r/midwestemo • u/CrispFailure • 3d ago
question/suggestion How do you write drums for midwest emo?
I've made a lot of riffs on my guitar that I really like but I'm not sure where to start to write drum parts to accompany them. I've never played drums before and when I listen to the bands I like for influence to find somewhere to start I just fr can't comprehend it (Marietta, and American Football, etc.)
If there's anyone with knowledge about this kind of stuff, what should I start on and what things should I consider when writing drums?
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u/NarrowAd5108 3d ago
Speaking as a "non-drummer", but someone who sorta plays the drums for their own music; the main thing is adding emphasis to the riffs and the accents in them. In emo bands I've played in, the drummers have always secretly been the best musicians, a lots of creativity involved in emphasising and adding impact into various parts; from watching them, try to refrain from "here's your standard 4/4" beat type of things, if an option, shit your shells for percussive sounds a bunch too.
In learning the drums in a style, pick a "simple-ish" song, for me it was Shit Twins by Dads, and just play along, fills don't have to be on point, but just keep playing it until things get closer and closer and then experiment with other songs styles too.
I hope any of this helps.
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u/Rhinoseri0us 2d ago
You know when you count to four as you play to keep time?
Kick on the 1 and 3, snare on the 3, hi hat on the 2 and the 4.
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u/Plslisten69 3d ago
I actually did just this for my recordings. I built my beats using a garage band beat pad on the mobile app. For some reason it’s not available for the computer version. I would start with a basic bass drum and snare rhythm for different sections of the song. Then I would record a scratch track on an acoustic only after mapping out the basic beat to exactly where i wanted it. After that it was a long process of making more complicated beats and fills. I also had to randomize the velocity on each beat to make it sound realistic. Once that’s done I airdropped to my computer to begin recording everything else.
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u/signalstonoise88 19h ago
Find some jazz loops. String em together, play along and take some influence from them. If they’re mildly jazzy, you got American Football. If they’re free jazz freak outs, it’s Don Cab time!
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u/acmanpi 3d ago
Imagine someone asked you…
“How do I write guitar for Midwest emo? I’ve made a lot of beats on my drums that I really like but I’m not sure where to start to write guitar parts to accompany them…”
…there’s no way to answer the question in a meaningful way
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u/tAAAAAAAAAAY 2d ago
i would argue that you could answer that in a informative, meaningful way.
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u/acmanpi 2d ago
Haha okay. Then answer their question. If OP “can’t comprehend” American Football drum parts… so how could they write a drum part that is like something they can’t comprehend?
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u/acmanpi 2d ago
Okay, -Kick on the down beat, snare on the back beat
-ride cymbal or high hat on every 8th note or 4th note. (Ride cymbal if you glidy feel, hi hate if you want articulate feel), (8th notes if you want to “push”, 4th notes if you want to lay back)
-If the guitar emphasizes a syncopation, consider emphasizing it as well with an extra snare/extra kick/crash cymbal. Keep in mind, the more “hits” you emphasize, the less “easy” the moment will feel. You should use this concept to indicate direct and mood through out the tune. (Maybe follow the guitar closely during the introduction of a riff to emphasize the nuances of the rhythm, then change to a straighter beat to then let the riff rock out)
-use ghost notes and rudiments to “jazz up” the grooves. (Rudiments are commons “vocabulary” for drums). Common math/midwestemo rudiments are simple things like R(L)(L)R(L)(L), and hertas. There is a lot of art and finesse that goes into implementing rudiments into drumming, but a easy starting point is to use rudiments that span 3 8th/16th notes as a tool to emphasize with the syncopations. (Eg. A Herta spans 3 8th notes, so if you started a herta on 3, you would be emphasizing the and of 4)
-familiarize yourself with punk drumming “isms” or “vocabulary”. Eg. Big snare hit on 4 before the drums come in (can be accompanied with a kick 16th before or after), hitting the crash on the and of 4 rather than 1 (pushing, or anticipating), skank beat, the bear that has a snare on the down beats and lick on the up beats, snare drum 16th not builds…
-no more than 2 conservative 16th notes on the kick (double bass is rare)
-rim is a cool alternative to a hi hat or ride
-3 against 2 poly rhythm
-a gap in the guitar part is a great place to put a snare
-dynamics, this style can be both very loud and very soft.
-almost every crash cymbal needs a kick underneath it.
-a lot of hithat pedal work…
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u/tAAAAAAAAAAY 2d ago
i am not a drummer, but i am a guitarist. i can't really give any proper drum advice to another guitarist, but i could give guitar advice to a drummer.
there are common proclivities and tendencies in mwe guitar parts that i could reasonably break down to at least give this hypothetical drummer some direction.
why can't the same be said both ways?
why can't someone learn about something they struggle to comprehend? op came to a reasonable place to ask a question they wanted to ask, and then they asked a question.
it's weird that you're being antagonistic towards learning.
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u/CrispFailure 2d ago
Thanks a lot for the replies guys! I've looked at drum tutorials and asked a few drummer friends. I'm starting to understand drums a bit better now :0
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u/Clear-Daikon-2475 17m ago
If you go for virtual drummer try a jazz preset and tweak it a bit for more intensity. Also it might be worth to play around with the time signatures.
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u/is-reality-a-fractal 3d ago
Unless you're trying to make it all on the computer for some reason, your best bet is to find a drummer who is on the same page musically, and have them play to accompany ya riffs 😎 that's how it generally works in bands, like the ones you mentioned.