Music producers - veterans and newbies alike - mostly do not pay attention to two of music's topics that are vital to a great beat and great song - density as time goes on and the swing applied to drum samples and instruments. The second topic, swing, will be the focus of this article and hopefully we will all learn something on the topic.
The first question we often hear is: why should I care about adding swing to my drum samples and other tracks? This question actually appears on so many forums and blogs, it's not funny anymore. It is a very serious topic if you want to be a great beat maker and music producer, so let's start at the beginning. The human ear loves musical variance. It is simply science. We pay more attention to things that we see and hear that are not normal, things that have not happened before. Imagine if your favorite artist started and finished their concerts by simply playing their latest album in the same track order, with the same exact notes and more. It wouldn't be very pleasing to your ear!
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.
Starting to implement these methods can be a bit daunting to start with. What you should probably do is perform some controlled experiments. If you can start with swing template percentages of 51% to66% or so, you'll be well off to a testing start. Apply the groove to a drum track (dry preferably) and then remove it. Go back and forth and try to catch the difference. Your ears will start to hear the effect that the swing has on your drum samples, and you will then be able to make creative decisions easier.
The first question we often hear is: why should I care about adding swing to my drum samples and other tracks? This question actually appears on so many forums and blogs, it's not funny anymore. It is a very serious topic if you want to be a great beat maker and music producer, so let's start at the beginning. The human ear loves musical variance. It is simply science. We pay more attention to things that we see and hear that are not normal, things that have not happened before. Imagine if your favorite artist started and finished their concerts by simply playing their latest album in the same track order, with the same exact notes and more. It wouldn't be very pleasing to your ear!
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.
Starting to implement these methods can be a bit daunting to start with. What you should probably do is perform some controlled experiments. If you can start with swing template percentages of 51% to66% or so, you'll be well off to a testing start. Apply the groove to a drum track (dry preferably) and then remove it. Go back and forth and try to catch the difference. Your ears will start to hear the effect that the swing has on your drum samples, and you will then be able to make creative decisions easier.
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