or "just use samples" and then finally "well the best way to learn to program drums is to learn to play drums". Great, so I'm going to have to spend years learning how to physically co-ordinate my limbs when what I really need is a basic understanding of the fundamentals of how beats work in popular music.
Then I found and ordered this book. Ray has done a great job. He provides the information in a clear, concise manner. Its amazing that this book was written in 1991, and yet it feels like it could have been written yesterday. This is because the book teaches how to think about beats and program them in a way that is realistic to what an actual drummer could play. He uses a simple to understand chart method that is based on 16th notes, just like the old Roland TR 909 interface, super easy to understand. Ray gets right to the point, and then has you program in some example beats. Things are immediately becoming much clearer to me, and I'm only half way through the book. If you're not a drummer, but want to learn how to program your drum machine so that it sounds realistic and not like a "beat box" then this book is for you. The Boss Dr. Rhythm 880 is aimed at guitar/bass players, and they should really include a copy of this book with every unit they sell. Its really amazing how hard it is to find information on how to decide WHAT to program into a drum machine, and Ray does a great job with this text. Thanks Ray!

Although there are many books available on the various Digital Audio Workstations, most of them just cover the software and assume you'll know things like drum programming. Fortunately this book provides that missing information. I have no musical aptitude and have never gotten anything out of a book on music until I read this one. I had to figure out how to apply its instructions to a specific drum machine, ReDrum in Propellerhead Reason, but other than that it was really easy to understand and I was immensely pleased with the results. I feel like I'm finally making some progress in mastering Propellerhead Reason! Drum programming is easy given some good instructions and you'll find that in this book.

The book itself is fairly short, only 54 pages of actual text with a lot of space taken up by drum tabulatures. It is oversized like a lot of music books. It resembles a song book. But it is cheap enough and thoroughly explains a topic that you won't find covered in most digital music manuals or books.

I bought this book based on another review that said it would complement the Boss DR-880 and help me learn to think like a drummer. I did learn a few things around the basic use of cymbals and toms, but on the whole it was nothing I hadn't already figured out. It's crudely written but gets right to the point. You certainly won't learn how to compose any complex rhythms, but it might be enough to get you going if you haven't used a drum machine before and are very intimidated by it. I'm not sure anyone can teach how to compose fills that sound realistic, and this book didn't help me there. But for the price, I guess it was OK.

At first I thought - Oh No - This book was written in 1991.

So, why do I think it's a wonderful book? You need to know something about me. I'm an old man now with a hobby of making music. I'm using Reason & Record - amazing programs. Long ago I studied classical music - specifically Theory & Composition. Had a year of study on an early Moog - huge - lots of patch cords & tape recorders. Also, I gave up listening to popular music about the time the Beatles were starting.

Now I'm writing some 'popular' tunes. Including drum parts. I could easily include everything using Reason. Cut & paste - vary something here & there. But I want to know what I'm doing.

Drum Programming: A Complete Guide to Program & Think Like a Drummer is written to help someone program a 1991 drum machine. It starts with the basics - pictures of drums with explanations of their use. Some information about measures & time signatures which is minimized in this book. I found a section on Song Structure very helpful. I learned about Chorus, Verse, Bridge, etc. and how they arrange into a song.

Now, I was ready to learn about the Kick & Snare drum & how they are typically employed. Lots of patterns are shown in tabulature diagrams with advice on how to vary them. The book moves to incorporating the Hi-hat into the drum part. It goes on to Tom-toms & rhythm fills, then the cymbals. Finally it shows some Intros, Bridges & Finales. This book is exactly what I wanted & needed.

Since then & have watched some drummers with great interest. I can see just how they do what the book explains, although some things are different. I have a much greater admiration for drummers as well as the form of popular music now.

It great reading! good info for the beginner and even for the experienced.
It really is a joy to read and has lots of detail to. Get one if you have the chance.
If you aer not a drummer but you like to program drum patterns in your hardware or software drummachine then this gives you everything you need. Patterns in the book are by the way more rock/pop orientated then dance. But with the basics learned you will know enough to program your own weird drumloops.

this is a great book for those looking to learn to program their own beats.It teaches you the basics such as time signatures,quantization,song structure and the dynamics to bring your beats to life(instead of just making generic static beats).It doesn't simply feed you basic patterns for you to copy.Sure its from the 90's and its geared mainly for rock beats, but the fundamentals it teaches are universal.As an avid beat boxer i have always had a good sense of rhythm but i was never able to translate this into a drum machine. This book helped me to formulate a plan to be able to take the beat in my head and make it materialize.It also helps you to familiarize yourself with different aspects and features of your drum machine with out overwhelming you with jargon.
I used this book with a yamaha RX5 drum machine(excellent learning tool and overall great drum machine).This book is the real deal for those seeking to learn to make their own drum tracks not simply add someone else's beats do their arsenal.

Well, I bought this book about half a year ago: is avery comprensible guide about how to program drum machines (or drum software), from the basics, sounding like a real drum pattern. My original book was stolen (with my laptop). Now I have my second new copy. This book is " a must " that all compumusic man must have!

Best introduction to how to make drum-like drum patterns and complete songs on a drum machine. Teaches how to use all drum machines, like, what is the "quantize" function. Lots of great tips and guidelines for rock and pop music drum lines. Experienced drum programmers and song producers might find it too basic. Also, this is not a cook book of "cool drum lines". If you're looking for cool drum patterns, best to google "drum tabs + [your favorite band]". I have many years of experience as a guitarist and songwriter so I already knew a lot of the information in this book but the book was well worth while. I was able to work through the entire book in an evening and it will definitely help me make better drum lines for songs.

i bought this book thinking it would help me program my drum beats to sound better and more advanced. but its basically just a begginers guide to programming only the very basics here. Theres not much info in way of good fills or beats or anything like that it just simply gives you a really step by step really straight forward guide to programming beats again its a good book if your just starting out with a drum machine or a drum program and have no idea where to begin or dont know anything about music. but if u have just even a little experience its kind of a waste of money... i ended up giving it to my friend the second day i had it it only took me one day to read threw it and i didnt learn anything new and my friend was new to programing drums so i just gave it it to him .

I bought this book to learn more about drum programming. This product delivers! There are many patterns the book gives you to program. Walking through these help you to familiarize yourself with the programming process and your drum machine or software. This alone is reason enough to buy this book, because it builds confidence in the user from a practical standpoint, so the creative process will be unhindered. Great buy!