Product Description

This is your complete guide to programming and thinking like a drummer - not a drum machine user. Instead of merely providing instructions for you to program into your machine, this book is a direct, mathematical approach to learning how to drum and how to best emulate a drum kit on a pre-recorded track. By following this book, you will gain an understanding of the drum kit that takes many drummers years to learn - and that will lead to more realistic programming and better results!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #562843 in Books
• Published on: 1991-11-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Customer Reviews

Expected More
I bought this book based on another review that said it would complement the Boss DR-880 and help me learn to think like a drummer. I did learn a few things around the basic use of cymbals and toms, but on the whole it was nothing I hadn't already figured out. It's crudely written but gets right to the point. You certainly won't learn how to compose any complex rhythms, but it might be enough to get you going if you haven't used a drum machine before and are very intimidated by it. I'm not sure anyone can teach how to compose fills that sound realistic, and this book didn't help me there. But for the price, I guess it was OK.

The basics for a great start in learning to program beats
this is a great book for those looking to learn to program their own beats.It teaches you the basics such as time signatures,quantization,song structure and the dynamics to bring your beats to life(instead of just making generic static beats).It doesn't simply feed you basic patterns for you to copy.Sure its from the 90's and its geared mainly for rock beats, but the fundamentals it teaches are universal.As an avid beat boxer i have always had a good sense of rhythm but i was never able to translate this into a drum machine. This book helped me to formulate a plan to be able to take the beat in my head and make it materialize.It also helps you to familiarize yourself with different aspects and features of your drum machine with out overwhelming you with jargon.
I used this book with a yamaha RX5 drum machine(excellent learning tool and overall great drum machine).This book is the real deal for those seeking to learn to make their own drum tracks not simply add someone else's beats do their arsenal.

Great little book!
Ages ago I was in band, playing guitar, writing and recording songs. I've just started getting back into music again, and have purchased a Boss 880 Dr. Rhythm drum machine. Played around with it, lots of fun, and then thought "ok, so how do I program some of my own beats into this thing?". Everywhere I turned, the responses were "read the manual" or "just use samples" and then finally "well the best way to learn to program drums is to learn to play drums". Great, so I'm going to have to spend years learning how to physically co-ordinate my limbs when what I really need is a basic understanding of the fundamentals of how beats work in popular music.
Then I found and ordered this book. Ray has done a great job. He provides the information in a clear, concise manner. Its amazing that this book was written in 1991, and yet it feels like it could have been written yesterday. This is because the book teaches how to think about beats and program them in a way that is realistic to what an actual drummer could play. He uses a simple to understand chart method that is based on 16th notes, just like the old Roland TR 909 interface, super easy to understand. Ray gets right to the point, and then has you program in some example beats. Things are immediately becoming much clearer to me, and I'm only half way through the book. If you're not a drummer, but want to learn how to program your drum machine so that it sounds realistic and not like a "beat box" then this book is for you. The Boss Dr. Rhythm 880 is aimed at guitar/bass players, and they should really include a copy of this book with every unit they sell. Its really amazing how hard it is to find information on how to decide WHAT to program into a drum machine, and Ray does a great job with this text. Thanks Ray!