Monday, July 29, 2013

The Importance Of The Drum Machine In Hip Hop Beats And Rap Instrumentals

By Delroy Wilkins


Until recently, information about the drum machine was not easily available online. With the large number of equipment available and little information, consumers could easily get overwhelmed. It was even much harder understanding what functions a specific piece of equipment performed. The reason for this is that most equipment available performed multiple tasks at once. Buyers could easily get confused about different types of equipment such as keyboards and synthesizers. This article will look at the different terms you might come across with regard to drum machines and their respective meaning.

The drum machine has evolved from being a piece of music making equipment to existing in different forms including as software. However, even in software form, it cannot function on its own and must come as part of a larger music making program. Days have changed and one piece of equipment can handle a variety of tasks.

The major function of a drum machine is that it creates drum sounds that a producer can make use of. The very first versions of drum machines came with stock drum sounds that the producer could not change. Back then, the only reason a producer would buy a drum machine would be because of the type of sounds that came with it. Due to this, there are some machines such as the Roland TR-808 which are known for their distinctive drum sounds. This has changed greatly as nowadays, almost every drum machine allows you to use samples of your own or from third party sources. You can also sample another person's records.

The second function of the drum machine involves creating different drum parts through a programming function. That is, the sequencer feature on the drum machine can be used to create different drum sounds. The sequencer is used in the creation of constant sounds on a bar. This is done by either filling in spaces on the sequencer or, using drum pads. These techniques are fairly easy to learn and implement.

The two functions that are discussed above, which are creating drum sounds and beat programming are the most important parts of a drum machine, without which the machine would be meaningless. However, thanks to modern technology, it would not be right to assume that the drum machines can only achieve those functions. There are some other hidden functions that a drum machine performs and that are still critical in producing hip-hop sounds.




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