Part seven of the drum programming series sees Nigel Lord off on a jazzy tip, with a set of patterns to inspire instrumental improvisation...

As I was at some pains to point out last month, our current rhythmic stopping-off point is likely to be of interest only to those who see no inherent contradiction in the concept of programming jazz rhythms. My belief is that jazz is defined by the person playing the music and the person listening to it — the instruments used in the process have no significance whatever. Jazz, consistently over the years, has sidestepped the obdurate and inflexible approach of those who would anchor it down with precise definitions, mutating and reinventing itself with impressive speed.

Though I personally listen to very little music that would be recognisable as jazz by most people, I find myself increasingly drawn to the influence of jazz in the music I do enjoy. Compositionally, I tend to look for space within a given style of music which might allow it to become a vehicle for a jazz improvisation. Whether that performance is actual or potential is, to some extent, beside the point.

This is reflected in my approach to drum programming. These days, I seldom find myself writing rhythm tracks with an obvious jazz feel. What interests me much more is producing patterns which could support the presence of one or more instrumental jazz parts, without necessarily being recognisable as jazz themselves. This provides an excellent cross over point for contrasting styles, and can become one of those interesting musical chicanes at which any number of happy accidents may occur.

Of course, in a series such as this, one is setting out to achieve a specific rhythmic feel, which has to stand on its own two feet. It is therefore necessary to include certain recognisable signposts, to act as reference points for your audience. In this, jazz is no different. As I pointed out last month, there are various techniques we can employ to provide the necessary aural clues. This way, the listener can hear what you are trying to achieve, even without the perspective which other instrumental or vocal parts would bring.

The reason I'm mentioning this here, is that I wouldn't want anyone to get the impression that using a drum machine as the basis for a jazz-inspired piece of music is only possible through the type of patterns included in this and last month's articles. Many of the rhythms featured in this series — and many more to come — are equally capable of supporting jazz instrumental and vocal lines. It's simply that these patterns are recognisably jazzy in their own right.

The first of this month's crop is a pattern which, despite a slightly 'off-centre' feel, should prove usable in a variety of different contexts. Like this month's other two rhythms, it relies heavily on various cymbals to keep it ticking along, with the bass and snare drum playing somewhat secondary roles.

The last bar features an interesting rhythmic device, where the expected snare beats are dropped, leaving an apparent hole' in the pattern, filled by the fast hi-hat notes. Besides being effective in its own right, this creates a useful lead-in to the final bass/snare drum figure, acting as a cadence at the end of the pattern. Obviously, this does tend to sound rather final, so you would need to program it to occur at strategic points in the music, if it isn't to become overstated.

Pattern 2 has a characteristic jazz swing to it — but not to the extent that it limits its potential usefulness. Though again relying on the cymbals for rhythmic interest (particularly the hi-hats), this rhythm places much more importance on the bass drum than the previous pattern. The snare is still fairly secondary, however, forming an alliance with the side stick part to punctuate and accent the rhythm throughout its eight bars. The claves are there to add a little extra spice, but could be substituted by a variety of other instruments — or omitted altogether — if preferred.

This month's last example, Pattern 3, is related to the previous pattern, but has rather less of a swing feel and is a little more hard-hitting. Bass and snare drum parts are right up front again, given full prominence, but the cymbals still hold their position as the source of most rhythmic interest. Bars 4, 6 and 8 each comprise some pretty distinctive figures, and will need to be programmed and positioned with care.

In general programming terms, remember to extend the dynamic range of all the instruments in these patterns beyond the four levels indicated in the grids. If you're not using the sounds included on this month's ReMix, choose similar sounds to begin with, then substitute these for other instruments once the pattern is up and running. Finally, once you've seen how effective the drum machine can be in programming jazz rhythms, why not set to work producing your own? See you next month...

(Click image for higher resolution version)

(Click image for higher resolution version)

The drum sounds that correspond to the On The Beat patterns can be found on the RE:MIX CD