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The Reggae Thread


Reggaebass

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So, I've been trying to learn to play reggae drum groves. Simple grove.. every 2nd and 4th note hi hat and every 4th note snare rim and kick. But, to keep it consistent and dynamic, it's simply bl00dy hard. I'm a metal fan ,but playing reggae is hard. At least I find it hard.

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9 minutes ago, SH73 said:

So, I've been trying to learn to play reggae drum groves. Simple grove.. every 2nd and 4th note hi hat and every 4th note snare rim and kick. But, to keep it consistent and dynamic, it's simply bl00dy hard. I'm a metal fan ,but playing reggae is hard. At least I find it hard.

Yeah definitely a different feel compared to metal, check out some of Karigan reggae drummer video’s, he’s really good, you might have to browse through as he’s got lots of different ones like, one drop, roots , rockers etc 

 

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31 minutes ago, SH73 said:

So, I've been trying to learn to play reggae drum groves. Simple grove.. every 2nd and 4th note hi hat and every 4th note snare rim and kick. But, to keep it consistent and dynamic, it's simply bl00dy hard. I'm a metal fan ,but playing reggae is hard. At least I find it hard.

 

As an exercise, try playing a simple shuffle on the hats (ting tingty-ting etc...), constant, hats closed at first. Count yourself in, and play the bass drum on the 'Two' (so one Two three four one Two three four...). No snare for now, just that for a while. Once that's going down naturally (you're 'feeling' the one-drop for the bass drum...), add sporadic cross-stick snare clicks. Anywhere in the riddum, as long as the shuffle continues and you don't lose track of the one-drop. If you do, leave the snare and pick up the pieces, carry on. It's just a matter of letting it happen, with in mind the notion of 'less is more'. an occasional hi-hat lift brings it to life, once it's all cooking. It helps, once you're able to do this 'one-drop', to get a bass in there, but it's not essential. Good luck wid it, bro... :friends:

Edited by Dad3353
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46 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

As an exercise, try playing a simple shuffle on the hats (ting tingty-ting etc...), constant, hats closed at first. Count yourself in, and play the bass drum on the 'Two' (so one Two three four one Two three four...). No snare for now, just that for a while. Once that's going down naturally (you're 'feeling' the one-drop for the bass drum...), add sporadic cross-stick snare clicks. Anywhere in the riddum, as long as the shuffle continues and you don't lose track of the one-drop. If you do, leave the snare and pick up the pieces, carry on. It's just a matter of letting it happen, with in mind the notion of 'less is more'. an occasional hi-hat lift brings it to life, once it's all cooking. It helps, once you're able to do this 'one-drop', to get a bass in there, but it's not essential. Good luck wid it, bro... :friends:

I'm getting the basics as you described, but often end up reversing the beat. 

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2 hours ago, SH73 said:

I'm getting the basics as you described, but often end up reversing the beat. 

 

It will help if you've a reference 'One' whilst you're playing. Either a metronome with a strong 'One', or a steady 'reggae-style' bass loop to lock onto. That's only 'training wheels' until it sinks in (see encouraging footnote ...). You can also try counting it differently, with something like 'one BOOM three four one BOOM three four...' in your head (or out loud, bugger 'em...). With a metronome, that becomes TIC BOOM tic toc TIC BOOM tic toc. The important thing is to 'feel' the 'One', despite not playing it.

 

Encouraging footnote (which applies equally to many, many things in Life...) ...
It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly easier. -_-

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3 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Hi SH, I’ve got some original isolated drum tracks saved from Carlton Barrett which I use for playing over , don’t know if they are of any assistance to you, you might be able to break them down 

..

 

That's brilliant, I have a spare snare, and already tightened the batter head to get that reggae tone. I have been watching a few tutorial videos on YT to learn a couple of basics and  dad3353 has also gave some valuable advice.

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