How to Write Drum Parts (for non drummers)

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Drums are a weird instrument to try and write for if you don't know how to play them. As a drummer myself, I know first hand how difficult most arrangers find writing drum parts because I've had to play some truly brutal drum charts in my day. Just some real stinkers. Thankfully, this video is here to give a little overview about what a good drum part should have and some of the basic notation principles that you'll need to know.

0:00 - Intro
0:34 - Groove
9:10 - Form
12:01 - Fills
16:20 - Final Drum part
17:54 - Outro

#Drums #makingmusic #musictheory

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K.K. Demon Slayer really is a hidden gem in the Animal Crossing soundtrack

satiric_

I've been writing drum parts for 11 years for video game stuff as a non-drummer and still learned a ton from this. Thank you.

FamilyJulesX

As a very classically focused composer who's terrible at orchestral percussion, let alone drumkit in contemporary popular Western music, I *very* much appreciate this systematic breakdown of the form and function of drumkit parts. Thank you. <3

Laogeodritt

Bruh, as a fellow drummer, this is one of the best "how to be a better drummer" lessons on youtube. Thanks for digging into the "why" of a drum part, not just the mechanics.

also: "An open hi-hat begs to be closed" A+ 100% stealing this.

JonTigert

As a drummer I can say this is right on the money. Really well explained, I've never heard all these ideas expressed so eloquently and succinctly.

jgfence

Gonna line out some tips for people who wanna dive a bit deeper:

Grooves (more often than not) are best when they follow other instruments! You already wrote a sick bass part, so try matching the bass drum to it. Give the snare ghost notes following the guitar, set up the hi hat so it accentuates the keys...
There are a million ways to mix and match these parts and specific drums but in general, bass goes with bass, snare goes with melody, and hi hat goes with background chords and shenanigans.

Great drums bring out the best in the rest of the music.
So following drums are everyone's favorite - drum fills. So here's the thing, absolutely do steal stuff - but the best way to develop a good fill is to mutate the groove. Keep the melody of the groove going but move things around to toms and add some notes in between, and after two or so beats where we gradually went from groove to fill we can now move back from fill to the groove (the Motown fill is a great choice for example, could've just set it up more so it would feel more comfortable) - this is where you can absolutely steal something, the way you set up the fill plays a massive role in how it sounds.
Fills should be a gradient, not a border between two colors.

The last thing I have to say (and it's my one little gripe with this video, which is otherwise wonderful and no doubt really useful for non drummers) is that drums and drummers are - at the end of the day - playing a melody. This means you should use your knowledge of phrasing in the drums. So, try to think what fill would work for a bass for example and just move different pitches to different drums. Then you can elaborate or change things, but you should be able to sing / understand what is going on. Which leads me to the actual gripe I had, and it's fast notes. We all love em, and they are very, VERY often misused (at least in my opinion). Fast notes are the equivalent of a singer belting or a trumpet just blasting at a high register. They function as a massive energy bombs you can drop, and they should be used with care. I... Don't like the way they were used here. Especially with the shots (I call em kicks), you never really fill through shots unless it's a drum solo - at least from my experience. Otherwise it's just a fill to the next section...
My advice would be to stay away from continuous use of 16 note triplets and/or 32 notes. They are fun but you have to know how to phrase with them. I would only go with really fast fills if you really are at a super high energy point - but just be careful. Think what a trumpet would play to fill in the gaps, and fill the long notes with fast 16 triplets and you should be good.

Writing this on my phone was not a good idea. The formatting is probably garbage, any way cool video

nram

*drops a phat jam that is absolute fking fire*

"Not too shabby"

gfkfopffhn..cu.mvxsstt

As a drummer for ~20 years, this was actually a solid tutorial to writing drum parts! Lot's of players arrange music in our horn band, and I could seriously consider showing this video to them. While the premise in this video is writing drum parts to game music in a way that sounds organic, writing drum parts for a human to play in a band/orchestra has a few extra points:

- The less ink there is on the paper, the better! Use repeat signs ABUNDANTLY! They look kinda like percent signs (%), and they save a ton of space. If you were to write every bar out, the drum part easily stretches out >2 pages long, regardless how long the song is. Also it's really hard to keep track of the music, if every bar is written out, and you will NOT get the orchestra hits that you have written, as it becomes a game of Where's Waldo, because every bar in drum notation is very busy.
- If there's too much stuff in the paper, the drummer either stares at the sheet music, and doesn't look at the conductor or listen to the band (or his own playing), or the drummer might not look at the sheet music at all, prioritizing listening to the band and looking at the conductor.
- There are repeat signs for multiple bars of music, so using a 2-bar loop as a basis is not an excuse to leave it all written in. Depending on the software that's used, they either are supported or they are not, in which case you need to do them manually. (Looking really angry at you, Musescore!) However, generally avoid 4-bar repeat signs...
- Related to the previous points, if you are transcribing music, don't write every nuance and flourish the drummer plays in a recording. The end result is usually illegible without hours of time to study the sheet music. I generally have ~5 minutes to check out the sheet music of a new arrangement before we start to play it in my horn band. Concentrate in the big picture, we will add our own flourishes in any case.

IT-kone

How to write drum parts for non-drummers: remember your drummer has only two arms

Edit: you guys need to stop listing prog drummers unless they can play snare + hi-hat + two toms + another snare roll at the same time

KoenvMeijel

Lastly: Make sure that when you write crazy fills, your drummer has enough arms

EliasMorals

I’d like to add that, back when I was in high school, learning drums, my instructor taught me that, if you think of volume as a pyramid, where the base is the most prevalent at holding the groove and the peak is the least prevalent, rock would have the bass drum and snare at the base and hi hat & ride cymbals at the peak. Jazz is the other way around.

Sibelius

As a drummer, it's crazy how much of this information I'd already had internalized just from experience and listening to existing songs, even though I've never really been taught it. Great video!

gisopolis

honestly, i really enjoy the videos that talk more about rhythm and percussion and stuff. Everybody talks about chords, and melodies, but you really dive deep into how rhythm and rhythmic intensity effect a piece, and I really appreciate that unique perspective you have as a drummer.

i_cam

1:10 Bass drums are usually played on beats 1 and 3...
*Shows Mike Portnoy playing in probably 13/8, 17/69 and √420/(π+φ)*

MrHioso

I feel like a journeyman carpenter who's just learned that wood exists in different types. I never really appreciated the function of drums before, very enlightening. Thank you!!

Infantry