Beat Makers - share your techniques

**Ynot** · 02-18-2006 09:43 PM

Seems like we have a fair number of beat makers on the forum,
what with the fruity loops thread, and various others
thought it might not be a bad idea to start a thread on beat making techniques

When I was 15 or so, me and a few friends would regularly frequent this local Jazz club.
They had live jazz musicians playing for about 4 hours solid
something about the way the drummers played got me hooked

it's like your brain was following the beat, and expecting the next percussion hit
and it didn't happen
it happened on an odd beat
then resumed normally
you couldn't help but move to it

I always called it the rolly-shoulder beat
cause your head was bopping to the regular timing
then suddenly, the off beat caused your shoulder to roll
then back

Enter Swing Time into my life

Now, when ever I'm making a beat
and it's just not working
too monotenous, too robot like
boring after 20 seconds
adding in swung notes is the first thing I try

Here's a little text file illustrating (I hope) the difference

Swing Rhythm.txt

The basic idea is to un-regulate the beat slightly
by taking two same-length notes side by side
stretching one, and shortening the other
giving a slightly off-beat hit

Anyway, what techniques work for you?
I'll add some more at a later date

**Ynot** · 02-20-2006 01:22 AM

guess not, then

**Oneironaut Zero** · 02-20-2006 03:32 AM

Originally posted by Ynot
guess not, then

It's hard for me to say, really. My style is so ecclectic, it's hard to really pinpoint what my techniques are, ya know? I listen to more genres than I can probably pinpoint at this moment, and leave nothing to my imagination when deciding what I do and don't like, so I have a wide aresenal of then-and-there ideas that pop into my head as I'm listening to different songs.

I love to make sure I go for originality, though. Even if I hear a high-hat rhythm that I like, I'll make sure to change the tone of the hat, maybe make it closed instead of open, and apply it to a song of a different tempo than the original with a stutter or two. I think the most important thing to do is just dig through as many types of music as you can, just like you did with the jazz. Look into some more electronica, maybe. If you love drums, you'll love jungle, drum & bass, acid jazz. All that.

Of course, for a good drumline, you can barely ever beat Breaks. (no pun intended.)

Also, if you have a pretty good knowledge of different instrumental sounds, (which I'm sure you do) as a song is playing, (whatever genre) do your own little verbal rendition of an instrument that isn't In the song. Just imitate any kind of sound and create your own melody that goes with it. It can be a bassline that doesn't exist, or vocalizing a horn sound thats on a break, when no horn exists. You know? Be personal. Be creative. Just feel out the song as it plays and do your own thing. You can create wicked songs by putting together sort of a "melodic variant" of whatever song you're listening to.

Hmm..damn I never consciously realized I did that until now. That's a good technique. I should really write this shit down, someti--...

Oh wait....Nevermind.

**Ynot** · 02-21-2006 01:13 PM

Lovely set of articles by Sound on Sound

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb98/arti...cles/rythm.html

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