Project 1: Drum Loops

Your first assignment is to create three different drum loops in the step sequencer, and separate them with drum fills. In class, we discussed what constituted a "good" drum patter, and what constitutes a "good" drum fill. Keep your repeated patterns simple, and save the flashy/ busy stuff for the drum fills. The fills should not repeat in the playlist.

Use different sounds from the browser in your patterns and don't forget to use the graph editor, panning and volume controls for each sound in your final mix. Once you have rendered your file to MP3, upload it to your blog and write your post.

This is a sample description of what I'm looking for in your post:

I was inspired by the sounds of ZZ top, Justin Timberlake and Madonna. I have always been a fan of their music, and I guess it pours out of me easily. Anyway, I started with a straight four bass drum pattern with the snare on 2 and 4 and an eighth note pattern on the hi hat (al la "Legs" by ZZ Top). All of the sounds I used came right out of the FPC section of the browser. The A section morphed into something a little more syncopated in the B section where I used the ride cymbal instead of the hi hat and included two toms in the pattern. I was trying to make the B section strongly contrast to the simplicity of the A section by mixing up the rhythms with the toms. the ride cymbal has a darker color to it than the hi hat, so I figured it would contrast as well. Enjoy!



When you have finished your post, you need to go to the comments section of at least two other members of the class (all websites are on the chalkboard) and leave a comment. Click on the comments section of this post to see the sample comments I left about my piece.