TECHNEWS IN ASSOCIATION WITH POINT BLANK’S


PRODUCTION TIP OF THE WEEK IN THE SWING WITH FLASHMOB


DANNY J LEWIS BREAKS DOWN THE BEAT PROGRAMMING IN FLASHMOB’S CLUB SMASHER ‘NEED IN ME’


“THE current crop of house tunes doing the business all seem to have some kind of 90s infl uence going on. Whether it’s the sounds, textures, approach to vocals or the beat programming, there is something there that has echoes of the past, from that ‘golden’ era of music production. The essence of this style is in old school hardware; in those days there was no ‘in the box’, everything was recorded in a studio. Now the key drum


machine of that era was the Roland TR909, a drum machine that used a combination of synthesis and lofi sampling to create its beats. The beats were often programmed with something called ‘swing’ and for many this was a mysterious way to add a unique feel to the rhythm; few actually understood what was happening on a technical level. Today of course, information is more easily accessible and most educated producers will know exactly what’s going on with the timing. If you’re in the dark though, have no fear, this article and


accompanying video are here to shed some light on the proceedings. So what’s the deal with swing? It’s all about the even numbers in the 16th grid. Positions 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 all move to the right, playing later in the grid. The odd numbers stay in exactly the same place. It’s the combination of normal gap followed by bigger gap that adds the slightly lurching timing that makes most people wiggle just a little bit more on the dance fl oor. Interestingly if you swing enough certain positions will hit the very same point as the triplet grid - the classic 90s house grid. It’s worth a shot switching to this grid


Flashmob


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