Drum programming made easy: #HitIt
Drum programming: A skill that’ll help you for the rest of your career
Some people think of drum programming as a technique that’s only for cheap artists that can’t afford to record a drum set at a studio or for bedroom producers.
Rest assured: They are wrong!
Knowing how to program drums well can help you A LOT in many different ways.
Songwriting would be the most apparent one. When you are laying down some decent riffs or playing around with that monster Bass line at your home studio it’s only half the fun if you can’t do it to a rocking groove.
If you’ve ever tried to explain to a drummer the groove that you had in mind for a certain part of that new song you wrote you know it’s almost impossible. Drum programming to the rescue: Just make them listen to it.
These are just two examples but you get the point: If you are a serious musician, songwriter, and/or producer knowing how to program drums is a must!
#HitIt – The Ultimate Guide to Programming Drums shows you how to do that. So get your groove on!
Get a sneak peek inside #HitIt!
Curious what the book actually looks like?
Watch the author personally giving you a tour through the book explaining each chapter and its content in the video on the left.
When you've finished watching the video scroll down to find out what else you get with this book for a total value of roughly $60.00 by paying only $12.99 (eBook) / $24.99 (print edition).
What you will get with this book
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Become your own drummer!
Learn how to create a variety of grooves, from simple "Four to the Floor" to raging Blast Beats, and how to come up with amazing grooves that perfectly fit any song on your own.
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Genre-specific breakdowns
Dedicated chapters on groove principles for Pop, Rock, and Metal.
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Groove boot camp
150 groove and fill examples with screenshots to get you started. You will learn how these examples were created so you can come up with your own grooves by applying the principles laid out in the book. This gives you literally endless possibilities for your own drum tracks.
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Humanizing
Detailed instructions on how to make grooves sound realistic and just like a human would have played them. This part of the book covers how to alter Quantization and Velocities effectively to make your drum beats feel as natural as possible.
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Platform-independent descriptions
Apply the given principles to any recording and drum software. No matter what DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and VST instrument you use: as long as both support the MIDI protocol (basically all of them do) you are good to go. (No external MIDI hardware required.)
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Additional value
Scroll down to find out how you can get resources worth a total of roughly $60.00 by buying this book for $12.99 (PDF eBook) / $24.99 (print edition). Sounds like a steal, doesn't it? It is. Seriously, check it out!
Testimonials from Industry Professionals
A great, realistic beat goes way beyond drawing in a rhythm in your piano roll. Getting that human touch is all about subtle nuance and knowing where and how to add it. I think this guide will be very helpful for anyone looking to learn more about drums in general, because programming drums from scratch really comes down to understanding how drums are played.
The one thing I get asked more often than how to mix drums is how to program them. Finally, there is an easy answer! Read #HitIt, Chris's wonderfully comprehensive guide on all things drum programming, presented in an intuitive, easy to digest way.
#HitIt is an incredibly comprehensive guide to programming drums, teaching you everything you need to know, from drum theory to MIDI to grooves. As someone who has been programming drums for over 20 years, even I learned a few things. Impressive!
A word from the Author
#HitIt - The Ultimate Guide to Programming Drums is the only resource on drum programming you will ever need.
Inside this book you will learn how to program realistic sounding drums to any song fast and easy.
After ten years producing music in various genres author Chris Nothdurfter shares his knowledge for the first time in this book. He will help you learn the best strategies for coming up with grooves that perfectly fit the music and master genre-specifics - one chapter at a time.
Read on to find out how he became obsessed with drum programming and how he came up with the idea of putting all his knowledge in this book.
Hey there,
If you are anything like me you are a perfectionist when it comes to your productions.
Even if it may be just a demo - I just have to treat every recording as if it was running for a Grammy.
I mean come on, they may not know it yet but we just belong up on that stage to accept the award, don't we? :-)
We spend hours EQing our guitars, compressing the Vocals and playing around with the reverb and the echo on them, trying to give the Bass that grit it deserves, and fitting those Keys right in there between all of that.
Most of the time we don't have to worry about drums too much because things like EZdrummer and other software already do a very good job at making them sound great.
A few details are often overlooked though: There's a difference between how (programmed) drums sound and how they feel.
These days it's not rocket science making them sound good sonically.
Artistically though... That's a different story.
I used to spend days agonizing over certain drum parts and how I could make them sound more natural. Now that I've figured it out after years of experience I can't stand listening to a song that has poorly programmed drums anymore.
It just kills me how a few little details can take your drum track from robotic and static to lively and simply ROCKING.
For example, have you ever tried slightly varying the velocities of all the drum and cymbal hits? Once you start doing that your grooves will improve a great deal right away.
You'll start paying more attention to the details of your drum tracks and you'll be able to give your songs the professional edge they deserve.
Eventually programming great drums became so important to me that I wrote a book about the art of drum programming.
It all started out in an online forum for music production. I posted my idea about a book on the topic of drum programming and the response was overwhelming.
Since then lots of people all around the globe have picked it up and improved their drum programming technique using the principles I've laid out.
I'm really lucky to be able to reach so many people with this and help them make their productions better.
I put everything I know about this craft into it and I’m confident that #HitIt – The Ultimate Guide to Programming Drums will take your career in music to the next step.
Wishing you all the best...
-Chris
What readers have said about the book
Let me reassure you Chris has a clear, direct style and he really comes from the perspective of someone who has learned how to make their own drum tracks to accompany themselves. He did not start out as an expert drum programmer, but gradually he has become exactly that. Follow him and you can do it too.
I really liked this book. Not only is it ideal for use by experienced DAW programmers who aren’t drummers, it’s also a great reference for real drummers who want to get involved in digital drum programming.
This book is going to be massively helpful. I’ve now read it all the way through and I’m hoping to have some time this week to start going through it again in detail whilst actually programming some drums. I should explain that I’m a blind keyboard player/engineer/producer who also supplies training on music technology to other visually impaired musicians and the way you’ve constructed the book works really well. I was a little nervous when I saw that your figures were screen-shots of your sequencer grid, but the fact that the figures cross-reference the MIDI downloads gets around this accessibility problem beautifully. I’ve already recommended the book to several of my colleagues and pupils and will continue to do so.
First of all, I thank you for this book. I'm a keyboard player & songwriter. So, I hear what beat is needed, but have trouble programming what I hear in my head. The moment I saw your book, I had every confidence that your book is what I needed to de-mystify drum programming. Once I read how to interpret the grid/piano roll, I understood how to 'read' the bars & beats. This alone made the book worth the cost. Great job, and thank you for breaking this down for normally non-drum programmers!
I have to say your book has been a definite game changer when it comes to composing drums for my compositions as an 8 string guitarist. The material is very clearly articulated and easy to understand, and in turn I have recommended this book to other musicians because of this. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and helping me out!
Thanks for your book. It was just what I was looking for.
Read more reader testimonials and reviews on Amazon
Amazing value for a small prize
We've worked hard to create some additional resources for you to go along with this book.
If you decide to buy #HitIt - The Ultimate Guide to Programming Drums now this is what you'll get. Check it out:
- 154 page book containing genre-specific chapters on drum programming principles for Pop, Rock, and Metal with 150 screenshots of groove and fill examples - $12.99 (PDF eBook) / $24.99 (print edition) value
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2 bonus chapters ("Odd time signatures" and "Mixing tips") - $4.99 value
Bonus chapters are included in both, the eBook and the print edition. -
MIDI file download containing all the grooves and fills as described in this book - $29.00 value
You'll find a download link in both, the eBook and the print edition. -
Full 60-day money-back guarantee (No risk!) - $12.99 value
(eBook only. Amazon return policies apply for the print edition.)
Everything you get with this book adds up to a total value of roughly $60.00. So what are you waiting for? Get your copy now!
About the author
Chris Nothdurfter has been writing and producing music for the last ten years. He has worked with bands as well as on his own projects. As a songwriter he has produced demos for a wide range of genres spanning from German "Schlager" Pop music to blazing Death Metal. While his first musical influences were classic Heavy Metal bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden he nowadays enjoys most band-oriented music out there (as long as it’s crafted well).
Chris is also involved in Live/Tour Production as well as a number of non music-related projects in the fields of Film & Video, Health, Fitness & Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing.
He lives and works near Graz, Austria.
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