Contents
1. Types of Beats
In the previous discussion, I mentioned that among the “essentials” in drums the hihat plays the most intricate rhythms and determines the detailed rhythm sensation. This time, I will introduce a simple classification for these rhythms.
8th Note Beats
This is a standard beat pattern. By looking at how the hihat is played, you can see that it marks 8 hits within 1 bar. If you’re familiar with DAW, you could say it’s made along the 1/8 grid. Rhythms that divide one bar into “1/8” are referred to as 8th Note Beats, or simply Eighth Beats. 8th note beats are considered a kind of “basic form” in many genres of popular music.
16th Note Beats
However, you can double the frequency of the hihat hits.
It goes something like this. Because the division of beats becomes finer, naturally, it creates a light and lively rhythm. It’s commonly used in funk genres and is also frequently found in rock music etc. Rhythms that are based on a “1/16” division are called 16th Note Beats, or Sixteenth Beats.
I’ve listed a range from slow to fast tracks. In faster songs, 16th beats are ideal for creating a sense of speed, while in slower songs, they are used to fill the space and add more nuances to the track.
As mentioned before, the term “beat” originally refers to each individual pulse. However, it’s also used as a term to describe the entire rhythm pattern like these. (A bit confusing!)
These small divisions of a beat, the horizontal “grids” in DAWs, are called Subdivisions.
12th Beats?
Sometimes, when you encounter a performance that includes multiple types of divisions, it’s difficult to classify it as either “8th beat” or “16th beat”.
In this song, the hihat is hit approximately 12 times per bar. Nonetheless, it’s not referred to as a “12th beat”. The classification of beats depends on the overall granularity of the “grid”. In this case, you might consider it as a “decorative 8th Beat,” but it’s indeed an ambiguous case.
2. What Forms Subdivision?
It’s not just the hihats that defines the subdivisions. Let’s examine patterns.
Hihats + Shakers
Especially in dance music, it’s very common to have hihats playing an 8th beat while shakers layer a 16th beat rhythm alongside.
Toms
Another choise is to use toms instead of hats.
This can add heaviness at the cost of lightness, which is why it’s often seen in rock music. In rock bands it’s also common to combine toms with tambourines or shakers to design rhythm sections both from low end and hight end.
Snares
Some opt to play the snare finely in place of the hihat, and especially in country music this is a standard practice.
This kind of beats are called Train Beats because, just I guess, it sounds like a train running on the tracks!🚂
Aside from country music, after the emergence of trap style beats, thin and fine snares became more common in electronic music tracks.
“Ditto” by New Jeans combines snare + clap + shaker (or hihat) to construct intricate rhythmic structure.
Basses
In some bass-featured genres like techno, trance or gabba etc, sometimes basses (or leads) play the fastest (finest) phrases with hihats just playing 8th beat or even totally absent.
Furthermore, each instrument like guitar and synthesizer playing at different divisions contributes to shaping the rhythm. Just like different pitches are combined to create harmonic emsemble, in rhythm, you form a rhythm ensemble with different accents and beat divisions.
3. Even Finer Beats
Let’s return to the discussion of even subdivisions then. In recent years, the trap style beats frequently features rhythms even finer than 16th beats, which can be called as “32nd beats” or “64th beats”. This has become one of the distinct characteristics of this genre.
As mentioned before, trap beat has duality in its tempo. Its super-slow kick and snare rhythms allow for the inclusion of this much dense hihat patterns. Trap beats often uses the highly thin hihat sounds of TR-808, which plays a significant role in achieving a delicate balance where even high-intensity hihat patterns do not get too much harsh to ears.
However, in genres like funk or fusion etc, there are instances of human drummers using similar techniques to play at this speed.
In such cases, drummers often combine hihats and snares to create fine rhythms, similar to the samples above. It’s quite stylish! In the performances of professional drummers, you’ll often find these snare “ornaments” intricately interwoven with the straightforward snare hits.
Ghost Notes
These subtle, unobtrusive, decorative hits in drums as seen in the previous example are called Ghost Notes. Utilizing ghost notes is a fundamental and essential skill for drummers as they can use these soft, nuanced sounds to enhance the intricacies of the rhythm shapes. Let’s compare how the sound changes with and without ghost notes:
- Without Ghost Notes
- With Ghost Notes
Despite being subtle, there is a significant difference. The former sounds plain and only expresses accents, while the latter delicately outlines the rhythm. Depending on situations, off-course, A simpler drumming is preferred, but remember that such tiny notes can seriously affect the whole rhythmic groove.
Ghost notes are essential not only for drummers but also for bass players. Here’s a comparison of bass performance with and without ghost notes:
- Without Ghost Notes
- With Ghost Notes
Ghost notes add subtle rhythmic intricacies. Even though the difference is minor, it becomes a significant impression in the overall song. When creating drum parts with DAW programming, consciously incorporating ghost notes can elevate the quality of its realisticness, even though it may require some extra effort. The same applies to basses, where paid products often include recorded ghost note samples, allowing for meticulous refinement to achieve a more realistic sound.
