Category Archives: Recordings

Oil up that fretboard with chicken grease, it’s time for a Prince drum groove…

This month, it’s a good old 12/8 half-time Purdie shuffle… We recorded a Bernard Purdie shuffle for Free Beat Friday this month, with a Jeff Porcaro style phrasing on the kick drum. The Inspiration The Purdie shuffle is a 12/8 half-time shuffle conceived by the great Bernard Purdie. The key elements that makes this beat […]

Breezy, Lilting, Swung 6/8 Grooves, Loops and Samples played with Hotrods.

Been a busy day (and night) in The Beat Shed recording a triple bill of rock folk drums – HotRod Grooves in 6/8 (loops), HotRod kit (samples) and a new Song arrangment called “Maypole Dreamer”.

A few weeks ago we turned our attention to recording a new trilogy of Beat Shed packages of heavy rock drums.

We wanted to go for a classic 70’s vintage heavy rock drum sound. So where best to start looking for an influence? And audio references for a drum setup? A quite well-known band with a fairly well-known drummer named John Henry Bonham seemed like a good starting point. However, it all turned into a bit of an adventure…

The Sampler Concept. The Beats in the Classic Beats & Breaks – Vol.1 – Drum Loop Pack are (not that creatively) named so that you might recognise which songs they are influenced by.

Truth be told, the whole concept comes from the legendary “Ultimate Breaks & Beats” series.

Sweet Funky 12 Bar Soul Drums. From the title of this soul drums Song Slices Pack, you might just be able to guess where the inspiration for this Song Pack comes from. (Although specifically the Solomon Burke version, for all you nerds out there…

We LOVED putting this one together. We got the kit singing, changed the room to be more reflective, put a ribbon mic up a few feet away from the kit to capture the room, then strapped a tambourine on the snare and got lost among the 12 bars…

Uptight. Awkward. Funky as HELL.

The Butternut Funk Song Pack & Tight Funky Kit Sample Pack are just what you need if you’re after tight little funk drums. ButterNut Funk is pretty “keen” and “awkward” (producer’s code for “wrong”) like good funk drums should be. It could lend itself well to anything funk/soul/R&B and even disco – it isn’t four-to-the-floor, but it kind of feels like it!