Complete Guide To Drum Programming

Learn to create the most realistic and best sounding drums using your favorite drum software.

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Overview

This course will first go through a lot of the technical aspects to get you and your preferred drum software ready to program.

You’ll learn the differences between programming in the key editor versus a drum editor and find out how to effectively structure your drum map and key commands.

Individual lessons cover most of the commonly used VSTs and their interface, the sounds, workflow, and how to assign individual outputs. After that, you learn how to combine different VSTs to get the sound you want and we even cover some mixing techniques. If you have live drums and want to beef them up with some samples we also have you covered!

The second half of the course gets you on the grid. NOW we program! We even have a drummer on a real kit in the room so you can see the movements and techniques on a real kit.

We cover the basic pillars of the groove, 332 subdivisions, halftime, double-time, quantizing, ghost notes, Fills and Breaks, specific HiHat and Ride techniques, Double Kicks for heavy styles, Six Eight and Odd Time Signatures, programming subtle drums and we even translate a practice room recording into a fully programmed drum part.

Programming realistic drums is a skill that is learned and it doesn’t happen overnight, but it starts somewhere… and that is HERE!

7 Different Drum Virtual Instruments

In this course we cover 7 of the most popular drum virtual instruments out there. No matter what you have, we have you covered! Learn how to properly set up your drums to get the best possible sound and mix.

The Drum Virtual Instruments covered are:

  • Superior Drummer 3
  • Steven Slate Drums 5
  • Getgood Drums (GGD)
  • Kontakt
  • BFD3
  • Battery 4
  • Groove Agent SE

Programmed Drums CAN sound real

Ask anyone what the biggest problem they have with programmed drums and they will all tell you the same thing.

“They sound fake”. 

Well, they sound fake because you didn’t write them to sound real. Think about it. No real drummer plays with absolute perfect timing and is able hit the drums exactly the same way with the same strength every single time. 

So if you want your drums to sound like someone played it, you have to write and program it like someone played it. That is what this course will teach you. By the end of this course you will learn to think like a drummer, write your drums like a drummer and last but not least, be played like one.

What We Cover

Here is what you can expect to learn in this course:

  • Subdividing The Groove
  • Quantizing
  • Ghost Notes
  • Fills & Breaks
  • Rides & HiHats
  • Double Bass Drum
  • Odd Time & Metric Modulation
  • Subtle Drumming
  • Programming  Drums From A Real Performance

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

What if your course doesn’t cover the drum software I use?

The course covers loads of different drum VSTs, but even if yours is not among them, the principles shown will apply to all other VSTs as well and it should be easy to transfer the knowledge.

What level of production knowledge do I need to have before starting this course?

Since most drum VSTs sound great right out of the box and already have great-sounding presets, you don’t really need any mixing knowledge. There is a whole lesson about how to mix drums, but if that goes over your head, don’t worry, you can easily work with a preset from your preferred drum software and get great results.

What drums or music theory knowledge do I need to have before starting this course?

Once we get to building grooves, we start from the very beginning, so technically you need zero knowledge. However, this course can not show you every groove and every drum trick there is. It will start you on your journey and it is up to you to listen to drummers, talk to them, watch drum lessons and performances, to gain more understanding of what those people do with those crazy little sticks.

Does the course have to be done in a specific order? Or can I skip around?

If you are already familiar with your drum VST and know how to assign individual outs and build a drum map, then you could skip over the lessons that cover different software. Watching lessons 1 and 2 is a good idea because it forms the fundamentals of the course. The actual musical lessons start with lesson 13 and I recommend watching at least those in order from there on.

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.

Masterclass

Complete Guide To Drum Programming

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