DRUM 'N' BASS STRUCTURE - A random .txt file i found on the internet one time
This is just a rundown of some thoughts I've had recently about drum 'n' bass structure. This is aimed primarily towards the beginner, ideally one who has mastered creating loops, but is still a novice in developing that loop into a six-minute dnb opus. Much of what I'm saying has been said before on this list and on the Spinwarp site, but I hope to examine the matter more closely.
Before you can begin working on your track, you must first dip into your reserve of free-floating musical ideas. Now "ideas" could be anything; for me, the most important ideas are rhythmic, percussive ideas, but ocassionally an idea will be melodic, harmonic, or timbral in nature. While you're examining your stockpiled musical elements, take note of which ideas would complement eachother,-- easier said than done, as selecting elements that benefit mutually from their respective juxtaposition will never cease to be an issue for you as a musician, and it is the strategies you employ in making these
decisions that will come to identify you as such. That being said, there are some very obvious criteria that can be applied in making such decisions.
Thinking "vertically," try to avoid conflicting elements; you would not, for instance, match a bassline with a complex figuration at the end of each bar with a breakbeat that has a complex fill at the end of every four measures.
Thinking "horizontally," try to pair up material that speaks in a similar rhythmic language; a "swung" beat would best be placed next to other "swung" beats, as the juxtaposition with "on the grid" beats could be jarring. In one track of mine, "If Soul Is Strong Enough," the intro beat and the drop beat both used similar, extremely off-the-grid, quintuplet figures, so pairing them up was a no-brainer.
If you're dealing with a limited reserve of musical ideas, tempo can become a criteria for matching up materials failing all else. I was surprised
to learn recently that an Amen-y drum loop I thought would work well with a track I am working on was exactly 160 BPM,-- the tempo of the
track. My advice is this; try to find a range of 5 BPM in which the loop "grooves" best, and try not to stray too far from that tempo. Do
*not* assume that, if something grooves at 160 BPM, it will groove at 180 BPM. If you're aiming at having your music played on living room
stereo systems, tempo can make or break a track.
And do *not* assume that, if you have a break and a bassline, you have enough material needed to complete a track. Unless either of
these elements is sufficiently arresting in and of itself, I would strongly advise you to include additional beats and basslines to
maintain interest. In my own opinion, dnb took a wrong turn when it decided that one bassline was foundation enough to support a track.
In the oldschool jungle days, tracks could have two or three basslines. So this essay will assume you're using at least two
basslines, a drop bass and an intro bass. First, a few words about the character of the intro.
For me, the intro is a dominant chord, the backbeat before the downbeat (see my essay "Rhythm & Harmony" at
http://www.nr.infi.net/~tagutcow/essays.html .) In my track "This Is Not War", an F13 chord was sustained throughout the intro, resolving
to a Bb tonic chord some six minutes later, despite the fact that the bassline was in C. Supporting my theory that the intro is the
backbeat before the downbeat, I took note that, in the intro of a track I am currently working on, the snares actually fall on the
downbeat of each bar,-- an inversion of standard drum 'n' bass practice. The character of the intro is frustrated, unresolved. When
you've matched up two drum breaks for use in your track, take the one that sputters and chokes, that intermittently stops and starts, and
make that your intro beat. Drum 'n' bass is all about the *character* of the beats, and it is the skill of the junglist to create
expressive beats. In an ideal world, the musical materials would themselves dictate the form, but, if you're creating music for the
DJ, other conventions are operative. For what it's worth, my determinations about the character of the intro are put forward with
the purpose of helping the musician get the optimal expressive
potential out of the intro-drop formula.
HOW LONG BEFORE THE DROP?:
The prevailing wisdom is that a track continues for anywhere from forty-five seconds to three minutes before the first drop. Naturally,
there are two factors to consider; firstly, the number of bars, and secondly, the tempo. As for measures, there are really no
restrictions. We can say that an intro-breakdown of 80 measures is more likely than one of 53 measures, but beyond that, we are best
advised to examine the intro as it exists in practice before we lay down any hard and fast rules. Sure, the body of the intro before the
break in measures is most often a power of two, but, in practice, there is often an intro *to* the intro. Normally, this sub-intro
consists of synth ambiences or arhythmic machine noises. The length of the body of the intro is usually a power of two, but this can be
subdivided into asymmetrical phrasings. Alternatively, the sub-intro and first break can be structurally incorporated into the body of the
intro with the resultant number of measures before the drop forming an inoffensive power of two:
Length in bars: 8 12 12 12 12 8
| | | | | | |
Sub- { Body of intro } Break-
intro down
Or, if the number of bars is 48 (as in a downtempo track):
Length in bars: 6 8 6 10 8 10
| | | | | | |
SI {Body of intro} BD
Of course, one sub-division could be structurally incorporated into the intro body with the other simply appended at either end. So how
long should the body of your intro be? If it's downtempo (~120 BPM), and unless your muse advises you otherwise, 32 or 48 measures are
sufficient. Even at 180 BPM, a break simply looped will quickly become grating if it continues for 64 measures. This is one area
where content really does dictate form; the intro should be only as long as the strength of the material allows.
THE BREAKDOWN:
The breakdown is the source of all drama in drum 'n' bass music; it is here that the listener is most receptive to all the nuances of the
music; similarly, this is where you, as the producer, should spend as much effort perfecting the nuances, as the listener's impression of
the breakdown largely colors their impression of the track as a whole. The listener knows what's going to happen, but they don't know
when;-- it is the skillful producer who exploits this uncertainty.
Probably my favorite breakdown is the one in Ming & FS' "God's Plan," where the drop is delayed by exactly one bar, preceded by a "false
drop" consisting of a kick rush. In Classical music, this is analogue to the "deceptive cadence", where the dominant-tonic formula, initally frustrated, commences a few bars later. If I have learned anything about variation, it is this; it's not how many variations you put in that makes the music seem more complex, but rather it's *where* you put them. During the breakdown, the listener's attention is unknowingly drawn to a singularity,-- take advantage of this. Of course, technically speaking, the break is where the dropped bass is introduced, either by hi-pass sweep, lo-pass sweep, or velocity
scale. The breakdown also usually consists of a schitzophrenic scattering of disconnected sounds, and any ostinato figures
underlying the intro may be brought to the fore. In practice, the drums and bass are typically muted for one or two bars before the
drop. I have, on occasion, used a fill before a first drop, although this is preferred for a second drop.
Before you can begin working on your track, you must first dip into your reserve of free-floating musical ideas. Now "ideas" could be anything; for me, the most important ideas are rhythmic, percussive ideas, but ocassionally an idea will be melodic, harmonic, or timbral in nature. While you're examining your stockpiled musical elements, take note of which ideas would complement eachother,-- easier said than done, as selecting elements that benefit mutually from their respective juxtaposition will never cease to be an issue for you as a musician, and it is the strategies you employ in making these
decisions that will come to identify you as such. That being said, there are some very obvious criteria that can be applied in making such decisions.
Thinking "vertically," try to avoid conflicting elements; you would not, for instance, match a bassline with a complex figuration at the end of each bar with a breakbeat that has a complex fill at the end of every four measures.
Thinking "horizontally," try to pair up material that speaks in a similar rhythmic language; a "swung" beat would best be placed next to other "swung" beats, as the juxtaposition with "on the grid" beats could be jarring. In one track of mine, "If Soul Is Strong Enough," the intro beat and the drop beat both used similar, extremely off-the-grid, quintuplet figures, so pairing them up was a no-brainer.
If you're dealing with a limited reserve of musical ideas, tempo can become a criteria for matching up materials failing all else. I was surprised
to learn recently that an Amen-y drum loop I thought would work well with a track I am working on was exactly 160 BPM,-- the tempo of the
track. My advice is this; try to find a range of 5 BPM in which the loop "grooves" best, and try not to stray too far from that tempo. Do
*not* assume that, if something grooves at 160 BPM, it will groove at 180 BPM. If you're aiming at having your music played on living room
stereo systems, tempo can make or break a track.
And do *not* assume that, if you have a break and a bassline, you have enough material needed to complete a track. Unless either of
these elements is sufficiently arresting in and of itself, I would strongly advise you to include additional beats and basslines to
maintain interest. In my own opinion, dnb took a wrong turn when it decided that one bassline was foundation enough to support a track.
In the oldschool jungle days, tracks could have two or three basslines. So this essay will assume you're using at least two
basslines, a drop bass and an intro bass. First, a few words about the character of the intro.
For me, the intro is a dominant chord, the backbeat before the downbeat (see my essay "Rhythm & Harmony" at
http://www.nr.infi.net/~tagutcow/essays.html .) In my track "This Is Not War", an F13 chord was sustained throughout the intro, resolving
to a Bb tonic chord some six minutes later, despite the fact that the bassline was in C. Supporting my theory that the intro is the
backbeat before the downbeat, I took note that, in the intro of a track I am currently working on, the snares actually fall on the
downbeat of each bar,-- an inversion of standard drum 'n' bass practice. The character of the intro is frustrated, unresolved. When
you've matched up two drum breaks for use in your track, take the one that sputters and chokes, that intermittently stops and starts, and
make that your intro beat. Drum 'n' bass is all about the *character* of the beats, and it is the skill of the junglist to create
expressive beats. In an ideal world, the musical materials would themselves dictate the form, but, if you're creating music for the
DJ, other conventions are operative. For what it's worth, my determinations about the character of the intro are put forward with
the purpose of helping the musician get the optimal expressive
potential out of the intro-drop formula.
HOW LONG BEFORE THE DROP?:
The prevailing wisdom is that a track continues for anywhere from forty-five seconds to three minutes before the first drop. Naturally,
there are two factors to consider; firstly, the number of bars, and secondly, the tempo. As for measures, there are really no
restrictions. We can say that an intro-breakdown of 80 measures is more likely than one of 53 measures, but beyond that, we are best
advised to examine the intro as it exists in practice before we lay down any hard and fast rules. Sure, the body of the intro before the
break in measures is most often a power of two, but, in practice, there is often an intro *to* the intro. Normally, this sub-intro
consists of synth ambiences or arhythmic machine noises. The length of the body of the intro is usually a power of two, but this can be
subdivided into asymmetrical phrasings. Alternatively, the sub-intro and first break can be structurally incorporated into the body of the
intro with the resultant number of measures before the drop forming an inoffensive power of two:
Length in bars: 8 12 12 12 12 8
| | | | | | |
Sub- { Body of intro } Break-
intro down
Or, if the number of bars is 48 (as in a downtempo track):
Length in bars: 6 8 6 10 8 10
| | | | | | |
SI {Body of intro} BD
Of course, one sub-division could be structurally incorporated into the intro body with the other simply appended at either end. So how
long should the body of your intro be? If it's downtempo (~120 BPM), and unless your muse advises you otherwise, 32 or 48 measures are
sufficient. Even at 180 BPM, a break simply looped will quickly become grating if it continues for 64 measures. This is one area
where content really does dictate form; the intro should be only as long as the strength of the material allows.
THE BREAKDOWN:
The breakdown is the source of all drama in drum 'n' bass music; it is here that the listener is most receptive to all the nuances of the
music; similarly, this is where you, as the producer, should spend as much effort perfecting the nuances, as the listener's impression of
the breakdown largely colors their impression of the track as a whole. The listener knows what's going to happen, but they don't know
when;-- it is the skillful producer who exploits this uncertainty.
Probably my favorite breakdown is the one in Ming & FS' "God's Plan," where the drop is delayed by exactly one bar, preceded by a "false
drop" consisting of a kick rush. In Classical music, this is analogue to the "deceptive cadence", where the dominant-tonic formula, initally frustrated, commences a few bars later. If I have learned anything about variation, it is this; it's not how many variations you put in that makes the music seem more complex, but rather it's *where* you put them. During the breakdown, the listener's attention is unknowingly drawn to a singularity,-- take advantage of this. Of course, technically speaking, the break is where the dropped bass is introduced, either by hi-pass sweep, lo-pass sweep, or velocity
scale. The breakdown also usually consists of a schitzophrenic scattering of disconnected sounds, and any ostinato figures
underlying the intro may be brought to the fore. In practice, the drums and bass are typically muted for one or two bars before the
drop. I have, on occasion, used a fill before a first drop, although this is preferred for a second drop.
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Comments
The first drop is a full-frequency assault. If you spend hours
tweaking your EQ making sure the EQ is flat across all frequency
bands, the first drop is where your attention should be directed. The
first drop is the "loop." After spending so much time perfecting your
loop, it may be tempting to have all seven minutes of your track be
the original loop or minor variations thereof, and such practice
would surely find you, er, company, but I would advise against this,
precisely because it undermines the drama of the two-drop form.
THE DROP AND A HALF:
After sixteen, twenty four, or thirty two measures after the first
drop, it is customary to have a minor drop, usually consisting of
silence and optionally a fill on the "backbeat." When I say
"backbeat", I mean that, for a grouping of sixteen measures, the
silence occurs on measure sixteen. However, as per current Renegade
Hardware fashion, it is also possible to have a fill on the
"downbeat,"- that is, on the subsequent "one,"- a brief silence, and
the loop resuming on the backbeat, the interruption lasting all of
two measures. The downbeat "fill" usually consists of a triggering of
the break in a dotted-note figure, the practice nervously teetering
on drum programming.
In examining old music of mine in an attempt to salvage material, I
came across "Hear Me" in which the intro-intro ambiences are actually
prematurely reintroduced shortly after the first drop, the main beat
abruptly dropping in again. It's a horrid track, but this technique
made me smile, and I'll surely use it again.
THE RE-INTRODUCTION OF THE INTRO:
In examining the re-introduction of the intro, we are faced with the
same problem as the drop-and-a-half, only on a larger scale. That is,
does the re-introduction fall on the backbeat or on the downbeat.
That is, does the drop loop continue for, hypothetically speaking,
ninety-six measures, with the re-introduction and second breakdown
lasting the remaining thirty-two measures, or does the loop continue
for one-hundred-twenty-eight measures, the re-introduction and the
breakdown not structurally incorporated into it. Unless you have
additional musical material to parade out after the drop, I would
advise you choose the former. In "Joe's Rhythm", I had both
additional material *and* a structurally incorporated
re-introduction.
Length in bars: 48 32 16 16 16
| | | | | |
Drop break Alternate A B C
Here, the drop break continues for forty-eight measures, an
alternate break, itself comprised of 3-3-2 phrasings, plays for
thirty two measures, and the re-introduction, another alternate
break- the one from which the track gets its title- and the second
breakdown padding out the remaining forty-eight measures. The
resultant effect is one of musical collage. The alternate "Joe's
Rhythm" section was influenced by Elementz of Noize's "Stick Up", in
which the bassline of the intro continues over a completely unrelated
breakbeat reprogramming. I also advise the novice drum 'n' bass
producer to incorporate different *kinds* of drum programming into
the same track, again with the ostinable purpose of making the track
sound more complex than it is.
"Stick Up" is also of note in that the intro-intro ambiences- a
looped saxaphone sample and various other noises- are introduced on
the "backbeat", four measures before the re-introduction. The shock
of recognition leads the listener inexorably back to the intro
bassline. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Photek's "Smoke
Rings," in which the intro break, which is itself a variation of the
drop break, is re-introduced with a slight hi-pass filter effect. The
effect is so subtle you might miss it if you're not paying attention.
THE SECOND BREAKDOWN AND DROP:
Of all the sections in the drum 'n' bass form, none is more variable
in length than the second breakdown. If it falls on the "downbeat"-
that is, not structurally incorporated into the re-introduction,- it
could range anywhere from four to forty-eight measures. A personal
favorite is the one in Konflict's "The Beckoning", in which the
bassline, at first unrecognizable as such, is very slowly hi-pass
filtered down, muted, and then the track drops again. As mentioned
before, the second drop is also the place to put complex fills, and I
can name more than one track that has been saved by the use of a
clever fill.
In my "This Is Not War," the initial rather simple-minded bassline
is developed during the second breakdown into a Latin-tinged
nontuplet groove,-- one that, for me, defines the track. My advice to
the novice is that sometimes it is preferable for the listener to
have to wait for the track to develop, rather than assaulting them
with all your musical ideas at once during the intro and repeating
them continously for the ensuing seven minutes.
WRAPPING IT UP:
If you're writing music for the dancefloor, then you must abide by
the unspoken rule that the section between the second drop and the
end of the track is the one place *not* to pull any surprises. In
standard practice, this is where the groove, after having been built
up, is broken down as all the elements of the track are silenced one
by one. To those brought up on pop music, there may be a temptation
to repeat to fade; resist this temptation, not only for the sake of
the DJ who has to ride the crossfader to avoid mixing silence, but
also because there are so many compelling ways to end tracks while
still being DJ-friendly. A favorite of mine is the "suck,"-- a
percussive noise with a long release that's reversed so that the
music reaches its greatest intensity right before the track ends.
That's about all I have to say about drum 'n' bass structure. To the
beginner, the genre may seem to be overwhelming, but once you
understand the basic structure, you can begin to decipher how artists
abide by the form or play off the form. As it has been said, you have
to know the rules to break the rules.