Rap Drum Samples is a blog that deals with picking drum sounds for rap music. Arguably (and like many detractors like to point out!), rap's core ingredient is the right drum sounds. Stay tuned for some great information!
Top music producers often tell magazines and websites that picking out drum samples is just about an art form these days. This is at least partly true. Think about it, the top 40 (and even beyond) pop and hip hop tracks are dominated by producers who know how to choose drums that take their tracks to another level.
Most professional rap producers agree that any song is only as good as the weakest ingredient. While this goes for anything in music and literature, it stands to back up our statements here. Good drum samples can make any song better, while a bad selection or bad sequencing can drag the best song down into the doom of mid-chart locations. Do you make hip hop beats or other styles? Even styles like Jazz require creative and excellent drums to back up the harmonies.
Tip 1: Coherence. This is kind of a problem for many amateurs to accept, mainly because electronic music is supposed to be all about choosing the different drum samples and sounds you want and then throwing them all into the same pot, right? Maybe, but any song - however experimental - should have some coherence among instrument groups; otherwise, the dissonance factor is perpetually increased.
Coherence in rap drum samples can be achieved through a number of different ways. Let’s see what we can do after sequencing. A common effect or reverb is one way to ‘bind’ the drum samples, and one of the most popular ways to achieve the effect is using a compressor. A lot of beat makers generally use this on a few drum samples at a time, such as the kick and snare sounds.
The second tip: Style. What do I mean by this? Since you make your own beats, I’m not talking about using only drum samples that sound alike for your use, no. What I mean is using common techniques like compression and especially filters, and then going further and creating space for each drum sample. You will soon develop your own way to create this style for whatever drums you choose to apply it to. Consider the dynamics and the interaction before making decisions about the samples as they apply to the song.
Okay, so what next? What do you do when picking your next hip hop drum samples? Consider the tips I’ve outlined here for picking and sequencing your drums effectively, but also make sure that you have the necessary tools. What do I mean? Well, consider your drum library. If it’s so small that you start to use the same samples over and over, it’s probably time to start looking at acquiring more drum samples sooner rather than later.
