Rhythm Programming I
EML
Todays Topics
Understanding Rhythm and the Rhythm Section (25 mins) Hands On: Understanding the Drum Kit (20 mins) Beat Programming Tools in Ableton Live (15 mins) Genre Studies: Rock/Pop, 4/4 Dance music, Hip Hop (60 mins) This Weeks Fun Activity (aka stuff you do at home to improve your music making)
What is Rhythm?
It is the pulse of music Caused by accents and note length variations Often referred to by musicians as the groove
Dissecting the Rhythm Section
The Rhythm section is the group of musicians that establish the pulse and chord structure of a music piece Consists of 3 key groups of instruments:
Percussion (drum kit, congas, shakers etc) Keyboards (electric/acoustic piano, marimba etc) Strings (Bass, Guitars, Banjos etc)
Electronic versions of the above 3 are used in more electronic influenced genres
The Guitar
Rhythm is most often achieved by strumming chords Genres: Folk, Pop, Acoustic Rock, Blues etc
The Keyboard/Piano/Organ
Comping - Playing block chords, rhythms and countermelodies, often in jazz/funk styles
Video: Comping on Piano Jazz
The Drums
Outstanding due to its non-pitched nature Does not interfere as much with the other instruments Essential in almost all commercial popular music
A short list of percussion instruments
Acoustic Drum kit
Ethnic Percussion
Drum Machine/Sampler
Orchestral Percussion
Beatbox
Bass
Seals the low end of a piece of music Usually works with the kick drum in popular music Unlike other guitars, the bass is usually played 1 note at a time Supports the harmony
A short list of Basses
Upright Bass
Electric Bass
Synth Bass
Basic Rhythm Terms
Time Signature: Number/Length of beats per bar or measure e.g. 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 12/8, 5/4 Tempo: Speed of music Downbeat: First beat of a measure Upbeat: Last beat of a measure Onbeat/Offbeat: The series of strong and weak beats in a meter in 4/4 time Accent: Emphasis of a note/hit by playing louder Syncopation: Notes/Hits not falling on the beat, accents/rests on weak beats, anything that breaks the constant pulse
Some rules when writing for the rhythm section
Listen to what the other instruments are doing and fill in when there is space Density = excitement Try not to double the lowest note as it will get boomy
Clapping Exercise
Follow along and clap. Try to understand whether it is syncopated or not.
Hands On: Understanding the Drum Kit
BFD2 is a popular vst used for sampled acoustic drums.
Using the Ableton Drum Rack
Drag the Drum Rack Instrument to a new Midi Track
Adding Single Hits to the Drum Rack
Go to the Browser and find some single hits Drag and Drop into one of the boxes in Drum Rack
Slicing a Loop to Drum Rack
Right click on a loop in the browser. Select Slice to New MIDI Track
Slicing a Loop to Drum Rack
Select default options and click Ok
Entering patterns into Ableton Live
Fold Keyboard Audio Preview Notes
Samples
Velocity
Midi Editor Keyboard shortcuts
CTRL + 1 Shrink grid CTRL + 2 Widen grid CTRL + 3 Triplet grid CTRL + 4 Turn grid off Double click Create note in grid box
Genre Studies
Dance
Pop/Rock
Hip Hop
Pop/Rock
Pop/Rock Basic Drum Patterns
4/4 time, snare on beats 2 and 4. Kick on 1 and 3 Hi hats on 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 notes. 16 note hats too intense? The difference is in the accent Occasionally replace closed hats with open hats Cymbals on downbeat every 8 or 16 bars Ghost notes on snares Ride cymbals
Some Pop/Rock Drum Fills
Triplet fills Hit drums in 1/8 note or 1/16 note patterns 1 Bar Fill in between sections. 1 beat fill every 4.
Avoiding the machine gun effect
Ableton Live Groove Features Turning off the grid and adjusting note timings Adjusting Velocity of individual notes Play in the pattern using a midi controller and do quantization a bit of quantization
Bass Patterns for Pop/Rock
Root-Fifth bass patterns Filling in gaps in the rhythm Passing notes Playing in sync with drums during fills or prechorus Expressive playing - slides
More resources for acoustic drum patterns
Look at the midi patterns that come with BFD Check out the great acoustic drum website: www.freedrumlessons.com
Dance Music
Dance Music Structure
Basic music structure
Excerpt from Dance Music Manual (modified)
Tempo: 130 bpm up
Basic Instruments
Synth Lead Low Pad/Strings Synth Bass One shot Fx Reverse Samples
Basic Dance Music Drum Patterns
Kick drum on every beat 1/16 note hi hat patterns Open hat on second 1/8 note of every beat Snare on beats 2 and 4 Layering of other loops on top depending on genre e.g. tribal Crash on 1st beat of every section introducing a new instrument
Common Dance fills
Dropping the kick for 1 beat before a small transition 1/16 note Snare/Kick roll increasing in volume for 1 bar/4 bars Increasing volume kick with high pass filter.
Melody Rhythms
Offbeat pattern centered on 8th note of every beat Lots of repeated notes with interesting rhythms Use of delay/filtered delay
Bass Rhythms
Melodic syncopated distorted bass, mostly for electro house type music Basic offbeat bass line on every 1/8 note of a beat. 1/16 note basslines
Essential technique Sidechain Compression
Sidechain, sidechain, sidechain everything
Sidechain compression from Dummy Kick In Ableton Live
Most often used on bass and pads Gives that sucking/pumping feeling
Basic Dance Transition effect
Pitch bend up several octaves using glissando on a mono synth patch
More Resources
Tutorial Master List on Tranceaddict.com
Hip Hop/R&B
Hip Hop/R&B
Originated from sampling breaks from old funk/soul/disco records
Instrumentation
Rap Soulful female vocals Synths as accompaniment or harmony parts Samples of old records
Basic Hip Hop/R&B Beat
Kick on 1st beat + extra syncopated beats Rhythm is based on old breakbeats Tempo - 80 to 100 Clap on 2 and 4 The rhythm is in the rapping.
R&B and the 4-on-the-floor love affair
Kanye West - Stronger
Essential techniques
Autotune Double Tracking
Choose An Exercise this Week
Choose 1 of the 4 exercises to complete this week at home in the genres of either hip hop, pop/rock or dance.
Pop/Rock ExerciseThis Week
Choose one of the 4-bar acoustic guitar samples provided and write 3 different 4-bar sections for bass and drums similar to what was shown in the lesson Write fills of different lengths in between sections Try out bass in sync and bass out of sync during fills
Dance Music Activity This Week
Create the 32 bar intro section of a 4/4 dance piece until the breakdown similar to what was shown in the lesson. Use the technique of slowly adding elements layer by layer to keep interest Layer at least 1 sample on top of the main beat Use an ascending bass line for an uplifting effect Experiment with bass distortion and sidechaining effects Hint for chord progression: Keep the song to the root chord for the whole intro. During the breakdown, vary the chord progression faster to create excitement.
Alternate Dance Music Exercise
Complete the intro and first breakdown of the cover of Above and Beyond vs Andy Moor Air for Life
Hip Hop Activity This Week
Create a standard hip hop beat with a verse chorus section Use 2 different kick drum patterns for each section Sample a piece of music of your choosing and fit it into your tune through effects.
References
Dance Music Manual (In studio) Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer (Adrians personal collection)
