I'm looking to get into it as a nice change but I am struggling a bit to get that classic drum n bass drum loop. Forget the bass line, forget synths. Its just the drum loop I want to focus on. Its that classic percussive loop that you hear in most d&b tracks that I need help with.
Any tips would be great. Typically I always build drum loops from scratch using one shots. Is this still easy enough with drum n bass or should I look to chopping up and layering pre-made loops?
This might go nowhere as I can't remember anyone ever talking about drum n bass on this forum.
Well yeah I suppose. I've never really been aware of exactly what the amen break is, but yeah sped up, that sounds like a typical d&b loop though not all d&b tracks will sound exactly like that, but yeah I suppose thats the general idea.
DJ RANN
quote:
Originally posted by G-Con
Well yeah I suppose. I've never really been aware of exactly what the amen break is, but yeah sped up, that sounds like a typical d&b loop though not all d&b tracks will sound exactly like that, but yeah I suppose thats the general idea.
The amen break is what 90% of (at least) early D&B was based upon.
It's actually quite hard to find D&B (apart from the more experimental stuff which i closer to IDM but I digress) that doesn't have some influence of that break.
nortek
the amen break is what makes dnb suck. if it werent for that it could actually be good.
Scrittah
Sixteen note pattern. Kicks on the 1st, 3rd, and 11th notes, snares on the 5th and 13th notes. "Ghost" Snares on the 8th and 10th notes. Hats throughout.
On that note, don't use the amen break too much, and if you do, make sure to spice it up enough to keep it from getting boring. There was a DoA sample pack a while ago that had over a hundred different amen re-arranges in it which was pretty cool.
owien
from what ive seen and tried myself lots of layering is involved they will find a key loop and work in loads more other loops until it sounds good oh and distortion to.
some like to work from scratch and build on the snare and hats and map out the grove.
ive seen some good tutorials on youtube
G-Con
Thanks for the replies.
I've done a bit more digging and ghost notes on the snares is the missing ingredient I was after. I need a lot of practice now to get it sounding good but I'm in the right direction.
Hopefully once I've nailed making a D&B loop from scratch, this will open up a lot of possibilities to do all sorts of drum loops of my own choosing.
Richard Butler
There is a great D&B forum for this called Dogsonacid. The whole flavour mof the site reminds me of surf doods. They have a great section where lots of worthy releases are listed - and from memory they have a single of the week or something.
They perfected the art of chopping up slightly varying snare smaples with some very short to get that really rolling hand played shuffle feel. Personaly I would only use the amen break if it were heavily chopped and processed as it's to passe now.
IMO some of the smartest producers around are into D&B and I personaly would need a lot of work to get anywhere half decent in that scene.
Don't forget some of them have been perfecting percs for 20 odd years - there's more to it than people realize.
Oh and I'm not sure I could pull off bass like this......
Scrittah
DoA can also be even more hostile to new comers than TA. Still got some good stuff on it, but I had to warn you.
sako487
FPC in fl studio is perfect, so many loops
EddieZilker
Since DnB beats resemble, somewhat, in their composition to breakbeat, I'll try and speak to my approach to making breakbeats.
I'll stick with kicks, since that's where most of the fundamental difference occurs. I'm also not going to belabor the issue, much, since there's a tons of varying combinations.
1. Primary - This is the kick which stamps out the primary cadence.
2. Secondary - A kick, lower in relative volume than the primary kick which can play any number of syncopated variations related to the primary's rhythm.
3. Dominant - This is usually a huge kick which is placed right at the beginning, and sometimes middle, of a cadent phrase. It is the loudest but most infrequently used kick.
4. Accent - a kick which is usually lower in relative volume to the kick its related to which is used to accent a dominant, primary, or secondary kick.
