Using Triplets to Imply Faster Tempos Over the past decade, the drum ’n’ bass style of drumming has taken off in a big way. Many drummers tend to emulate this style by simply playing in double time. For example, if your band is grooving along at 85 bpm, you could just jump to 170 bpm. That’s a very logical and easy method, but I’d like to present another option for transitioning into a drum ’n’ bass feel that’s a bit less natural but sounds amazing. We’re going to use the three-over-two polyrhythm as the basic structure for these patterns. By accenting every other triplet partial, you can imply a new quarter-note pulse. Think of the triplet partials as 8th notes, and play any drum ’n’ bass groove to create a crazy polyrhythmic feel that still locks in with the original pulse. This technique allows you to make a groove feel […]

July 2012 Issue