How to Write an Advanced Drum Beat
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- Music Theory from Royal Blood "Mountains at Midnight".
►FREE BOOK. Learn Theory in 30 Minutes: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
►DRUMS PDF. Everything You Need to Know: HackMusicTheory.com/Drums
0:00 Step 1. Pattern
0:50 Step 2. Beat
2:13 Step 3. Pulse
2:39 Final Example
Step 1. Pattern
Set up two bars of 4|4 with your grid set to 1/16 notes, and your tempo at 136 BPM. Now, instead of starting to make your drum beat with the usual kick on beat 1 and snare on the backbeats (like everyone else does!), you’re gonna start by writing your kick and snare pattern on the hi-hats. Wait, what?! I know that seems like a really odd thing to do, but this method is gonna result in a far more creative (and therefore “advanced”) drum beat. Okay, so there are many ways to write a creative pattern, but here’s an easy method. Start by playing every 1/8 note. Then, delete a couple of those. This creates variation. And then, move one or two hits over to the next 1/16 note. This creates surprise.
Step 2. Beat
Right, now that you’ve written a creative rhythm, it’s time to turn it into a drum beat. To do that, simply divide up your pattern between the kick and the snare. In other words, move some notes to the kick and others to the snare. But, instead of falling back into the conventional approach of kick on beat 1 and snare on the backbeats, purposefully avoid doing that in the first bar. This unusual approach in your first bar creates a huge amount of interest that grabs the listeners’ attention. But, if you repeat this approach in your second bar, it won’t sound as interesting any more, as they’ll be expecting it. So, in your second bar, you’re purposefully going to switch to a conventional approach with the kick on beat 1 and snare on the backbeats (i.e. beats 2 and 4). This cycling back and forth between an unconventional bar and a conventional bar keeps your listeners constantly engaged.
Artist
And a shoutout to Royal Blood, and especially their drummer Ben Thatcher, as this lesson is based on his beat from their new single “Mountains at Midnight”.
Step 3. Pulse
This is the easy part. Just add an 1/8 note pulse on a cymbal. This simple rhythm glues the complex beat together. Ben actually switches the pulse between the hats for the verses, and the crash for the choruses.
---
ABOUT
The fast, easy & fun way to make music. Taught by Ray Harmony, a multi award-winning college lecturer who's made music with multiplatinum Grammy-winning artists, and his protégé wife, Kate.
CREDITS
© 2023 Revolution Harmony
Revolution Harmony is Kate & Ray Harmony
Script & all music in video by Revolution Harmony
Book promo filmed & edited by Maurits Nienhuis
Footage of Ray Harmony by Billie Woods
Vinyl footage by Matthias Groeneveld
Stock drummer footage from Pexels
►DRUMS PDF: HackMusicTheory.com/Drums
That is funky as hell. It's sounds like a combination of syncopation and swing without either actually offseting the beat.
Thanks Ken! Hope this finds you well and we wish you many blessings on your week ahead :) Kate
Amazing! This hack combined with the other hacks available on the channel are incredible tools to avoid boring or generic beats on our songs. As usual thank you so much for this awesome tutorial and all you always do for us!
Thanks Jose, we always appreciate your kind words :) Hope you've had a great weekend so far and we wish you many blessings on your week ahead 🙏 Kate
@@HackMusicTheory thank you so much Kate and likewise. Blessings for you always!
This is great! And perfect timing for me as late in the week I began thinking more about drum patterns and how to create something different. I’ll try this today, later this afternoon.
And what is really cool is I see your lesson today having a wider application beyond drums, as it demonstrates a way to create some different rhythms, something I’m always searching for in the context of improvisation.
Thanks so much! ❤🙂🙏
Charles my friend, a heartfelt thank-you for your kind and thoughtful comment, as always! We're beyond grateful to have you in the Hack Music Theory family, your presence is deeply appreciated. Hope you have a lovely Sunday, and thanks for always taking the time to connect, it means the world to us. Until next time, take good care. Ray :)
Can you make a video about how to write melody over chords?
thank you
How cool are these lessons
Arjun my friend, it's so good to see you back again! Thanks for stopping by and connecting, and thanks for taking the time to watch our new video. We really appreciate you being here, and we hope to see you again on our next video. Until then, have a lovely week. Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory Your lessons just help me kick out my writers block and I am sure it helps others too.
Aw that makes us so happy to hear, Arjun. Thanks for sharing your experience, we're so grateful :)
Great, thank you.
Thanks for watching Az! Hope this finds you well and we're wishing you many blessings on the week ahead :) Kate
Cool tip, going to try writing a beat with this technique today! Yall rock 🎶
Hope this one provided some fun in the DAW last weekend, Spencer! Wishing you many blessings on the week ahead :) Kate
I MISS u GUYS
Thanx again for sharing your experience!
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊
Thanks Jost, hope you had a lovely weekend :)
Hi Kate & Ray! I love experimenting with drums making unusual patterns but they don't always sound good :) Can you hack Nujabes?
Hi Andrei, hope this finds you having a great weekend! We'll check out Nujabes :) And just keep practicing with the patterns, as always, we're cheering you on! Wishing you many blessings :) Kate
What DAW are you using in the video? Any suggestion for a Mac user?
www.reaper.fm :)
Maybe a lesson on keeping a song engaging, using the rocket (or UFO) ride that is "Zenith" by Huntress for inspiration?
Hey Opposite LCR, thanks so much for watching and for the suggestion, we'll check it out! Wishing you many blessings on your music making and your week ahead :) Kate
@@HackMusicTheory I think you'll love it. It's a pure headworm!
Stay awesome
Andi
I wonder if you guys could hack Converge? Those guys wrote some really insane stuff
Hi Adrian, hope this finds you well! Thanks for watching and we'll add Converge to the list :) Wishing you many blessings on your week ahead! Kate
do Godzilla by Blue Öyster Cult please!
Do Silversun Pickups
Ooh. Good choice. Love those lo-fi chunky drums on Future Foe Scenarios
More sleep token hacks!
Hack Crystal Lake’s breakdowns
Thanks for the suggestion Jap Powerful! Wishing you many blessings on your upcoming week :) Kate