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Changing Swing of Drum Samples
In beat making, there exist two spatial factors that are often overlooked: time-sensitive density and swing. We'll be taking a look at the latter in this article, as there are a lot of beat makers who have not paid enough attention and have not applied the most basic principles of using swing on drum samples and instruments.
The first question we often hear is: why should I care about adding swing to my drum samples and other tracks? This question actually appears on so many forums and blogs, it's not funny anymore. It is a very serious topic if you want to be a great beat maker and music producer, so let's start at the beginning. The human ear loves musical variance. It is simply science. We pay more attention to things that we see and hear that are not normal, things that have not happened before. Imagine if your favorite artist started and finished their concerts by simply playing their latest album in the same track order, with the same exact notes and more. It wouldn't be very pleasing to your ear!
If you're tapping out drum samples, then using swing is like quantization - it will help you keep on time if you're not very accurate at the moment. Even if you are spot-on, it will apply your hits to the groove/swing template.
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 using electronic instrument parts that are fully quantized. Using these synthesizer sounds and drums, everything being quantized, will lead to staleness. So in this case, many top producers will leave one quantized and swing the other, or swing certain instruments. Swinging the drums in this case will produce some nice ear candy as the drum parts interact with the electronic instrument sounds.
When beginning to use this type of technique in music production, you may want to start with template percentages of fifty one to sixty three percent. Try them out on drum samples first and just mute the other tracks. Un-mute and play the track back again. Getting to know the difference in your mind as well as in your ears is an important step, especially true when you're just starting to do this on your own. Move onto other instruments and try other percentages as you get more comfortable.
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