NOOB HOME RECORDING (007): Laying The Foundation

I finally mustered enough motivation to continue my home recording adventures... well, being sick  and cooped up in the bedroom all day had something to do with it.

I fired up Reaper and continued working on the basic drum pattern on Plastic Flowers using BFD Eco.

Laying the "basic drum pattern" is my preferred method for starting a song project. It's as simple as setting the tempo, key in alternating base drum and snare pattern,  then copying and pasting the pattern to last the entire length of the song.

Doing so gives me, one, a better metronome as opposed to the usual beep sound that comes with most DAWs, and second, it serves as my drum template. I would already have one-third of my drum programming done since all I have to do next is add the embellishments.

NOOB HOME RECORDING (004) - Adding Drum Fills

A drum VST's preset patterns repeating over and over through several bars can quickly become boring and will scream fake. So taking the time programming from scratch or tweaking presets can go a long way.  Adding drum fills can even take the song further and break the monotony.

NOOB HOME RECORDING (003) - VST Drum Programming

Nothing beats having real drums with a real drummer playing behind it. As with almost everything with this hobby, the drum kit or kits, the number of mics needed to capture the sound, studio rental if you happen to primarily work in your bedroom... all come at a cost. Not to mention hiring an experienced drummer if you don't already know one who is willing to work for free. I have none of the above so the next best thing is the drum machine or virtual drums.

NOOB HOME RECORDING (002) - Lining Up Drum Beats

For the benefit of total beginners, I would like to point you to the Glossary link at the top. This will come in handy as I throw out a bunch of acronyms and foreign sounding terms. -Mario

After finding a suitable version of The Metro for a scratch track, it's time to get busy with drums or drum programming. In my case, it's the latter since I don't know any drummer, I don't own real drums and even if I did, I won't do a good job at it. Enter, the drum Virtual Studio Technology instrument or VSTi for short.