Classic groove · Clyde Stubblefield · James Brown, 1970
Funky Drummer
100 BPM · one bar · sixteenths, four steps to the beat · simplified for the grid
16 steps · a brighter cell is an accent · the darker columns mark the beats (4 steps each). Rows used: Open hat, Hi-hat, Snare, Kick.
What the drums do
The break: one-handed sixteenths on the hat with two opens, the backbeat on two and four, ghost notes between, and the kick on one, the "and" of one, the "and" of two and the "e" of four under the second open hat. Simplified from the record's eight bars.
How to use it
- Open it in the lab and press play. Listen for the beats the note points at before you look at the grid.
- Tap ½ speed and play along on a pad or the kit until the placement is yours, then let it back up to 100.
- Change one thing. Move a kick, drop a ghost note, add an open hat. The groove is a starting point, and the lab saves what you make of it.