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A little Intro

Every sound has an attack, a decay to the attack, sustain and a release - this is referred to as ADSR. Drum sounds have these characteristics in abundance, and these characteristics can determine the success of a sound in a beat, or the whole beat itself. Slight changes in any component of the ADSR of the drum elements in a beat can have a dramatic effect on the overall perception of the beat. A funky example that you should understand, and if you don’t, then take up cooking or crochet, is that of a snare sound. As you know, a snare has an attack that makes it distinctive as a snare sound. This is the ‘snap’ that you hear on snares. The speed at which the attack reaches its maximum point and then drops is called the ‘decay’. The body of the snare, past this point of attack and decay, is called the ‘sustain’ and the ‘release’ is when the snare stops, or rather, the way it stops.

To make life easier, let us take a clip snare as an example ( Clip Snare 01). You can hear its distinct attack and quick decay. It has a very small sustain (body) and a sharp release. A good example of a long release on a snare might be that of a flam snare ( Flammy Snare 01) that dies slowly and gives the impression that it is being played as opposed to a sample being triggered. Think about it. A drummer hits a snare and the snare takes time to be hit then released. This is why we like drummers, because they sound real and fluid and because they bring the strongest beer to the gig.

Let us look at more examples. A kick being used in Trance, and at 140bpm, cannot spend hours ‘tailing’ (dying) off as it would interfere with the next sound, notably, the next kick in the beat. So, we keep the release of that kick very short, so it tails off immediately and the next kick note can start again. This keeps up the momentum of the track. The same thinking can be applied to the attack. By adjusting the attack to exhibit a softer character, it will allow the bass attack to sound more pronounced. This can be used in reverse. The attack on the kick can be accented and the attack on the bass note softened, so we have a more percussive dominant feel, with the bass complimenting the kick instead of dominating it.

We can even accent both attacks and have the monster kick/bass lines that have made Trance so distinctive. But to achieve any of these vibes, you need to understand frequencies. In this way, the accented kick and bass will not clash but join to form a solid and distinct attack on every measure or beat. If the frequencies clash, then you could have a muddy attack, or distorted attack…You get the picture

Hip Hop has seen some great changes over the years in the way the drums are presented. Back in the 80s, kicks were far looser and less pronounced, giving that almost live feel. In fact, they were played live and layered with more pronounced percussive elements. Today there is far more emphasis on the presentation of the kick drums and snares in this genre. Kicks now have a strong, pronounced attack, a deep resonating body and a short tail off. If anything, kicks are substituting bass lines, as they are now deeper and multi layered and offer a stronger content. ( Bass Kick 01)

Snares have moved away from the woody, flammy feel, to crispier and dirtier feels. In dem days (80s), snares were either, and tragically, gated reverbs a la Phil Collins, or weak and woody sounding with little body. The drive of the Hip Hop tracks of the 80s was the musical content, primarily the bass line and more musical content. Today Hip Hop is far more sparse and haunting and is very drum based with more vocal harmonies being structured in for the feel. Tracks like L.L.Cool Js ‘I need Love’ brought forward the clever use of the cabasa in R&B music. Conflicting and interweaved percussive sounds began to take dominance in all genres.

The genre progressed from the live kit sound of, say, Clyde Stubblefield of Funky Drummer fame, to the more programmed feel of the modern day drum machines. Sure, we still have the live drum beats in Hip Hop, but invariably, they are then layered and programmed with sampled sounds.

Let’s not forget our Dance dudes out there. I recall the House tracks of the 80s. I remember that percussive sounds were far more dominant than just the kicks and snares. Cowbells and triangles played a big part in 80s House music. The kicks were less pronounced and layered with more percussive elements that went to form the classic House sound. Almost every track had the mandatory shaker loop. Snares were less pronounced and snare rolls and fills were very common.

Today’s House has advanced dramatically with more emphasis on a hard and deep kick, married and closely interlaced with the bass line, almost symbiotically, with more variety in snares and percussion. In Trance music, the Hi hat is not just a simple Hi hat, but a very detailed and selective sound that livens and brings the drive of the track forward. The placement of the open and closed Hi hats is crucial to this genre. Trance programmers and producers have to know their timing. I can honestly say that House, Trance and Hip Hop have advanced more than any other genre in the past 20 years, in terms of percussive elements and techniques.

I do not want to go into the history of genres or long explanations about styles and techniques pertaining to the genres over time. I wanted to give you a little insight into how our tastes have changed and how our perception of the ‘drive’ of a genre has progressed. This progression and perception merits the use of advanced techniques.

So, we are back to where we were. How do you recognise which drum sound to use as a layer....?

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