Snare pattern variations?

Cell 2Dee

Bloody Fingers
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 110
I'm wondering how many of you vary your snare patterns and how often? In most beats, I put a snare on the 2nd and 4th, occasionally taking a hit out or adding a snare to get the classic 'The Bridge Is Over' snare line. I'm getting a bit bored of it though, and seems to be lately that when I switch up the snare I don't feel it matches the beat. Any thoughts/suggestions/examples?
 

lion-ucs

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
There are some "lazy" snares like 50 cent's - 'In Da Club' its basically the same as a 2-4, but late to give a more laid back feel. A track I'm working on now I used a one shot on 2 and a quick roll on 4. Have to experiment with it til you get something, of course not every pattern is going to work for all songs. I suggest having some type of midi interface and get used to playing live, study playing on real drums and playing drums on samplers.

The second video actually helped me with playing live midi drums





[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-M2pyXZX8"]YouTube - David Haynes playing the drummachine live![/ame]
 

Elgen

The Moose With The Most.
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 32
Really experiment with the velocity too. A snare may sound out of place until you mess with it's velocity.
 

lion-ucs

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Really experiment with the velocity too. A snare may sound out of place until you mess with it's velocity.

Agreed on that too

I still say midi control is the way to go, even tho I do still program every once in a while.

If you dont have one, the MPD24, PadKontrol, and nanoPad pretty much tops. Oh and if you want 16 pads but not the 200 for an MP or PK, Akai has basically made an upgrade on the MPD16 in the MPD18 for the same price as the first in the series ($100)
 

Shonsteez

Gurpologist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 33
I'll third the thing on velocity. lol
Velocity is absolutely key for programming any drum part as real as possible.
I know cats that program with full velocity all the time and their beats still knock but they dont have that organic feel as much...the drums tend to sound more static that way.

Ghost snares are really dope to use some times too.
Typically the ghost snare is a slightly different sounding snare that doesn't have too much crack to it, but if you dont have an alternative snare sample you can always just use the same snare at an extremely lower velocity for the ghost hits to achieve the same effect.

And as others have already mentioned - timing is critical. You can either shift the timing forward or backward on the snare to create an entirely different groove. I like the late snare usually, but sometimes the early snare works really well too depending on the song your working on.
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
Also...

Don't quantize them....this way they don't sound so robotic..

none of my drums are ever perfectly set....

And I'll fourth velocity as well....
 

Cell 2Dee

Bloody Fingers
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 110
Also...

Don't quantize them....this way they don't sound so robotic..

none of my drums are ever perfectly set....

And I'll fourth velocity as well....

Interesting. I've read up a bit on drums and a lot of people say that the snare is the only thing they DO quantize.

Steez, you got any examples of a ghost snare? I think I know what you mean, but I want to be certain.

Thanks for all the advice peoples, appreciate it.
 

Shonsteez

Gurpologist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 33
Ghost snares are just really light notes that syncopate with the main hits in the drum beat. So if your main snare is crackin on 2 and 4 then try adding some ghost notes around the last division before the 2 or the 4, but thats just one example.....just make sure to use an extremely lower velocity then the main snare......Think James Brown for example. HIs drummer was dope at adding those little ghost notes all the time.
 

Cell 2Dee

Bloody Fingers
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 110
Ghost snares are just really light notes that syncopate with the main hits in the drum beat. So if your main snare is crackin on 2 and 4 then try adding some ghost notes around the last division before the 2 or the 4, but thats just one example.....just make sure to use an extremely lower velocity then the main snare......Think James Brown for example. HIs drummer was dope at adding those little ghost notes all the time.

Cool, I'll give it a go. Thanks Steez.
 
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