In this section you will learn the following.
By convention, all the drum instruments are played on channel 10. On this channel, the pitch setting for any particular note actually plays a drum sound. For example, a note pitched at C1/36 plays a Bass Drum sound, while a note a semitone sharper (C#1/37) actually plays a Side Stick sound. If you think about it, this is quite reasonable as most percussion instruments cannot be associated with any particular pitch.
Creating a proper drum part for a song could take many hours, so to save time you will use a simple drum pattern. This consists of the same two bars which are repeated for the entire duration of the song. If you're familiar with drum notation, then the pattern looks like this:
(Don't panic if this looks too complicated! It'll be a lot simpler when you get to do it)
You will actually be using the Drum editor in Cubase. The drum parts should look like this when you've finished. In fact, you might like to keep checking your drum part against this diagram.
Note: There will be lots of other drum instrument names appearing and and it's unlikely that the sounds you want will really be the first seven names in the list!
The easiest way to work is to drop the required notes into an empty drum part, gradually building up the pattern. Each different drum sound is triggered by using different note pitches and so it is important to drop the note at the correct place otherwise you'll get a different drum sound. (If it sounds good, then leave it!).
The Drum editor (not supported by cut down versions of Cubase) was designed for drum programming. Although superficially similar to the Key Editor, it has several differences:
(If your version of Cubase doesn't have the Drum editor, then you'll have to make do with the Key Editor. Although it is not as convenient as the Drum Editor, it will do the job)
As with previous parts, you will make multiple copies of the drum part. Because the drums are not affected by chord changes, you can use a facility called Shared copies. When you make a normal copy of a part (using [ALT] and dragging), then the copy is completely separate from the original, and you can edit them independently. With a shared copy, however, the copy does not a separate existence; it is actually a pointer to the master copy. This means that if you change the master copy, then the shared copy is also changed. The shared copy also requires less memory storage, although modern computers have so much memory that this saving is usually of no significance. A shared copy is made by holding down both the [ALT] and [SHIFT] keys whilst dragging the part.
Note that in earlier versions of Cubase, shared copies were called Ghost copies. It seems unfortunate and unnecessary that the terminology has been changed and it is possible that the term Ghost copy will continue to be used for some time to come.
In a later section, you will add some further embellishments to the drum parts to give a greater level of reality.
In General Midi, drums are always played using track and channel 10. All you have to do is set the track name to "Drums".
In section 1, you also set up a drum map for this track. This drum map tells Cubase to use the Drum Editor for all parts on this channel, and also sets up the correspondence between note pitches and drum sounds. Since you are using a General Midi (or GM) keyboard, you can use the standard GM drum map which is supplied as part of Cubase.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Once again, you are going to create an empty part (this time on track 10) and drop notes in it.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Now you have an empty part, you can put the simplest drum part into it. This is the Kick Drum (also called the Bass Drum).
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Here, bar numbers 1, 2 and 3 are shown and circled.
The strong beats each bar are also shown and clearly numbered 2, 3, 4.
The sub-beats (corresponding to semi-quavers) are shown as little tick
marks between the beat numbers.
Adding the remaining instruments is just as easy as for the Bass Drum.
Use the figures in the briefing section of this file as a guide for where
you should place the notes for each instrument.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Playing your sequence is probably quite painful, as all the drums are played at a high volume. You need to adjust the velocities to get them into balance.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
| Bass Drum 1 | Between 90-100 |
| Electric Snare Drum | ~80 on the beat, ~40 off the beat |
| Closed Hi Hat | ~90 at the start of each bar, ~50 elsewhere |
| Open Hi Hat | Around 50 |
| Castanet | Around 60 |
| Shaker | Around 50 |
| Tambourine | Around 50 |
For now, you will not make any further embellishments to the drum part. You will use it as it is while you carry on with the rest of the song. Later on, you may return to the drum track to add enhancements.
This seems an ideal opportunity to use Shared parts. A Shared part is like a reference or pointer to another part. When Cubase plays a shared part, it actually plays the data stored at some other place in the sequence. So, if you edit the source part, then any shared copies of it are automatically updated, too.
In previous versions of Cubase, shared parts were called "Ghost" parts.
Don't forget: To make a shared/ghost copy, hold down the [ALT] and [SHIFT] keys whilst dragging the part.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Now you can hear all our parts playing together.
Follow these steps. Put a tick next to each one as you finish it:
Well done! You have now successfully created a first version of the drum part. Despite the complication that different pitches trigger different drum sounds, you should have found the process relatively straightforward, if a litte time consuming and messy.
You're ready to proceed to the next section.