> Step by step

1. Getting the core sounds together

1

Although the temptation when building cinematic, soundtrackstyle beats is to search for interesting ethnic sounds, the humble tom tom is a brilliant option. Here, we’re picking some sounds from Ableton Live’s Drum library folder but you should be able to find sounds in your DAW or third party instruments like BFD. (Audio to download: Step 1a and 1b) 3

For musical energy and a sense of urgency, tablas are ideal, but they’re capable of so many tones that it can be hard to know where to start. Here, our sample set comprises 16 sounds, divided into short slaps, choked thumps and deeper, sustained sounds. We map these out across our sampler, so that we can pick and choose from them when programming. 2

Big taiko drums are perfect for thunderous sounds, but are often recorded with ambience, making each sample set sound very particular. We collect together samples of hits made on the centre and rim of the drum, plus a proper rimshot and a flam. This gives us the programming flexibility we want but with consistency, as our hits all come from the same sample set. (Use our audio if you don’t have any.) 4

Marching band snare drums cut through pretty much anything, and their clicky sound is great for accents or ‘regimented’ musical sections. To make the most of them, seek out a sample set like FXPansion’s BFD (above) with a range of articulations, like flams and rolls. You could program these yourself, but they often sound much better when sampled ‘as played’. Again you can use our audio here.