Beat makers of all ages and all expertise levels sometimes overlook two of music production's biggest 'sleeping giants' - swing and time-sensitive density. Let's go through some of the things related to the former, as many newbies and veterans still don't pay enough attention to the swing that applies to drum samples. By the end of this, you should have a better understanding of the topic!
First of all, why use swing? Swing is useful in two situations. It is first of all useful when having used an editor or a click-in interface (like Reason's Redrum or the FL Studio sequencer), and in this case it serves to humanize the drum samples loop. If it weren't for the swing, all the samples would be precisely on point, and the human ear likes to perceive variance, not 100% accuracy in everything. This is what makes concerts such an appeal; if your favorite artist sang the exact same notes with the same tones and timing as the CD versions of his or her tracks during every live performance, there wouldn't be such a demand.
When tapping out samples on hardware, the swing will act as some sloppy quantization. Not that sloppy, though, just enough to get you into the groove template. It's great for those not yet very accurate with tapping.
But what exactly is swing? Swing is, again, like quantization, but without the 100% timing. There are various styles of swing templates, with varying degrees of swing. A 50% swing, for instance, is no different than snap quantization, so it's not really swing at all. But moving beyond this, a 63% swing template, for example, is one which moves midi notes from the nearest quantization point by thirteen percent either way. The percentage is of the timing, so it would be thirteen percent of 1/16th note, if 1/16 was the timing selected.
Swing templates are especially useful when combining drum samples tracks with electronic instruments like synthesizers - these 'synths' do not have any swing applied to them by default (most of the time), so using a swing setting on them along with a straight drum track, or the other way around, can get you some good results. You can also just quantize the drum samples and the electronic synth and simply use a swing setting on one other sound in the song.
Using swing settings for drum samples is an acquired skill, and starting with percentages between 51% and 65% is a good start for most budding producers or those already established who had not delved into the rhythmic aspect of swing. There are various styles of templates that have come directly from groove machines like the MPC 2000 and so, and these can be useful to replicate the swing that legendary hip hop producers have used for countless classics.
First of all, why use swing? Swing is useful in two situations. It is first of all useful when having used an editor or a click-in interface (like Reason's Redrum or the FL Studio sequencer), and in this case it serves to humanize the drum samples loop. If it weren't for the swing, all the samples would be precisely on point, and the human ear likes to perceive variance, not 100% accuracy in everything. This is what makes concerts such an appeal; if your favorite artist sang the exact same notes with the same tones and timing as the CD versions of his or her tracks during every live performance, there wouldn't be such a demand.
When tapping out samples on hardware, the swing will act as some sloppy quantization. Not that sloppy, though, just enough to get you into the groove template. It's great for those not yet very accurate with tapping.
But what exactly is swing? Swing is, again, like quantization, but without the 100% timing. There are various styles of swing templates, with varying degrees of swing. A 50% swing, for instance, is no different than snap quantization, so it's not really swing at all. But moving beyond this, a 63% swing template, for example, is one which moves midi notes from the nearest quantization point by thirteen percent either way. The percentage is of the timing, so it would be thirteen percent of 1/16th note, if 1/16 was the timing selected.
Swing templates are especially useful when combining drum samples tracks with electronic instruments like synthesizers - these 'synths' do not have any swing applied to them by default (most of the time), so using a swing setting on them along with a straight drum track, or the other way around, can get you some good results. You can also just quantize the drum samples and the electronic synth and simply use a swing setting on one other sound in the song.
Using swing settings for drum samples is an acquired skill, and starting with percentages between 51% and 65% is a good start for most budding producers or those already established who had not delved into the rhythmic aspect of swing. There are various styles of templates that have come directly from groove machines like the MPC 2000 and so, and these can be useful to replicate the swing that legendary hip hop producers have used for countless classics.
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