Programming In The Style of 80s Studio Drummers

Learn to create drum tracks like some of the most legendary drummers of the 80s.

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Overview

Henning Pauly sits down with a world-class drummer to figure out exactly what needs to be done to accurately recreate the beats, style, and personality of 5 of the most talented 80’s studio drummers.

Sit in with Henning as the grooves are demonstrated live by Felix and then watch as Henning figures out how to program them as realistically as possible in Cubase.

Drum Programming in the Style of 80’s Studio Drummers

There are amazing drummers, and then there are studio drummers. Studio drummers are the ones that are called upon to come in and nail it at a moment’s notice.
But even among the best drummers in the world, there exists another level.

An almost mythical plane of talent and dependability where one must tread lightly and speak softly out of respect… of course, we are speaking about the incredible skill of the early 80’s studio drummer.
So, how did these drummers think? What made their drumming styles so unique and sought after? What was it about them that made the songs they played on sound better?

Germany’s Most Booked Studio Drummer Is Back - Felix Lehrmann

It only made sense to bring back Germany’s most booked studio drummer Felix Lehrmann (Martin Miller, Sarah Connor, The Flower Kings, Dendermann) to help bring the beats of the best 80’s studio drummers to life.

As he did previously, Felix brings unique knowledge and insights into how to program drum beats so that they are as realistic as possible—which will make your music that much better.

Emulate The Style of 5 Different Drummers

In this series, we’re going to dissect five of the most famous 80’s studio drummers and see how they tick.

  • Jeff Porcaro from Toto was a style machine in the way he employed his shuffle grooves. Complex, but sprinkled with flowing ghost notes and shuffle hi-hats. We’re going to dive deep on exactly how Jeff managed to do this.
  • Stewart Copeland from The Police. Maybe not a ghost-note wizard but brought character to the drums in the way that he utilized the hi-hat in the music he played.
  • Steve Gadd (Paul Simon) showed how you could step way back on the drum kit and make it sing by playing it just the right way. No bombastic fills, no “building a house” drum groove, just sheer dynamic simplicity.
  • Phil Collins of course is on this list. Literally the master of 80’s pop drums, we’re going to dissect his classic, simple groove and explain why it’s so effective.
  • Kenny Aronoff, the Machine, the guy who isn’t going to play anything that doesn’t need to be, but what is played is tight and amazing.

High Quality Drum Video—With SLOW-MO

When we were learning how to program Copeland style, we realized that Felix’s hands were just going too fast, and we didn’t have a clue what was going on with those hi-hats!

For that reason, we went slow-mo with Copeland’s hi-hat wizardry so we could catch every detail to ensure we programmed them accurately!

Put Your New Skills to the Test with a Full Song

As is always the case, it’s all well and good to individually learn these techniques… but what’s the point of doing that if we don’t put them to the test?

We took all that new knowledge from Felix and decided to put it to the test with a full song.

Felix laid down some amazing grooves and we put our wristbands on to see how well we could match the performance.
That entire process is filmed and it’s sure to blast!

Get ready to implement the genius of 80’s studio drummers into your own music after you complete this intense drum programming course.

Meet Your Instructor - Henning Pauly

Henning has been programming drums for 30 years now. He has produced a ton of albums, most of which used realistically programmed drums. He graduated from Berklee College of Music with honors (summa cum laude) and studied Arranging and Sound Design. He’s worked for 6 years in Los Angeles as a producer and jingle writer before moving back to Germany to continue as a producer before turning to his current adventures on YouTube.

His own releases cover a wide range of styles, but he is best known for his progressive rock and metal work on albums from Frameshift (with James LaBrie and Sebastian Bach), Chain, Roswell Six (Steve Walsh from Kansas, Sass Jordan, Michael Sadler), Psychic for Radio, Shadow’s Mignon and Henning Pauly.

Henning is a certified Cubase trainer and has given numerous drum programming workshops in the past. This extensive course was high on his bucket list and he poured 30 years of experience into these lessons.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need The Complete Guide to Drum Programming in order to buy this add-on?

Technically speaking, you do not. However, many of the basic principles of drum programming are covered in The Complete Guide to Drum Programming that are not covered in this add-on.

Does this work in any DAW?

Yes, any DAW that allows you to write and manipulate MIDI information with a drum VST will work!

Do I need to use a specific drum sample library to follow along?

No! In this training, Superior Drummer 3 is used with the Eddie Kramer library—however in a later lesson we show how to achieve similar results with different libraries. This training is not built around a single library or workflow and is applicable for any multisampled drum library.

Do I need any musical knowledge to make the most out of this information?

At bare minimum, you will need to know what 8th notes and triplets are—but a complex, deep understanding of music theory or knowledge is not required.

What if I get stuck or need help?

When you buy the course, you are invited to join a private Facebook and Discord group where you can join hundreds of other course owners and all our instructors to ask any questions you might have and find help. You can even show any progress you are making and ask for feedback!

How is the course delivered?

Once you have bought the course, you can stream at any time, right from our website on our custom platform which lets you keep track of your progress and interact with your instructor.

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Programming In The Style of 80s Studio Drummers

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