Every rhythm in this book is one bar (4 beats) in a cycle (what is a cycle?). A beat is cut into 4, so a bar has 16 steps, and the pictures show on which steps the sounds play. The numbers on the top are the step numbers (0-15), and the sounds play on the colored steps.
Two ways to write a rhythm
When a sound repeats at the same distance, write it with * in the s block: bd*4 plays on each of the 4 beats, [~ oh]*4 plays 4 times between the beats (on the off-beats).
When a sound plays here and there, write the step numbers in the beat block: 0,7,10 plays on steps 0, 7 and 10.
Know the difference between a list and * too. sd sd sd sd and sd*4 sound the same, but sd*4 hh plays four sd in the first half and hh in the second half. The number of items is the number of parts, and *cuts one part finer.
Xcratch shows an input of 13 letters or more as 12 letters and "…". So this book puts each instrument in its own stack and keeps each input to 12 letters.
Open the project "Play the rhythms" and click the green flag: house plays, and keys 1-8 change the rhythm. A rhythm is one "drums" track, so change the text and the step numbers to remake it.
Change the drum machine to RolandTR808 for a softer sound
Born in the 1980s at the Warehouse, a club in Chicago. The music which the DJ Frankie Knuckles played there came to be called house. The Roland TR-909 was often used for the kick.
Disco BPM 118Key 2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
kick
hi-hat
open hat
snare
The hats play closed and open in turns over the four-on-the-floor kick. The snare on beats 2 and 4 makes you move.
Dance music which was a big hit in New York in the 1970s. The name comes from the French word discothèque, a place where records are played. House remade disco with machines.
Eight beat BPM 120Key 3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
kick
snare
hi-hat
The hi-hat plays eight eighth notes: the base of rock and pop. The kick plays on beats 1 and 3, the snare on 2 and 4. Moving a kick changes the feel.
Add gain [.4 .8]*4 to the hats for loud and soft hits
Use the shuffle of step 11 ([hh ~ hh]*4) to make it swing
Hip hop of New York in the 1980s and 90s. It is named after the sounds of the kick (boom) and the snare (bap). It was made by sampling: cutting drums out of records and putting them in order.
Trap BPM 140Key 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
kick
snare
hi-hat
The snare plays only once, on beat 3, so it sounds slow even at 140 BPM (half time). Every two cycles the hats get twice as fast and roll.
Blocks
In Strudel
stack(s("bd").beat("0,6,11", 16), s("sd").beat("8", 16), s("hh*8").every(2, x => x.ply(2))).bank("RolandTR808")
Remake it
Set every of the hats to 4 for fewer rolls
Add speed .8 to the kick to make it lower
Use sometimes (master level) to make the rolls random
Born from the hip hop of Atlanta in the southern US in the 2000s. The long boom of the Roland TR-808 kick and the rolling hats are its marks.
UK garage BPM 132Key 6
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
kick
snare
hi-hat
The kicks of four on the floor are taken out, except beat 1 and a bit after beat 3 (step 10). The kick walks in two steps, so it is also called 2-step.
Add every 4ply 2 to the hats to make them faster once in four cycles
Make the kick steps 0,10,11
Stack sd on steps 7,15 with gain .2 on the snare for ghost notes
Born from jungle music in Britain in the 1990s. It started with drums from old soul records (especially the Amen break), played fast and cut up.
Reggaeton BPM 95Key 8
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
kick
snare
hi-hat
Over four-on-the-floor kicks, the snare plays on steps 3 and 6, and 11 and 14. In each half bar (8 steps), the kick on 0 and the snares cut it into 3, 3 and 2 steps. This offset is the Latin groove.
Take out the kick and hear the 3-3-2 offset of the snare alone
Born in Puerto Rico in the 1990s. Its rhythm, called dembow, comes from the Jamaican dancehall song "Dem Bow". Cutting a half bar into 3, 3 and 2 is the same as tresillo, an old Cuban rhythm.
Techniques
Open the project "Try the techniques" and click the green flag: the house beat (tracks "kick", "hats" and "clap") plays. Add the techniques one by one with keys 1-7 and hear the difference. Space goes back.
A pattern in gain changes the loudness of each sound. All at the same loudness sounds like a machine; soft and loud in turns sounds like a person playing.
Blocks(track "ticks")
In Strudel
s("hh*16").gain("[.2 .6]*8").bank("RolandTR909")
Remake it
Change [.2 .6]*8 to [.2 .2 .6 .2]*4 for fewer loud hits
Off-beat bass NormalKey 2
The kick plays on the beats, so the bass goes between them, on the off-beats. The low sounds do not clash, and both are clear.
Blocks(track "bass")
In Strudel
note("[~ c2]*4").s("sawtooth").lpf(600)
Remake it
Change [~ c2]*4 to <[~ c2]*4 [~ g1]*4> to change the note every cycle
Ghost notes NormalKey 3
Very soft snares hide between the usual snares. You hardly hear them, but they add a small swing to the rhythm. They are hidden like ghosts.
Set the gain of the ghosts to .5 and hear the difference
Offset with euclid MasterKey 4
Three sounds spread as evenly as possible on eight steps make an offset rhythm of 3, 3, 2. Stacked on four on the floor, it adds a catch to the straight rhythm.
Blocks(track "rim")
In Strudel
s("rim").euclid(3, 8).bank("RolandTR909")
Remake it
Change 38 to 58 or 716
Fills NormalKey 5
Once in four cycles, each clap plays twice. The ear gets bored when nothing changes; a change now and then marks a section.
Blocks(track "clap")
In Strudel
s("[~ cp]*2").every(4, x => x.ply(2)).bank("RolandTR909")
Remake it
Change "ply 2" to "fast 2" or "rev"
Open the filter slowly MasterKey 6
A wave in lpf changes the sound from dull to bright and back over eight cycles. The same loop sounds exciting when the sound moves.
Key 8 stops the kick (break) and key 9 brings it back (drop). While the kick is gone, the ear waits for it, so its return is exciting. The longer the break, the better the drop.
Keys 8 and 9 (stop track [kick] and play on track [kick])
Remake it
Press 8, wait four cycles, then press 9. Next, wait eight cycles and compare
More tricks: pumping, where the kick pushes the other sounds down, and the build-up are in step 13 of the tutorial.
