How to Make Psytrance Drums Groove Like Professional Tracks

• Production
• Drums & groove
• Psytrance
• 12 min video

You have written the closed hat, the open hat and the snare, and the pattern is correct, but the drums still sound flat next to professional tracks. The difference is rarely the main pattern. It is everything happening behind it, and how you arrange it. Here is how KOOROW makes psytrance drums groove harder without changing the drum line itself.

The video is in Persian. This article walks through every step in English.

Strong and weak beats

Before writing velocities, think about accents. In a bar of four beats, beat 1 is strong, beat 3 is semi-strong, and beats 2 and 4 are weak. Accents on different beats, created with velocity and layering, are what give a drum line its feel.

Step 1: A grooving closed hat for lower-energy parts

Write a closed hat for the sections where the energy is lower and you do not want anything busy. Give it a velocity pattern that goes up and down, high-low-high-low, so it moves and swings. The loudest hits are where the accent falls.

Step 2: A tight closed hat for the peak

Write a second closed hat for the climax. This one gets no groove: flat velocities, tight and almost mechanical. Shorten the sample, use one-shot mode with a small warp, and balance its level against the grooving hat. In the drop, layer it on top of the first closed hat. Mute it and you will hear how much energy it adds.

Step 3: Keep the open hat simple, add an accent layer

KOOROW keeps the main open hat simple. Instead of editing it heavily, add a second open hat that plays only on selected hits, to accent both the closed hat and the main open hat. It is not meant to be heard clearly on its own. Its job is to support the main drums.

Step 4: Percussion with a Drum Rack

1. Load a Drum Rack with three percussion samples. Do not make it complicated.
2. Write the hits experimentally: try a position, listen, move it.
3. Shape the velocities: some hits quieter, some much quieter, a few stronger. A strong hit can still be pushed back in level so it supports rather than leads.

Step 5: Use longer loops and layered snares

• A 4-bar loop gives you far more room for variation than a 1-bar loop. In the video the snare pattern runs over 4 bars with a few extra hits added.
• The snare is two layers: one sample and one sound designed in Serum. Designing your own snare opens up a lot of options.
• A shaker is optional. Use one if the track needs it.

Step 6: Let arrangement do the rest

Arrangement has a huge effect on groove. In breakdowns and lower-energy parts, break the drums up: keep the closed and open hats and drop the snare, then bring the snare back four bars later and drop the open hat. Treat the drums almost like a lead.

In the parts where the track should peak, do the opposite and keep the drums full. And do not draw one clip from the start of the track to the end. Each drum element has its own character and its own place.

Keep learning

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• How to design psytrance risers that create real tension
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