Tips to Enhance Your Drum Loops for Better Production

Whether you’re producing tech, EDM, trance, or trap, your day-to-day will involve dealing with plenty of drum loops. It’s often the case that we want to change one or two elements of the drum sample pack, perhaps for production value, or maybe just to give the loop our own flavor. There are plenty of ways you can change up your drum kits, either for improvement or just because you fancy getting creative with your tunes.

1. Cut That Loop

One of the simplest ways to switch up your drum sample is to cut it up into smaller parts and then rhythmically reposition them. If you hear a great pattern between one bar and the following, there’s nothing stopping you from cutting up the bar, copying out this pattern, and using it elsewhere. When you start chopping, you can create your own new drum loops. Many musicians really dig this creative process. If you’re an Ableton Live user, you can achieve this with the ‘slice-midi’ feature.

2. Switch the EQ

Another effective way to give your MIDI drum patterns some style is by EQing the drum loop differently. Keep in mind that plenty of others will be using the same drum kit downloads as you. Even changes that appear simple can make a significant difference in setting your tunes apart. For instance, if you filter out components above 200kHz and then use a compressor, you’ll find that the kick drum sound is nicely emphasized.

3. The Odd Number Trick

Look at the bars that the drum pack plays from start to finish and ensure that the number of bars is odd. Considering that most songs use bars of four, if the sound repeats after three bars instead, the arrangement is immediately very different. Many musicians like the odd number trick as it makes the repetition less obvious. However, personal taste plays a significant role, depending on which genre you are using your drum beats for.

4. Layer Your Drum Beats

Layering one-hit drum samples on top of your loops is another great way to modify your sounds. Try out a few different snares and kicks before you find something that fits. Take your time to find the sounds that create a musical storm; don’t just add another layer for the sake of it.

Find the Right Drum Loops

You don’t have to change up your drum loops; often, you’ll find the right drum loops online that are perfect as they are. At Dance Midi Samples, we have a vast range of top-quality drum kit samples to suit various genres including house, trap, tech, and trance. Our drum packs are designed to provide you with everything from futuristic bass to killer EDM drums.