Exercises for Internalizing 16th-Note Permutations Displacement is a beat-editing tool that can make a groove sound glitchy. This is achieved by shifting the groove in such a way that what was originally played on beat 1 is now landing somewhere else in the bar. The more recognizable the original pattern, the more tension the displacement causes for the listener, and the more difficult it becomes to continue to feel the quarter-note pulse. For example, if you heard someone play the following bar without a metronome or accompaniment, do you think you would feel the first note as anything other than beat 1? The moment you hear that first bass drum, your brain will insist that it’s beat 1. This is why beat displacement works the way it does. We’re so used to hearing grooves being grounded by the bass drum that it’s difficult to perceive those notes existing anywhere else. […]

October 2020 Issue