Midi Reggae Drum Patterns

To show these four rhythms in their distinctiveness, all the snare drum and hi hat hits in the four rhythms are kept exactly the same. That's because the difference between rhythms in the the quartet has everything to do with the bass drum (kick drum) or 'drop'. Yes, indeed: the 'One Drop' is one of the four we're going to take a look at.

With a BPM set to 130, here are the four foundational Reggae drum rhythms:

‘Mega Reggae’ will have you jamming out ska and reggae tracks that sound like a live band because you’ll have real, live drums at the core of your songs. With this huge Mega Pack you’ll get 406 reggae drum loops that include side stick grooves, drum fills, complex and intricate hi-hat rhythms, you name it – we’ve it got all. A straight pattern may sound ordinary or even boring. Since most reggae drum beats have a swing feel, straight patterns are more common with faster reggae grooves. It’s more common in the “rockers reggae,” but you can use it on any type of reggae drum beat. The shuffle patterns come in several variations.

STEPPERS

A lot of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) comes with a 'Four On The Floor' or 'Four Drop' drum beat. The bass drum hits every four counts in the 4/4 bar. In Reggae, this rhythm has the name 'Steppers'. It's said to have been invented by Sly Dunbar as part of the Studio Bands of Channel One Studio's in Jamaica, and is often used in UK Roots and DUB as well as contemporary Eurodub and other (online) releases.

It's a powerful, militant rhythm that keeps flowing while in the same time almost instantly catches the attention of people in the dance. This is it:

LISTEN: EXAMPLE0003.MP3EXAMPLE0003.MID

ONE DROP

The second rhythm is the oldest. It's called the 'One Drop' because, yes, it only has one drop and that drop happens to be just like the snare, on the third count. I'm by far not an expert on Bob Marley and the Wailers' catalogue but I would bet that the One Drop is the most utilized rhythm in especially the 1970's works of that well known Reggae act. Wailers' drummer Carlton Barret has perfectionized his playing of the rhythm to such an extend that I would consider him to be 'Mr. One Drop' where Sly Dunbar is 'Mr. Steppers'.

Because most popular Drum rhythms all start with at least a bas drum hit ('drop') on the first count of a bar, the One Drop has that special feel. Many people do not exactly know how to respond in their dance to the One Drop. Check it out:

LISTEN: EXAMPLE0004.MP3EXAMPLE0004.MID

TWO DROP

In the early 1980's, a new style called 'dancehall' came to exist, with as one of it's center the CHANNEL ONE studio's, with their -then contemporary- house band the 'Roots Radics'. Some of my favorite Dub albums are from that period: the legendary Greensleeves Series by Scientist. A rhythm very commonly used in this early style of dance hall, is the Two Drop. It has a bass drum hit on the 1st and the 3rd count of every measure. The feel of the two drop is that of an 'easy does it', while it definitely goes well together with a pumping bass line. Here is the Two drop in sight and sound:

LISTEN: EXAMPLE0005.MP3EXAMPLE0005.MID

HALF DROP

The two drop can also be played without putting a bassdrum on the 3rd count: the feel instantly changes, and the beat becomes a bit more 'easy listening'. There is not a real name for this type of beat, but in Jah Roots everytime we talk about the rhythm, we speak about the 'half drop'. Therefore I would like to use that term for the rhythm in these chapters. Here is the 'Half Drop':

LISTEN: EXAMPLE0006.MP3EXAMPLE0006.MID

As said earlier, there are variations. One of them is a steppers with a Timbale on the 2nd-2 1/2 and 4rth-4 1/2 count of the bar. Another is a two drop with the first bar having a rim shot doing what the Timbale does in the previous example, where the second bar is a normal two drop. Yet a third one is a steppers with a snare or rim at the half counts after the 2nd and 4th count. You'll get the point: these are variations with obvious knowledge of the four patterns decribed in this chapter.

Another 'golden rule' I won't keep for myself here is this: use just one of the four patterns in your tracks. Where a well known live version of Bob Marley and the Wailers' 'No Woman No Cry' starts with a One Drop only to go over into a Steppers at a later stage can be done, it is very exceptional. I hear 50 examples of bad usage with every 1 good application of changing patterns. Especially with bands that have some need to expose their musical technicalities to an audience that is not waiting for such things but rather want to have a good time with music that keeps flowing.

Things get even worse when you decide to continually ignore these four basic patterns. Ignorance shows, deliberate ignorance is lethal. In other words, do not expect to know how to make Reggae Music by thinking you're Bob Marley or Sly Dunbar and you can come up with your own rhythms just like that. Reggae is a rhythm more than anything else, and rhythms are simply played according to certain patterns.

200 and 260 Instant Drum Patterns

New, Download all the patterns for free! Download InstantDrumPatterns.ZIP. Enjoy, joel

Support is not available on this free product.

At last, a solution to electronic drumming for people without a degree in percussion! Two all different book and software packages are available: 200 Instant Drum Patterns and 260 Instant Drum Patterns - for a total of 460 different patterns! They both include a variety of musical styles and fill patterns. About one-third of the patterns are fills.

Features

• All patterns on disk
• Patterns shown in both music and grid notation
• Includes fill patterns
• Works with any sequencer (Standard MIDI File format)
• Works with any keyboard, module or drum machine with percussion sounds

200 and 260 Instant Drum Patterns Contents

You asked for it - hot rap beats! The 560+ unique measures werewritten by leading drum author Chuck Kerrigan for drummers. Thepatterns can be used for rap, house, dance, pop, jazz or any style ofmusic where you want a modern rap feel.

Features

Over 1000 measures on disk

Patterns shown in music form with included book

Includes an audio cassette

Includes fill and Latin percussion parts

Works with any sequencer (Standard MIDI File format)

Works with any keyboard, module or drum machine with percussion sounds

Free Midi Reggae Drum Patterns

All of the Instant Drum Patterns from Five Pin Press, 200 Instant Drum Patterns, 260 Instant Drum Patterns and Instant Rap Drum Patterns are in Standard MIDI Files format. They require a software or hardware sequencer that can read Standard MIDI Files.

The patterns use General MIDI percussion note mapping. They are organized one drum per track to make it easier to transpose notes if necessary for your particular instrument. They work with your computer and any keyboard, sound module or drum machine with percussion sounds. The included music book shows all patterns in both music and in grid notation for 200/260 Instant Drum Patterns.

If your percussion sound source does not use General MIDI mapping you will need to transpose each track for the proper drum sound. An easy way to do it is to transpose the entire track. Check your software manual for details.

Once you have the patterns setup you're ready create a custom rhythm track with your sequencer. The first step is to write your arrangement. Audition the drum patterns and select the style and alternate beats you like. Jot down the measure numbers you want to use. Next figure out where your fill patterns will be and the Instant Drum Pattern fills you want at each location. When you are done you should have a percussion arrangement for one time through the verse and chorus. Often those sections can be repeated to form the entire the song. The introduction and ending are usually handled separately.

To create the actual rhythm track you copy and paste in the measure view of your sequencer. Select the measures you want and copy them to unused tracks or at the end of our patterns in the desired order. Most sequencers have a measure view where you can copy and paste entire measures, check your particular software manual for instructions. Make sure you change the file name so you don't overwrite the original Instant Drum Pattern file. Once your song track is completed, you can either delete or mute the original tracks from Instant Drum Patterns. After you have the drum track add bass, other rhythm instruments and the rest of your parts. It is much easier to play syncopated rhythm parts with the Instant Rap Drum Patterns as the metronome rather than a conventional MIDI or audio metronome. You can use our patterns as a basic guide and modify the patterns for even more variety. If you want to create totally original patterns try the step entry mode of your sequencer.

You can also combine Instant Drum Patterns with an existing sequence. This also works to 'punch up' Band-in-a-Box generated sequences. Most sequencers can do this via the copy buffer. Create your arrangement and drum track similar to above and copy the drum track into the copy buffer. Load the second song sequence (which will overwrite the drum sequence but should leave the copy buffer) and paste the drum track into the second sequence. Check your sequencer manual for specific details on how to merge two sequences.

Here are few ideas on how to modify and get the most out of Instant Drum Patterns. An easy modification is to change one percussion sound to a different sound. For example, several patterns use a snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Try changing the snare drum to a rim shot, tom or hand claps for a few measures. Different accents can also be used effectively if you vary the accents slightly. This gives the patterns a more human feel. For example, when a drummer plays a roll, the left hand is slightly softer than the right hand (if the player is right handed). Added to this are techniques such as the paradiddle and other methods that rely on the stick bouncing off the snare head to sound some of the notes. This slight differences in volume makes drums sound 'real.' You can change also the overall dynamics by adding crescendos and decrescendos that match your songs dynamics. Sequencers with graphical editing make changing dynamics easy.

If you want to record your own patterns or add beats to these existing patterns with sequencing software, try recording in step-record mode. The step-record automatically records exactly on the beat. Another sequencer tip is to slide the patterns in time slightly. If you slide the drum track forward, the slight anticipation can be more driving while a slight lag in time puts the song 'in the groove.'

GM always uses MIDI Channel 10 for drums.

Get a head start on drum machine programming
By Michael McFall

As every drummer worth his backbeat knows, non-drummers whoprogram drum machines rarely have a handle on how drums are supposedto sound and feel. For those of you who don't know the differencebetween paradiddling and twiddling your thumbs, Five Pin Press hasput together a gem of a product line that gives you instant access to460 drum patterns and fills.

Two packages are currently available: 200 [Instant] Drum MachinePatterns and 260 [Instant] Drum Machine Patterns. Each packageconsists of a book in which all 200 or 260 patterns, breaks, andfills are written out in music notation and in drum machine gridnotation for entering into your drum machine in step time.

The best part is that a disk (IBM, Mac, or Atari) is included thatcontains the patterns in Standard MIDI File format. You just load thepatterns into your sequencer, click on Play, and away you go.Note-number assignments default to the General MIDI Percussion Map.Each drum sound is on an individual track, which makes transposingnote assignments easy in the event that your drum machine or soundmodule does not conform to the General MIDI map. A separate usersmanual includes convenient MIDI drum-note assignment charts forseveral popular synths and drum machines.

A broad range of styles is represented, from rock, pop, and bluesto reggae, ska, R&B, disco, Afro-Cuban, swing, shuffle, Latin,ballads, and marches, each with fills to match. Rap and hip-hopgrooves are conspicuously absent, though.

The patterns are well-crafted and definitely usable.Unfortunately, the differences between certain patterns are slight.For example, the Funk and R&B patterns sound so similar stylisticallyas to be cut from the same cloth. Other patterns, such as Swing,wouldn't fill the bill for me if I were programming a jazz or swingtune. In other words, don't get too hung up on the pattern labels;you still have to use your ears in the end. The breaks and fills areinteresting, but they sound a bit stiff, as they are 100% quantized.I would like to see the patterns 'swing' a bit more. Even so, most ofthe patterns groove, particularly the Samba and some of the otherLatin and Funk varieties.

The idea is to use the drum patterns as templates, starting pointsfrom which you can edit to your heart's content, adding andsubtracting, accenting, swinging, and switching sounds until you'vetweaked yourself into drum track heaven. For instance, adding furtherelements of 'humanizing' is up you and the capabilities of your drummachine or sequencer. (For 'humanizing' ideas, see 'The Feel Factor:Humanizing Your Sequences' in the October 1987 EM, and 'Make YourDrum Machine Swing' in the May 1992 issue.)

Free Reggae Drum Patterns

Overall, the 200/260 Drum Machine Patterns packages have a lot tooffer the non-drumming programmer. Alien storm. And by not having to start fromscratch, even drummer/programmers can save time and come up with somenew ideas.

Michael McFall is the former editor of Rhythm magazine. Currently,he heads VDO Productions, a video production company specializing inmusic instruction videos.

Free Midi Reggae Drum Patterns

Excerpted from the November 1992 Electronic Musician magazine.Copyright 1992 Electronic Musician. Reported with the permission ofthe Publishers.