Creating an EDM drum beat

Hello and welcome to this unit, EDM remixes. This is gonna be a fun one, lots of listening, lots of composing as well. So I'm really looking forward to introduce this first lesson where we will look at creating EDM drum beats. My name is Mr. Chapman. And without further ado, let's jump right into this lesson. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to create an EDM drum beat and understand what its components parts are. If you didn't know what EDM stands for, don't worry. It's one of our key words. It stands for electronic dance music. Our other key words include remix, quaver rest, off-beat quavers, and four-on-the-floor. The EDM or electronic dance music is a music genre with a strong danceable beat made using synthesisers and drum machines. A remix is a new version of a piece of music, usually created using music technology. A quaver rest is half a beat of silence and the musical symbol looks like that. Off-beat quavers are quavers that play on the second quaver of each beat. And finally, a four-on-the-floor drum beat plays the kick drum on each of the four crotchet beats. This lesson will be split into three parts. And the first part is identifying the key features of EDM or electronic dance music. EDM is the name given to a wide range of musical genres classed as electronic dance music. It includes hip-hop, house, trance, drum and bass, amongst others. I wonder if you can think of any other genres that might be considered EDM music. You might have said dubstep or any version of house music. There are lots and lots and lots and new ones emerge all the time. What musical features do you think the following examples have in common? We're going to think about tempo or the speed of the music. Is it fast? Is it slow? The instrumentation, so what different sounds can you hear? And how many beats are in the bar? There are three examples to listen to here. To listen to these examples we're gonna pause this video, head over to the slides, and click on each of the listening buttons. This will open up the music in a new tab and if you need to, you can listen to it twice. Once you've finished listening to those pieces and you've thought about the musical features that you think might be shared between the three examples, you can close each of those tabs and head back to this video and press play. So let's delve into some of these main features. You may have noticed that in those three pieces there was heavy use of electronic instruments such as synthesisers and drum machines. There was a strong beat, which was easy to dance to. There were four beats in a bar. There was a time signature of 4/4. The tempo or the speed was fast. And there was lots of repetition of each of the musical ideas. But these are the main features of EDM that you will find across those different genres that we talked about earlier. So across house and drum and bass and dubstep and trance, you'll find these main features common in all of those. And hopefully we'll get a better idea once we've listened to lots of different examples throughout this lesson. We're now going to listen to two excerpts, which are different versions of the same piece of music. The piece of music is by Antonin Dvorak and it's called "New World Symphony." It's quite a famous piece from the classical world and you may even recognise it. I want you to think about what the differences that you can hear. Again, for these two examples, we're going to have to head over to the slides and click on the listen, Listen buttons after pausing this video. Just try and remember to think of the differences. Aim for at least two. Listen to the original version first and then click on the remixed version. Once you've finished and you've got at least two differences in your head, come back to the video and press play and we'll discuss them. So hopefully you are able to identify that in this remix, the synthesisers and drum machines were part of the instrumentation, instead of live acoustic classical instruments such as the violin. There was also an added drum beat. There was not a drum beat in the original and the, I don't wanna say eagle-eyed, but the eagle-eared I guess, listeners and watchers might have noticed that it was a tone higher. So really well done if you were able to identify that difference. So this idea of remixes or different versions of the same idea are very common in EDM. What's important about a remix is that the music is still recognisable 'cause it uses the same melody or the same musical idea. It could be that it uses the same rhythmic pattern or the same chord sequences. So the bulk of the music is the same, but often drum beats or the way in which the instruments are used is different and modernised or EDM-fied. And we'll look more into how to go about doing that for the rest of this lesson. And before we delve a little bit deeper into remixes and how to do some remixes of our own, we're gonna do a little bit of a check for understanding. So which two of the following are features of EDM? Is it's A, the use of synthesisers. B, three beats in a bar. C, use of guitars. And D, fast tempo. Remember there are two. I'll give you a little bit of time before I show you the answers. Okay, so well done if you said that the two features of EDM are use of synthesisers and also a fast tempo. You may have immediately thought that it couldn't possibly be B, because it is more common for the time signature to be four beats in a bar. And use of guitars isn't specific enough. Although there might be guitars used in EDM, it would certainly be more common for it to be a synthesiser. And guitars, as we know, are used in many, many other genres that aren't EDM. Okay, now let's look at a true or false question. So there's, you're gonna listen to the example. And again, you're going to pause the video and head to the slides, listen to this example. And you're thinking about whether the example is an example of EDM music. You will have to justify your answer. So you'll have to say whether the music is in 4/4, uses electronic instruments and has a strong danceable beat. Or if the music is in 4,4, has a strong danceable beat, but it does not use electronic instruments. So like I said, pause this video, head over to that clip, press play, have a listen. If you need to listen to it twice, go ahead. And then come back when you have your answer. True or false and a justification. Great. So well done, if you said that it was false. The music is in 4,4, has a strong danceable beat, but it does not use electronic instruments and therefore is very unlikely to be EDM. So this brings us onto our first task. So Task A sees identifying the key features of EDM. So we're going to listen to some excerpts. There are three in total. We're going to identify if they're an example of EDM and we're gonna justify our answer by considering the key features of the style. As a recap to help you. The, some of those key features are the use of electronic instruments, a strong beat, 4,4, fast tempo, and lots of repetition of musical ideas. So again, to listen to these excerpts, we're going to pause the video and head to the slides. We will write our answers neatly and carefully onto our worksheet. And then we'll head back to this video and press play to have a look at the answers. So pause the video now and I'll see you in a minute. Great. So I hope you enjoyed listening to those excerpts. Let's have a look at the answers now together. So excerpts one was an example of EDM music. Now you might have written that we knew this because the use of synthesisers and drum machines. There was a strong danceable beat. The time signature was 4/4. It had a moderately fast tempo and there was lots of repetition. So well done if you got all of those right. For excerpt two, you might have been able to recognise that that wasn't an EDM example. It had some EDM features such as the moderate tempo, four beats in a bar and some repetition, but that kind of explains most pop music. So we need to think about what makes it specifically EDM or not. So in this example, they were examples of non-electronic instruments such as guitars, the acoustic drum kit, and other live instruments. And for excerpt three, that was another example of EDM music. And just like the top one we had the use of synthesisers and drum machines. A strong danceable beats, 4/4 time signature, moderately fast tempo and lots of repetition. So again, well done if you've got those right. Let's jump into the second part of this lesson. So for this second part, we're gonna be looking at EDM drum beats and this idea of the quaver rest. So EDM drum beats, like most typical drum grooves, use three main parts of the kit, the kick, the snare, and the hi-hat. And as we've said, this is typical of a lot of drum grooves, and not just EDM drum grooves. We're gonna listen to an example and the snare on beats 2 and 4 is replaced by claps. What I want you to think about is how the kick is different to the basic drum groove? What I want you to think about is how is the kick different to a basic drum groove? So let's listen to this example together now. (upbeat music) So instead of playing on beats 1 and 3, as you might have looked at in previous drum grooves, the EDM drum groove uses a four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern. So this is when the kick drum plays on each of the four crotchet beats. I put some notation there on the bottom of the screen, which shows four crotchets in a bar. And will listen to the kick drum pattern, which is gonna play four kicks on every beat. So let's have a listen to that now. (upbeat music) So a common hi-hat pattern in EDM is off-beat quavers. Often quavers come in pairs, and it looks like the notation I've put there on the screen. You might also call them TT or coffee or however you have been taught that rhythm in your school. But with off-beat quavers, the first quaver is replaced by a quaver rest. And just as we looked at in our keyword slide, we know that the rest symbol and a quaver rest signifies half a beat of silence. So it will look like this. We have the symbol for the quaver rest first, and then just a single quaver afterwards. So then we have our rest and our quaver. So we're going to look at the following quaver patterns. There are three. We're gonna work out how they might sound before you hear them. We're gonna use counting to help. So I've labelled all of the quavers with the beats and the off-beats. And we're calling the off-beats in just for this exercise. And so in that first example, we have 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, and the quavers will be playing on each of those. So 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, and we'll take a listen to an example. (upbeat music) For the second example, which beat is missing? Let's have a look for that second example, which beat is missing? 1 and 2 and and 4 and. So beat 3 is missing and instead of saying 3, we're just going to leave the silence because it's a rest. So this time we have 1 and 2 and and 4 and. Let's take a listen to that example. (upbeat music) And for this last one, there are two beats that are missing. I want you to have a go first, try saying out the bar and then say and clap the bar. Then I'll have a go and then we'll listen to it together. Yep, so for this example, we had 1 and and 3 and and, quite a bit harder. Beats 2 and 4 were missing. 1 and and 3 and and. Let's take a listen together now. (upbeat music) So let's have a look at a specific example now. So in this pattern, the hi-hat plays on every off-beat quaver. So we might describe this as playing on the 'ands. ' Okay, so we have 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. And so we're not playing on the beats and the ones, twos, threes and fours playing on the off-beats or the 'ands. ' And that sounds like this. (upbeat music) Let's hear this in the context of a full EDM groove. So what we're doing is we're listening to this example one, noticing that the open hi-hat is being played on the off-beat quavers. What might be good is to listen to this twice, I'll play it for us twice. First time, just have a listen and see if you can notice it. On the second time, see if you can actually count out the beats 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. And notice where the hi-hat sits in the bar. (upbeat music) Great. So hopefully you were able to see how those hi-hats were on the off-beat or the 'ands. ' And we have a little bit of a better understanding on how quaver rests work in the context of an EDM drum groove. We're gonna do some quick quiz questions now just to get a little check for our understanding in. So this first question, what is the term for the kick drum playing on every beat of the bar? Is it A, the backbeat? B, the off-beat. or C, four-to-the-floor? Yeah, well done if you said C, for-to-the-floor. One way I like to remember it is that the actual kick drum of the drum kit is on the floor and use your feet or your right foot to get that kick sound. So literally you are pressing that pedal four times every bar onto the floor. So that's kind of why it's called four-to-the-floor and might help you remember that in future. A different question now. So we're gonna match the parts of the drum kit to the pattern it plays in an EDM drum groove. So we're gonna think about which, sorry, we're gonna think about what the kick drum plays, what the snare plays and what the hi-hat plays. The options are off-beat quavers, a four-to-the-floor pattern, and beats 2 and 4 or backbeat. Okay, I'm gonna give you a little bit of time and then we'll go through the answers together. Great. So a kick drum, as we've just said, plays a four-on-the-floor or four-to-the-floor beat. The snare plays the backbeat, beats 2 and 4. And a hi-hat as we've looked at in detail plays off-beat quavers. So well done for getting those correct. We've got another true or false question. This extract uses off-beat quavers in the hi-hat. Is that true or false? And like always we're going to justify our answer. So A, the quavers fall in between the main beats of the bar. Or B, the hi-hat pattern plays on the main beats of the bar. To listen to this example, please pause the video now, head over to the slides and click the listen button. Once you're ready, head back to this video and press play and we'll go through the answers. Great job. So well done if you said that this extract did indeed use off-beat quavers and that was true because the quavers fall in between the main beats of the bar, we can call that the off-beats. And we also in this lesson call that the 'ands' beats, they fall in between the main beats of the bar. Well done. Task B, we're going to listen to four extracts. And we're gonna identify if the hi-hat uses off-beat quavers and if the kick drum is playing a four-on-the-floor. As we have done throughout this lesson, to listen to these four extracts, please pause the video. Head over to the slides and open up each example. You may listen to these more than once if you need to. You should write your answers neatly and carefully into your worksheet or wherever you are storing your work for today's lesson. And in the columns we're writing, if the off-beat quavers are on the hi-hat. And if that is a four-on-the-floor pattern on the kick drum. So for each example, write what you think. And when you are ready to come and hear the answers, come back to the video and press play. Great. So let's mark our work. So extract 1 had both off-beat quavers on the hi-hat and a four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern. Extract 2 had neither. Extract 3 also had both. And extract 4 only had off-beat quavers on the hi-hat and didn't have that four-to-the-floor kick drum pattern. So well done if you got all of those right. If you didn't, feel free to go back now knowing the answers, go back and listen and just double check and hopefully next time we will be able to better understand the drum groove. So our final part of today's lesson is actually getting to create an EDM drum beat. I know this is the part of the lesson that you've been waiting for. So let's jump right into it. We're gonna be creating an EDM remix of the melody from "New World Symphony." So that is the extract that we listened to earlier in the lesson. We've gonna watch three videos now back to back. The first video is going to show us how to select a drum track. The second video is going to show us how to play in the kick and snare pattern. And the final video is going to be showing us how to play the off-beat hi-hat pattern. Now when you're watching these videos, you feel free to rewind and if you need to, and also take notes as well. When we do do the task in just a little while, you may want to refer back to these notes or you can come back to these videos if you need to. But let's jump straight into the first one. Selecting a drum track. And now I'm gonna record in my EDM style drum beat for my remix. When you open your project, it will look something like this. With the melody already recorded in a track. To start from a drum kit, I need to make a new track. I'm gonna hit the plus button and add a software instrument track. In EDM, most of the drum sounds that we hear are synthesised, they're electronic, they're not recorded by a live drum kit. So when I'm looking for my drum kit here, I need to choose one that sounds electronic, that sounds synthesised. In GarageBand, there's a list of these in electronic drum kit. Now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna try and find the specific drum kit I want to use in my remix. There's no right or wrong choice here. This is your own remix you're creating. So you won't choose the same one that I do. Let's try some out. Before I test it, I'm just gonna mute the other track so that I can hear my drum kit on its own. Now when I'm testing this drum kit out, I'm looking for the kick drum, the snare and the clap, and the open and closed hi-hat. Because those are the signs I'm gonna be using. Here's the kick. (thumping beats) Snare. (thumping beats) Hi-hat. (clapping beats) Sorry, that's clap. And hi-hat. (cymbal ringing) Quite like that one. Let's try a different one. Kick. (thumping beats) Snare. (thumping beats) Clap. (clapping beats) And open and closed hi-hats. (cymbal ringing) Don't like that one as much. The one I'm gonna go for for my remix is this one, Modern 909. Kick. (thumping beats) Snare. (thumping beats) Clap. (clapping beats) Open hi-hats. (cymbal ringing) Closed hi-hats. (cymbal ringing) I like those sounds because they sound very electronic and they're quite punchy sounds so I think they'll work very well in the kind of remix I'm gonna create. Now I've chosen my drum kit. I need to get ready to record. I'm gonna make sure the metronome is on so that I can record in time. I'm gonna make sure the playhead is back, start of bar one. And I'm gonna make sure I've selected the track I'm gonna record in, which is this one. I'm now gonna record in my four-on-the-floor kick drum pattern. Remember, this is when we have kick on each beat. So there should be crotchet beats on the kick drum and I'm gonna record in one bar and ready to go. (upbeat music) I can then quantize that to make sure it's in time, open it up, select the notes. And because these are crotchets, I'm gonna quantize to one quarter note. And I've accidentally added an extra note there, so I'm just gonna delete that. Well, let's listen back to that track on its own. (upbeat music) Sounds pretty good. So next thing I need to add is my snare or my clap sound. New track, software instrument. Find the same drum kit I used before. And find the snare or the clap sound, whichever one I want to use. I'm gonna go for clap. Remember, for this part we're recording on the backbeat, which is beat 2 and beat 4. And same as before, I'm gonna record in one bar. Metronome is on, playhead's at bar one. I've selected the track I want to use. Let's record. (upbeat music) I can quantize it. Again to a quarter note because these are crotchets. Let's listen to those two parts together. (upbeat music) Sounding good so far. Last part I need to add in then is my off-beat quavers on the hi-hat. So new track, software instrument, find the same drum kit again, find my hi-hat sounds, I've decided for this I'm gonna use open hi-hats. You might choose to use closed hi-hats, open, closed. Now the pattern I'm recording here is gonna be off-beat quavers, so that means I'm playing on the 'ands' of each beat. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. I'm playing on those 'ands. ' Again, I'm gonna record in one bar. I'm gonna make sure the metronome is on. Playhead is at bar one and I've selected the right track. And now we're ready to record. (upbeat music) If I'm quantizing this one, I want to make sure that it's quantized to eighth notes because these are quavers. So I'm gonna slap my notes and I'm gonna make sure it's eighth notes this time. Let's hear how those three tracks sound together. (upbeat music) I'm happy with that. Now I'm gonna loop them so they're eight bars long. So they should finish at bar nine. And let's hear how this sound with the melody. (upbeat music) So before you finish, check that you've recorded each part in a separate track, kick drum, snare and clap and hi-hats. Make sure you've quantized each part, the kick and the snare to quarter notes and your off-beat quavers to eighth notes. And double check that you've recorded for one bar. And then you've looped all the tracks so they'll last for eight bars and finish at the start of bar nine. Great, so we've watched those three videos. Now we're gonna do a little bit of troubleshooting practise as our check for understanding. So imagine this is your project. There are three things that you need to do to be able to record the four-on-the-floor kick drum correctly. What are those three things? So let's study this image below and think about how we set ourselves up to record. Okay, so you might have said that we need to select an appropriate drum kit instrument. So currently we have an electric piano instrument that's not gonna work for a drum kit. So we would need to head over to the electronic drum kit section and choose our kit. We need to move our playhead to the start of the track. Currently it's in bar four I think, and then we need to turn our metronome on as well. Another question, how and why is the quantizing different for the kick and snare patterns and the hi-hat pattern? This one's tricky, but well done if you said that the kick and snare patterns are playing crotchets and are therefore quantized two quarter notes. The hi-hat however, is playing quavers, so it needs to be quantized to one-eighth notes. So onto task three, the actual creation of our EDM style drum beat. To be successful in this task, we need to make sure that we have a four-on-the-floor on the kick. Beats 2 and 4 on the snare or the clap, your choice. We need off-beat quavers on the hi-hat. Each part has its own track. And then we're gonna record for one bar so we have the ability to loop it for as long as we want to. Remember also to quantize your track. But just another tip, as we've just talked about, the kick and snare will be quantized to a quarter notes. And the hi-hat will be quantized to an eighth note 'cause we're playing quavers. So enjoy this task. Again, if you need to refer to your notes or go back in this video and watch the instructional videos, then please do so. Take your time and enjoy and I'll see you in a moment. So pause the video now. And we'll go onto the next final part of the lesson when you are ready. Great. So I hope you enjoyed that task and you managed to be successful in getting the EDM drum groove. We're going to listen to an example of an EDM drum beat. What could this student do to improve this drum beat? (upbeat music) So hopefully you said that the kick drum isn't playing on beat 4. It should play on every beat. This will make it a four-on-the-floor pattern. You could say that that was a three-to-the-floor drum beat pattern, but in any case it was incorrect. We need one kick drum on every beat. They would need to re-record or adjust the clap so that it's on the backbeat, beats 2 and 4. At the moment, it's on the off-beats with the hi-hat. So well done if you manage to identify those. That brings us to our summary slide. That is the end of this lesson. We looked at EDM music being the name given to a broad range of genres which use electronic instruments. They have a strong danceable beats and have 4 beats in a bar. We also talked about the fact that they repeat musical ideas, and there are many different genres within EDM. We talked about remixes being very common in EDM, and when a new version of a piece is created using music technology, we call this a remix. A common drum groove found in EDM uses off-beat quavers in the high-hat and a four-on-the-floor or four-to-the-floor kick drum pattern. You also managed to create your own EDM drum loop. So I'm looking forward to showing you the next part of this unit in lesson two. So I hope you enjoyed it once again, and I'll see you in the next one.