What’s the difference between a programmed drum beat and a live drummer?
A really good drummer bends the tempo in very subtle ways. He / she takes the snare and drags the downbeat by a fraction of a second, uses the kick drum on ‘off beat’ accents to make your head bounce, throws in ‘ghost notes’ on the snare to give the beat life, and uses the steady hi-hats to glue it all together. It’s incredibly subtle, so it seems right to call it: ‘That Elusive Groove’.
Talking about it won’t do it justice though. Here are two examples! The first is the original ‘live’ drum track, the second is the same drum track quantized to a steady tempo. This drum break was lifted from the Amy Winehouse song, ‘You Know I’m No Good’.
Ex. 1 – Original (Variable tempo)
[mp3 url=https://mjdorian.comwp-content/uploads/2015/10/BeatStudy-GrooveEx1-Live.mp3]
Ex. 2 – Quantized (104bpm)
[mp3 url=https://mjdorian.comwp-content/uploads/2015/10/BeatStudy-GrooveEx2-Quantized.mp3]
Do you notice any difference? Might take a few listens. From my impression, I’d say that the original (Ex.1) has a damn good groove, there’s a bounce to it that makes you want to bob your head. While the quantized version sounds like it’s doing all the things a drumbeat is supposed to do…it’s just missing something. It sounds like the soul was sucked out of its rhythms. What do you think? Leave a comment below!
And you can download both beats for your evil schemes here: Beat Study No.1
Cool! Really dig these articles!