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I had taught my Associate
Recording Engineer/Producer students this semester the basics of
programming drum beats. A typical drum kit has about 8 drum
and percussion instruments all bunched together. Each of these
drums serves a normal function in typical pop, rock and urban music.
For instance, the kick drum defines the first and third beat in 4/4
music, the snare establishes the 2 & 4, while the high hat
establishes the eighth notes in the measure.
As part of a songwriting project,
the students had programmed these basic drum parts into a synth DAW,
and were working on overlaying chords and melody. When you
program only these basic "function" beats you wind up with a track
that is without character and style. It may be a good learning
tool, but doesn't make for a good track on your production. I
did this exercise on purpose, because I wanted the students to learn
how how to add style and interest from the master himself, Muruga.
On Wednesday morning, Muruga
joined the class to teach a lesson on Dodecahedruming. This
coined word would mean "He drums In 12." Muruga and I are in
the middle of the production on a Dodecahedruming sample CD, and it
is a method of adding interest to a basic drum beat by adjusting the
timing of the beats and adding 3 beats to the basic 4 (adding
triplets) to form a 12 count in the rhythm.
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Master
Percussionist, Muruga Booker
Credits Include:
Weather Report platinum record as
percussionist.
Atomic Dog, George Clinton
(drums/percussion).
Blues From The Rainforest, Merl
Saunders with Jerry Garcia & Muruga (composer, co-producer,
drums & percussion)
Recipient of Hiroshima World
Peace Award, 1990 |
Muruga Started the lesson by
explaining the differences between odd and even music (in terms of
the number of beats in a measure) and how much western music was
around a 4/4 feel. He explained that the African beats that
heavily influence R&B, Jazz and Blues are often based around 12,
where the music in Eastern Europe and Asia is most often based on an
odd number of beats per bar. He demonstrated what he was
talking about by having have the class clap out 4/4 and the rest of
the class clap out first eighth notes and then either notes triplets
(12 per measure) over the basic 4/4. The different rhythm feel
was very apparent.
Muruga then broached the subject
of putting "style" into the basic beat. Putting the "12" over
the 4/4 gave the track character but muruga wanted to explain what
made the blues and funk feels in rhythms. The subject was
delay & anticipation in the sounding of the beats. He
explained that blues has a distinct delay of sounding the 2 & 4 in
the bar. Delay makes a beat stand out and sound important.
Again he had the class demonstrate this for themselves by clapping
out the rhythm. Muruga also let the class know that
anticipation of the high-hat (playing before the "right" time) adds
drive to that track and is used in many styles of music including
blues, rock, dance and pop.
A student brought up the question
about a "delayed 1" used in funk and reggae styles. He pointed
out the difficulty of looping samples off the famous George
Clinton Sample Series releases of a few years back. Muruga
verified that the funk tracks usually have a delayed 1, which gives
heavy accent to the first beat in the measure.
Muguga was scheduled to work with
an intern and some of the students after class to make a track that
could be used in a rap production, and ended the official "class
session" The students filled out our feedback form on Muruga's
seminar. We have posted their comments in their entirity - see
the Good, Bad and Ugly Reports.
Needless to say, Muruga was a hit
with the students and is scheduled to give his Dodecahedrumming
lesson for each Associate Recording Engineer/Producer class for 2005
which is held on the new RID Day training schedule.
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