Book Review - 260 Drum Machine Patterns

After going through Ray F. Badness' book, "Drum Programming", I was hoping to get more practice from this particular book, "260 Drum Machine Patterns" by Rene-Pierre Bardet. This book is a supplement to another book titled "200 Drum Machine Patterns", but I decided not to get that one because reviewers had indicated that the patterns from that book are also included in this book here.

This book is meant to be used as practice material. There's not a whole lot of explanations, but instead there's a lot of different drum patterns. I spent almost an entire day getting them all into my drum machine. Although the work was tedious, I'm so much more familiar with how drum patterns are programmed for different genres. The genres you'll learn include Disco, Funk, Swing, Reggae, R&B, and a whole lot more. Even though you might not need them all, because you might be trying to focus on one particular genre, that extra bit of knowledge doesn't hurt.

The most interesting thing I learned from the book was how a few simple changes in where your kicks or hi-hats are placed can result in a totally different genre and vibe.  If you get this book, you'll definitely add some flavor to how your drums are programmed!