The Art of Perfecting Swing....

One thing that I have noticed in many beats today is a heavy emphasis placed on swing and making sure that the backbone of the beat (the drums) is really rocking. My question to many of the beat makers/producers in this forum is: What do you do specifically to get your drums as tight as possible, and the swing in your music to the point where it is bouncing, making the heads nod?

The reality of the matter is, you can have the craziest samples, the hottest kicks & snares, the hottest riffs, fills etc... BUT if your swing can't snap necks then the beat is just flat and lifeless. I appreciate your honesty and feedback brethren and I humbly accept whatever method of production you bring to the table.

Thanks in Advance...

messing with the tempo and pitch, just like add 1 cent of pitch and u change the way the sample "swings"

it dont mean a thang if it aint got that swang baby

if you want something that makes heads nod, than nod your head while programming the beat, don't be so technical, works for me.

theminsk420 wrote:it dont mean a thang if it aint got that swang baby

ohj yeah! chic.

I make the beat to the way my dingaling swang Clickity Clack CLACK!

Turn your quantize ir TC off for starters and just study good breaks. Maybe even pick up some drum sticks

yepz wrote:Turn your quantize ir TC off for starters and just study good breaks. Maybe even pick up some drum sticks

I would hit my beats so out of timing you wouldn't even want to listen. Or I could always tell you this is the new swing thing

put different TSig and swing on each element of the drums. Hats, kicks, snares, all at slightly different timingSigs and swing percentages.

Also experiment with triplets. They are, in a simple sense, maximum swing.

After you have entered a basic beat, use step editing to shift individual notes forward or backward a few ticks.

Experiment.

I like to get sufficiently liquored up, and turn off the quantize...no joke. If I have to quantize it, I like to do what TicToc said and move individual notes around using step edit. The swing featue of the quantize is nice, but it definately has a mechanical swing sound to it, so I try not to overuse it.

use your ears and experiement. your ears are the most important tools you own when it comes to making beats.

yeah, thats what I tried to tell beethoven

TheFirstJimBo wrote:yeah, thats what I tried to tell beethoven

ok, ok, i guess there are some exceptions but in all fairness he wasn't always deaf, he lost his hearing later on. smartass

to start, pick one element of your drum kit.

for example, quantize the kick on the 1 and 3 or the 1,2,3 and 4. This will give your rhythm section a backbone.

then turn off the quantize, rock with your snare drum. if you have the kick on the 1 2 3 and 4 and snares on the 2 and 4 but they arent quantized, itll be close enough but will create that "swing" element.

add your hat last, no quant and thats really where you can get loose with it.

dont worry about what the numbers say, do what feels good.