I don't care for the wikipedia definition so I'll use the "Harvard Dictionary of Music" one:
Syncopation is, generally, speaking, and deliberate disturbance of the normal pulse of meter, accent, and rhythm.
I don't think there's a very strong appreciate for the subject, partly because nobody pays much attention to it. But its important and fundamental to dance music because it creates interest, groove, and movement in a track.
One really basic compositional idea that is in all styles of dance music is taking an idea and repeating it with a modification. By taking a motif(rhythmic or melodic) or a loop and repeating it with some kind of change to it, an old idea can be refreshed and interest will be maintained.
Anything that is looped is predictable, and thus can be exploited via a variation to create surprise.
Shifting notes, removing notes, or adding notes are all simple ways to augment a preexisting pattern to create further interest.
Listen to the main synth riff in Benga ft Coki "Night" -
The main idea is introduced in the beginning, and then from there variations are introduced:
Some patterns have shifted notes and/or deleted notes
Some patterns truncate the original pattern for transitional effect
The main lead isn't the only thing that has variation, the wobble and the drums patterns also have shifting patterns as well.
There are no vocals or chord progressions, so the track relies purely on its rhythmic chops. If you took out all of this variation the track would suck ass.
Four on the floor genres don't rely on syncopation as much as dubstep, but they can still benefit from it. I would say genres like house and trance tend go wrong in under utilizing syncopation, while genres like glitch error on the side of making things too syncopated.
If you put everything on the offbeat, you're no longer on the offbeat if you get my drift...
I can write some examples, but I think you can just listen to some music and learn from that or download some midi files and study them.
Looney4Clooney
\this is pretty much the book every good drummer uses. i mean it is the only book one would need to learn everything there is to know about drums , including syncopoation. In fact, only about 6 pages of that book.
And syncopation is not really what you describe, Syncopation is the sort of interplay between anchor beats and how you sort of play of them. repetition and syncopation are not related at all.
in this example , the accented 3rd triplet of the second beat leading to 3 where the snare sounds and the same on the 4rth beat going to one are points of syncopation,
here you have a very steady beat where things syncopate around the beat. in fact repetition is sort of essential in order to groove. as syncopation is essentially rhythmic counter point.
alanzo
Syncopation? I just turn up the "shuffle" on my quantize plugin. This is the 21st century, FFS!
Also, they're not the same thing at all, of course. Syncopation doesn't work in EDM.. AT ALL. WTF are you talking about? It's a music that is intended to have a predictable beat. Syncopation is literally the exact opposite....
Beatflux
quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
And syncopation is not really what you describe, Syncopation is the sort of interplay between anchor beats and how you sort of play of them. repetition and syncopation are not related at all.
Looks like I am getting the two ideas mixed up, thanks for the correction.
Looney4Clooney
quote:
Originally posted by alanzo
Syncopation? I just turn up the "shuffle" on my quantize plugin. This is the 21st century, FFS!
Also, they're not the same thing at all, of course. Syncopation doesn't work in EDM.. AT ALL. WTF are you talking about? It's a music that is intended to have a predictable beat. Syncopation is literally the exact opposite....
i don't think you quite understand what it is and what it isn't. IT is the corner stone of rhythmical music ie EDM. It has nothing to do with swing or predictability.
jsrobinson
So it's basically the emphasis of strong or weak beats, along with removing or adding beats in certain places? Correct?
Per Bernstein, removal of weak beats and other emphasis points directly causes a knee jerk physical body reaction in dance.
dj_alfi
quote:
Originally posted by alanzo
Syncopation? I just turn up the "shuffle" on my quantize plugin. This is the 21st century, FFS!
Also, they're not the same thing at all, of course. Syncopation doesn't work in EDM.. AT ALL. WTF are you talking about? It's a music that is intended to have a predictable beat. Syncopation is literally the exact opposite....
Maybe not in your faggy trance beats, but I use it in techno all the time...
Like for instance, I love to pull the first kick of a sequence just a tiny 16th to the left, and smack a clap/snare/rythm element on top of it. I learned it when I was eight and it still blows peoples minds if it's done correctly.
I thin kit was something like that Beatflux was describing, one syncopated beat in a long sequence.
Looney4Clooney
quote:
Originally posted by jsrobinson
So it's basically the emphasis of strong or weak beats, along with removing or adding beats in certain places? Correct?
Per Bernstein, removal of weak beats and other emphasis points directly causes a knee jerk physical body reaction in dance.
you don't have to remove it . Emphasis is the key word.
