How to Create Drum Patterns on Linux Using Hydrogen Software

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Start the Hydrogen program. The last song you worked on will open or, if this is the first time you've used the software, you will be beginning a new song, By default, each new song in Hydrogen starts with 10 blank drum patterns, which are labeled Pattern 1 through Pattern 10.
Step 2

Open a saved song in the "File" menu. Select the "Open" option. The title bar of the screen should read "Untitled Song." If it doesn't, click on "File -> New" to open a new song.
Step 3

Click "View -> Song Editor" to open the song editor window. This is the window in which you will manage the drum patterns of your song. New songs will have 10 drum patterns listed, while saved songs will have as many patterns as you have previously created. Click on one of the numbers to create its drum pattern.
Step 4

Select the "Pattern Editor" from the "View" menu to view the window in which you will program the notes the drums will play. On the left-hand side of the Pattern Editor window you will see a list of drum instruments. These are the drums in Hydrogen's currently loaded (default) drum kit.
Step 5

Click on the name of a drum to hear the instrument sound through your speakers. As you do so, you will see the meters on the mixer window activate.

Step 1

Choose how many beats long you'd like the measure of your pattern to be. There is a grid of squares in the Pattern Editor window that represents how many beats per measure there are in your pattern. Change the value by selecting a number from the drop-down menu labeled "Size." The number of beats will be indicated above the grid.
Step 2

Examine the resolution in the Pattern Editor window. The resolution is the number of subdivisions each beat in the measure is given or the shortest note that can be sounded within a beat. For instance, if each beat in the pattern is a quarter-note, and each quarter-note is divided into sixteenth notes, this is the resolution.
Step 3

Change the resolution, if necessary, by choosing a new value from the drop-down menu labeled "Resolution." For example, if you would like the beat divided into eighth notes, set the resolution value to 8. If you would like the beat to be divided into sixteenth notes, set the resolution to 16.

Step 1

Add notes to the pattern. From the list of drum instruments, select the drum you'd like to sound. Place your cursor on the line that corresponds with the place in the measure you want to hear that drum. Once you click, a diamond shape will placed in the grid to represent that note.
Step 2

Continue placing drums until you have the pattern you want. If you make a mistake, click on the diamond representing the note and it will disappear.
Step 3

Change the volume of each drum hit by using the velocity editor. The velocity editor is the grid directly below the pattern editor. Its columns line up with the beats in your pattern-- when you place a drum note on your pattern, you will see a solid black line in the velocity editor.
Step 4

Play around with the sound of your drum by making this line in the velocity editor longer or shorter. The shorter the line, the softer the hit will sound--it can be changed simply by clicking above or below the line.

Step 1

Click the transport window (the one with the pattern in it) to hear what the pattern sounds like. To edit or listen to a different pattern within the song, click on the pattern name in the Song Editor window.
Step 2

Press the "Play" button. The pattern will play in a continuous loop until you press the stop button.
Step 3

Change the tempo by clicking the plus or minus buttons in the transport window. The beats per minute will be displayed as you increase or decrease the tempo.