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How to Make a Drum Beat With the EZ Drummer

EZ Drummer is a drum editor plugin for digital audio workstations, or "DAW." It provides an expanded range of sound and pattern editing to that of the typical native drum editor. It is compatible with multiple mainstream DAW, including Reason, Cubase, Logic and Pro Tools. EZ Drummer has an intuitive layout that emulates the layout of a real drum kit, enabling you to create beats and patterns intuitively. It also lets you select a stock beat, adjust the characteristics and then edit the individual notes, giving you a solid starting point for groove making.

Things You'll Need

  • Digital audio workstation
  • Computer with minimum 2GB RAM
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Instructions

    • 1

      Double-click the desktop icon to launch your preferred digital audio workstation.

    • 2

      Create a MIDI track. This is typically done via the "File" menu, although some DAW have a shortcut tab.

    • 3

      Open the "Plugins" menu and select "EZ Drummer." This opens the EZ Drummer interface in a separate window.

    • 4

      Audition the drum sounds and create a kit. Click on the drum graphic to hear how each drum sounds. Scroll through the drum menu and double-click on the sounds that you like to assign them to your kit.

    • 5

      Adjust the mixer dial for each drum to balance the drum levels. For example, if you're recording a rock groove, increase the level of the kick drum to give the groove more punch and body.

    • 6

      Click "Grooves" and select a "Groove Template" from the list, for example "4/4 Straight."

    • 7

      Adjust the various parameters and options in the groove menu to modify the beat to your preferences. For example, to give the groove a little more sizzle, select "Hats half open." This configures EZ drummer to use a hi-hat sound that approximates that of a drummer playing his hi-hats loosely. This creates a similar to vibe to an early Pearl Jam or Soundgarden recording. The groove file appears in the EZ Drummer interface as a sound wave graphic.

    • 8

      Drag the groove file from the EZ Drummer interface into the MIDI channel opened earlier.

    • 9

      Click "Piano Roll." This is a universal MIDI editor that lets you move, edit and delete notes, or "MIDI events" visually. The notes appear as colored squares on a grid interface. The horizontal axis represents time and each line on the vertical axis represents a drum. Delete drum strokes by clicking on a colored square. Add a note by clicking on a blank square.

Recording Music

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