In music there
are no iron rules, just golden ones. One of
such rules or guidelines is the fact that
the snare drum hits the third count in a
bar, where the BPM settings are somewhere
between 110-190. Another one is formed by
four basic Reggae drum rhythms. With a
couple of exceptions wherein a deliberate
breaking of that golden rule takes place,
every Reggae drum rhythm or pattern is a
derivate from one of these four rhythms.
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:
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.MP3
| EXAMPLE0003.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.MP3
| EXAMPLE0004.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.MP3
| EXAMPLE0005.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.MP3
| EXAMPLE0006.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.
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