Drum Feels (With Hi-Hat and Snare)
Tiny changes in a drummer's playing can create dramatic shifts in a song's feel. Pandora dance music analyst and session drummer Jeff Anthony gets into his trick bag to show some of the little variations he throws in to boost a song's energy going into the chorus. He also breaks down the difference between the two-handed Britpop hi-hat style and the looser, one-handed Yankee hi-hat style. The audio on the outro, by the way, is from a session Jeff played on -- an album for singer-songwriter Stephen Ashbrook. (8 mins.)Continue reading "Drum Feels (With Hi-Hat and Snare)"
Drum Feels (With Toms and Kick)
When it comes to arranging a song, the drum parts selected for verses, choruses and bridges are crucial. Session drummer and Pandora music analyst Jeff Anthony shows us ways that he uses his toms and kick drum to create these variations. Among the styles he gets into: a kick-heavy sixteenth note part; a spacious, rolling pattern meant to accompany a guitar drone; a syncopated and anticipated style suitable for a lively R&B track in the vein of Earth Wind & Fire; a track that accelerates to push the chorus. (10 mins.)Continue reading "Drum Feels (With Toms and Kick)"
Metric Modulation
Don't let the technical name throw you off -- metric modulation is something you will be able to hear very clearly. Pandora dance music captain Chris Horgan from Beatropolis comes by to show how tempos (tempi) can change on a dime, with the use of subdivided beats. Speeding up and slowing down are not the only ways to jump from BPM to BPM, as you will soon hear. (10 mins.)Continue reading "Metric Modulation"
Meters & Time Signatures
Much of the music we love exists in four-beat measures. Why is this? Why is 4/4 so natural? What happens when you don't have four beats in each bar? Host Kevin Seal and Pandora music analyst Adam Blum talk about signatures and meter, with musical illustrations played by drummer Jeff Anthony. They visit the land of the waltz, and look at ways that a smartly-written drum part can make 5/4 and 7/4 feel natural and inconspicuous. (11 mins.)
Click the "Continue reading" button below to see illustrations of odd-metered measures, and to hear examples of different time signatures in songs by the Beatles, R.E.M., Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
Continue reading "Meters & Time Signatures"
Hip Hop Rhyme Schemes
When he's not at Pandora analyzing songs for the Music Genome Project, Darian Gray is performing with his live hip-hop band, Dynamic, and at those shows he drums and raps at the same time. In this episode, Darian and I discuss the ways that rhyming cadences have evolved from the early days of old-school hip hop to today. We show how rappers have developed greater complexity and irregular line breaks, and give credit to some of the great lyricists who innovated with their unique approaches to rhythm. (11 min.)On the next page, listen to samples of different flows that hit these cadences, and see a list of the musical terms defined in this podcast.
Continue reading "Hip Hop Rhyme Schemes"
Percussion Without Borders
We look at the global cross-pollination of rhythm, as percussionist Sameer Gupta joins host Kevin Seal in the studio. They look at different ways in which percussion instruments and their beat patterns can evoke cultural references -- from tabla in Indian classical music, to a Brazilian samba beat, to gongs in Indonesian gamelan, to a swinging drumset sound in African-American jazz. (9 mins.)Click the "Continue reading" button below to hear examples of these specific styles, and to see the musical terms we discuss in the episode.
Continue reading "Percussion Without Borders"
Drums and Drumming, Part II
Back by popular demand, session drummer and Pandora music analyst Jeff Anthony joins host Kevin Seal to look at swing and shuffle, and how those are applied in country, blues, jazz and reggae (8 mins.)
This episode works best if you've heard "Drums and Drumming, Pt. I," so you may want a quick refresher.
On the next page, see a list of the musical terms discussed in this episode, check out pictures of Jeff's stick and brush techniques, and listen to audio examples from classic songs with these kinds of beats.
Continue reading "Drums and Drumming, Part II"
Drums and Drumming, Part I
The second edition of our music series explores drum grooves and the techniques drummers use to get "that sound." Pandora's host Kevin Seal and Pandora music analyst Jeff Anthony show how a basic backbeat can go from disco to hard rock with the subtlest of changes. Learn how drummers use the kick drum, snare and hi-hat to make a groove really groove. (8 mins.)
On the next page, see a list of the musical terms defined in this podcast, check out pictures of Jeff demonstrating his rhythmic techniques and listen to examples from well-known songs and famous drummers. Also, be sure to check out the second half of this show, "Drums and Drumming, Part II."
