hi-hat swing: how to get that southern/'crunk' vibe?

so the other day i was messin' with the swing settings on my 60 and i was trying to get that really fast southern/'crunk'/gangsta swing on a hi-hat but all the values i tried didn't quite sound right.

think of goodie mob/twista/no limit/e-40/cash money type swing.

what settings are they using? i've tried all the values from 50-75 on both 1/8 notes and 1/16 notes but nothing is sounding close to it. and triplets and 1/32 notes do not sound good at all.

is it something they (beatmakers) might just make a 1 bar sequence of with the setting on OFF and simply copy that track for, say, a 4-bar sequence? some of those swings seem like they'd be very hard to do manually, or at least very time consuming as it'd prolly take a number of tries to get it just the way you wanted it to sound.

any tips are appreciated.

16th notes - 56% swing.... you may have to nudge some notes to make it sound a bit more human.....
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D RU M AT !C
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seems to me, the cliche south hi-hats are tightly quantized with zero (50%) swing. straight 16ths with occasional 32nd rolls.....or double time with straight 8ths & 16th rolls (same thing, higher resolution).

drumat!c wrote:you may have to nudge some notes to make it sound a bit more human

do you use step edit for something like this? let me know, and i'll read that section of the manual.

thanks, drum.

27b wrote:or double time with straight 8ths & 16th rolls (same thing, higher resolution).

what is 'double time?' i vaguely remember hearing about this concept from SP1200 users.

it's not something you can perform on the 60, correct?

thanks, 27b.

In my opinion....increasing the tempo, x2, doesn't drastically change the resolution of the swing on the mpc-60 because it doesn't function in the same manner as the sp12(turbo) or 1200 (i think the 12 turbo hits harder and swings slightly looser). Anyhow, the best thing to do would be to experiment homey.....i use STEP/EDIT for EVERY beat I sequence. I think you should try programming 16th notes at 50% (default swing) as 27B stated in a previous post.

I wanna hear another comparison test this weekend....wonder if homey is gonna come through with them loops on the 60/3000 and 1200?

-D R U M A T ! C-

drumat!c wrote:i use STEP/EDIT for EVERY beat I sequence.

how so? it sounds like something you'd use if you messed up a sequence like a particular note wasn't programmed right or something. or for like if you have a really long sequence and you don't wanna simply re-program it.

right now i'm still making pretty basic 2-4 bar sequences and i usually program everything with the time signature at OFF (especially for the kick and snare, sometimes hi-hat, otherwise it's a typical 1/8th note @52%). with this method it is really easy to go back and reprogram a particular track if it's off.

i read something in another forum (i think production techniques) where one dude was describing how he programs/records his entire song as one long sequence vs. using song mode. what is your MO? one long sequence seems like it'd be a pain to changeup or reprogram if you wanted to and it'd take lots of memory on your part to remember the intro/verse/chorus/outro parts.

peace.

yeah....i don't particularly understand that whole re-do thing.....i just program my shit the way i wanna hear it....i'm always expanding on solid 2 bar beat segments. I'll knock out 16 sequence variations of a drum pattern in far less time than someone that is programming in real time....also....you can't possibly real time the kinda patterns i sequence unless you're playing on a midi drum set. That is just me though....

I believe it was Ahmir Thompson that was quoted on his observation of Jay Dee more recently sequencing entire beat tracks in real-time with no quant or anything. But those 1/2/ kick patterns are cake compared to his earlier Mad Skillz / Tribe / Phat Kat material....

drumz.1

Yo Drumatic some more on how you use step edit would be cool if it isn;t top secret

Particularly on this:

I'll knock out 16 sequence variations of a drum pattern in far less time than someone that is programming in real time....also....you can't possibly real time the kinda patterns i sequence unless you're playing on a midi drum set. That is just me though....


PM or call me if it's too much info to reveal.

some heads just are right at home with step edit. my boy just used to scroll through, play, stop, scroll through, edit, play etc - like he was one step ahead of himself in terms of knowing what he needed to input.

other cats are all about the real-time performance aspect, jamming the funk and letting it build (although quantize is still most peoples friend - that rza drunken slop is sort of ok, now and then, if you happen to have Wu or perhaps Biz Markie ready to spit)

that leaves the dudes with the just blaze poster, mpc manual still sealed in the box, trying to plug a midi cable into the headphone socket

YEAH,
same here I have been facinated at the cats that use step edit. Seems a bit confusing to me most dudes I know that got MPC's all program real time I know of only one guy has an XL that does it live then goes back and step edit certain sections.
Is this something that you have to experiment with to see how it fits into a persons way programming or is it just some quirky way that headz like to rock the MP. What I am saying is it like the whole Quantize or not to Quantize thing on a nother level?
I suppose I would have to disect the manual of the 60 to figure it out (step edit) cos I got a 2k and that manuals in another language LOL!

One other thing could it be that some arent quantizing correctly? Okay would you get better timing if you quantize first or move it afterwards. The processor could be just wierd that way. Thats my guess.

I always quantize first, move second. Moving your notes to where you want them is the key to emulating realistic drum grooves. Basically, my secret weapon is the drum kit that sits in my garage. For those of you that dig drum programming, I suggest that you all get into playing the drums if you want to program or emulate realistic and humanistic drum patterns. DEFINITELY!

I think there is no one way to use the MPC's. To each his own.

EL_ i'll hit you up this week.....studying insanely for these Ancient History exams.

drumat!c wrote:I always quantize first, move second. Moving your notes to where you want them is the key to emulating realistic drum grooves. Basically, my secret weapon is the drum kit that sits in my garage. For those of you that dig drum programming, I suggest that you all get into playing the drums if you want to program or emulate realistic and humanistic drum patterns. DEFINITELY!

I think there is no one way to use the MPC's. To each his own.

EL_ i'll hit you up this week.....studying insanely for these Ancient History exams.

yeah man, ive been playing for a minute and it helps alot. havent played the drums though in a minute due to my crazy old lady's private parts (EDIT:HAHA forgot you cant use c to the u to the n to the t on here)neghibor. I just cant get motivated till after midnight. My big think is how u chop shit and programing with stepedit to quantize settings. Its real easy once you know how its layed out. I use it for every beat to quickly get shit done that would take you mad long to do freehand without it. IM not sure about the older mpcs, but on the 2kxl, if you hold the record button down and hit a pad, it will autoforward it afeter the pad is pressed to the next quantize setting. So its programming in step edit without literaly programing it in.

yeah that's in the 60's step edit too, you can set it to auto advance and use the forward arrow for rests, no need to hold record on the 60 though, it's always in edit mode when in step edit, for better or worse.

i used to to beats like that on a DMX sometimes, it is a bit different, but I tend to just get down live.

i think the problem with programming live is that you tend to get lost in the short measures......and if you're working with longer measures you may just copy and paste and then delete the kick drum track or portions of it. Either way, it's clearly up to the programmer. I'm just best on the STEP/EDIT. I like subtleties and nuances within drum sequences....soft hits and pitch changes in instruments...especially the 16th note kick leading into the down beat kicks.