Hopefully this gets you started.īeat Grids (Note: Not available in GarageBand) I think the ultimate rule is that if it sounds good, then go for it (very subjective, I know). Of course, any time you create rules in music there are a ton of examples that break those rules. Of course, there are other aspects to drum like using the hi-hat, toms and cymbals. This is a good starting point.Īnother technique that I employ with my students is getting them to copy existing drum beats (bass and snare only) so that they get a feel for how producers put beats together. I teach a music production course at the high school that I work at here in Toronto and lesson one with drums is that for most styles of music, the most basic drum beat possible is playing the bass drum on beat 1 followed by the snare drum on beats 2 and 4.

Create a new software instrument track, select a drum kit and get to it! The one issue with this method is that you need to know how to create a drum beat. This by far is the most flexible way to create drums. If you have all of your drummer regions set exactly the same it can be very boring so make sure that for each region it is tweaked to account for the varying dynamics that are part of most songs.

I feel it is a large step above using loops, but can be limiting if you don't use it properly. Each drummer can be further customized by decided how many fills they perform, what sub-set of drums they use and even more.

As Dave mentioned in the comments below your question, you can select a drummer from a set of styles (R&B, songwriting, etc) and select from several drummers within each style. This was originally a feature with Logic Pro X and has since migrated to GarageBand (OS X only). GarageBand employs loops as one way of creating drums, but you're right, it is very limited especially if your interested in keeping up to date with pop music (trap, EDM, etc).

Beats garageband