Drum Samples – Sequencing and Bars
In a song, the actual number of bars can vary quite a bit. Usually, the length of the song determines the bar length, but there are exceptions with drum samples, especially in songs with a warped timeline grid. If you’re making loops, it doesn’t really have to be that complicated.
When composing an average loop, four bars is a good, solid number to start with musically. Often enough, this number can give your listener a good idea of the outline of the song and the way things will end up sounding eventually. Going any more isn’t really worthwhile, while a few bars less (let’s say, two) will not be a good enough sample to base any opinion on. Four bars is usually enough to also add some variance in the drum samples towards the end. While velocity modification is a great technique to make use of, also introducing instruments towards the end can be a great way to spice things up in your beat. You want to keep the listener comfortable and on the edge of his or her seat at the same time.
Following the common 4-bar loop is the 16-bar loop. Why sixteen? In urban music like gangster rap, the common verse sung by rappers is 16 bars. Artists like the Notorious B.I.G often rapped 20-bar verses and other uncommon lengths, but you can’t go wrong with sixteen if you’re trying to peddle your music to record label A…Rs and such. Adding variance and keeping the listener interested can be somewhat hard over this length, so your creativity will be called upon at many stages. Try introducing the hi-hat drum samples around eight bars into the music; this will keep your audience interested rhythmically.
Looking beyond drum samples can expand your horizon a little bit and it actually opens a whole bunch of doors. One common switch-up in a 16 bar loop, for example, is the introduction of a new instrument after 8 bars instead of anything drum-related. However, at this point – or anywhere else in the loop – you could mix up the drums to coincide with this change, and this can be very powerful.
If you really are serious about sequencing and arranging the next smash hit, think outside the box as well. Combine some methods, and utilize the vocals more, don’t just focus on the drum samples and instrument patches. Your singer could suddenly go from boring and predictable to wild and energetic in a matter of just a single bar. Keep your listener guessing ’til the end!
Drum samples are one of the easiest ways to introduce variance, as it requires no extra input on the vocalist’s part and can accentuate vocal parts and instruments without anything being different in those departments.
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