It makes it easy to transfer the information to the digital drum machines that can be found in music software and apps. Using drum pattern gridsĪ drum grid is a common way of visually notating a drum pattern. Students can start off by learning how to put together a “standard” version of a hip hop beat, or a rock beat or techno beat and then create variations by changing instruments, adding or moving sounds and so on. Start with the basics, then get experimentalĮach musical genre has it’s own drum “sound” or template. Once they know a few simple tips they’ll find it much more rewarding that simply dragging a loop into a project. To save your own sanity (!) and to encourage student creativity and originality, teach them a few basics about how to programme their own drum patterns. All of your student projects will begin to sound the same. It’s a quick solution, but once you become familiar with the loop library of your school’s chosen software package, you start to hear those same loops everywhere.
When using music software to put a song together, it’s easy for students to head straight to the loop library to find a drum pattern.
Encourage students creativity: record drum patterns from scratch
