Drum production is a world shrouded in mystery. Drums have formed the backbone of commercial music since the genres of rock and pop started formalising in the 1950s. It may come as a surprise to you to know just how ubiquitous the practice of reinforcing or completely replacing the drum stems in a mix is – even in seemingly acoustic genres. This may seem obvious in trap-inflected tracks such as Katy Perry's ‘Dark Horse’ or Kylie Minogue's pounding collaboration with Lostboy, ‘Padam Padam’, but the process has infiltrated both studio and live performance across all genres.
Our approach to music production in schools can all too easily focus on the laptop production model: encouraging students to utilise pre-made loops and programming samples rather than utilising the skills of acoustic musicians. Drum replacement offers an interesting potential hybrid, acknowledging the value of live performers, while offering the flexibility of a programmed approach.
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