Make Better Drum Fills
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- Learn how to program better fills using our 4-step method!
►FREE Book: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
►Drums PDF: HackMusicTheory.com/Drums
►Producing Course: HackMusicTheory.com/Bestsellers
0:00 Welcome
0:50 Introduction
1:40 Step 1. Ending
3:15 Step 2. Beginning
4:36 Step 3. Sketch
5:54 Step 4: Spread
7:32 The Example
7:48 The Djend
►3 Types of Drum Fills (Video): • 3 Types of Drum Fills
STEP 1 ENDING
The first thing you need to do is the last thing! It sounds counterintuitive, but drum fills take your listeners through a percussive journey that has a beginning and an ending. Once you’ve decided on these two points in your music, then you write a drum fill that connects them. It’s sad how many producers don’t think about these beginning and ending points, and merely start and stop their fills at the predictable places. But that won’t be you! So, how do you choose where to end your fill, and why do you have to choose the ending first? Well, the place where you end your fill will have an accent as a result, so you want to make sure that it’s a point in your music that you intentionally want to emphasize. Most producers end all their fills on beat 1, and while that’s a super strong place for an ending, when every fill ends on beat 1, it’s also super boring! Listen to your music, it will tell you where it wants you to end each fill. And remember, you can end your fills before beat 1 or after beat 1. A drum fill should only end on beat 1 if that’s exactly what your music wants at that specific point. In our example, we’re transitioning from the chorus to the bridge, so we need a notification fill to alert the listener to this upcoming change. The bridge has a natural accent on beat 2, so that’s definitely the best place to end our fill.
STEP 2 BEGINNING
Right, now that you know where your fill is ending, you can work backwards and figure out how long it needs to be and where it should begin. The way you choose a beginning point for your fill is different to how you just chose the ending. In this step, the first and most important thing to decide is how long your fill needs to be. There will be numerous naturally-occurring accents in your music where you could start a fill from, so trying to decide that way will only confuse you. Instead, loop up a few bars on either side of where your fill is going to be, then listen. The music will tell you how long the fill needs to be, which in turn tells you where to begin it. And keep in mind, the length that your drum fill needs to be depends on which type of fill it is: variation, tension, or notification. Check out the 3 Types of Drum Fills lesson to learn all about that. Our fill is a notification fill, so it needs to be long enough to prepare the listener for the upcoming change, but not too long, otherwise it will build too much intensity. This led us to the perfect place to begin our fill: beat 2+ (in the last bar of our chorus). So, that makes our fill just less than one bar long.
STEP 3 SKETCH
Okay, so you know where your fill is ending, and where it’s beginning. Now it’s time to connect the dots! In this step, the first and most important thing to decide is the energy contour of your fill. Once again, this depends on which one of the three types of fills it is. But generally speaking, with your drum fills you’ll either want to increase the energy level, decrease it, or keep it more-or-less the same. As we’re using a notification fill and going into a section with a higher intensity level, we need to increase the energy with our fill. To decide what your drum fill should do, loop up the same bars as you did before, close your eyes, and listen deeply. The energy contour will paint itself in your mind. Once you know what the energy needs to do, you can start sketching the fill. Tasty fills tend to have a variety of note values, so have fun experimenting with that. But, because a drum kit has so many drums and cymbals, it’s easy to get distracted by all the possible combinations. So to stay focused, we recommend sketching out your fill using only the snare drum.
►Continue Reading: HackMusicTheory.com/home/blog...
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ABOUT
Hack Music Theory is the fast, easy and fun way to make music. Taught by award-winning music lecturer Ray Harmony, and his protégé wife Kate. Ray has been teaching music theory for 25 years, and along the way he's made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), and many more!
COPYRIGHT & CREDITS
© 2021 Revolution Harmony
Revolution Harmony is Ray Harmony & Kate Harmony
Script & all music in video by Revolution Harmony
Book promo filmed & edited by Maurits Nienhuis
All stock footage courtesy of Pexels
►Drums PDF: HackMusicTheory.com/Drums
I almost always end my fills 3 beats after starting, often with a snare and open hihat.
This video was a really different approach than what I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing. I like the fact that you didn't just explain and go. You showed how it sounded as you were making changes. Also, this method is good because it's sketching out the fill before you actually make it instead of just saying "drum fill BOOM!"
Thank you all so much!
Hey hey Samurai Owl, lovely to see you again, hope all's great your side! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed our new video! Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, and we wish you a lovely weekend :)
Perfect timing for me, as I was in need of improving my fills on my current track! Thanks!
Hey Cedric! It's so good to see you again, thanks for stopping by and watching. We're super happy to hear that this video came at the perfect time for you. Yay!! And we know you work in all genres, so rest assured, this method will work in all of them, including Afrobeats :)
@@HackMusicTheory ahah you remember this :)
Well, I discovered another genre that kind of hypnotized me, called Amapiano; and drum breaks in this genre are not so trivial;
I really like how you decomposed the process; and your last video about the 3 types of fills is also gold. I never realized this, but it is so true; and now I always think: is this a notification? or a tension?
Wow, we love hearing that you're listening for the types of fills, that's awesome Cedric! Thanks for sharing and have fun with your new genre :)
Merry Christmas to you both from the UK :)
Merry Christmas to you too, my friend, and a heartfelt thank-you for being here in the Hack Music Theory family for so many years, you are truly valued and appreciated. Hope your festive season is full of joy, and may 2022 be your best year yet! Ray :)
i’m digging the breakdown at the end 👌🏻. omg i just realized it says the djend 😂😂 you guys are awesome
Hey hey Zepla, so lovely to see you again, hope all's great your side! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed our new video, yay djends! How's your music making going these days? Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, we really appreciate you :)
@@HackMusicTheory of course! ill be here for a long time dont worry. my music making has been going slowly, but it is still going nonetheless. you guys have been a great force pushing me further, every time i reach one of those dead ends in my songs i just check out some of your videos to see what i can implement to spice up some of the more boring parts. thank you for the mentorship and guidance! God bless and keep moving forward
Aww thanks for sharing, Zepla, we're thrilled to hear you've been able to use our videos to help push your music making forward, good for you!! We're honoured to be a part of your music making journey :) Have a lovely rest of your week 🙏
that bass line at the end is sick dude. you 2 rock
Another clear and clean tutorial. Thanks guys. Very cool.
Hey hey DM Returns, lovely to see you again, hope all's great your side! We're so happy to hear you enjoyed our new video! Take care and have a lovely week :)
thanks for the insight!
Hi Kate & Ray! I'm running to grab my tea! Now I have watched it: it's a brilliant lesson, and of course a good djend!
Oooo tea, it's definitely time for another tea here too! What are you drinking these days, Andrei? We love that you love the lesson and the djend! Sending you all our good vibes, Kate :)
@@HackMusicTheory I have some nice pu-erh :) Thank you!
Nice!!
Muscle santa groovin' out
Hey hey Christafafaf, happy to hear you enjoyed our new video! Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, we really appreciate you, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks! Until next year, take care ;)
Hello! Such a useful tip on making fills. I will apply it to my next track 😁
Excellent Muhammadreza! We're happy to hear you're thinking about your next track :) Sending you lots of good vibes dear friend 🙏
Great Tutorial as always!
So happy to hear you dig our new vid, Jigsaw! Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, we really appreciate you :) Have a wonderful rest of your week!
YESSSS I NEEDED THIS, TY SO MUCH!! ❤️
Hey hey InsomniaSG, lovely to see you again! We're so happy this video hit the spot! How's your music making going these days? Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, we really appreciate you :)
Great ideas ❤
Thanks for stopping by, Pranav! We wish you a lovely weekend :)
You're a mind reader! I was just trying this. Thanks!
Yay Mark!! How's your tea drinking coming along? Sending you all our best :)
Heck yes! I've been waiting for your guys step by step drum fill video! You guys rock, hope you're both doing well!
Heck yes, it's Spencer!! Happy to hear the wait is over :) We're doing well, it's a little grey and rainy here, but soon we'll have the twinkly Christmas tree lights up to brighten the mood, yay! How about you? How's this year been treating you? Sending you all our good vibes, Kate :)
@@HackMusicTheory I'm excited for the holidays too, a lot of people around me have their lights up already, makes going for walks nice. I've been pretty good(thanks for asking!) This years had a lot of upside and downs but its looking like it will end on a positive note! I've been working on music a ton, plus I adopted a stray cat, so life's pretty good right now :) sending those positive vibes back at you, you guys are super rad!
Happy to hear there's twinkly lights at the end of the year for you Spencer! Music and cats, can't get much better than that!! What's your cat's name?
@Hack Music Theory if I had to put this years emotions to a mode, it would definitely be Dorian :p Her names Babou(after an ocelot in the show Archer) and she's a total sweetheart, gets along well with my other cat Roscoe too, its great :)
Oh yes Spencer, I'd have to agree with your choice of Dorian for the year, however sometimes it feels like Lydian with that strange ♯4! And I love your kitties' names, please say hello to Babou and Roscoe from me! K
I love your videos! You're just an amazing couple. If only I would follow your advice in the videos more often :-) I haven't finished a single song yet, but I will get there with all your help...thank you so much for all the effort you put into this channel.
Aww thank you so much for your kind words, Dominik, we're thrilled to have you in the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you make? We're cheering you on 100%! Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory Still finding my style while learning. I love synthetic drums and synth sounds...just writing something very melancholic with just piano, some ambient sounds and drums. Just having fun really 😍
Thanks for sharing, Dominik, we love that you're having fun!! We absolutely encourage music makers to explore different sounds/genres as it helps with inspiration and creativity! We did a video that might spark some thoughts, called "The Truth About Genres": ua-cam.com/video/Mr5iWrVIX0c/v-deo.html. We really appreciate you being here, and are cheering you on in your music making journey! Have a great week :)
I havent finished a song yet too :D love synth drums and synth sounds too! if u wanna connect and chat a little bit about the beginning of making music we could do!
Nice! Sounds like Ray spent some time in 🇿🇦.
Hi Mike, a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! Yup, good ear, Ray was born and raised in Cape Town :) How about you, are you in SA? Also we'd love to know, what kind of music do you make? Take care Mike, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory I’m in Cape Town - great resource, thanks! I will be spending my leave in Feb going through it…
Hey Mike, sorry for my late reply! Thanks for sharing. Cape Town is where Ray grew up :) That's awesome that you'll be able to dig into some music theory in February! Wishing you a lovely week, Kate :)
hehe, the Santa at the end was hilarious :D
great advice as always guys 😁
Hey Amelya, thanks for stopping by and connecting again, we haven't seen you in a while, it's good to have you back! We're happy to hear our Santa ending made you laugh, that was our goal haha :) Hope this finds you splendidly well, and we hope your guitar playing is coming along great! Thanks for being in our community for so many years, Amelya, we truly appreciate you being here :)
@@HackMusicTheory Hiya, I've not been doing that much guitar recently! more bass as it happens 😅 just plodding along, getting my final year university projects done 😁
Woohoo, good for you Amelya! Final year of university was a tough one for me, so I'm sending you all my very best vibes and wishing you all the best with your projects 😀 Kate
This is brilliant, thank you!
Yay, happy to hear it HAZARDOUS88!! Hope you're doing well and we wish you a wonderful summery December :) On that note, please do send us some sunshine for the rainy west coast 🙏
@@HackMusicTheory Thanks for the kind words, I'll be sure to send some haha. Hope you're well too. BTW, I just bought this lesson from your site, well worth it!
Oooo we're having a brief moment of sunshine right now, thank you HAZARDOUS88!! We're doing well, thank you for asking :) We ended up moving again last month, so we're just getting settled in and looking forward to getting out the twinkly Christmas tree lights to brighten up the grey and rainy weather! Thank you also for your support, you must be talking about the "Hack Drum Beats" PDF, and that is a very good one ;) We'll be sending out the PDF for this lesson "Hack Drum Fills" for free to our mailing list soon! Not sure if you're on it, but we often send out free PDFs :) Thanks again for being here, HAZARDOUS88, we're sending you all our good vibes! Kate
@@HackMusicTheory Yeah this one, been on the email list for a while, and have all the PDFs, they're awesome. Glad to hear you guys are safe and well!
Wonderful, you really are the best 🙏
THIS IS ALL IVE BEEN WAITING FOR WOOO....
Jigsaw! We love your enthusiasm!!
thanks a lot , and what about fade out ?
slaped like!
Thank you
Our pleasure, Jeevan Nk, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you make? Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
I'm from india ,I'm a beginner i don't know anything about music from yesterday started to read your book it is helpful to me and also from your videos
Woohoo, that's awesome Jeevan, we're thrilled to be a part of your music making journey! We have many subscribers who are also beginners, so you're in great company :) If you're open to it, we'd like to share our guidance on how to get started!
You've already taken the first step by reading our free book :)
From there, in order to get a feel for writing a section of music, we'd suggest you watch these 3 playlists, which are all series:
1. How to Write a Song: ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN63jnHQaWD6M3-zuhtMjyMm.html
2. How to Write a Christmas Song (this is relevant even if you're not writing a Christmas song): ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN7u7BQRj6zD9FvCxTGbrnYw.html
3. Masterclass: ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN5Poc5pUuvFlb7dqaJ37AFw.html
While watching those playlists you may want to start making your own chord progressions and melodies.
If you don't already have a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), here's a video of the top DAWs of 2021 to get you started: ua-cam.com/video/8aRx4HMLY5Q/v-deo.html You'll also need Virtual Instruments (VSTs). If you're looking for some free VSTs here's a video with some options: ua-cam.com/video/EMNv1KTTk7E/v-deo.html. If you have a budget, we recommend Native Instruments as being the best value for money. Their Komplete Essentials is a great starting point, and only a small financial commitment: www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-11-select
Then you might consider our Songwriting & Producing course, where you'll learn step-by-step how to make music with all the layers working together (you'll find it here: HackMusicTheory.com/Bestsellers).
Then after some practice, when you're ready to make full songs, we'd suggest taking a look at our online apprenticeship. It consists of 17 hours of unedited video which captures every second of the songwriting process, from blank screen to finished song, while also teaching every single step and theory hack along the way. You'll learn how to start songs, make new sections for existing sections, transition between sections and finish your songs! You can find out more here: HackMusicTheory.com/Courses.
And there you go, that would be our advice on how to get started making music!! Hope that helps, Jeevan, we wish you all the best, and please do let us know how you get along with your music making! Take care and talk soon :)
Whoo thank you so much!🤍
Best teachers on UA-cam 👌🤘
Aww thanks so much Tuhin, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you make? Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory i m mostly into indie pop,bollywood but i love soft rock,rock and i also love learning more about different genera of music.. Thanks ❤🙏 to u guys.. For helping us to know the best hacks for music production 🤗
Cool! Thanks for the tips in song making. Also, what kind of program do you use?
Hi TheRealSky41, thanks so much for watching and connecting, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! We use Reaper and are big fans of the software. What kind of music do you make? Wishing you a lovely 2022, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
What a nice timing, I was frustrated by my beats and seeking for solutions! Also, what kind of vst did you use for your drums?
Yay, we're so happy to hear about the good timing, cause being frustrated sucks!! A very warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community, delorkir, what kind of music do you make? For our drums VST we use and highly recommend Modern & Massive by GetGood Drums: www.getgooddrums.com/collections/software/products/modern-massive-pack
Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory Well, I often make orchestral musics with spitfire audio, but Im still mediocre at composing things. Also, I downloaded your free book, tysm
Can you tell about the changes BAK XIII does in their music?
This is such a great insight for a non-drummer singer songwriter. Example: Me (facepalm) Thanks a ton, team
Thanks so much for stopping by Arshan, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you make? Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
I would love to make music but I don't have a clue where to start any ideas or helping tips which would make it easier to start? (I sadly have no experience in making music because I never found a daw which I could use. I wanted to try some free DAWs because I'm freshly starting any ideas which free DAWs are decent?)
We love that you want to make music, MrxPanda, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you want to make?
We have many subscribers who also beginners, so you're in great company :)
To begin with, we'd suggest, if you haven't already, downloading our free music theory book, '12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales and Chords'? It'll give you a solid music theory foundation to work from, and it's a super fast and fun read! You'll find it here: HackMusicTheory.com/Books.
From there, in order to get a feel for writing a section of music, we'd suggest you watch these 3 playlists, which are all series:
1. How to Write a Song: ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN63jnHQaWD6M3-zuhtMjyMm.html
2. How to Write a Christmas Song (this is relevant even if you're not writing a Christmas song): ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN7u7BQRj6zD9FvCxTGbrnYw.html
3. Masterclass: ua-cam.com/play/PLgYcaQlDpHN5Poc5pUuvFlb7dqaJ37AFw.html
While watching those playlists you may want to start making your own chord progressions and melodies.
In terms of a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), here's a video of the top DAWs of 2021 to get you started: ua-cam.com/video/8aRx4HMLY5Q/v-deo.html You'll also need Virtual Instruments (VSTs). If you're looking for some free VSTs here's a video with some options: ua-cam.com/video/EMNv1KTTk7E/v-deo.html. If you have a budget, we recommend Native Instruments as being the best value for money. Their Komplete Essentials is a great starting point, and only a small financial commitment: www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-11-select
Then you might consider our Songwriting & Producing course, where you'll learn step-by-step how to make music with all the layers working together (you'll find it here: HackMusicTheory.com/Books).
Then after some practice, when you're ready to make full songs, we'd suggest taking a look at our online apprenticeship. It consists of 17 hours of unedited video which captures every second of the songwriting process, from blank screen to finished song, while also teaching every single step and theory hack along the way. You'll learn how to start songs, make new sections for existing sections, transition between sections and finish your songs! You can find out more here: HackMusicTheory.com/Courses.
And there you go, that would be our advice on how to get started making music!! Hope that helps, MrxPanda, we wish you all the best, and please do let us know how you get along with your music making! Take care and talk soon :)
@@HackMusicTheory Well I have to say thank you this massively helps me getting startet! I don't really know for what genre I'll be going for but I'm exited nonetheless. Thx for the help👍
Oh it's our absolute pleasure, MrxPanda! I'm happy to hear it was helpful to you and we're excited to hear what you end up making in the future :) Have a wonderful week! Kate
What daw do you use for these videos?
Hi KungPow, thanks so much for watching and connecting! We use Reaper and are big fans of the software. What kind of music do you make? Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory Thanks for telling me what daw you use! I like all sorts of music, but my most favorite is jazz, edm, bossa nova, and classical.
Thanks for sharing, KungPow, and apologies for the late reply! We love that you don't limit yourself with genre and style! You might like our "Truth About Genre" video: ua-cam.com/video/Mr5iWrVIX0c/v-deo.html
All the best with your music making, KungPow, we look forward to hearing more from you in the future :)
❤❤❤
Kind of funny how if I had just watched this video, my question on the last one would've been answered 😂😂😂
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊
Thanks Jost!! Hope this finds you well and enjoying your December so far :) Sending you all our good vibes!
This comes out perfectly as I'm getting pissed at my crap drums.
That's awesome, Captain Convulsion, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community! What kind of music do you make? Take care, and we hope to see you again soon for more theory hacks :)
@@HackMusicTheory I make mainly metal music but also a little EDM
Cool, thanks for sharing, Captain Convulsion! What are your favourite metal bands?
@@HackMusicTheory no thank you for sharing all this incredible knowledge! I like Trivium, Job For A Cowboy, Impending Doom. Really almost all kinds
Aww, you're too kind :) By the way, we love that you don't limit yourself with genre, and thought you might like our "Truth About Genre" video: wua-cam.com/video/Mr5iWrVIX0c/v-deo.html All the best with your music making, Captain Convulsion, we look forward to hearing more from you in the future :)
First time I heard the word tea I skipped 30 sec thought it was a sponsor segment
Haha nope, definitely not! We don't have any sponsors (or ads) on our channel. We're 100% independent, so we happily pay full-price for our tea, and everything else! A warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community, Nimn One, we appreciate you being here, and we hope to see you back again soon :)
@@HackMusicTheory he he. thanks, will be!
How is all this free??
"Potato"
Hey hey S, lovely to see you again, hope all's great your side! Thanks big time for being a part of the Hack Music Theory community, we really appreciate you :) Take care and have a lovely week!