Category: Pads

Oct 28

We’re on the Halloween hunt for spooky rhythms

by in Drums, Music Theory, Pads

You’ve probably heard about minor scales in music, and how they’re used to portray feelings of darkness and apprehension. (If not, read this!)

But melodies only make up half the story in music. What about the rhythm? Is it possible to evoke dark and scary emotions with patterns, phrasing, and time signatures alone? With Halloween just around the corner, there’s no better time to answer the all-important question: what makes a rhythm spooky?

Answering this question is a bit like hunting a ghost. You’re not too sure it exists, but you’re in it for the thrill of discovery. Let’s uncover some truths by looking at famous examples of spooky music:

Jaws (John Williams)

Exemplified by a simple alternating pattern of just two notes, the theme for Jaws instantly sends shivers down your spine. What makes the rhythm of this music so fear-inducing?

It begins with a sparse pattern of two notes per bar, with long rests adding to the suspense. Then the tempo starts to build. The rhythm becomes more regular but is accompanied by sharp off-beat bites to keep you on your toes.

It’s the space between the notes that builds anticipation. Just like how you don’t know when the shark will attack, you don’t know when the next notes are coming.

The Exorcist (Mike Oldfield)

Featuring a seemingly simple eighth-note pattern, what is it about this rhythm makes it so spooky? Let’s break down the complex arrangement of notes.

Instead of using different length notes and rests to create rhythm, The Exorcist Main Theme gains its rhythm through the arpeggiating pattern of notes. It’s actually the melody that gives this song its irregular rhythm.

The Exorcist Sheet Music

Let’s look at the note E in this pattern, (the lowest note highlighted in green). Notice how it’s on the off-beat of the first bar, on beats 1-& and 2-&. Then it switches to an on-beat rhythm on beat 4, continuing into the second bar on beats 1 and 2. Then back to off-beats in bar three, etc.

Throw in some time signature changes for good measure, and this constant switching of rhythms generates ever-changing tension. You’re never quite sure what’s coming next, just like you’re never quite sure when the next jump scare is coming.

Halloween (John Carpenter)

We’ve seen how irregular rhythms can generate suspense and tension. Equally, regular rhythms can evoke similar feelings. The main theme for Halloween is backed by a straight quarter note pattern on each beat of the bar. So what makes it so spooky?

The unusual 5/4 time signature brings suspense. 4/4 time signatures feel natural and pleasing. 5/4 has one extra beat to every bar, giving it a strange and slightly uncomfortable feeling. The regularity of the rhythm is also akin to a heartbeat, giving the song a chilling sense of mortality.

So, what makes a rhythm spooky?

It’s complicated. There are elements of rhythm that can evoke dark and moody emotions. For example, irregular rhythms can build anticipation. Unusual time signatures and off-beats can generate tension.

The effect that rhythm has on your music is often overlooked, but there’s no doubt that rhythm is a powerful compositional tool. Having these tricks up your sleeve will help you invent new and interesting ways to portray emotions in your music.

Put it into practice.

Get inspired with these Melodics lessons. For the drummers out there, discover how to use unconventional phrase lengths in the context of a Spooky Surf Rock course.

Or learn about shifting off-beat kick patterns with these Scary Psychedelic Rock lessons.

Oct 27

Ghostbuster: The Genius of Ray Parker Jr.

by in Drums, Gear, Guided Listening, Instruments, Keys, Pads, Product Updates & Releases


 
The Ghostbusters theme is at its core an exercise in Rhythm & Blues comping — but it’s been dressed up in the…. costume of 80s synth pop 👻

The iconic theme from Ghostbusters defined a point in Ray Parker Jr’s career. For those less familiar, it seemed he came out of nowhere as an artist. But for those in the know, it’s far from a one hit wonder. Rather, it is a culmination of all his talents as a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, studio engineer, composer and producer.

Given 2 days by a (somewhat desperate) Columbia Pictures to produce a title track, Ray Parker Jr was ready for the job.

But how is Ghostbusters Rhythm & Blues?

Ghostbuster’s chord harmony is ultimate Rhythm & Blues, but it’s not immediately obvious because it leans heavily on the lush synthesizer sounds of the decade, instead of using more familiar, analog instrumentation of the genre, like keys or guitars.

But the Rhythm & Blues influence makes sense, given Ray Parker Jr’s background as a session guitarist for Motown records before starting his own studio, Ameraycan.

Starting when he was only 15 years old, Parker’s musical career spans decades — having played guitar, bass, synth and lent vocals to some of the greats such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Bobby Womack, as well as prolific engineering credits, and composer for Barrie White, Earl Sweatshirt and Cheryl Lynn to name a few.

Learn to play Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr on synth, drums or finger drumming

It was one of those days when everything came together — bang, bang, bang — and it didn’t seem like I could do anything wrong. The bass part sounded great, the drums were big. Everything sounded fat.
 
The main synth was a Korg Poly 61 — and a cheap Jupiter 6 on the bass line! Nothing is doubled — it’s just single lines that really fit together well.
 
— Ray Parker Jr, on making the ‘Ghostbusters’ Theme.

Learn to play the Ghostbusters theme song

Play it. Learn it.

If you ain’t afraid of no ghost, then today is your day to shine: Melodics has released Ghostbusters as the latest song to play and learn for premium subscribers.

That main Korg synth line, the Roland Jupiter 6 bassline, and Linn Drums are exactly the sounds you’ll be playing in Melodics’ lesson for the Ghostbusters theme.

Ghostbusters is available to play for premium subscribers on Keys, Drums or Pads, just in time for an extra spooky musical Halloween.

 

Get the skills you need to succeed first.

If you don’t have a premium Melodics subscription, or you want to build up your abilities before playing Ghostbusters on keys, pads or drums — we’ve got you sorted, with this handpicked selection of skill-building courses for each instrument.

Keys

Level up your left hand technique with this course, featuring a series of lo-fi synthy bassline lessonsLeft-hand synth basslines that use techniques like walking, octave stretches and complex rhythms.

Level up your left hand technique with the Cassette Basslines course, featuring a series of lo-fi synthy bassline lessons designed to target strength, coordination and agility in the left hand. Then take it to funk town with Mark de Clive-Lowe’s Bassline Bootcamp. Here you’ll come to grips with left-handed basslines and exercises across different styles, and use techniques like walking, octave stretches and complex rhythms. You’ll walk away understanding how bassline melodies can be built with pentatonic scales, intervals and syncopated patterns.

Drums

Learn fills to help transitions, break up patterns and draw listeners' attention to changes in the music.play basic linear beats, added toms and 1/16 variations, and incorporated fills -- incorporating section and groove changes

Ba-da-da-da-Ba-da-da-da-Pssh! Let’s learn fills in this course to help transitions, break up patterns and draw listeners’ attention to changes in the music — you’ll need this for some of the iconic Linn Drum fills in Ghostbusters! Then, take it to the next level with Linear Drumming, play basic linear beats, added toms and 1/16 variations, and incorporated fills over section and groove changes.

Pads

play 1/8 & 1/16 note syncopated drum grooves. You have improved your coordination skills by playing hand independent rhythms over bouncy hip hop grooves for finger drumming on padsperform a fundamental funk drum groove in the style of Clyde Stubblefield.

To get ready for Ghostbusters, you need to go back to the future! Explore these two courses get those skills up. First, in Kicks, Claps, Snares you’ll play 1/8 & 1/16 note syncopated drum grooves and work on your coordination skills by playing hand independent rhythms over bouncy hip hop drum grooves.

Then, expand on a basic Funk beat with a series of variations in the style of the legendary Clyde Stubblefield in Ain’t it Funky. Here, you’ll perform a fundamental funk drum groove, create variations of a drum groove by shifting beats on the kick, snare and open hi-hat, and learn how to perform a swung hi-hat rhythm.

Away from your instrument? Get in the Ray-zone.

If you’re not by your instrument, then get in the halloween spirit and feast your ears on the genius of Ray Parker Jr with this playlist.

Far from a 1-hit-wonder, this playlist showcases a trophy cabinet of his musical credits, from the ’70s right up to present day; spanning genres like Motown, Rhythm & Blues, Disco, 80s Synth, Electronica, and Hip Hop.

 

Oct 17

Everybody wants to… learn 12/8 time!

by in Drums, Fundamentals, Guided Listening, Keys, Pads

Having an appreciation for time signatures is useful for playing every instrument (both melodic and rhythmic) — but how do you decide what kind of rhythm/time signature you’ll use? You could ask this question another way… How do you decide which shirt to wear in the morning?

It all depends on the mood you’re going for and in some cases, the style or tradition of music you’re playing or making.

Let’s take a look at the 12/8 time signature in the context of ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ by Tears For Fears, available to play in Melodics this week for premium subscribers.

The rhythm of the song gives it a shuffling feel, like you’re tumbling through it. It’s got a feel somewhere in-between the steady pulse of a four to the floor beat, and the triplet feel of 6/8.

Have you heard that shuffle rhythm before elsewhere?

It can also be known as the “Purdie Shuffle” (exemplified by Bernard Purdie in Steely Dan’s ‘Home At Last‘, or John Bonham in Led Zeppelin’s ‘Fool in the Rain‘) in drum circles, but you’ve likely heard it frequently in all sorts of contemporary songs.

How about ‘Hold The Line’ by Toto, ‘Higher Ground’ by Stevie Wonder, ‘Lost in Yesterday’ by Tame Impala, ‘Sweet Escape‘ by Gwen Stefani, or ‘bury a friend‘ by Billie Eilish?  What’s important is they all have this same shuffling “triplet feel” or sound, which you can get a natural feel for by listening to this playlist.

That sound can be a creative choice to evoke a certain mood, but often it’s related to making music in a particular style. As well as pop music, this rhythm is also used heavily in doo-wop, blues and jazz – so it can be used in some cases to reference or imitate those styles as well.

Now you know what it sounds like, what actually is 12/8?

As a more uncommon time signature, 12/8 might look and sound intimidating — but don’t worry there’s nothing weird, “irregular” or “odd” about it! You can easily think of 12/8 time as basically using triplets within the context of a regular 4/4 rhythm. Here’s how:

How to count 12/8 time as triplets in 4/4
You can count 12/8 as just 4 triplets!

12/8 means there are 12 1/8th note beats in each bar. 

But what you can’t immediately see from reading the time signature is that those 12 beats are organized into four groups of three 1/8th notes. The four groupings is what gives it the familiar pulse of 4/4 but with the “triplet” feel of 6/8. It’s like a buy one get one free deal for time signatures.

With 12 beats to choose from, there’s a world of opportunity when it comes to deciding which beats the chord changes occur on. With the intro of ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ the first synth chord (A/D) is on the “1” beat — and the second chord (G/D) jumps in a little early on the “2-and-a” beat, imparting a slightly urgent feel to the intro groove.

If you’d like more context around the sound and feel of triplets (outside of 12/8) — you can often hear triplets in the syncopated, staccato vocals of Bone Thugs n Harmony, Three 6 Mafia, and Migos, which really helps to give them their distinctive flows.

The best way to learn is to play — so look out for ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ by Tears For Fears launching on 20th October in Melodics for premium subscribers.

For standard subscribers, make your goal this week to understand time signatures and how to play songs in 2/4, ¾, 4/4 and 6/8.

Melodics’ ‘Time Signatures’ course (for Keys and Drums) is a great starting point to structure your practice around, and if you’re a drummer you’ll be super prepared to dive into ‘Shuffle Grooves’ just in time for when ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ drops this week.

Time Signatures -- Shuffle Grooves -- Two Melodics Courses

Oct 11

A lesson in counting from “Hey Ya!”

by in Drums, Fundamentals, Guided Listening, Instruments, Pads

Do you have some chords or progression for a song idea, but want to figure out a rhythm and timing that will work to capture the mood of what you’re imagining or back up the timing of your instruments or vocals?

Just like the chords in a progression provide the harmonic backdrop to a tune, a song’s time signature can play a major role in defining the feel of a progression, and help reinforce the rhythm of your instruments and meter of your vocal delivery.

You might already have a basic understanding of common time signatures and how they generally sound (like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or 6/8) – but if not, skip to this handy guide near the end of this article.

Sometimes it’s not so clear why you might use some time signatures over others. If you’re happy with experimenting in 4/4, and haven’t had reason to move outside this comfort zone — then we’ll discuss two examples, “Hey Ya!” by Outkast, and two versions of “With a Little Help From My Friends” that might show you how exploring some new time signatures can freshen up your sound when you’re creating music.

If you’re away from your instrument, we’ll also show you some other examples you can listen to now or any time, and then whenever you’re ready to give it a go, we’ll show you which courses and popular songs you can learn to play different time signatures on with Melodics.

Is “Hey Ya!” in 2/4, 4/4 or 11/4?

Separating some time signatures from genres that stereotypically use them can be tough. For instance, 2/4 is really common in bluegrass, folk or punk – but outside of these genres, our ears aren’t really trained to recognise them so easily.

Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ is a really interesting example as it’s rooted in hip hop, pop soul and funk. It sounds like a 4/4 but has the in-your-face movement and momentum of 2/4 phrasing… 

Why? It secretly has a single measure of 2/4 in it.

Count "Hey Ya!" as 4+4+4+2+4+4 beats.

When counting along to the beat, count: three measures of 4/4, one of 2/4, then two more of 4/4 (or 4+4+4+2+4+4). If you add these all up, that’s 22 beats spread over two bars — hence why some people say “Hey Ya!” is in 11/4. But imagine reading 1 bar of music without a bar line for 11 whole beats 😢 — counting by 4+4+4+2+4+4 is much more natural, and the single 2-beat bar of 2/4 really captures the “lively” and “pushy” spirit of the song.

If you’re unsure what the difference that one bar of 2/4 makes (in an otherwise 4/4 song), check out this video of ‘Hey Ya!’ reimagined as a straight 4/4 beat. You’ll be able to hear the important role time signatures play in backing up the timing of vocal melodies or instrumentation. 

In 4/4, ‘Hey Ya!’ sounds a little bit off — HINT: listen to the drum snare vs the vocal timing.

As the final word in each line of the vocals is delivered, the rhythm progression feels like it hasn’t quite finished yet, and still needs a couple more bars before it’s ready for a turnaround. It’s missing a snare!

But (thankfully) in the original 2/4 version, the drums and punchy vocals are perfectly in step at the end of each line, helping to drive home the rhythm at the same punchy pace and timing of the vocal delivery we all know and love.

Use time signatures to set the “mood”

For a great example of how extra beats in different time signatures can impart different moods in songs, compare these two different versions of the hit song “With a Little Help From My Friends.” 

The original is written and played by the Beatles in 4/4, but Joe Cocker’s iconic cover totally reinterprets it in 6/8.

With more space after each vocal line for the chord progression to play, a much more epic, pausing, and melancholy feel is created — aided also by the slower overall tempo, and playing it in a different key of course ;). Such is the power time signatures hold!

Time Signatures Explained

A time signature is often expressed by two numbers (like a fraction) which gives you a rough rhythmical overview. The top number indicates how many “beats” are in each “bar” of a piece of music. The bottom number indicates the “note value” or “subdivision” of each beat.

The beat is often described as the main rhythm listeners might tap their toes to when listening to music, or the “1,2,3,4” that a musician counts while performing. It’s the basic unit of time which keeps pulsing and repeating throughout a piece of music.

Note values (denominator) in time signatures
Also called subdivisions, a note value indicates how long a particular beat (or note) is relative to the length of the whole bar.

For common time signatures, note values tend to be described as whole (1/1), half (1/2), quarter (1/4) or eighth (1/8) notes.

Tying it all together

So now you have an overview of counting beats (numerator) and each beat’s note values subdividing that beat (denominator), you might be a little more comfortable with why we describe common time signatures as we do – like 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, or 6/8.

Now it’s time to put knowledge to real-world context — have a listen to some of the iconic songs in their time signatures below and practice counting out the number of beats per bar in time to the music.

2/4 — Two beats per bar, one 1/4 note per beat
3/4 — Three beats per bar, one 1/4 note per beat
6/8 — Six beats per bar, one 1/8 note per beat

3/4 and 6/8 are almost twins. Depending on your tempo and how you like to count things, it can make more sense to notate and count a song in groups of six eighth notes (6/8), or you might be more comfortable just counting 3 quarter notes (3/4) over the same track. How would you count these songs?

4/4 — Four beats per bar, one 1/4 note per beat

Play with time

If you’re interested in getting to know the basics of time signatures, try out Melodics’ course for drums on ‘Exploring Time Signatures‘, or ‘Seeing Subdivisions‘ for finger drumming on pads. You’ll learn about note lengths, and how time signatures can work in contemporary music.

For Melodics premium subscribers, you can use this knowledge to learn to play “Hey Ya!” on either pads or drums.

 

Apply your new knowledge of time signatures in contemporary music. Then to play "Hey Ya!" by Outkast.

Sep 29

Breaking down the rhythm of ‘Pyramid Song’ by Radiohead

by in Drums, Music Production, Pads

 
What’s going on with the strange rhythm of Radiohead’s Pyramid Song?

It feels like it stops and starts, and it’s hard to place the downbeat – Is it really in 4/4?


 

What time signature is Radiohead's 'Pyramid Song?'
1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3

The key is understanding its unique 2 bar rhythm, outlined by the piano, which consists of 2 dotted quarter notes, followed by a half note which carries across the bar, followed by 2 more dotted quarter notes.

It is also a heavily swung rhythm, which is something that might not be immediately apparent by listening to the unaccompanied piano.

If you break down each bar into 8th notes – it might be a little easier to understand. You can count it 3-3-4-3-3.

 
So if your mind has been melting while trying to internalise this weird rhythm while trying to learn Pyramid song in Melodics on Drums or Pads – this will help clear things up!

Sep 13

Guided Listening: The Art of Sampling

by in Guided Listening, Pads

Let’s talk about an essential tool in a producer’s toolkit: sampling.

Sampling is an iconic component of many different musical genres — especially in the worlds of hip-hop and electronic music, but increasingly in pop and rock. A sample can be a brief audio clip that is used as an instrument, a drum beat or “break” that provides the rhythmic foundation of a beat, or an entire audio passage that may serve as inspiration for the melodic and harmonic elements of a new song.

Sampling is ingrained in the culture of contemporary music, and our brand-new Songs catalog even contains a few excellent examples. We’ll run through a couple of iconic uses of samples, and share our guided listening playlist which compares the original side-by-side with the sample.

Here’s some examples.

Consider the song “Just a Friend” by Biz Markee. The characteristic piano melody in this late 1980s hip-hop hit, which is a sampling of Freddie Scott’s 1968 hit “(You) Got What I Need,” is instantly recognisable. Biz Markee cleverly transforms this soulful original, in which Freddie Scott sings about a woman who makes his life better, into an ironic story about his experiences with women.

Another example is “Avril 14th” (also available in our Songs catalog.) If you pay close attention to the piano melody at 1:38 when listening or practicing this piece, sped up (and pitch increased), you might recognise it as the sample used in “Blame Game” from Kanye West’s groundbreaking 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

The Art of Sampling Playlist

Check out this Spotify playlist that showcases a range of samples in popular music. Included are both the original samples, as well as the songs that sample them.

Some samples will be very obvious, and others might be a little harder to identify — see if you can spot them all!

 

Jun 13

The 3 Universal Components of Finger Drumming

by in Fundamentals, Pads

The ability to finger drum transforms a pad controller into an incredibly versatile instrument.

Instead of being limited to step sequencing or programming, the accomplished finger drummer unlocks the full range and expression available to musicians. The result is creative possibility shifting back into the producer’s hands.

Pads are such a unique and diverse instrument it can be overwhelming, and hard to know where to begin. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way!

First and foremost, let’s master the basics.

The 3 Universal Components of Finger Drumming

With MIDI pads, there are always three distinct components which all interact and amount to how you can play. Consider these when approaching your practice and performance on pads:

 

Component #1: Your controller’s layout (aka The Foundation)

Your layout is the physical arrangement of the pads and the selected samples assigned to each. The layout chosen will define the style of your performance.

The examples in this article will use a 4 x 4 pad, but there is a multitude of other pad arrangements available too. You can find smaller ones, such as 4 x 2 or even much larger arrangements as big as 8 x 8.

MIDI pad layouts

 

Component #2: The track’s rhythm (aka The Method)

The rhythmic information informs how to interact with your pads layout, in order to perform the desired sequence of beats and samples.

Further on in this article, we’ll run through some examples on how a 4 x 4 arrangement can have different samples assigned to the pads, depending on what you want to rhythmically play in a song.

 

Component #3: Your coordination (aka The Delivery)

This is the dexterous use of one’s hands and fingers and how they physically play the rhythm onto a layout.

This will determine if it will be best to use your right or left hand, as well as finger allocation for any given beat. It’s especially important to consider you coordination when you start incorporating multiple samples/using more pads in your performance.

The most important thing with coordination is to plan ahead. Your positioning may change depending on the pad layout so work out which pads you need throughout a song, and position yourself comfortably so that each pad is easily within reach.

Let’s explore the interrelationship between these three core components to see how more complex layouts can unlock more rhythmical possibilities for you, but may also require more advanced coordination techniques and dexterity.

If we show you an example of how to play the same song five different ways, you might better understand how you could too can approach learning to play pads, and increase your skill and coordination along the way.

 

First Performance

First Performance

This first performance shows all of the three finger drumming components presented in their most basic form: There is one sample (i.e. the whole track), so the layout assigned this to just one pad, played on the first beat with one finger.

 

Second Performance

Second performance

Making it a little more complicated — we’ve chopped the first performance track into four.

The layout assigns four samples, over four different pads, with each sample being played over a half note. In terms of coordination, this layout and rhythm is simple enough that as few as one index finger can still play all the samples in succession.

 

Third Performance

Third Performance

Let’s increase the complexity of the coordination, and bring in some more fingers to play the drum groove over a backing! We’ve separated the kick and the snare rhythm for the groove, from the melody/bassline/hi-hats backing. One pad triggers that melody/bassline/hi-hats backing track; and one pad is assigned each for kick and snare samples.

As the backing track plays the full duration, the separately played kick and snare drums need to do the job of keeping the percussive rhythm in time with the hi-hat subdivisions. Index fingers on alternating hands play the kick and snare pattern; with the backing track being triggered by the middle finger on the first beat (along with the kick), and playing the full length of the track.

Separating the backing from the beat components lets you focus on and experiment with variations on the beat. Having a more complex layout (assigning more samples to different pads, for instance with additional drum samples) gives you more options rhythmically, but by the same virtue requires you to be more confident with keeping time. This third performance further illustrates this flexibility, by showing a slightly different drum beat than the first and second performances.

 

Fourth Performance

Fourth Performance

We’ve now broken out the full drum kit (kick, snare and the hi-hat) to their own assigned pads; and chopped the baseline + melody backing into four additional samples (assigned to four different pads to trigger).

This means that we have to trigger the backing track samples every second beat; whilst also playing every component of the drum beat. Note from the video how the finger used to trigger the kick starts with the thumb, but plays the last three beats instead with the middle finger.

This performance shows you that chopping the backing tracks differently whilst still playing the drum beats on time can lend a syncopated air if done right.

 

Fifth Performance

Fifth performance

This is the most complex performance layout chosen for this exercise – although unlike the fourth performance, we will only be using the index and middle fingers of each hand, with no switching fingers for different beats.

We’ve broken out the kick, snare and hi-hats for the drum beats; and similarly separated the backing track’s melody from its bass track, in three different samples.

Each pad sample needs to be triggered on different beats in the measure, with different frequency depending on the sample – Note how the layout helps with this, by focusing on playing ergonomics for both the left and right hands.

The interplay between the melody backing, and bassline creates a new challenge to play in conjunction with a separate drum groove. Nevertheless, the degree of coordination required to play the rhythm does allow you far greater rhythmic and melodic freedom in your performance – once your skill-level is there.

This layout approach would be ideal for exploring sample chopping, and mix-matching different backing sections to compose new tracks with in the future as you get more confident in your playing ability.

 

Conclusion

These performances show you five different ways to perform the same song live, using a different layout for each. Each performance gradually increases from fundamental to a more complex layout, with the rhythm and coordination skill required becoming more advanced.

When you’re approaching finger drumming, samples and layouts, consider how much rhythmical freedom you require in your performance, and your confidence in layout-making and coordination. You can adapt any or all of these three areas accordingly in your own playing, or use Melodics step-by-step structure and multi-difficulty lessons to gradually increase this complexity for you.

By splitting the backing track(s) out from the percussion tracks, you can see that there is more rhythmical freedom for your playing.

Putting backing tracks to one side, if you would like to focus on upskilling your drum groove playing, we highly recommend you start with the Melodics’ course on Mirrored Layout for pads.

This will help you master the art of finger drumming, and you will be much more confident to explore the advanced world of playing with backings, sample chopping, and layout-making.