Essential Tools

So you want to program some drum beats, and maybe make some music on your computer as well

So where do you start? And what exactly do you need to get going?

I am going to assume that you already have a reasonably fast desktop or laptop computer with a broadband internet connection, running Windows Vista or Windows 7, with a mouse, webcam, microphone, a decent monitor and a set of PC Speakers. I use Dell computers and a Telstra BigPond Internet broadband connection (available in Australia).

You will need 4 different items of kit as a minimum: A computer, an audio interface a midi controller keyboard and some music production software such as a digital audio workstation (or DAW).

I use a Dell desktop PC, a Focusrite Saffire USB 6 Audio/Midi interface and an Akai MPK49 Midi Controller Keyboard. EReason, Reaper and Mixraft would definately be my “go to” programs.

 SUMMARY OF ESSENTIAL TOOLS

1) An Audio/ Video Player – Grab Videolan’s VLC as your video and audio player of choice.

2) An Audio Recorder/Editor or a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) – Try out Goldwave and Total Recorder. Try out a DAW like Reason 6.0 or Reaper or Mixcraft 6 for free.

3) A Midi File Player – grab vanBasco’s Karaoke Player and Synthesia and use it with some midi files. You could try out Notation Software with midi built in Sibelius 7 First or Finale Notepad.

4) A Keyboard (Controller) and/or a Drum Controller – Look at any midi capable keyboard. Yamaha are well worth a look, also M-Audio and Akai.

5) A Midi (USB) Interface – Yamaha UX-16 or Focusrite Saffire USB 6. Focusrite also make a Scarlett 2i2 (No midi).

6) Drum Patterns – have a look for some drum books or even some drum machine manuals online. My drum tutors include John Savage (“The Art Of The Drummer”), Eddie McNeil (“So You Want To Be A Drummer”) & “Drumming In A Big Way”) and Pete Riley (“Crash Course Drums”). John Savage made cassettes of the patterns back in the day (before CDs were invented!). I used to teach from Rockschool Drums Volume 1. Also check out Rob Litten’s “Drums The Word” Site and his YouTube channel. Other on-line drummers worth seeking out are Jack Bennett (I Can Play Drums – he offers 250 free drum lessons) and Dan Zalac “Groovedrummin”

1) An Audio/ Video Player

First of all, you are going to need some kind of music and video player, a virtual jukebox. Windows already comes with Windows Media Player (WMP), but what else is there?

VLC by Videolan – I prefer this to WinAmp, personally.

VLC is a free player by Videolan which plays most kinds of audio and video files. I use it mainly for playing video if WMP doesn’t work, but prefer WMP for auditioning audio files (drum samples specifically). I noticed Winamp wouldn’t play certain video files so I switched to VLC instead. VLC starts and plays audio files quicker than WMP on my system too.

2) An Audio Recorder/Editor or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)

We also need to record what we are doing and maybe tweak it afterwards so how about a decent virtual recorder?  Audacity is free, though I have found it to be unstable and as it has tended to crash (In Vista) after I have recorded a decent take. Version 2 has recently been released which may address this issue. My son James told me about Goldwave and I now use this for my audio file editing. You can chops bits off of the beginning and end of files, add effects, increase the volume and save in different formats, including mp3. Goldwave will currently cost you $49 for a lifetime licence, but personally, I think it’s well worth it. I have found it to be more reliable and a bit more user friendly than Audacity. I have recently started using an evaluation version of Total Recorder to record drum samples.

Goldwave – a wav file editor – also converts to mp3

2a) For Individual Sounds: use an audio editor

If you want to record something simple like a drum sound (i.e. outside your computer – within the same room) then that can be done simply by connecting a microphone – laptops usually already have a built in Mike.

Or perhaps you want to record  a sound you have heard playing on your computer. I have found “Total Recorder” to be useful for capturing sounds playing inside your computer, when you don’t want to pick up background noise from the outside world. No microphone is required. You simply launch Total Recorder, start the recorder, play the sound you want to record, and stop the recorder. Then save the resulting file which can be edited to taste (i.e. usually you will want to edit the start and finish points), and saved in a variety of formats. You may need something like Goldwave to launch the recorded file and then save it in a different format, depending on the version of Total Recorder you use.

2b) For Multiple or layered Sounds – use a DAW:

If you want to blend several different sounds together, then you will need a different piece of software. Something that can Multitrack – that is, you can put each of the sounds you have recorded onto different tracks and then adjust their levels individually, without affecting the others.

I would recommend looking for a suitable Digital Audio Workstation (DAW for short). I am currently using Cockos Reaper and Propellerhead’s Reason 6.0 as my DAW’s of choice. A DAW will handle a lot of the tasks on this page – midi player/recorder and editor, and audio player/recorder and editor – all in one application.

So here’s the bad news…a decent audio editor or DAW will (probably) cost you money!

There are some FREE DAWs available but after using Reason and Reaper I haven’t found one yet that I am really comfortable with. Zynewave’s Podium Free gets a good writeup in Computer Music though I have found it a little difficult to set up and use compared to Reason and Reaper. Ableton Live Lite is another free alternative, which ships with the Focusrite Saffire and the Akai MPK49. Stability and user friendliness need to be considered – by all means try out some of the free ones first, but you may find (like I did) that if you are really serious about your music, it may make sense to invest in a commerical DAW to get the best results. Don’t be afraid to experiment here, and take your time. Don’t rush this decision.

I have recently also tried out Cakewalk’s Sonar LE and the Essential crossgrade, and Acoustica’s Mixcraft 5 (which was bundled with the Acoustica Beatcraft drum machine). They don’t cost the earth and are worth a look before you consider going into the high budget territory of Cubase and Protools.

Cockos Reaper is a free download, but you are required to pay for a licence of you use it for more than 30 days.

Cockos Reaper V4.22

Reaper is currently $60 for a discounted licence, and you can get a fully functional demo of the software to try it out for 30 days before you need to buy the licence. I found out about it originally in the Computer Music Special Issue number #44. See if you can get hold of this issue if you possibly can. I suspect it has sold out now, but it is a treasure trove of FREE stuff. It tells you how to install Reaper and load up various Virtual Instruments (also called Plug-ins or VST’s) that you can use with it. We will look at a few of these anyway.

I can confidently say that the purchase of Propellerhead’s Reason 5.0 and Record 1.5 and the Free upgrade to  Reason 6.0 as well as Reaper have allowed my music making to explode since I started using them. I resisted buying Reason for years as I thought it was (too) expensive. But the alternative I found, is to try to use things you don’t really understand, get frustrated, and get nowhere. So in hindsight, I wish I had got it years ago when it originally came out.

Reason was upgraded to Version 6.0 (which combined Reason and Record into one package) as at 30th September 2011 and until the end of October 2011 the brand new version was at a Pay what you want price, provided you already have a previous version of the Record Reason Duo.

When I originally wrote this article back in October 2011 the Duo (the bundled Reason & Record pack) was available from Amazon  and also at Absolute Music Solutions  at a price of £244.00 including 20% UK VAT.

Update 20th June 2012: Time marches on and Propellerhead have just released Reason 6.5, a free upgrade for existing Reason 6 users which allows the use of rack extensions, Propellerhead’s own version of third party developer’s plugins (VSTs) which will work with Reason and which are now available at the Propellerhead shop.

Propellerhead Record Reason Duo

Propellerhead Software’s “Reason” couldn’t handle audio but that changed when it’s sister program, “Record” came out. I bought Reason 5.0 and Record 1.0  together in the popular “Duo” format.  By the time Reason 6.0 came out, Propellerhead had decided to merge the two programs together into one – They generously offered me a free upgrade to the new Reason 6.0.  Record no longer exists in its own right after the release of Reason 6.0 but you will see videos referring to Record tutorials.

If you are serious about your music, I highly recommend that you take a very good look at Reason 6.0 (or the previous combination of Reason and Record (by Propellerhead Software) and Reaper (By Cockos Incorporated) and download their demo versions of the software and see for yourself. Another useful Digital Audio Workstation worth mentioning is Acoustica’s Mixcraft. Now at Version 6.0, there’s a standard version $75, a home studio version $50 and Pro Studio version $150.

Propellerhead’s Reason comes with nearly 2.5 gigabytes of sounds and effects and was a revelation to me. I just found it intuitive and really easy to use. It’s been around in various versions for about ten years now. There’s far too much to talk about to cover here.

Cockos’s Reaper in a tiny program which you can carry around on a dongle if you want – It’s only 4mb! It’s a little bit more fiddly than Reason to figure out (as you have to connect it up with VST’s – virtual instruments in order to hear anything) but the manual is good and there’s a forum if you get stuck. We will cover VST’s in a later post.

3) A Midi File Player

We will be spending some time looking at midi files. There’s a huge number of them available and they are great for learning a particular song or drumbeat. My particular midi file player of choice is the rather ancient Cakewalk Express Version 3.02 that I originally got about 15 years ago with my first pentium pc (remember them?).

Screenshot of Cakewalk Express

I appreciate this might be difficult to get hold of now, so a FREE alternative to try might be something like Notation Player. Notation Player is free and unrestricted and will show you the musical notation as it plays the song.

You can also try out Finale Notepad 2011 or Sibelius 7 First which can be both be downloaded FREE for a 30 day trial. If you want to get great looking drum music converted from a midi file, my favourite of the three is Sibelius 7 First. The notation looks just like the drum patterns in John Savage’s Art of the Drummer series of books.

Other midi file players I have tried out recently are:

Synthesia This is called a game and is similar to Guitar Hero. The notes descend down the screen and a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen plays the notes in real time. The left hand and right hand can be shown in different colours. It is free to download.

synthesia midi file player

MidiPiano Virtual Piano A virtual piano that plays the notes of the tune as you watch.

midipiano
Click here for a free download!
vanBasco’s Karaoke Player

vanBasco’s Karaoke Player

Get vanBasco’s Karaoke Player NOW – totally FREE!

There’s also a nice little Karaoke file player called VanBasco’s Karaoke Player which plays both midi files (.mid) and karaoke files (.kar) which are basically midi files with lyrics added to them which appear as the song plays, so you can sing along. A little virtual keyboard appears and you can see what notes it plays, so it’s a good learning tool too. This only appears to work with the instrument parts (guitar, keyboards etc.) and not the drum parts though.

As far as drum programming is concerned, Reason and Reaper both give you the ability to import midi files (e.g. songs with drum tracks on) and assign hundreds of different drum kit sounds to the patterns for pretty much infinite variation. You can both create and save your own unique custom virtual drum kits out of audio samples or indeed your own drum kits or your own kitchen utensil collection if you want,  and you can add a ton of effects to alter and process their sound too, so it’s just brilliant fun. We shall be doing that very soon!

4) A Keyboard (Controller) and/or a Drum Controller

Any keyboard with Midi In/Out sockets will do. I use an Ensoniq ESQ1  a Yamaha PSR2000 or most recently, an Akai MPK49 Midi keyboard.

Akai MPK49

I originally saw this being used by David Wills of Proaudiodvds.com. It has 12 drum pads a 4 octave keyboard. It is permanently plugged into my computer via a usb cable and sits on top of my desk in front of the monitors. It gets used every day. I do not use all of its features but I am really pleased with it. Akai make also make a 61 key model and there are smaller ones to choose from to suit your budget. I looked at M-Audio ones too, but the Akai feels more substantial and less likely to break. My drum controller is a Yamaha RX17. I also have a Yamaha DD5.

Yamaha RX17 Digital Rhythm Programmer

James has a Yamaha PSR170 which they used at school. He now also has a Yamaha SHS-10 keytar. You can connect them to your computer with a midi cable or USB interface and they can then communicate with your PC software. There are some fantastic looking controllers out there these days and they needn’t break the bank! Computer Music and Musictech often review products by Akai, M-Audio and Focusrite.

5) A Midi (USB) Interface

a) Yamaha UX-16 (A midi interface only – doesn’t handle audio – works on 32-bit operating systems)

This is basically a cable with a USB plug on one end, a little electronic box of tricks in the middle that lights up and Midi In and Outs on the other. It does what it says on the tin. It sends and receives midi messages. It works. Don’t buy the unbranded midi cables from eBay. The ones I bought didn’t work correctly and I ended up wasting time and money. You will need a UX16 for each controller you want to connect to your PC. **Watch out if you have a 64-bit operating system though – the Yamaha UX-16 will not work with it as the updated drivers for 64-bit systems are not available.** Cakewalk/Roland sell a similar product (including a double connector) but I haven’t tried it.

b) Focusrite Saffire 6 USB (An audio to PC interface that also handles midi – works on both 32 and 64-bit operating systems)

A recent addition that comes highly recommended. It plugs into your computer via a usb cable and you just install and select the special Focusrite ASIO drivers that come with it in your DAW or other music program and you are good to go. The ASIO drivers are great and there is practically zero latency (i.e. that delay you get between pressing a key and hearing the sound). Prior to getting this I was getting very poor audio recordings just using an old version of Audacity (which was prone to crash after recording) and my Dell Inspiron PC as I had no real control over the volume levels.  It’s like the UX16 – Plug it in and play. It also comes with bundled samples from Loopmasters, four Focusrite VST effects (EQ, Compressor, Gate  and Reverb) and a free version of Ableton Live Lite.  Use the Saffire for recording vocals with a microphone or an acoustic guitar, or indeed it could be used live drums. Plug your microphone or guitar lead into the front and connect it to your PC via USB whilst monitoring on headphones. I have used it with Record 1.5 and also Reason 6.0 and Reaper 4.22 – Nice and simple to use and the recordings are great! I wasn’t really able to create viable recordings prior to getting this. An essential purchase for a computer user in my view.



Focusrite Saffire 6 USB Audio Interface

After installation, you will need to select the special ASIO drivers that come with it in your chosen DAW (e.g. Reason), and you are all set. We will cover the nitty gritty of this later. You might not need one of these (yet) unless you plan to record live drums.

Update: We have also just acquired another Focusrite device (a Scarlett 2i2) for my son James to use with his vocal recordings. More about that when we have got it out of the box!

6) Some Drum Patterns

You are going to also need some inspiration for some drum patterns. It could be that you want to program your favourite song, or you have written a song yourself that you want to have a rhythm track for.

Here’s a couple of places I started out with:

a) Books

John Savage – The Art Of The Drummer

The Art of the Drummer

Eddie McNeil – So you want to be a drummer / Drumming in a big way

So you want to be a Drummer.

b) Drum Machine Instruction manuals

A good source of free patterns. Try seeking out the Roland TR808, the Boss Dr-110 or the Kawai D50 manuals in PDF format.

c) Free Midi files

Don’t be afraid to search the world wide web for free midi files.

NB – Opt for royalty free files so you don’t run into copyright problems later on. Avoid “WAREZ” like the plague.

Here’s a few I found already:

– for complete songs (for personal, educational use only)

www.electrofresh.com

– for drum patterns only (unrestricted and royalty free – check with provider’s readme file  if in doubt)

Oddgrooves

Mididrumfiles.com

All set?

 SUMMARY OF ESSENTIAL TOOLS

1) An Audio/ Video Player – Grab VLC as your video and audio player of choice.

2) An Audio Recorder/Editor or a DAW – Try out Goldwave and Total Recorder. Try out a DAW like Reason 6.0 or Reaper for free.

3) A Midi File Player – grab vanBasco’s Karaoke Player and Synthesia and use it with some midi files. You could try out Sibelius 7 First too.

4) A Keyboard (Controller) and/or a Drum Controller – Look at any midi capable keyboard. Yamaha are well worth a look, also M-Audio and Akai.

5) A Midi (USB) Interface – Yamaha and Focusrite – watch out if you have a 64-bit operating system though – the Yamaha UX-16 will not work with it.

6) Drum Patterns – have a look for some drum books or even some drum machine manuals online.

That’s all for now.

Have fun exploring, and leave a comment below if you can.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Note: In the interests of transparency and full disclosure, the links to Amazon.co.uk within this article are “associate” links which means that if you purchase any of the items from Amazon by clicking through to their site using these links, I will receive a commission payment from them. This does not cost you any extra and it provides you with a good idea of what these items cost at current UK prices, as Amazon will always keep their prices up to date. Please note that prices are in UK Sterling/GBP.

N.B. Australian customers: Please check if Amazon UK will ship your item to Australia (some third party suppliers do not) and check postage costs prior to ordering. Thank you.