The two mistakes often made by music producers regarding the hi-hat are not made exclusively by amateurs, but also by so-called music production veterans and beat making professionals.

The first mistake concerns volume. The role of the hi-hat drum samples is often overstated and overemphasized by many expertly arranged songs. The human ear, it is claimed, has gained a perception of the frequencies that hi-hats occupy throughout evolutionary stages. Apparently some aerial predators made noises that had the same frequencies, and we can therefore hear it above its actual volume.

You will never really ‘mix out’ hi-hat samples, just lower them a few decibels during the beat making process. So first mix them to where you think they should be and then drop them a few notches further down. This incongruity has let down a lot of budding mixers who must understand that what they hear is not what their audience will hear at all times.

The second mistake that gets a lot of attention in audiophile circles regarding hi-hat drum samples is the lack of authenticity in songs. If you’re developing a MIDI track for a rock song and decide to include, say, a 1/16th constant hi-hat pattern throughout every bar, you need to be wary of the possibility of other instruments to play off this constant hit. Your drummer should not be hitting the hi-hat, snare, tom and cymbal all at the same time, as this is practically impossible to achieve with two and even three arms if that came along. So aim for an authentic pattern, especially if you’re producing rock tracks and other genres where the ability to replicate the sample track in a live setting is a necessity. If, for instance, you’re making a dance track, the realness can be toned down a bit or completely dismissed, as there is a general acceptance in your listener that this is all made on a drum machine or sequencer. So you can really go wild here and not worry about those rules.

You can learn a great deal using professional drum sequencing sample libraries and sets like EZ Drummer and BFD. These will show you the physical implications and deliver standard and advanced patterns that you can immediately digest and take in mentally, noting what works and what doesn’t work. Then apply what you learn to your own songs.

Want to make your own beats? Check out our how to rap freestyle guide.