Nine
Regular
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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 Posted: Tue May 09 2006 11:15
How to make a good breakbeat? |
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Hi,
Perhaps this is a stupid question to some of you... But I've been trying to make a breakbeat, but it just doesn't work. I've tried looking at breakbeat loops, and I tried to reconstruct them, but it didn't work. I know I should place my snare on the 2nd and the 4th count, so that's 04 and 012 when the BPM is standard. Somewhere between the 2nd and 4th count there should be really short snare hits, but I really don't know how to.
Please, explain your theory on breakbeat. How do you make one? Maybe a bit stupid, maybe there's already a tutorial or something on this site, but I sure haven't found it, and I'm willing to learn from others even if I have to ask stupid questions like this hehe..
Greets,
Nine |
http://www.myspace.com/louiscoerl |
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Inge
Man-At-Arms
Joined: 04 May 2003
Location: Nieuw Lekkerland @ Holland
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 11:29
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The most basic thing (b=bassdrum, s=snare):
1 b
2
3
4 s
5
6 b
7 s
8 b
9 s
10 b
11
12 s
13
14
15
This will sound horrible, but it's your main frame. For proper breakbeats, you need to manually adjust each hit of the bassdrum and snare to give it a real sound. If you hit a real snare or bassdrum, it will always sound different. Vary concerning punch, volume and sharpness/high frequencies. Furthermore, play around with your open/closed hihats.
Furthermore, backup a programmed breakbeat with a sampled one, to spicen up the sound, drive and its fatness.
I've uploaded an eight year old (!) tune of my that might help a bit with explaining the stuff above. It's full of flaws, but just look at the drum programming in the first sixteen tracks. It might help you.
http://inge.madtracker.org/xm/mm-block.rar |
Care for a game of Monopoly? |
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Frazze
Registered User
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 11:57
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Yeah breakbeats are hard. I've got the basic theory working (as descibed by Inge), and the rides, but i don't know how to get that jungletamborine-sound going. Can someone give a tip on that? |
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goose
Registered User
Joined: 11 May 2003
Location: aroundabout
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 14:07
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"Breakbeats" are the bits of drumming in the break of a song when nothing but drums and percussion are playing, hence "breakbeat" - - eg, The "Amen" break from "Amen Brother" by the Winstons being the king of the jungle breakbeats. Dig around to discover other "Breakbeats" too.
Most classic jungle DnB is made from these samples being chopped and mangled. Use the Offset command to chop with. Synchronised Samples are good for this.
The actual pattern of kick, snare etc is irrelevant. There is no correct pattern. Play around, vary and keep it flowing.
You can layer one shot kicks and snares and other sounds to make them heavier and more to your taste. Try layering two different ones together to get a new one, like the "Tramen Break". EQing and compression etc will help too.
It certainly is possible to make your own breakbeats from oneshots (with a lot of layering and messing about) but again it's best to resample and then chop and arrange these as you would a normal sampled breakbeat. Remember to use "ghost snares" too in this case. These are quieter, different sounding variations on your main snare that hit just before and after your main snares to give feeling.
To get that classic jungle tamborine sound, again, you're best off sampling, and treat it as a breakbeat. Thinking in 16ths may help though.
Here's an example of me using the Amen in a track
http://www.vertexrecordings.com/HOSTED/ceremonydnb/CEREMONY_Welcome_To_The_Ceremony.mp3
Have Fun
That Amen Break:
http://www.xampled.com/xampled/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_break
That Tramen Break:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramen
Bizzy B's breakbeat choppage forum: http://sampleoidz.co.uk/forum/index.php
Hatrixxx's Breakbeat Chopping Tutorial:
http://breakbeat.hattrixx.co.uk/
Binaer Pilot's Using Offset Command in MT2 tuorial:
http://www.binaerpilot.info/?p=tutorials&t=mt_offset |
Last edited by goose on Tue May 09 2006 15:19; edited 1 time in total |
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bigandymac
Registered User
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Location: Leeds UK
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 15:17
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i like to make breakbeats when im bored (i know normal people watch tv, im not normal though), heres one i made this morning.
http://am1.madtracker.net/breaks23.mt2
hope this helps a bit
cheers
andy |
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Frazze
Registered User
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Location: Lund, Sweden
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 17:36
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Thanks Goose.
Where did you get the flofi plug, andy? |
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bigandymac
Registered User
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Location: Leeds UK
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StyrmanLjungberg
Registered User
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Location: Östersund, Sweden
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Sunbuster
Registered User
Joined: 05 May 2003
Location: Finland
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 18:54
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Here's another basic example, whipped togheter by yours truly.
breakbeat |
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StyrmanLjungberg
Registered User
Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Location: Östersund, Sweden
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Posted: Tue May 09 2006 20:33
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I wanted to try it to
*old link*
kinda sucks though  |
Last edited by StyrmanLjungberg on Sat Jul 01 2006 01:15; edited 1 time in total |
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Nine
Regular
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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Posted: Fri May 19 2006 19:58
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Thanks guys, I think I can make a decent breakbeat now, but not quite what I ment.. But thanks a lot! |
http://www.myspace.com/louiscoerl |
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-M-o-V-A-J-
Registered User
Joined: 05 Feb 2004
Location: Madrid&Barcelona, Spain
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Grahf
User
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
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Posted: Mon Jul 03 2006 19:50
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hey goose, that track is AWESOME! i have it even on my mp3player now. have some other music?
btw, i kinda had the same prob like nine. that amen break is just the thing i kinda needed to know about... is there a page that explains it? kinda breaks it down into its pieces? |
[Endless:Entertainment] |
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goose
Registered User
Joined: 11 May 2003
Location: aroundabout
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Posted: Mon Jul 03 2006 22:46
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| Grahf wrote: |
hey goose, that track is AWESOME! i have it even on my mp3player now. have some other music?
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Thanks. Click the cat in my sig for tunes.
| Grahf wrote: |
btw, i kinda had the same prob like nine. that amen break is just the thing i kinda needed to know about... is there a page that explains it? kinda breaks it down into its pieces?
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Maybe I'll add more detail about this eventually to the MT Wiki. Not yet, though. Be sure to check out the other links in my first post. |
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Phil_The_Rodent
User
Joined: 03 Jul 2006
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Posted: Wed Jul 05 2006 19:32
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I've been a drummer for 18 years now so I can help with a few pointers...
The most important thing besides your main time signature is what is called the "undertow". The undertow refers to the feel of the song, or the pocket.
In your standard AD/DC drumbeat, the undertow matches the time signature, 4/4. So the accents happen on 1, 2, 3, 4 (or 4, 8, 12, 16 if you subdivide the measure into 16th notes). The eighth note hats you hear in AC/DC, then, will be quieter in the pockets 2, 6, 10, 14 and stronger on the accents. Same thing if the drummer wanted to do 16th notes, but they might be stronger - or not - on the 8th note offnotes.
So a groovy hat pattern might look like this:
X . x . X . x . X . x . X . x .
1 e& a2 e& a3 e& a 4 e&a
(Sorry about the spacing just wanted to line things up).
If you introduce open hats, DON'T play on the note-off. If you want a "chick" for an angled bottom plate, then be subtle and round. Not loud and hard. Drummers rarely play this strike as it has a tendency to flam the beat. The note-off then should take the place of the next hat strike. This is a common and irritating mistake to listen to.
Ghost notes are quiet and typically played outside the accents. The notes are typically placed outside the hat pattern as well and are quiet and more toneful. On an open-tuned snare, they will also ring longer -- not much but a titch...
Any questions about actual playing I'd be happy to help. You can check out some of my playing at http://www.myspace.com/yearofthegone
The song "In You" will likely demonstrate some of these principals. |
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