Drum and bass are essential elements in several music sub-genres and their derivations. The British-Caribbean, Hip-Hop, and Funk sound systems widely influenced these se percussion instruments. Drum and bass produce a unique sound that you can recreate. Most producers tend to associate this music genre with the classic drum pattern built upon the famous Amen Break. According to The Economist, this drum pattern has changed the face of music.
Drum and Bass: Some Context
Most drum and bass tracks fall around a speed between 170 and 175 BPM. At these speeds, taking out snare drums offers them some room to breathe, whereas at slower tempos, adding double-time high-hats and snare rolls keeps the energy on track. Experts say that this energy determines the vibe of both drum and bass tracks and is what makes the Amen Break so popular. It’s a challenge to make natural sounds with digital and synthetic snare drums, so people typically use them with an acoustic snare. Achieving a good drum kit for drum and bass production is a laborious one because it requires a variety of audio techniques including layering, mixing, and sampling.
Sampling in Particular
Drum samples are usually tight. They must be unique and they shouldn’t interfere with each other. The volume envelope is common to preserve the quality of the samples as it removes unwanted content. Since a short volume envelope reduces the impact of some of these samples, a short tail provides the snap it needs to get people moving. For this to happen, the transient should be quite thick.
Drum and Bass: Acoustic or Digital
The sound design of drum and bass can be either acoustic or digital. Many popular tracks layer acoustic samples with digital ones. When this happens, you preserve a natural-sounding kick or snare. Digital samples have adequate frequency content at all times, which is not always the case when using acoustic ones.
Musicians usually play drums in conjunction with other track elements. The rhythms played by the kick and snare can cause synthesizers to frequently duck on syncopated notes. When this happens, producers should think of a lighter and shorter sidechain entering the snare, achieving a wider space. You should never sidechain ghost snares so that synthesizers don’t crush with every single hit.
