If you want ‘real’ drums, then go pick up a copy of last month’s
Computer Music,
where we detail how to get the perfect acoustic drum kit sound in your computer and to recreate ‘proper’ beats in your DAW, with a healthy dose of recording, programming and mixing advice along the way. This time around, we’re talking electronic beats, those more machine-like rhythms that lie at the cornerstone of so many of today’s music genres.
Of course, any beat that lies on your hard drive can be described as ‘electronic’; once it gets there it’s made up of digital ones and zeros. But stop being pedantic; you know the score! We’re talking about those beats that provide the foundation to just about every genre and sub genre that you can think about that isn’t acoustic or ‘rock n roll’. Of course the main player is dance music, but it extends to mainstream pop, Afrobeat, K-pop, Latin pop and even the modern side of country.