I've never been much of a drummer or drum programmer, but now that all my recording work takes place during moments stolen from Real Life (tm) in a cramped corner of the bedroom, I'm having to get to grips with it. Below is a small collection of short rhythm patterns I've been putting together in Doggiebox for OS X (which you'll need in order to make use of these files). Check out the Doggiebox file library for more cool stuff.

Early_Rock.dbsong
A collection of 1-bar patterns suitable for early rock'n'roll styles, rockabilly, and that kind of thing. Some of the variants labled "... Snare" replicate a hi-hat pattern on the snare, and these might work as the starting points for developing fills and such. To best use the .dbsong file, you'll need to map it to a .dbkit that includes the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum & 1 accented snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat & 1 accented closed hi-hat
• 1 pedal hi-hat
• 1 ride cymbal & 1 accented ride cymbal

Though in a pinch you could try replacing my "alto tom" with a snare (or maybe, an open snare).

Mirala.dbsong
A 2-bar 4/4 Latin-styled pattern, kind of rocked up Afro-Carribean. To use the .dbsong file, you'll need to remap with a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat
• 2 cymbals
• 4 toms

Though in a pinch you could try replacing my "alto tom" with a snare (or maybe, an open snare).

Songo_1.dbsong
A 2-bar 4/4 Latin-styled pattern that I drew from some rhythm tutorials I found on the web somewhere. The .dbsong file is configured to work with Ian's Kit.

Afro-Cuban_6-8_over_4-4.dbsong
A 2-bar Latin-styled pattern played in triples with a kind of 6/8 feel, but actually in 4/4. I copped this from some rhythm tutorials I found on the web somewhere, too. The .dbsong file is configured to work with Ian's Kit.

Dambuster.dbsong
A basic 2-bar drumset pattern for slow, heavy blues/rock. To use the .dbsong file, you'll need to remap with a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat.

Suave.dbsong
A basic 2-bar drumset pattern with a groovy blues/rock feel. To use the .dbsong file, you'll need to remap with a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat.

Dreamcolor.dbsong
A basic 2-bar drumset pattern for trippy psychedelia. To use the .dbsong file, you'll need to remap with a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 tom
• 1 closed hi-hat.

Thunderbird - MP3 - .dbsong
"Thunderbird" is a work-in-progress percussion track for a song built on an old guitar riff of mine. You can take it and cut it up for parts if you want :) To use the .dbsong file "as is" you'll need to remap with a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat
• 2 cymbals
• 4 toms

Though in a pinch you could try replacing my "alto tom" with a snare (or maybe, an open snare). Also, the "as is" .dbsong file uses a kit that has multiple samples of the same drum at different velocities, so if you want to keep features like drum rolls that get louder toward the end of the roll, you'll need a kit that has multiple samples of the same drum at different velocities.

Afterburner - Afterburner.dbsong
Afterburner3.dbsong
There are two versions here of drums for "Afterburner", a song built on good ol' spacerock riff I first cobbled together a couple of years ago. There's a exceptionally rough, unmixed demo version with the first version of these drums, plus guitars/bass/vox, on my Home Studio page. It wants a a .dbkit that includes at least the following:

• 1 kick drum
• 1 snare drum
• 1 closed hi-hat
• 1 open hi-hat
• 1 ride cymbal
• 2 crash cymbals
• 3 toms

The Afterburner3.dbsong version has a variety of hits at different velocities and other oddities in it (reflecting the growing pretentiousness of my drum programming since the first version :) so to best use it you'll want a kit that will handle that sort of thing.

Most of the percussion parts in songs on this page were programmed in the excellent Doggiebox. I currently this ns_kit7free+.dbkit which (when the .zip file is decompressed) can be easily linked to ns_kit7free WAVs (when those are downloaded). If that's too much like work, you can probably get a long way with the ready-made 70sLudwigKit_vII.dbkit. (I just received the full version of ns_kit7 on 5 DVDs (!) and it has got to be the biggest bargain in music technology. If you do drum programing you need this. I haven't constructed any Doggiebox dbkits using it yet, though.)

Open Source Music
The works on carlaz.com linked from this page are licensed under a Creative Commons License. You can hit that link for details, but basically this is "open source music". You are encouraged to take it away and play with it. Record your own smokin' guitar solo to replace my sucky one, add keys, horns, write a whole new song -- whatever! It would be cool to see music being created interactively by people scattered around the world: a free-form, internet musical collective making all kinds of different versions of songs :) I ask only that if you use something or some part of what I made, please gimme some credit, let other people use your modifications freely as you used my source, and (most importantly) send me a copy or show me where I can link to it. We're all in this together. Rock on!