How do bands like the postal service and owl city make their drum beats?
January 24th, 2010 | 
Author: I haven’t dabbled much in electronic music, and really want to learn more on how to make it. Does anyone know what equipment / software bands like owl city and the postal service use for their drum beats?
Posted in 
Tags:
This is a video of Jimmy Tamborello from the Postal Service giving a tour of his studio. I watched it a few months ago because I was curious about the same thing and it explains a lot. Basically you have to have thousands of dollars worth of equipment and a LOT of spare time. Still sounds awesome though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB6p58bTvzg
i don’t know specifically about those bands but if you are beginning making music on a computer garage band would be the easiest place to start. you’re going to find yourself very limited very quickly on garage band however if you are really pursuing this. the next step up from there is really a matter of personal preference. logic express is a good one that is decently easy to learn. you could also go with logic pro if you have money to blow but logic express is very comprehensive and you will probably find it suits your needs for a long time. that’s my personal favorite. ableton live is good for djing and putting on live performances and making beats on the fly. then some of the other industry standards would be pro tools which in my opinion is harder to use than logic but definitely good software. fruity loops is a slightly cheaper option if you have a windows pc. to name some others there’s acid pro and reason. the type of software it sounds like you’re interested in is called DAW or digital audio workstation so research that. you’re other option would be to buy a drum pad at a music store or used online would be cheaper for the beats. you’ll probably end up wanting music software too if you’re trying to make music.