Recreating Blinding Lights by ear

Hello, welcome to today's lesson entitled, Recreating "Blinding Lights" by Ear. My name is Mr. Norris. Today, we're gonna be working on some strategies for working out music by ear, and we're gonna see if we can have a go at recreating "Blinding Lights." Let's get started. The outcome for today's lesson is I can recreate a drum part and a hook by ear. Some key words. First is hook. This is a short, memorable musical idea that recurs in a pop song. It's designed to catch the ear of the listener. A synth lead, this is a type of synthesizer that's well suited to playing melodic lines. And finally, syncopated, and this is a type of rhythm that emphasizes notes in between the main beats. The first part of today's lesson is focused on working out rhythmic patterns. Being able to identify rhythms accurately is a crucial musical skill for all musicians, which helps without own creative ideas. For drummers, working out drum grooves by ear is central to how they all learn songs and develop their skills by identifying rhythms and recreating them in their drumming. Understanding the different parts of the drum kit and how they typically work together is a really important aspect of working out drum grooves. I'd like to have a think. What are the three most important parts of the drum kit used in pop and rock drumming? Have a quick think. So, the three fundamental parts of the kit are the hi-hat, the snare drum, and the kick or the bass drumming, goes with different names. What is each part playing in this typical groove here? So, how would you describe the role or the rhythm of each of those parts of the kit? Let's have a listen. (bright upbeat drum music) So, you might have identified that the high-hat is playing repeated fast rhythms. And in this case, it's playing repeated quavers. The snare drum's playing the back beat, which is beat two and four, and the kick drum is emphasizing the strong beat. So, that's beat one, beat three. And these are really typical roles for each of those parts of the kit. So, we can use those features as a starting point to work out a drum groove as most pop grooves are based on a variation of those. And if we break the groove into separate parts, it makes it easier to work out. So, just like when we work out a melody, work out the individual components of the drum kit on their own and then bringing them together makes it easier for us to work out. Like, so listen to this clip. Can you work out the pattern played on the kick drum in this groove? (bright drum music) So, the kick is playing a one and three in that pattern there. Let's hear it on its own. (slow-paced bass drum music) Now, I'd like to listen to the groove with a snare. Can you tap the snare pattern in this drum groove? (bright drum music) So, in this example, the snare is playing two and four. Two and four. So, that's a slight variation on the normal two and four backbeat. Let's just have a listen to that snare on its own. (bright snare drum music) But the hi-hat can be slightly harder to pick out because the sound doesn't project as loudly, so it's often more difficult to hear that sound. Let's have a listen to this groove again. Can you tap the hi-hat pattern this time? (bright drum music) So, high-hat on its own sounds like this. (bright high-hat drum music) So, it's playing repeated quavers, one and two and three and four and, one and two and three and four and. It's playing on each beat, and the and of each beat as well. So, by breaking down the groove into those three separate parts, we can work them out all individually. Let's check your understanding. Which two beats does the snare typically emphasize in a pop drum groove, is it one, two, three, or four? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer then are two and four, and we refer to those as the backbeat, that's the typical role of the snare. So, there's a few steps we can take to recreate a drum groove. The first is to find a drum kit that sounds very close to the original. The first thing I want to do, is experiment with different drum-kit sounds until I find one that matches the timbres of the original. I've created a new track, and I'm gonna choose a drum kit. And let's have a listen to the original drum-kit track and see if we can get some ideas as to what I want to choose. (bright bass drum music) So, the first thing is is clearly an acoustic drum kit, not a drum machine or an electronic drum kit. So, I'm gonna be going for acoustic drum-kit sounds. Let's test out this one, see how it compares. (frantic bass drum music) So, just listening to the kick sound, (frantic bass drum music) this one sounds much more echoy and boomy, sort of rattly compared to the original. If you listen to the kick in the original, (bright bass drum music) it's quite punchy and crisp, and it's got quite a dry acoustic so it doesn't echo at all really. So, the one I've got at the moment doesn't quite match. Let's try another one. (frantic bass drum music) Again, that's a really echoy sort of boomy kick drum. (frantic bass drum music) That one sounds better, let's compare that. (bright bass drum music) (frantic bass drum music) It is not bad, it's closer, we'll keep experimenting. (frantic bass drum music) That's quite a dry and crisp, sort of punchy kick. Let's compare that now. (bright bass drum music) (frantic bass drum music) I think that's pretty close to the original there. And what I could do as well, is tweak some of the settings on the instrument to try and make it sound even closer. So, add a little bit of reverb or play around with the instrument controls. Now, I've sorted the kick. Well, let's just check with this drum kit that the snare and the hi-hat fit as well. What I could do if they don't, is create a different track and try and find a snare and hi-hat in a different drum kit that matches. So, let's have a listen to the snare and the hi-hat. (lively drum music) So first of all, the snare. (frantic snare drum music) (lively drum music) (frantic snare drum music) Sounds pretty close. And then the hi-hat. (lively drum music) (frantic hi-hat drum music) The closed hi-hat sounds good. (frantic hi-hat drum music) And the open hi-hat sounds quite similar as well. (lively drum music) So, I am happy with this drum kit. As I said, you can experiment with changing some of the controls, adding some effects to make it sound closer to the original. And if you wanted, you could also use different parts of different drum kits. So, you could use the kick from this one, for example, then make a new track if you found a different drum kit that had a closer-sounding snare. Then we need to pick out the kick pattern and record it in. Now I'm gonna work out the kick pattern. Let's have a listen to it. (lively drum music) So, if I'm just honing in on the kick there, I can hear it comes in pairs. (frantic drum music) So, that kind of pattern there. So, once I practice that rhythm, I can then record in one bar of that, making sure I've got my metronome on so I record it in time. (frantic drum music) Quantize it to quavers to make sure it's perfectly in time. Let's have a listen. (frantic drum music) Let's compare that to the original. (lively drum music) Then we repeat that step with the snare. Now, let's have a listen to the snare. Now, we know that the typical pop and rock snare pattern is the backbeat, so that's beat two and beat four. So, what I'm listening for here is, is the snare playing just that typical backbeat, or is it doing something slightly different? Has it adapted the backbeat slightly? Let's have a listen. (lively drum music) So, it's quite clear that it's just playing two and four, it's playing the backbeat. (frantic snare drum music) So, I'm gonna record in one bar of that. (lively drum music) I can quantize it if I want. Let's hear it. (lively drum music) And I can compare it back to the original. (lively drum music) And then finally, we add the hi-hat pattern. Let's listen out for closed and open hi-hat to see if we can work out the pattern. (lively drum music) So, I can hear two things going on here. We've got repeated closed hi-hats, (frantic hi-hat drum music) playing quavers. And then we've also got an open hi-hat right at the end of the bar on the eighth quaver. (frantic hi-hat drum music) So, I'm gonna record in one bar of that. (lively drum music) Let's quantize that. And we can loop it for four or eight bars. Let's see how it sounds. (lively drum music) Let's compare that to the original. (lively drum music) And we can hear that that really closely recreates that drum groove. We're gonna listen to the opening section of "Blinding Lights" by The Weekend. This is the song that we're gonna be working out the drum groove from. Can you identify the rhythm played on each part of the drum kit? You can pause my video and have a listen. Now, I'd like you to listen to the drum track on its own. Can you pick up on the different rhythms now? Pause my video. Let's check your understanding. Which part of the drum kit typically plays the fastest repeating rhythms in pop grooves, is it the kick, the snare, or the hi-hat? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here is the hi-hat. That's the one that typically plays the fastest repeated patterns. For Task A, we're gonna recreate the drum groove from "Blinding Lights." There we've got the audio of the drum groove, so use that as a reference. And there's also a backing track, including the hook, that you can practice putting your drum groove with. Here's some success criteria. First you find a drum kit or pad that matches the timbre of the original as closely as possible. Then make sure you listen to the original drum track on its own to identify the kick, snare, and hi-hat hands. Record in the kick part for one bar and then loop it for 16, and then repeat that for the snare and the high-hat parts in the same track. Or if you want, you can do it in three separate tracks. One for kick, one for snare, one for hi-hat. Compare your rhythms to the original, checking that they match. So, you're trying to recreate those as closely as possible. And then finally, consider playing your drum groove along with the backing track to see what it sounds like in its proper musical context. So, pause my video now, and give this your best shot. For the final part of this task, I'd like to listen back to your drum groove. Compare each of your patterns to these, and adjust them if necessary. So, the kick should be playing one three and one three and. The snare's playing the back beat, which is two four, two, four. And then the hi-hat is playing repeated quavers, one and two and three and four and, one and two and three and four and. So, listen to yours, compare it, and you can pause my video while you do that. Second part of today's lesson is focused on working out more complex hooks. "Blinding Lights" is a great example of a pop song with a catchy and memorable hook. It uses sounds that are reminiscent of '80s electro pop music, which is a style from the '80s. And the hook has heard at various points throughout the song. Let's pause my video, listen to this, and try and identify what instrument is playing the hook. You can do that then. So, that was a synth lead playing that hook, and that's a synthesizer that's particularly well suited to play melodic lines. Now, we can break this hook in separate phrases. There's the first phrase which lasts for two bars. Pause my video and have a quick listen to it. Then we've got a second phrase that also lasts for two bars, and you'll notice it's identical to the first phrase. And then finally, we've got a four-bar phrase for the third phrase. It's quite different to the other ones. Have a listen and see if you can pick out some of the differences. So, as we've said, the first and second phrases are identical. Have a quick listen and remind yourselves of those. And then the third phrase is based on a short melodic idea that repeats twice. Pause my video and have a listen to that one. See if you can pick out the idea that's repeated. Now, all the phrases have syncopated rhythms. What I'd like to do now, is listen to the hook again, try and tap the beat along with it to feel where the rhythms land in the bars. So, noticing that a lot of them are offbeat rhythms. Pause my video and do that now. Now, to work out a more complex hook, we want to break it into short sections and work it out one note at a time. So, again, we're using that same process of breaking things into manageable chunks. We start by finding the first note by trial and error. Then work out if the next note is higher, lower, or the same pitch, then we repeat that for each note. So, we just repeat that same process, one note at a time. And remember, in this hook, the first and second phrases are identical. So, you can copy and paste the first phrase to use as the second phrase. And then the third phrase repeats that short idea. That may means once you've worked that idea out, you can then repeat that within the phrase as well. But think of the overall shape of the phrases to help you work out the pitch of the notes. So, phrase one and two have this shape. And then phrase three has this slightly different melodic shape, with a descending pattern. When you're working out the notes, try and keep these shapes in your head as a guide to the correct pitch. Let's watch the process then of working out hook with this different example. We start by matching the timbre. So, the first step with the task like this, is to match the timbre of the original instrument. Here, we're trying to recreate the hook. So, let's have a listen to the track, and see if we can pick out the timbre of that hook. (bright upbeat music) We can hear it some sort of synth lead, but it's quite difficult to really hone in on that timbre when we can hear all the other parts going on together. So, the best way to approach this, is just to listen to the hook on its own with nothing else playing. (bright music) So, I am gonna experiment with some different synth leads because I can hear it's a synth lead, and see if I can find one that eventually matches that one quite closely. (frantic music) That's nothing like it. (frantic music) That's closer, let's hear it again. (bright music) It's got a bit of a sort of fuzz and a bit of a hiss to it, so I'm looking for that sort of similar sound. (frantic music) That one's quite similar, let's compare them. (bright music) (frantic music) This one's much sort of hiss-ier, this one I've found. So, I'll keep experimenting. (frantic music) That sounds like it could be the one. (bright music) (frantic music) I think I found the right timbre. And what I could do if it doesn't quite match, is they could experiment with changing some of the controls on the instrument to edit the reverb, maybe add some echo, or change the shape of the sound, or adjust the EQ to really precisely match the timbre of that original. Then we work out each note individually. Let's start by listening to that first note. (bright music) Just listening to the first note. (bright music) So, I'm trying to get that pitch in my head, and now I'm gonna see if I can find that somewhere on the instrument. (frantic music) That sounds much too low. (frantic music) That's quite close. I think that might be the one. (bright music) (frantic music) So, I found my pitch with a bit of experimentation there. And I can hear that that first note lasts for one beat. So, I'm just gonna record in one beat of that first note. (bright music) Now, if I think about the melodic shape, I can hear that it descends. (humming) And it's quite small intervals. So, it's not doing big leaps there, it's just descending with small intervals. So, if I know I'm here, (frantic music) I can experiment with some different combinations of notes to try and find those next two. (frantic music) That sounds like it, let's have a listen. (bright music) (frantic music) Okay, so I've found those next two notes, let's record them in. (bright music) Now, the melody gets a little bit more complicated. (bright music) So, it jumps up a little bit, and then back down from where I've got the, (humming) that's descending (humming) and then it ascends slightly to a note, and then there's a big jump down. So, let's see if we can find those two notes with a bit of trial and error. (bright music) (frantic music) I know it goes back up. (frantic music) Let's see if that sounds right. (bright music) (frantic music) Doesn't sound quite right. (frantic music) I think that might be the one. (frantic music) (bright music) Yeah, that's the one. And then I need to find the bottom note that jumps down to, (humming) I need to find that note. (frantic music) I think it's that one. (frantic music) Let's compare it. (bright music) (frantic music) That's the one, let's record it in. (bright music) I'm gonna follow that same process for the whole of the first phrase. And I've already worked it out so I can just record that in, but you follow that through working out each note. So, I'm gonna record in the extra notes now. (bright upbeat music) So, that's our first phrase. Now, we can listen to the second phrase. (bright music) And I can hear the second phrase starts the same, (frantic music) but then just ascends back to where I started. So, I can now record that in. And if you listen for similarities between the phrases, it means if you've worked out part of one, you can often work out part of another as well. (bright upbeat music) And then finally, we copy the phrases where they're repeated and complete the whole hook. So, if I listen back to the original, (bright music) that's my two phrases I've worked out so far. Let's see what happens after this. (bright music) So, just repeats those two phrases in that same order. So, if you can listen to your melody, identify where phrases are repeated or where they change, then it means you can copy and paste when you're doing it this way. So, I'm just gonna Right Click and Copy, Right Click and Paste both of those, and now I've recreated that eight-bar hook. (bright upbeat music) Let's check your understanding. Which phrase repeats in the "Blinding lights" hook? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer is that the first phrase repeats, the second phrase is an exact copy of the first phrase. Which phrase consists of a short idea that's played twice? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer is, the third phrase is the one that consists of a short idea played twice. Which is the correct rhythm of the hook? Let's start off by hearing the hook. Pause my video and have a quick listen to it. And now, let's hear these three options. So which one plays the rhythm correctly? Here's A. (frantic upbeat drum music) Here's B. (upbeat drum music) And C. (frantic upbeat drum music) Choosing your your answer. And the correct answer is B. That was this one that plays the rhythm correctly. (upbeat drum music) For Task B, you're gonna work out and record the hook for "Blinding Lights." Here's some success criteria. You choose a suitable synth lead timbre that matches the original. You find the first note by trial and error. Then you work out the remaining notes by identifying if they ascend or descend, and move by step or leap. Repeat the first phrase to use as the second phrase, and then repeat this process for the third phrase. Make sure you repeat the whole hook so that it starts again in bar nine. So, once you've worked out the whole thing, all three phrases, then repeat it to start again in bar nine. And check it for accuracy by listening to the original and comparing the two. Here is the audio clip for your hook, and the hook with the backings as well so you can hear it in its proper context. So, using these as references, you can now pause my video, give this task you best shot. For the second part of this task, we're going to listen back to your recreated hook. Is it accurate? Use these questions to help you identify whether it's accurate or not, and reflect on it. And then use your answers to these questions to help you guide you to improving it. You can pause my video while you do that. Let's summarize today's lesson. Drumbeats can be recreated by ear by using similar techniques to working out a melodic line. Breaking it into small chunks and trying to pick out individual instruments or lines really helps, so break it into those smaller pieces. "Blinding Lights" has a typical pop drum groove with a snare backbeat, repeated hi-hats, and a kick emphasizing beats one and three. And the hook uses a synth lead and syncopated rhythms. I hope you've enjoyed getting stuck into that today then. It can be quite challenging task, this one, quite an intimidating one to tackle. But I really hope you've given it your best and have started to make headway with these new techniques of working out music by ear. Thanks for taking part, and I'll see you in another lesson.