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I think this is a really good primer for electronic music production if you're going to start from absolutely zero. If you specifically want to program beats,

I think this is a really good primer for electronic music production if you're going to start from absolutely zero. If you specifically want to program beats, I recommend this quirky book "Pocket Operations": https://shittyrecording.studio https://shittyrecording.studio. It's basically guitar tabs for drum machines. Pick out some styles as a foundation and then build on top of it. Think of it as boilerplate code. Being a software dev by day, and a former musician in high school, the current world of digital music production tools is as incredible as it is overwhelming. It's good to have something that orients your practice and experimentation.

filoleg 3y ago
This is fantastic, thank you for sharing! Literally a no-fluff cheatsheet for drum patterns presented in the simplest to digest form possible, and without losing any important parts. Programming drum patterns has always been daunting to me, as it seemed like everyone just "knew" their patterns and how to play around them. Even though I knew that it wasn't the case, it was still difficult to approach. But with this boilerplate, it's like a massive blocker is just gone for me. And by going through even just a a portion of the patterns, I can easily see how one can acquire a sense for them and is able to come up with their own takes.
- chaosprint 3y ago
  Have you tried to use the code to make drum/note patterns: https://glicol.org/tour#sequencer https://glicol.org/tour#sequencer I am open to all feedbacks!
- dist-epoch 3y ago
  Or you could just try to reproduce the beats of your favorite songs. It will be incredibly difficult at first, but after some tens of hours you should be able to slowly program the simpler ones. Obviously you need some native beat tracking capabilities, it seems some people just lack this skill. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00771/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.0077...
  - agmand 3y ago
    There's a music teacher at NYU, Ethan Hein, that seems to be working on this exactly in the context of groove pedagogy. For example, he recently picked apart the amen break in a blog post [0] and tried to replicate it in ableton from scratch, methodically. He first lies out the basic pieces or the groove, then builds up the groove adding and removing elements, gradually complexifying it. As someone who has trouble with drum patterns as well I really liked the idea. [0] https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2023/building-the-amen-break/ https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2023/building-the-amen-break/
    - completelylegit 3y ago
      Look for the Ableton live realtime “reproducing prodigy’s fire starter in ableton”, it’s really a wonderful example. You’ll appreciate it.
      - dpflan 3y ago
        Wow, thank you!
    - notmypenguin 3y ago
      Might I suggest simply playing with a basic drumset in real life for a few hours? A kick snare and hihat are the principal components needed. I contend that you will organically discover a kind of conversational dialogue between the kick and snare that known beats are a result of. It’s something that will inform your drum programming immensely, even if you never pick up drum sticks again
      - vlachen 3y ago
        This pings on something I've been wishing for locally: I would like there to be a music shop that has a short time studio rental (30min to an hour) where you can access a trap set (specifically for me) or other piece of gear, already setup with headphones and monitors, such that you could just go in an play for a while, without an investment. A place to just jam for a little bit and explore, able to be separated such that any awkwardness or shyness can be reduced. Maybe this is a common thing and I just don't know how to ask for it.
poisonarena 3y ago
> recommend this quirky book "Pocket >Operations" edit: oops
- darkvertex 3y ago
  Uhhh... Did you read the site? That book is a free PDF.
dcist 3y ago
This is great! Thanks for sharing. If you have any more recommendations like this, I’m all ears.
- efields 3y ago
  It’s the only thing I’ve found/needed. Just like any instrument, drums/drum machines can be pitched, respond to velocity, and are affected by sounds played around them. Understanding where your sounds fall in the EQ spectrum is huge. Don’t sleep on amplification, saturation, and EQ.
smcnally 3y ago
Thank you for reminding about Paul Wenzel’s music stuff. Building atop boilerplate is also good to remember and do. > and a former musician in high school s/former/recovering
- ilyt 3y ago
  It's not a disease to be recovered from lmao
  - efields 3y ago
    Well…
zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
I just bought that book a couple months ago. It's really cool for punching in drum beats real quick
albert_e 3y ago
excellent is there a simple / Lightweight software tool that will let kids get into drums and music..using this book as a starter?
- chaosprint 3y ago
  You can use https://glicol.org/ https://glicol.org/ in the browsers.
- prmoustache 3y ago
  A groovebox in the browser: https://tahti.studio/ https://tahti.studio/
867-5309 3y ago
this book needs to be turned into an interactive website
flaviuspopan 3y ago
You have no idea how unfathomably timely this discovery was. Truly unreal. I've scoured the internet for a while trying to collect every dataset known to humanity about beat programming in this exact sense. Thank you.
- pbackx 3y ago
  You might also like this one: http://808.pixll.de/index.php http://808.pixll.de/index.php
gtani 3y ago
and anybody that wants to go serious/pro, there's Snoman's Dance Music Manual, 4th edition but earlier editions shd still be useful.

filoleg 3y ago

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing! Literally a no-fluff cheatsheet for drum patterns presented in the simplest to digest form possible, and without losing any important parts. Programming drum patterns has always been daunting to me, as it seemed like everyone just "knew" their patterns and how to play around them. Even though I knew that it wasn't the case, it was still difficult to approach. But with this boilerplate, it's like a massive blocker is just gone for me. And by going through even just a a portion of the patterns, I can easily see how one can acquire a sense for them and is able to come up with their own takes.

chaosprint 3y ago
Have you tried to use the code to make drum/note patterns: https://glicol.org/tour#sequencer https://glicol.org/tour#sequencer I am open to all feedbacks!
dist-epoch 3y ago
Or you could just try to reproduce the beats of your favorite songs. It will be incredibly difficult at first, but after some tens of hours you should be able to slowly program the simpler ones. Obviously you need some native beat tracking capabilities, it seems some people just lack this skill. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00771/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2013.0077...
- agmand 3y ago
  There's a music teacher at NYU, Ethan Hein, that seems to be working on this exactly in the context of groove pedagogy. For example, he recently picked apart the amen break in a blog post [0] and tried to replicate it in ableton from scratch, methodically. He first lies out the basic pieces or the groove, then builds up the groove adding and removing elements, gradually complexifying it. As someone who has trouble with drum patterns as well I really liked the idea. [0] https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2023/building-the-amen-break/ https://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2023/building-the-amen-break/
  - completelylegit 3y ago
    Look for the Ableton live realtime “reproducing prodigy’s fire starter in ableton”, it’s really a wonderful example. You’ll appreciate it.
    - dpflan 3y ago
      Wow, thank you!
  - notmypenguin 3y ago
    Might I suggest simply playing with a basic drumset in real life for a few hours? A kick snare and hihat are the principal components needed. I contend that you will organically discover a kind of conversational dialogue between the kick and snare that known beats are a result of. It’s something that will inform your drum programming immensely, even if you never pick up drum sticks again
    - vlachen 3y ago
      This pings on something I've been wishing for locally: I would like there to be a music shop that has a short time studio rental (30min to an hour) where you can access a trap set (specifically for me) or other piece of gear, already setup with headphones and monitors, such that you could just go in an play for a while, without an investment. A place to just jam for a little bit and explore, able to be separated such that any awkwardness or shyness can be reduced. Maybe this is a common thing and I just don't know how to ask for it.

poisonarena 3y ago

> recommend this quirky book "Pocket >Operations" edit: oops

darkvertex 3y ago
Uhhh... Did you read the site? That book is a free PDF.

dcist 3y ago

This is great! Thanks for sharing. If you have any more recommendations like this, I’m all ears.

efields 3y ago
It’s the only thing I’ve found/needed. Just like any instrument, drums/drum machines can be pitched, respond to velocity, and are affected by sounds played around them. Understanding where your sounds fall in the EQ spectrum is huge. Don’t sleep on amplification, saturation, and EQ.

smcnally 3y ago

Thank you for reminding about Paul Wenzel’s music stuff. Building atop boilerplate is also good to remember and do. > and a former musician in high school s/former/recovering

ilyt 3y ago
It's not a disease to be recovered from lmao
- efields 3y ago
  Well…

zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago

I just bought that book a couple months ago. It's really cool for punching in drum beats real quick

albert_e 3y ago

excellent is there a simple / Lightweight software tool that will let kids get into drums and music..using this book as a starter?

chaosprint 3y ago
You can use https://glicol.org/ https://glicol.org/ in the browsers.
prmoustache 3y ago
A groovebox in the browser: https://tahti.studio/ https://tahti.studio/

867-5309 3y ago

this book needs to be turned into an interactive website

flaviuspopan 3y ago

You have no idea how unfathomably timely this discovery was. Truly unreal. I've scoured the internet for a while trying to collect every dataset known to humanity about beat programming in this exact sense. Thank you.

pbackx 3y ago
You might also like this one: http://808.pixll.de/index.php http://808.pixll.de/index.php

gtani 3y ago

and anybody that wants to go serious/pro, there's Snoman's Dance Music Manual, 4th edition but earlier editions shd still be useful.