The hi-hat drum samples available today are as varied as they are popular. With basically every kick drum and snare combination, you can find a hi-hat working away in the background, patient and contributing throughout a song. The effect of a hi-hat cannot really be measured, but suffice it to say that your favorite songs would sound a lot different without the hi-hat (or simply hat) patterns supporting the main acts.
The two mistakes made by producers are not just the domain of amateur producers who may not know better, but also of professional music producers and beat makers.
The first mistake concerns volume. The role of the hi-hat drum samples is often overstated and overemphasized by many expertly arranged songs. The human ear, it is claimed, has gained a perception of the frequencies that hi-hats occupy throughout evolutionary stages. Apparently some aerial predators made noises that had the same frequencies, and we can therefore hear it above its actual volume.
A good way to go about combating this incongruity is to mix the hat to the point where you think it sounds just about right, and lower it about two decibels further. Any listener will still be able to pick it up due to our superior perception of this sound, so don't worry about 'mixing it out' these drum samples.
The second mistake that we're going to look at is a pretty big one. Most of us are in the music production game to really make something that sounds good, but if you're trying to achieve authenticity with your drum samples, there are certain things you really need to avoid and be wary of. With hi-hats, certain physical limitations prevent rhythmic operations that are perceived in a lot of rap songs. For instance, having a consistent hi-hat pattern playing one hit every 16th is all good, as that can be achieved. But coupling it with a cymbal hit or open hi-hat once a bar and not stopping the hi-hat? Physically impossible for most drum-sets, especially if the snare and toms also hit at the same point. How many arms does your drummer have? If you want to have a believable drum track, you must really pay attention here. If you produce dance music or other music where it is understood that the sample track is not supposed to be realistic, you can do whatever sounds good.
You can learn a great deal using professional drum sequencing sample libraries and sets like EZ Drummer and BFD. These will show you the physical implications and deliver standard and advanced patterns that you can immediately digest and take in mentally, noting what works and what doesn't work. Then apply what you learn to your own songs.
The two mistakes made by producers are not just the domain of amateur producers who may not know better, but also of professional music producers and beat makers.
The first mistake concerns volume. The role of the hi-hat drum samples is often overstated and overemphasized by many expertly arranged songs. The human ear, it is claimed, has gained a perception of the frequencies that hi-hats occupy throughout evolutionary stages. Apparently some aerial predators made noises that had the same frequencies, and we can therefore hear it above its actual volume.
A good way to go about combating this incongruity is to mix the hat to the point where you think it sounds just about right, and lower it about two decibels further. Any listener will still be able to pick it up due to our superior perception of this sound, so don't worry about 'mixing it out' these drum samples.
The second mistake that we're going to look at is a pretty big one. Most of us are in the music production game to really make something that sounds good, but if you're trying to achieve authenticity with your drum samples, there are certain things you really need to avoid and be wary of. With hi-hats, certain physical limitations prevent rhythmic operations that are perceived in a lot of rap songs. For instance, having a consistent hi-hat pattern playing one hit every 16th is all good, as that can be achieved. But coupling it with a cymbal hit or open hi-hat once a bar and not stopping the hi-hat? Physically impossible for most drum-sets, especially if the snare and toms also hit at the same point. How many arms does your drummer have? If you want to have a believable drum track, you must really pay attention here. If you produce dance music or other music where it is understood that the sample track is not supposed to be realistic, you can do whatever sounds good.
You can learn a great deal using professional drum sequencing sample libraries and sets like EZ Drummer and BFD. These will show you the physical implications and deliver standard and advanced patterns that you can immediately digest and take in mentally, noting what works and what doesn't work. Then apply what you learn to your own songs.
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