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Silly Music Composition Question

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Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-09 20:51:41


So this is really a very novice music composition question, but I couldn't really find a direct answer anywhere.

It's about Drums.

I know the goal of drums in most music is to help set the pace of the music for any musicians that are playing live and stuff like that. But when you are composing drum beats and stuff, do you compose it as if it were melody or harmony? When writing pieces I'm having trouble determining when to write the drum lines and well, how to write them really.

Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-09 21:20:18


At 7/9/14 08:51 PM, drakelord-nK wrote: But when you are composing drum beats and stuff, do you compose it as if it were melody or harmony?

Drums don't have pitches, therefore they don't have melody or harmony.
If we're talking about pitched percussions, then this sentence makes sense.


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Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-09 21:23:37


At 7/9/14 09:20 PM, Yoshiii343 wrote:
At 7/9/14 08:51 PM, drakelord-nK wrote: But when you are composing drum beats and stuff, do you compose it as if it were melody or harmony?
Drums don't have pitches, therefore they don't have melody or harmony.
If we're talking about pitched percussions, then this sentence makes sense.

I have to disagree. Drums do produce a tone with a measurable frequency therefore they have pitches.


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Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-09 21:33:54


compose the drum beat separately to melody and harmony (although maybe it helps to think of "rhythmic harmony" when considering the rhythms used in the other instruments)

with mixing it's definitely important to recognise what pitches and overtones your drums are producing. actually there are styles of electronic music that utilise pitched drums a lot, mainly kicks and toms e.g. trap, hardstyle/hardcore, big room house etc, and in many more the kick drum is at least centered around the tonic.


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Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-09 23:06:25


Drums vary HUGELY depending on the style you are writing in.

Pop, rock, and most other modern genres use drums as a component of the texture- both a way to keep everyone in sync in the world of performance and a way to add a feeling of pace to the piece. Often, there are defined "acceptable" grooves for styles that should be used, and deviation is rare. However, drumming techniques can expand upon these grooves with things like rhythmic kicks (when the drummer emphasizes a beat or several beats to accompany a melody line) or stop time (when the drummer just does kicks and doesn't keep the beat going for extra emphasis), and of course, fills and solos. Fills generally function similarly to how a cymbal or bass drum roll would in an orchestra- accentuating a transition point or a change or providing interest in a moment where other instruments are out.

Interestingly enough, some modern drum grooves originated back in 19th century marching band music, which passed on some stuff through ragtime and dance music to hot jazz, blues, and eventually rock and other genres. Four on the floor? Look at a Sousa March. Snare on 2 and 4? Ditto. Marches in turn trace their way back through the realm of secular folk/popular music back through the ages.

If you're writing "art music"/"Classical"/"Romantic" orchestral, drums behave like rhythmic accents and often have reinforcing and contrapuntal roles, functioning more like the frosting on the cake rather than a layer of the cake. For example, a transition might be heralded by a cymbal or bass drum roll or hit, or a rhythm on brass might be punctuated or countered by a snare drum. Timpani might reinforce or counter a bass part to provide more interest and reinforce the strength of the root of the chord, especially if brass is in use (timpani were traditionally the accompaniment of brass in Europe since their introduction by the Turks during the Late Middle Ages). This approach uses less and more varied percussion than popular genres. If you listen to Romantic and Classical composers like Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, you will note they often have long passages (or even whole pieces) with little or no percussion or just plain use it sparingly (but sometimes go absolutely nuts).

Cinematic orchestral acts more like rock or pop music, with the primary weapon of choice being the taiko drum, sometimes supplemented by tenor drums and large hand percussion, often of the ethnic variety. Electro-orchestral blends will often use various types of glitch percussion and Orch. Rock will use rock grooves on drum kits. Cinematic generally tends to blend the two treatments of percussion and sits somewhere between a texture and an accent. Sometimes it reaches out and borrows aspects from the classical heritage, other times it borrows from its pop heritage.


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Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-10 00:02:50


Umm rhythms do have their own "melodic" quality to them?? Or at least, it should act independent of all the other musical lines. Depending on what kind of electronic music you're doing, I would say yes, write your rhythms as if you're writing a melody...


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Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-13 02:26:13


If you are writing for most other styles, write it independently of everything else. Listen to most EDM, pop or rock pieces out there, and you'll find that in the drum parts, there's a driving rhythm going. The function of the drums there is to drive the beat to the listener.

If you're writing for folk music, or other percussion parts, you might find that it's a bit different. Your function here is not to drive the beat home -- but accentuate and punctuate a rhythm that's already there, e.g. the rhythm behind the melody instrument. You would find yourself adding small nuances here and there.

It may not be the best explanation, but I hope it at least helps a little.

Response to Silly Music Composition Question 2014-07-13 07:56:58


Useful info, thanks everyone.

I've read (shamelessly) Drums for Dummies a few weeks ago, so it's my humble suggestion.
I needed a better understanding of the drumkit, and how/when to use the differents drums and the book does just that.
If you're using a sequencer, you'll learn alot about humanization.
Overall, a fun reading while pianoing on Drumlab. :D

Also pay extra care to the relashionship beetween bass and drums.


Salut!

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Merci!

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