Fanu/FatGyver patreon

Breakbeat session: Rock Dirge [video, 40+ mins]

🕑 Added 2022-10-21 09:53:30 +0000 UTC

Comments

Ezekiel Ifill

Dope! thanks for the reply 😊will check this one out too

Janne Hatula

Yo yo – I've covered how I think Photek used to work on this video: it literally shows him show the method. It's a useful one, check it out: https://www.patreon.com/posts/choppin-science-94646317 ✂️

Ezekiel Ifill

Big up Fanu for this lecture on the Rock Dirge break, maximum respect! Quick question if you don't mind (I know I am late to the party on this one), but with regard to Photek (and other 'headz who used this breakbeat), back in the day, would they have used all the hits broken up in the Emu, Akai or whatever, to make a brand new set of drum breaks with a funk feel (2 or more versions) then resampled that out, reimported back in and cut it back into say 4 - 8 chops (for example)? I'm glad we have software like Ableton - thanks for showing us a modern approach.

Janne Hatula

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ptp8vsqqmbzahs/Rock%20Dirge%20Break.wav?dl=0

Andrei Marchenko

Hi, mate ) Don't want to be that guy again... But can i ask you about this Rock Dirge drum loop too? Every version of it that i found is with crackles..

Janne Hatula

DM!

Rodigan

Could I get a copy of the whole break when you get back from vacation please?

Janne Hatula

DMs!

hologroove

I guess I also sign up for a copy of the whole break, please! :) On dogsonacid there are a few version of the shorter part of the break. Those are very cool but I'm after the whole thing with the snare rolls

Janne Hatula

sent!

Kevin Davidson

can you please sent as well? such a sick break

Janne Hatula

Sent!

Philistine Music

Any chance you could send me a source break Fanu? my copy is pretty trash, sounds like a YouTube rip

Janne Hatula

sent!

Joe

could you send me the break to please.

Janne Hatula

I'll send via DM!

P G

Damn, i only have the short version of that break, i wish i could get my hands on that longer one!

Janne Hatula

My copy was pretty clean; I'll send it to you as a message

Darren Stratton

Did you clean up the break first, as the one's I've managed to lift online so far have been a little harsh, with many from Vinyl with clicks - not an issue for slower tempo, but need a cleaner source for dnb? I'll keep hunting for a better one.

Janne Hatula

Yeah that's a good question; I didn't include that here as I wasn't quite sure how to present that (should think about that). A lot of times I kind of have to hear the rhythm in my head (that's hard to teach, heh!), and then I work on the midi to create it! But yes, mostly kicks and snares first, and then the "filler" parts.

Rich

I would love to see how you build those complex midi patterns from the 60+ slices of the break! Do you start with the heavier slices (kick and snare) and then fill in the gaps with the lighter grace snares and hihat?

Janne Hatula

Haha true! I guess the name is informative enough :D Glad you liked it!

Maria Hernandez

also, "the chika part" needs to be added to the official breakbeat dictionary!

Maria Hernandez

this video is pure gold. only problem is I start dancing in my chair every time you press play so it's hard to focus haha.

Janne Hatula

Yeah was about to link ya, so glad you found it :)

FerIc (Michał Mossakowski)

Thank you. Most inspiring construction process i've ever seen. Really. Keep going please. Understanding what's behind feeling of those partterns is not trivial.

Darren Stratton

What a great session - I'll be rewatching this for a few weeks as it sinks in! :) have you shared anything before about how to create your own custom preset for slicing, custom drum rack presets? Edit - hang on, founds some vids you put up on YT, so I'll watch those! :)

Akshay Sharma

Understood! Maybe some links to tracks with your favourite drum work would certainly help. Could also try screen recordings while you’re laying down drums for your tracks. Could be long form and unedited, yet they’ll provide great insight on programming intricate beats and fills within the parameters of 16th note grids. Thank you!

Janne Hatula

Veeeery good point! Aahhh I love Ableton as it's so easy and handy for stuff like that! <3

Janne Hatula

Yeah that's a good idea. The only "limitation" there is that I cannot formally teach those patterns, as I have zero classical training. It's all come thru listening and hearing drums. Analogy: I'm perfect at my mother tongue, but I literally couldn't teach it, as I'm completely unaware of its rules. While I can teach English, as I've studied all its rules etc (I actually majored in English at the university and got an English teacher degree, heh).

Janne Hatula

Limitations are great. That's why I love the Tracker for example! You'll fully focus on the music (and not precise EQ tweaks like in this video)

Janne Hatula

I can kind of use anything for any break, but if it's more complex and very "editty" like this one, has to be Ableton for me! (allows for very precise/meticulous/visual/nerdy shifting of midi notes)

hologroove

About reversing drumhits: you could make a slicing preset in Ableton which has the Sampler's Reverse option mapped to a Macro control. That way you can automate that and it would turn on/off reverse for all the slices. This could be a problem if you have multiple slaces playing at the same time - which you maybe don't do for a break. Or alternatively you could automate the "Reverse" for just a single hit or a few hits but that feels like overwhelming even for a shorter break. Not to talk about the millions of slices you have in this video :)

Akshay Sharma

Thank you for this detailed breakdown! Found the looping samples thing and the mono reverb to fill in space tricks dope! It’d be sick if you could make a video on writing interesting and complex patterns and fills from scratch. Maybe that’ll help someone like me find how to make the most out of a single break but still keeping it interesting throughout the track. Cheers!

reagan

Do you find that the shortcomings of something like a polyend,m8, or pocket operator vs ableton make these tools less useful because you know you could do certain things in ableton that you can’t on the hardware? Or do you use these specifically for their limitations?