The Anatomy Of Jungle Music?

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Joshua

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Hi everyone,

Well, I must admit that for years I've mainly been focusing on creating trance/techno music.....but change is good, so I've decided to start making jungle music and maybe a lil bit of d'n'b. :D

I've tried and tried to make a good sounding jungle drum pattern, BUT they all sound like crap! Can you give me some advice on how to make a decent sounding jungle drum pattern? Also, are there any rules that I should be aware of? Like where I should or shoudn't place my percussive elements?

This would really help out alot!

Thanks so much,
-Josh
 
ah, the breakbeat. Its simple, the 1,2,3-3,4 progression that is the epicentre of all things jungle.

Try this-- instead of starting at 170bpm, try 85bpm.

A good way to do some research-- if you own a record player, go buy a 45rpm jungle record. Drop it down to 33rpms. You can hear the drum beats slower, and this will be a good way of hearing how they programmers compose their beats. (or, hey, if you have a computer or sampler, just drop the pitch of the song to hear it slower)

I don't really follow a mathematical formula when I compose my drums, I just drop things where they feel right. The best way to do this is to listen to old funk, soul, jazz, r&b records and pay close attention to the drums. Make sure you listen to "Amen Brother" by the wilsons, listen to the drum breakdown. This drumbeat alone has been used in hundreds of jungle songs. Just listen to how the drummer plays out and try to compare your progressions to this feel.
 
You tried the thing with "ghost notes" ?

The basic thing is understanding what "ghost notes" are.
When you just make a drum pattern, with all hi-hats from the same volume/pitch, it will sound a little boring and not 'natural'. The trick is to put "ghost notes" on the right place: "ghost notes" are i.e. hi-hats, but with a little difference in pitch and volume (less loud). These ghost notes can be put on the same place of the "normal" hats, as well as a little earlier/later to create a more "natural" and groovy feeling.
=> advantage: really "new" and "self-made" breaks
=> disadvantage: learning curve

I'll give you some basic patterns:

example 1:

1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ (KICK)

_ _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ _ (SNARE)

1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ (HiHAT)

_ _ _ 1 _ _ _ 1 1 1 _ _ 1 _ _ _ (GHOSTSNARE)


Ghostsnare = lower volume higher pitched version of the mainsnare (emulating a drummer hitting the outer edge of the drum lightly)

=> this is a basic example, add more hihats, kick variations, snare variations, bongo's, etc....

example 2:

1_ _ _ _ _ 1 _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (KICK)

_ _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ (SNARE)

1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 1 1 1 (HiHAT)

_ _ _ 1 _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ 1 _ 1 _ (GHOSTSNARE)


a good breakbeat link:

http://www.spinwarp.com/


Hope this helps.

Peace !! :cheers:
 
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THM, noice idea - i've not tried making many loops but you're definately given a good starting point.

Prom' the tune is Amen My Brother by the Winstons. The original Amen! You can hear it all over the place - NWA, Straight Outta Compton for a non dnb example. I tell ya, the hardest bit to program on that loop is the roll at the end. I still can't get it right. :p

Josh, you needn't start with an Amen as it's quite a complicated pattern to begin with (mucho respect for the drummer to play it live!!). Try listening to some newer tech step tunes - they have a very simple beats which will get you going.

174bpm all the way :D :D :D
 
Siv, I'd like to hear your music. Do you have any online anywhere??
 
Dude, I think you've mistaken me for someone with the talent to make tunes!!

I just play around with the production side of things and have not produced a complete track yet - I mostly spin out in a couple of clubs here and that's about it. I don't have the patience to sit down and produce a track. I do have a million ideas spinning around my head but finding the time to sort it out when you're working all day, partying all night and spending the rest on fp.com is a bit beyond a lazy bugger like myself.

Having said that, now you're given me the incentive and since I'm stuck in a hotel tonight in the arsehole end of nowhere looking at a LNG plant, I think I'll give it another go. Tell you what - whatever I produce tonight I'll try and make coherent and post it somewhere for you to have a listen to. Should be a laugh!
 
Prom, 6 ciggies and 5 hours later we have a tune :D

OK, so it's crap and after I finished it I thought that it was a typical bull track that I would never buy 'cause it's disjointed, doesn't roll well and sounds like a 2-year old produced it. Anyway, have a listen and a good laugh at my efforts.

www.kuhan.net and click on the 'DJ'

It's given me loads more ideas though... may have another go at this some time...
 
Heh...I'm definately no authority on DnB/Jungle and I'm most certainly no good at it, but I do know a few things that are pretty general in most genres.

NOTE: These examples are going to be really ****ty because I didn't bother to mix them, etc...They are just to give you something to hear and I'm pretty sure you'll get the idea.

First off, Ghosting. Ghosting can add a lot to a beat:
We take a Simple Beat and add some quieter snare hits in different places and you get This.


DrumLoop Mangling...This is probally my favorite thing to do, heh...I've spent hours before making some twisted and hacked beats. This didn't take that long:
AMEN!
DrumLoop mangling all depends on how creative you wanna be...There really aren't any special tricks that I can think of. Remember panning, velocity, and pitch changes can really make your beat different.

Now, Here's a simple simple beat using a drumloop as a background. Using a drumloop as a background is a good idea in the fact that you don't have to bother doing ghost hits! You just loop it and work around ontop of it Like This and if you were to apply this to a song you might get this

Now, This beat is a bit more complex than the above beat...but I did it by hand without any loops... It really doesn't sound as good as if you were to use a loop...cause a live drummer is just so much more tasty than a fake one. This is what it sounds like by itself and This is what it sounds like applied to a song. :x...damn that sucked...atleast it's better than This

A Good example of beats would be my song "Poor Drums" Found Here.(Heh...)

Now, I'm not sure about other sounds...cause you only asked about beats...but eh:

Here's The Classic "elevator Music" Organ. Just a typical organ sound with a LFO'd filter.

Here's A Somewhat Common Lead sound and Here's it's more crystal method counter part. These Leads are both from 2+1 osc synths where the 2nd one is detuned slightly and an LFO attached to the cutoff.

And Last but not least, a pretty generic bass right Here. I've heard this refered to as a "Wasp Bass". a slow attack on the velocity and the filter.

Thankyou for reading and I'm pretty sure it was all no help at all...but Hey. *spontaniously combusts*
 
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