Drums and why they blow my mind

Ok, I play mostly guitar and bass. I don't have drums and don't think I could ever play drums and really don't care to play drums. I've got fruity loops to work with as my source of drums until I can afford a drum machine. Now, the thing about me and drums is, we're not really on good terms, the drums and I. There's just something about drums and connecting them with the rest of the music that just takes my mind to a screeching halt. I literally know nothing about drums with the exception of the ol' 4/4 beat. I can't make drums sound entertaining, I'm lacking good sounding drum material, and my knowledge is crappy. Can anyone help me with understanding drums and music? Thanks.

Two things that helped me understand drummers is 1) talking to drummers that I know. Asking them how they come up with beats to guitar riffs, and just cool little tricks and fills they do. I think thats your best bet but if you don't know any drummers. You can try looking up drum tabs on the internet to see what certain drummers do. That's how I picked up alot of ideas and got the feel for how it works. Drums are pretty straight forward, all you need to do is tap out a simple beat to the music your playing. You might just be trying to make the drum parts too complex. Most enteraining drum parts are rather simple then liven up on a fill.

try listneing to some drummers in a musical context. listen to zeppelin or the Who. i think they had two of the best drummers ever John Bonham and keith moon. or listne to any music for ideas it is always a simple beat then with the occasional add on when it starts to liven up what you gotta understand is that it doesn't need to be complicated an that some of the coolest beats are dead simple. this is shown by the bass line to knight rider (yes the tv programe with the guy from baywatch)! it kicks ass an its two notes i think.

I've been playing drums for about 6 years now i think. And for me its all about feel. My music is mainly metal, and once i finish the guitars, bass, and keys etc. I will go back, and just add what i think the song needs.

I think noticingthemistake hit it on the head. I will be listening to a song, and they are over playing, which i believe alot of drummers today do.
I do think some parts you can due some complex things, but not all the time.

John Bonham was a drum genious IMO, just the right amount of playing, and totally fit the song.

Ok, thanks. On another note, I hardly have the money for a drum machine, let alone an actual drum set. I'm working with fruity loops as well for my percussion and that's only sub-par. At least with my knowledge of the program it is. Does anyone have any idea where I can find a place that offers 1. a better program for drums 2. realistic drum packs with single hits 3. any kind of info on how to weild fruity loops to sound less phony? I'd like to get a good double bass sound out of it, but I don't want to limit it to just blast beat type things. Thanks.

somewhere on the net are real drums, to put in a sampler. Real bass, real snare, tom tom etc. Real hits. I dont know where you would find it though. So bascially i wasted your time. lol sorry.

oh i rememembered, someone else wrote about that, in the making drum beats to play over thread.

[Edited by I Suffer on 02-08-2004 at 05:55 PM]

Yahoo search: Real drum wav samples

You'll find what your looking for.

As for alternate drum programs, fruityloops is among the best. No other programs has as many options, you may just wanna check out the manual.

Reality check: nothing is as good as a real drummer. Drum machines will have a fake sound too, since most are midi. Personally I think programs give you a more natural sound, since you can import real drum sounds.

Hey Cryptic, I've never used Fruity-Loops so I'm not sure how "manufactured" the tone sounds...however, I've had moderate success with a program called Leaf Drums. Like other folks here have said, there's no substitution for a real drummer, but this program offers some of the more "realistic" drum sounds that I've heard.

The program allows you to customise the drum sounds, create tailor-made rhythems that you can make as complicated or as simple as you choose, and oddly enough, the learning curve is pretty shallow.

The website is: http://www.leafdigital.com/Software/leafdrums/

Hope this helps!!

Thanks for all the info. I'll check into everthing. Much appreciation.