In beat making, there exist two spatial factors that are often overlooked: time-sensitive density and swing. We'll be taking a look at the latter in this article, as there are a lot of beat makers who have not paid enough attention and have not applied the most basic principles of using swing on drum samples and instruments.
A lot of music producers (especially ones just coming into the game) will often question all the fuss about using swing on drum samples and other tracks in a beat. The answer given on a lot of forums and blogs is usually something like this: the human ear loves variance. If every drum beat was to fall on the exact time grid of quantization, it wouldn't sound very pleasing. This is also the reason concerts are so popular. We've heard all the great songs already - countless times - but hearing them with some variation in drums and vocals is very appealing! If the artist instead simply played their CDs for the audience while lip-syncing, it wouldn't be good at all. Not half as appealing as live instruments with the possibilities of mistakes.
When tapping out samples on hardware, the swing will act as some sloppy quantization. Not that sloppy, though, just enough to get you into the groove template. It's great for those not yet very accurate with tapping.
But what exactly is swing? Swing is, again, like quantization, but without the 100% timing. There are various styles of swing templates, with varying degrees of swing. A 50% swing, for instance, is no different than snap quantization, so it's not really swing at all. But moving beyond this, a 63% swing template, for example, is one which moves midi notes from the nearest quantization point by thirteen percent either way. The percentage is of the timing, so it would be thirteen percent of 1/16th note, if 1/16 was the timing selected.
Swing templates are especially useful when combining drum samples tracks with electronic instruments like synthesizers - these 'synths' do not have any swing applied to them by default (most of the time), so using a swing setting on them along with a straight drum track, or the other way around, can get you some good results. You can also just quantize the drum samples and the electronic synth and simply use a swing setting on one other sound in the song.
When beginning to use this type of technique in music production, you may want to start with template percentages of fifty one to sixty three percent. Try them out on drum samples first and just mute the other tracks. Un-mute and play the track back again. Getting to know the difference in your mind as well as in your ears is an important step, especially true when you're just starting to do this on your own. Move onto other instruments and try other percentages as you get more comfortable.
A lot of music producers (especially ones just coming into the game) will often question all the fuss about using swing on drum samples and other tracks in a beat. The answer given on a lot of forums and blogs is usually something like this: the human ear loves variance. If every drum beat was to fall on the exact time grid of quantization, it wouldn't sound very pleasing. This is also the reason concerts are so popular. We've heard all the great songs already - countless times - but hearing them with some variation in drums and vocals is very appealing! If the artist instead simply played their CDs for the audience while lip-syncing, it wouldn't be good at all. Not half as appealing as live instruments with the possibilities of mistakes.
When tapping out samples on hardware, the swing will act as some sloppy quantization. Not that sloppy, though, just enough to get you into the groove template. It's great for those not yet very accurate with tapping.
But what exactly is swing? Swing is, again, like quantization, but without the 100% timing. There are various styles of swing templates, with varying degrees of swing. A 50% swing, for instance, is no different than snap quantization, so it's not really swing at all. But moving beyond this, a 63% swing template, for example, is one which moves midi notes from the nearest quantization point by thirteen percent either way. The percentage is of the timing, so it would be thirteen percent of 1/16th note, if 1/16 was the timing selected.
Swing templates are especially useful when combining drum samples tracks with electronic instruments like synthesizers - these 'synths' do not have any swing applied to them by default (most of the time), so using a swing setting on them along with a straight drum track, or the other way around, can get you some good results. You can also just quantize the drum samples and the electronic synth and simply use a swing setting on one other sound in the song.
When beginning to use this type of technique in music production, you may want to start with template percentages of fifty one to sixty three percent. Try them out on drum samples first and just mute the other tracks. Un-mute and play the track back again. Getting to know the difference in your mind as well as in your ears is an important step, especially true when you're just starting to do this on your own. Move onto other instruments and try other percentages as you get more comfortable.
About the Author:
If you want the best drum samples available, check out My Drum Samples here: http://www.mydrumsamples.com/
