Interesting rhythm / DM discussion in Craig's SSS forum...

[blue2blue]

http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Craig-Anderton-s-Sound-Studio/Varying-your-tempo-settings-in-a-DAW-to-achieve-realistic-groove/td-p/34759868

 

Longtime forum regular rasputin1963 started an interesting discussion of rhythm and drum machines, including an analysis he did of Jeanne Pruett's "Satin Sheets" complete with two measure tempo map showing a pretty interesting swing pattern.

[Oswlek]

I don't know a God damn thing about percussion and it drives me nuts.

 

For instance, listen to this:

 

How do you come up with the idea to only hit the kick on three?  And the double tap on snare edge?

 

I remember when Stick sent me some perc ideas for "Young Man Gone", he was hitting the tamb (acting as a snare at that point in the song) in a totally different spot that I was.  It was immediately clear that he was right, but I never would have thought of it on my own.

Is there some way to analyze this stuff or is it just trial, error and experience?

[blue2blue]

Well, certainly you can listen to tracks and analyze them and get some general rules in mind -- and that absolutely helps -- but I've found that combining that with good ol' trial and error is what works for me. As I've often said, I appear to have some definite kinds in my music learning ability, so, of course, what works for me may not work for everyone, but,  you know, common sense suggests analysis combined with practical experimentation should contribute toward a more full understanding.

 

Just so we don't 'split' the conversation though, I'm going to lock this thread and hope that folks will drift over to the other thread -- there are some good folks in the SSS forum and I'd like to get them more familiar with us and vice versa. 

I wonder if there are any virtual softball leagues...