HELP WITH BEATS, BARS ETC..

Junglist_007

learning difficulties
VIP Junglist
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Location
Kent, UK
Hi People, Just wondering if someone can give me some advice on beats, bars and phrases.

I know it's 4 beats to bar 4/4. I know it's counted like this:
1234 2234 3234 4234 and so on.

How do i know when to count, for example i play one record for 1 minute (my live track). Next record im geting ready to CUE up to beatmatch. How do i find out were i am in record one? Were do i count from?

Also first beat of the bar for example 1Snare. Does that mean second bar first beat be 2Snare

What are phrases? are they markers in between bars?

I've tried to explain it the best way i can. Thanks for any help you guys can give :)
 
a phrase is like a section of music in a track, generally i think of a phrase as a set of 16 bars

you should know when to start counting, in fact you dont really have to count, its hard to explain really

you know when mc's are spitting b2b, and when one finishes the other one starts..... well that happens at the begging of a new phrase and thats were you should be counting from

Also first beat of the bar for example 1Snare. Does that mean second bar first beat be 2Snare

i dunno what your on about mate, the snare is the drum sound that usually happens on the second and fourth beats.... the "kah" or clap sound, the first beat would be the kick/bass drum


i hope you can understand that, im not sure i explained it very well!! lol
 
Cheers for the reply i think i get what your saying mate.

So the first beat of bar could be kick drum or snare, or is it always kick/bass drum.
 
in dnb its pretty much always a kick drum, i cant think of a dnb track that doesnt have a kick on the first beat
 
Cheers for the reply i think i get what your saying mate.

So the first beat of bar could be kick drum or snare, or is it always kick/bass drum.


mate dnb is generally made like this

if four of "-" is a beat..... and "K" is kick and "S" is a snare


| - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - |
K S K S


so what this means...... the first kick is the start of the sequence (or phrase as you strangely put it).... the first snare is one beat after the start of the sequence...... then the second kick is in between the start of the third beat and the start of the fourth..... and the last snare is on the last beat......... this repeats 15 more times..... to a total of 16....... this is then the end of a sequence..... at this point the tune will change in some way....... at the start of this you start your mix.....

this is also the standard writing point that most dnb peeps start with when writing a dnb track.... they usually start with this sort of drum loop.....



As far as structure........ 1 sequence = 16 Bars
1 Bar = 4 Beats (diagram above)
1 Beat = 1 tap of the metronome


if any of that doesnt make sense... let me know and ill re phrase it for you...... hope it helps
 
Rocksteady I think you should write up a beginners guide to mixing, some of my pals are stuck at this stage and I cant explain it to them and a guide written by a true profesh would really help!
 
in dnb its pretty much always a kick drum, i cant think of a dnb track that doesnt have a kick on the first beat

Spor & crew - Dirge! When that drops its kicks off with a phat snare before going into normal beat...if that makes sense?
 
Spor & crew - Dirge! When that drops its kicks off with a phat snare before going into normal beat...if that makes sense?

yeh.... sort of..... but its not on the start.... its one beat off the start.... so its just as if you have deleted the first kick drum from the pattern.......

so no...... its doesnt start with a snare...... it starts with nothing.... and has a snare where the snare should be......
 
Basically like people have been saying earlier, DnB tunes have a general sructure that they don't tend to vary too far from, granted there are 4 beats to a bar, 16 bars to a sequence, but you don't need to count anything, just try to listen to the tracks and get a feel for where the changes are in the track, where the BIG changes are are your mixing points, what they do and how that'll sound depends on the structure of the track, but just keep practicing and eventually you'll just instinctively know when the right time to start mixing is...

I remember being at the same stage you are now, your beggining to get an idea of phrasing, but haven't quite nailed it yet...

Like I always say (christ I'm boring!) practice practice practice, it'll come right, just keep pushing yourself, don't just be lazy and play mixes that you know how to do, try to do mixes that you can't do, that's how you get better... It'll come right for sure!


yeh.... sort of..... but its not on the start.... its one beat off the start.... so its just as if you have deleted the first kick drum from the pattern.......

so no...... its doesnt start with a snare...... it starts with nothing.... and has a snare where the snare should be......

:word:

There's a lot of tunes that do that, and I used to do that when I made a few tunes a while back... put in the last snare hit before the drop, it's like a little "warning" hit before the bomb drops...
 
Rocksteady I think you should write up a beginners guide to mixing, some of my pals are stuck at this stage and I cant explain it to them and a guide written by a true profesh would really help!

yeh i will do..... ill sit down in the next couple of days and stick something together.....
 
yeh.... sort of..... but its not on the start.... its one beat off the start.... so its just as if you have deleted the first kick drum from the pattern.......

so no...... its doesnt start with a snare...... it starts with nothing.... and has a snare where the snare should be......

Damn you & your knowledge! I was going to be a hero! Haha!
 
Rocksteady I think you should write up a beginners guide to mixing, some of my pals are stuck at this stage and I cant explain it to them and a guide written by a true profesh would really help!


How to DJ properly its a book costs about a fiver, and tells you everythin you need to know about mixing
 
Heres a drum & bass math riddle for ya which may help you with your mixes Junglist007.

If my first track has 64 bars before it drops and my second track has 40 bars, how many bars in will i have to start the second track to double drop them.

Might help no one or but who knows? I don't? I don't even like music.

Answers on a postcard to:

The Hungarian Fish
Wallville
Texas
FO05 Y0U
 
Jaws....Mampi swift

actuallt.... Jaws 2..... the start of the intro drum pattern has a snare where the kick should be and the kick where a snare sholud be....... sounds fuked when mixin it...... but once it drops its allllll gravy...... back to normal for those that dont get down with the London slang........
 
Basically like people have been saying earlier, DnB tunes have a general sructure that they don't tend to vary too far from

remember this and look out fro it eveerytime your having a mix,

Now: its great that your asking for advise 2 or more heads is always better than 1, but alot of the work is listening and what sounds right for you, get yourself familiar with say 3 or 4 tracks and put together a little minimix and post it up if you think it soudns good, then you can can decent feedback on here from people who do know what there on about, You will probably have to take citicm, but its all worthy in making you a better dj.

ez.
 
Back
Top Bottom