How To Use And Customize The Drummer Feature In GarageBand
What Is the Drummer Feature?
GarageBand’s Drummer is a software instrument that plays automated drum patterns to use in your musical projects.
Drummer is one of GarageBand’s most impressive features as it offers an easy way to add professional drum tracks to your project, with almost unlimited customization options.
You can choose between 28 virtual drummers and three virtual percussionists, each with their own personal style. You can also edit the rhythm, sounds, and patterns of what Drummer plays to perfectly match your track.
If you haven’t already, go to GarageBand > Sound Library > Download All Available Sounds to download every Drummer option to your Mac.
How to Add Drummer to GarageBand
To add Drummer to your GarageBand project, all you need to do is create a new track. then, you should,
1. Go to Track > New Track from the menu bar and select Drummer from the popup window that appears.
2. Alternatively, press Option + Cmd + U to instantly add a new Drummer track.
After you add a Drummer track, GarageBand would create an eight-bar region at the beginning of your project. It also opens the Library and the Editor windows to let you choose your virtual drummer, kit, and Beat Preset.
Choose a Drummer
The Library window on the left shows all the different GarageBand virtual drummers, separated into seven musical genres:
- Rock
- Alternative
- Songwriter
- R&B
- Electronic
- Hip Hop
- Percussion
Choose a genre, then select an available drummer to read a short paragraph about their playing style.
Each drummer offers a different playing style. It might take a while to get to know each of them, so for now, focus on the sub-genre next to their name. You can always experiment with different drummers further down the line.
Choose a Kit
Changing the drum kit doesn’t change what Drummer plays; only how the actual drums sound. Every drum kit is available for every virtual drummer, although each one has a preferred kit they default to.
After choosing a virtual drummer, hit Space to listen to them play. Then select different kits in the Sounds section of the Library.
Choose a Beat Preset
The Beat Preset refers to the actual drum pattern that Drummer plays. If you changed the drum kit, press E to open the Drummer Editor again and find a list of Beat Presets at the left edge of the window.
Each virtual drummer offers a different selection of Beat Presets to fit their genre. Click through each of them to find a drum pattern you like for your project.
Don’t worry if the Beat Preset isn’t perfect; we’ll edit it in a moment.
Structure Your Drummer Track
If you don’t want Drummer to play the same drum pattern for your entire project, you need to create separate Drummer regions in the Workspace window. You can edit the settings for each region so Drummer plays different patterns for the intro, verse, and chorus of your song.
Hover your mouse over the right edge of a Drummer region to reveal an Add (+) button. Click that to create a duplicate region immediately after the original. Then drag and drop it somewhere else, adjust the length, or loop it to fit your song structure.
How to Edit the Drummer Settings in GarageBand
Using a Beat Preset is a quick way to get started with Drummer. However, you can take far more control over what Drummer plays by adjusting the X/Y Pad, pattern variations, and style knobs in the Editor window.
Double-click a particular Drummer region to open the Editor. Then adjust the settings below to edit that region, making it different from what Drummer plays elsewhere.
Tweak the X/Y Pad
The X/Y Pad offers a quick and easy way to change the drum pattern to match your project. Drag and drop the yellow puck to different areas of the pad to completely change the pattern that Drummer plays.
Moving along the X-axis changes the drum pattern from Simple to Complex, while the Y-axis changes from Soft to Loud.
You don’t need to drag the puck to the far corners of the pad. Small movements still change the drum patterns a surprising amount.
Choose Your Percussion Sounds and Pattern Variations
To the right of the X/Y pad, you should see a drum kit or a grid of percussion instruments, depending on your chosen drummer. You might see cymbals, toms, shakers, bongos, or other instruments.
Click to highlight a percussion sound if you want to include it in your pattern. Alternatively, remove the highlight if you don’t want to hear that sound.
The sliders next to each percussion sound let you change the pattern variation for it. Generally speaking, moving the slider to the right tells Drummer to use that sound more often in the drum pattern.
Add Fills and Swing
The right side of the Drummer Editor shows two knobs. These both let you change the style of playing for your selected region.
Increase the Fills level to make Drummer play longer and more complex fills throughout the drum pattern. A fill is an elaborate flourish, or a drum roll, that adds variety to the song. It usually comes at the end of a region.
Increase the Swing level to add a jazz-like swing to the rhythm of the drum pattern. This works best if other instruments in your project also play in swing time. Use the 8th and 16th buttons to choose how fast you want the swing to be.
Close the padlock next to either of these knobs to lock those levels. That way, you can change the Beat Preset, the pattern settings, or even the virtual drummer without losing your Fills or Swing level.
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