Original drum patterns

Do any drum patterns stand out in your mind as very distinct? If somebody only played the drum part you would easily know the song it came from, drums that sound like nothing else.
some examples
Devo - Satisfaction
Bauhaus - Double Dare
Public Image Ltd - Four Enclosed Walls
Killing Joke - Unspeakable
The Stranglers - Peasant In The Big Shitty
The Stooges - 1970
The Cure - The Figurehead
The drums are very distinct on the whole in Captain Beefheart's music, but hearing one in particular and knowing which song it's from might not be so easy.

Unwound - October All Over

My Bloody Valentine - Nothing Much to Lose

fucking incredible. it's an expressionist drum pattern - those wild fill/rolls are both in time and slightly out of it, and proudly willing to shift back and forth between them. they are precise at times, and smeared at others, but always propelling forward, fuck yeah, just getting the wordless chorus while typing this and yeaaaaaaah

i will kill this thread with posts

Lots of Prince’s Linn drum patterns from the 80s fit the bill.

might as well just say the catalog of deerhoof. from the drums alone you can always spot deerhoof within 1 minute

Tomorrow Never Knows

Any specific Deerhoof songs that stand out? As I said Beefheart drumming is always easy to spot as The Magic Band but not very often to a particular song.

XTC "Making Plans for Nigel" has a deceptively interesting one. A few Police songs too

And speaking of MBV, "Feed Me With Your Kiss" I guess is largely dictated by the song structure, but the drum track would be distinctive instantly

"And She Was" by Talking Heads also pretty distinct

the firing shots of "this magnificent bird will rise", right at the beginning of Reveille, will always signify Deerhoof to me, but...it's hard to explain. he (Greg Saunier - possible in the top 400 drummers of all-time) has a nervous melodic energy and original "style" that i recognize and always will recognize. i realize now that i was thinking more of styles, when answering, rather than patterns and specific things. but i will think of more

xp vinnie

absolutely. the other day i was airdrumming / thighdrumming the CRAP out of isn't anything, and both of those songs, feed me with your kiss, and nothing much to lose, were very drum-centric in an intense way

Do any drum patterns stand out in your mind as very distinct? If somebody only played the drum part you would easily know the song it came from, drums that sound like nothing else.
some examples
Devo - Satisfaction
Bauhaus - Double Dare
Public Image Ltd - Four Enclosed Walls
Killing Joke - Unspeakable
The Stranglers - Peasant In The Big Shitty
The Stooges - 1970
The Cure - The Figurehead

these are all rad drum parts. I have heard a lot of people emulate and copy them. They are pretty easy to play tbh. Like, I could hear the drums from Satisfaction and Double Dare, and say, "ah that sounds like the drum part from Satisfaction (or Double Dare)" ... but it could also be from a bunch of other songs.

The drums are very distinct on the whole in Captain Beefheart's music, but hearing one in particular and knowing which song it's from might not be so easy.

I've also heard a lot of musicians emulate the drums on Beefheart. Not as many as the list above ... harder to play, not as popular. If you are familiar with Beefheart, then you can hear these other musicians/bands and say, "ha, someone was influenced by Beefheart lol" but idk ... probably harder to copy than the others. I'm sure a discerning listener could easily win at a "Beefheart/Not Beefheart" listening challenge.

Obviously the most distinctive "original" drum patterns are gonna be in jazz (or experimental) music and not rock / pop / indie.

I’d say Police and Van Halen drums also distinct and not even because of the patterns themselves necessarily but because their actual drums sounds are unique.

xp Z -- because they were "hometown heroes" -- there was definitely a few years where like at least once a week I heard a different band where the drummer tried to sound like Greg Saunier ... a few were very close actually. I think I heard Ches Smith do a really impressive Greg Saunier impression ... then went back to sounding like Ches Smith.

a specific spot on Reveille that I would _immediately recognize_ within 3 seconds is [3:18 to 4:45] on The Last Trumpeter Swan. Listen to those drums. it persists over two different sound environments, too, including the beautiful spots in the 4th minute where you can really hear the drums in isolation. that, to me, is just the very best. i respect the hell out of greg saunier during that section. he has taps into something deeper there that other drummers don't have access to, and he still does it now

xp sarahell i will soon again be a local drummer impersonating greg saunier (as i was in 2006 in CHI!). i have no immediate plans but i just feel like this is happening now. i don't have a job, it's cool, i dyed my hair, i am ready to rock

my ridiculous dream is to make it on this thread, later on the other end, as the drummer who makes something that good. out of this empire of shit, drumming has always felt the most fundamental to me, and i'm wanting to lean in hard this year

aim for the moon, and you might hit that dilapidated shack over there

What other songs have the drum patterns from Devo's Satisfaction or Double Dare?

Paul Simon (by way of Steve Gadd) - 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

Be My Baby (much imitated, of course)

Eno, "Dead Finks Don't Talk"

Anything by Big Country, for sure.

AC/DC - Back in Black (like Kashmir, it's the groove that clicks)
Phil Collins - In the Air Tonight
Zeppelin - The Ocean (and most of the rest)
Beatles - Come Together
Ronettes - Be My Baby

I went to see a (professional) musical with my kids the night Neil Peart died. I was listening to the orchestra warm up, and the drummer was without a doubt warming up to "Subdivisions" in Peart's honor. Don't know how many other people picked out that particular pitter-patter without the rest of the song there.

When the Levee Breaks for sure

I could probably pick out a lot of Can stuff by just the drums, such as Vitamin C

Lots off drums can probably be identified by the fills alone, Space Truckin' and Pusherman, say

A Frames - first album in particular - seemed to write their songs from the drums beats up, particularly Hostage Crisis, Chemical, Plastica, Test Tube Baby. Erin was as a drummer as well as guitarist, and certainly thought in those terms.

I interpreted the question differently, it shouldn't be about the original recording/production. This is like, if you had the misfortune to be in Guitar Center, and somebody sat down at a kit and started playing the part, would you know the song?

Something like When the Levee Breaks or AC/DC would be real borderline, it's so tied to the recording and the original drummer's feel. But there are an infinity of other drum parts tied to that particular song, like say 'Cissy Strut'.

Nirvana songs are great examples, obviously Teen Spirit or In Bloom have drum parts as extra hooks, but take the verse parts in Heart-Shaped Box...incredibly simple, anyone can play them, but I think it would be instantly identifiable too.

Rap music to thread

This is like, if you had the misfortune to be in Guitar Center, and somebody sat down at a kit and started playing the part, would you know the song?

that's kinda how I interpreted it as well... maybe minus the Guitar Center. like listening to the drum part in isolation or something?. Of course so much depends on what songs you know, doesn't it? Then the thread becomes about what is "common knowledge" and what is more popular ... which is ... idk ... tedious.

Like I could say the drum pattern opening R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World As We Know It" because that song is kinda omnipresent for me (by choice, tbh) ... but in isolation it isn't that remarkable a drum pattern

Rap music to thread

Idk I think this is also tied to the texture of the break or sample, rather than the pattern usually.

Like on Questlove's podcast he'll play a game with producers where they have to id a break based on a literal split second of the sample, like not even a whole snare note. But most rap beats wouldn't be instantly identifiable if you played them on a kit (or even programmed them with different samples), except for the super classic breakbeats? There are exceptions of course, I think a lot of Timbaland hits are identifiable just by kick/snare/hh pattern.

But most rap beats wouldn't be instantly identifiable if you played them on a kit (or even programmed them with different samples)

otm

Steve Jansen, over and over again. Start with just about any track on Tin Drum.

Any specific Deerhoof songs that stand out? As I said Beefheart drumming is always easy to spot as The Magic Band but not very often to a particular song.

― someeggs, Sunday, July 25, 2021 11:54 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoD0WVxrsfQ

this was my first impulse deerhoof selection that typifies what makes saunier's drumming so fun. minimal kit, plays with phrasing/meter, unpredictable fills and cymbal crashes, the violence he plays with etc

As I said Beefheart drumming is always easy to spot as The Magic Band but not very often to a particular song.

Pretty often, I'd say... and not just with Drumbo drumming.

Saunier is sick and a true original, but yeah I'd argue it's more about his style than sitting down at a kit and playing one of his parts and saying "guess what song this is".

Didn't John French release a solo album of some of his drum parts for Beefheart? I think when I saw the Magic Band a couple of years back he played "On Tomorrow" as a solo piece.

Ballroom Blitz!

i'd add the drums to isley bros' "footsteps in the dark" just for the hi-hat pattern alone. revived for multiple generations by ice cube ("it was a good day") and thundercat ("them changes") bc its that good.

The examples in the first post feature intros or long breaks with isolated drums, which obviously makes it a lot more distinctive/easy to identify.
With no particular evidence that I could identify them in isolation, I'll say Ginger Baker on "Deserted Cities of the Heart" and Bill Ward on "Wheels of Confusion".

Al Green "I'm Glad You're Mine"

Mtume "Juicy Fruit"
Audio Two "Top Billin"
Lafayette Afro Rock Band "Hihache" (or are we not doing breakbeats here?)

Ballroom Blitz!

But is it the intro to Ballroom Blitz or to I Want You to Want Me? :)

(I know they're slightly different, but I don't know if that two-step beat rises to the level of very distinct?)

Rap music to thread

― xheugy eddy (D-40), Monday, July 26, 2021 10:29 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

This made me think of the Clipse "Grindin" beat, instantly recognizable when kids would pound it out on tables in the cafeteria.

(I know they're slightly different, but I don't know if that two-step beat rises to the level of very distinct?)

If one saw the proverbial drummer in Guitar Center, I think their vibe would drop a lot of clues as to which two-step shuffle, which Bo Diddly, etc they were going for.

Like when I hear the "Be My Baby" beat, I think I can tell if the artist is 100% referencing Ronettes, 100% referencing Jesus & Mary Chain, if they're 50/50 or some other ratio or reference. Like, Lana Del Ray is 60/40 Ronettes/JAMC, but if it were a Johnny Jewel production, it would be 60/40 JAMC/Ronettes.

"Sucker MCs" - Run-DMC

oh yeah "Walk this Way" of course

Photek - Consciousness

Devo - Satisfaction

The Satisfaction beat is the same beat that Charlie Watts plays, just on the wrong drums

and with that, chaki, you can post on this thread now

Tables are very musical, you can get so many tones out of them! Ok I've been mentally disregarding the chopsticks + glass thing, I've been thinking about hands on a wood or metal table. I think you can get low/middle/high using say a closed fist, fingers, fingernails.

(obv none of us are conga players, lol)

xp

A beat is still the same beat at different tempos obv, but tempo is important in the "name that tune!" drum game if it's based on a known recording imo

I'm just trying to keep this thread going because I like talking about drums

I've always really loved Mitch Mitchell's drum pattern on She's So Fine - a Hendrix tune that doesn't get a lot of love, probably because it's a Noel Redding vocal.

I'm using rhythm and pattern interchangeably since we've already limited the discussion to drum kits p much. But it's a good distinction to make. Akin to composition vs arrangement.
I was just wanting to distinguish drum parts that are distinctive due to production techniques vs those that are distinctive due to the pattern.

ESG definitely has quite a few, though so many more well known musicians have copied them ...

It's kinda like playing "Contortions or James Brown"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRIWH4HCoz8

I've heard other mbalax stuff but this one always stuck out to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51t8ETHdpns
Super Diamono - "Domou Gaïndé Ndiaye"

Stumbling beat

I still think timbre is a requisite part. Someone can make a sliding noise that’s difficult to replicate with chopsticks

On that note, Tru - No Limit Soldiers has an awesome drum beat

Deej I hope you're not talking about gliding 808s, because I'd argue those are more bass than drum.

Portishead 'Machine Gun' is a good example of having very distinct & processed samples, but also passing the table test.

If you’re making sliding noises we’re very likely past the point where we’re talking about drum patterns

??? Brushes? Sample effects? I basically disagree

pandit anindo chatterjee

Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase has some very original and instantly recognizable songs like say, maps.

Gang Gang Dance, House Jam

(pretty much any GGD fits, but the the weirdly halting/stuttering pattern of House Jam is another level)

"The Stroke" - Billy Squier

We Will Rock You by Queen is an interesting example that kinda shows the awkwardness of the thread title/premise -- the pattern is not very original, but when hearing it, a significant number of people would probably identify it immediately as We Will Rock You by Queen.

Ha I thought the same thing a day or two ago. Thus, excellent point, sarahell!

Also I keep reading thread title in the voice of Buckshot a la "home of the original gun clappers"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvns30-6Lz0

“We will rock you” shouldn’t qualify because those are not drums, they are stomps and claps with effects on them.

It does sound original to me though? I’m trying to remember a song prior to it that does the same stomp-stomp-clap-pause beat and I can’t think of any atm. Maybe it’s so iconic that everytime I’m trying to remember where I heard it I go back to the Queen one.

that's a false distinction, then no drum machine beats would be allowed either. if they are functioning as drums they are drums.

Ok, I'm developing my unified theory of recognizable drum beats. Let's say it doesn't require all of these elements, but can be accomplished with one or more depending on the song:

-Rhythm
-Instrumentation (ie voices/texture/sound etc)
-Tempo
-Dynamics (accents etc)

So "We Will Rock You" is a good example where the rhythm isn't at all unique, but it's easy to recreate the instrumentation, and tempo is actually really important here. If you stomp and clap that beat at around that slow 80 bpm zone, it will be universally recognizable.

Whereas if you tap the cymbal intro rhythm from 'YYZ' on any surface with those accents, any nerd will recognize it, regardless of the instrumentation or tempo.

We Will Rock You by Queen is an interesting example that kinda shows the awkwardness of the thread title/premise -- the pattern is not very original, but when hearing it, a significant number of people would probably identify it immediately as We Will Rock You by Queen.

― sarahell, Thursday, July 29, 2021 10:43 PM

We Will Rock You is a great example of a beat being recognizable is because of an effect that makes it standout. Boom boom bap is one of the most common beats, only made recognizable because of the distinctive timbre (stomps and hand clap). Distinctive timbre or effects put on a rhythm can certainly make them stand out, but not because of any original or unique drum parts.

Also I fail to see the awkwardness of the title or subject. Seems that the idea may be harder to understand I than I realized. I don't know if playing the drums helps broaden one's perspective on originality or not, but something seems to. There's probably more technically original drumming in Jazz or experimentation, but like I mentioned in the post about Beefheart. Unless those unique parts are trimmed down into a repeating rhythm it become imposable to find them instantly recognizable.

Eno, "Dead Finks Don't Talk"

― Wouldn't disgrace a Michael Jackson (Tom D.)

THIS

The effects on We Will Rock You are great, but I think you can reproduce the beat without the effects and everyone will know what you're doing. It's the tempo + how central to the song that beat is (not just an intro, it's inseparable from the song itself).

Obviously a lot of this has to do with culture, not just the music in isolation, just like how a big Neptunes song that uses a certain Korg preset now 'owns' that sound, and everything that uses that preset afterward will be referencing that song.

Question: is pebblee poo’s “a fly guy part 2” the we will rock you pattern? It sounds like it has less of a pause at the end of the bar so is technically a different rhythm even if that’s where it was initially inspired

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVNUtAyLlM

A fair number of songs in the 80s lifted this pattern

IMO they're very similar but "fly guy" pattern has a cymbal note on the 4th beat that "rock you" doesn't.

The effects on We Will Rock You are great, but I think you can reproduce the beat without the effects and everyone will know what you're doing. It's the tempo + how central to the song that beat is (not just an intro, it's inseparable from the song itself).

ppl used to do this all the time at high school football games and everyone knew exactly what it was

gza's "labels" has also always evoked "we will rock you" for me

A fair number of songs in the 80s lifted this pattern

Let's Go All The Way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMPJdr4XtQo

one specifically 70s/80s “funk” drum lick i’m really into is where the drummer plays these little sort of triplet fills on the hi-hat at the end of a bar. who did it first? here’s a newer track that does what I’m talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taWtXyUsY0o

My guess is that it has Go Go DNA?

"a fly guy part 2” is a response to "Fly Girl" by the Boogie Boys which had the same producer/beat from "Let's Go All the Way" even though "Fly Girl" came out first

Che - “be my powerstation” also uses this rhythm pattern

PiL - 1981

The effects on We Will Rock You are great, but I think you can reproduce the beat without the effects and everyone will know what you're doing. It's the tempo + how central to the song that beat is (not just an intro, it's inseparable from the song itself).

ppl used to do this all the time at high school football games and everyone knew exactly what it was

Yes of course they would because they would be doing 2 foot stomps and 1 hand clap exactly like the song. If you played 2 kick drum beats and one snare in the tempo of song on a drum kit it would just sound like a basic beat used on a million songs. It's not at all a unique or creative drum pattern.

The effects on We Will Rock You are great, but I think you can reproduce the beat without the effects and everyone will know what you're doing. It's the tempo + how central to the song that beat is (not just an intro, it's inseparable from the song itself).

ppl used to do this all the time at high school football games and everyone knew exactly what it was

Yes of course they would because they would be doing 2 foot stomps and 1 hand clap exactly like the song. If you played 2 kick drum beats and one snare in the tempo of song on a drum kit it would just sound like a basic beat used on a million songs. It's not at all a unique or creative drum pattern.

these are somewhat similar but also similarly recognizable

lil mama - lip gloss
j-kwon - tipsy

This doesn't disprove my theory!

Ok, I'm developing my unified theory of recognizable drum beats. Let's say it doesn't require all of these elements, but can be accomplished with one or more depending on the song:

-Rhythm
-Instrumentation (ie voices/texture/sound etc)
-Tempo
-Dynamics (accents etc)

We Will Rock You is a good one for instrumentation (+ tempo & rhythm) being integral parts of the beat.

I was thinking about this recently while listening to an interview with a drummer who does sample replays for a living, ie trying to exactly re-create a breakbeat for a big artist who can't clear the original sample. Of course, that's only allowed because you can't copyright a drum part, only the master recording. But...what if you could? What if there was a threshold where you could reasonably have claim to have written a unique drum pattern (which again, wouldn't just be limited to the notated rhythm)?

Pussy Galore:

Constant Pain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiKK1nAYTH0
You Look Like a Jew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4KJR4m1ZVg

Both iconic, instantly recognizable to me at least.

Huh. Pussy Galore is an age-restricted video.

I thought to mention tipsy but figured it was too indebted to grindin or something maybe. good lord I love that beat, though

Joe Morello's intro and the repeat pattern of his solo on "Take Five."

"tipsy" is certainly redolent of "grindin," but it's recognizable on its own, i'd say