ac/dc sin city

davor

Senior Member
Hi, so...folks often say AC/DC has easy drum parts, but....I'm struggling with sections of this one!

The parts where the riff hangs on the D chord - the crashes are playing in tandem with the guitar strums

I just about have it down and with a bit more practice I'll be able to play it BUT I've no idea how its getting counted which is annoying! Does anyone have a transcription or shed any light on it? Cant seem to find anything helpful anywhere
 
If you are referring to the intro, and after the solo, you have to count it as 3s.
 
I'm going in.... to Sin Citaaaaaayyy
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

Thanks but I'm talking about the section immediately before 'diiiamonds...and dust'
I think insanepolack knows what I mean - it's counting in 3s. The trouble is...where it starts to count in 3s happens mid bar, on the "and" of 3, which confuses the s***e out of me!
Anyway...I can just about play it now, I just don't understand it haha!
 
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Hi Davor, the biggest mistake many people make is what you started your post by saying, the assumption assuming that AC/DC songs are easy to play.
Yes one can play along to a lot of them and sound great, but often there’s a moment or section that can totally befuddle a person. No I’m not talking Prog Metal terms of difficulty but there’s certainly a subtlety to them that can throw a person off. And the difference between tackling a Prog Metal song is that you KNOW it’s difficult from the start so when you hit something next level you’re already expecting it. With AC/DC these little landmines come out of nowhere and puzzle you.
 
Thanks but I'm talking about the section immediately before 'diiiamonds...and dust'
I think insanepolack knows what I mean - it's counting in 3s. The trouble is...where it starts to count in 3s happens mid bar, on the "and" of 3, which confuses the s***e out of me!
Anyway...I can just about play it now, I just don't understand it haha!

I think you're talking about the AC/DC 3 against 4 thing that they do in a BUNCH of their songs. The trick is to keep counting in 4/4 until you can feel the triplets along side the 4/4 feel. Keep the kick going strong with four on the floor, and feel where the hits are against the kick. If you start counting this as anything other than 4/4 you are going to get completely messed up.
 
I'm talking about the section immediately before 'diiiamonds...and dust'

It's the same figure as the end of the vocals. I just threw that in there, because Powerage.

It's in many songs, by many artists. It's the first bar of a common clave pattern, the basis for the Bo Diddley beat, and countless others. The intro of "Stop Draggin My Heart Around" (fifth bar) is the same thing.
 
Thanks but I'm talking about the section immediately before 'diiiamonds...and dust'
I think insanepolack knows what I mean - it's counting in 3s. The trouble is...where it starts to count in 3s happens mid bar, on the "and" of 3, which confuses the s***e out of me!
Anyway...I can just about play it now, I just don't understand it haha!

Ghostin One has it right. Four on the floor with the bass drum, hit the snare and crash on the accents he illustrated.
 
It’s a standard rock thing where you hit every third 8th or 16th note and make up the difference at the end of the bar
In rock music this will be a one or two bar phrase because the rhyming tension would be too much if the the implied three against four were continued longer.

In a one bar phrase of 7th notes it would be two 3’s and a two to make 8
In a two bar phrase (like this song) it’s four 3’s and a four to make 16.

Hope this makes sense and good luck
 
Thank you for this! Best illustration for clave I’ve seen yet!

In the context of this song, where do we see this pattern actually begin? Is it on beat 2 of the bar or is it on the "and" of 3 (where I think the chord change to D occurs)?
 
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In the context of this song, where do we see this pattern actually begin? Is it on beat 2 of the bar or is it on the "and" of 3 (where I think the chord change to D occurs)?

Sounded to me like it starts on the 1, but I can't listen to double check at the moment.
 
Thank you my drummer friends, I can sleep easy tonight as I actually understand whats going on here now!

So... the pattern you showed in your comments does indeed start on the 1!

The thing that was causing me to get messed up is the crashes in the bar preceding this pattern -

Crash on the 2 and another on the "and" of 3 (purely accents on chord changes). By leaving them out (for now!) I've been able to focus on getting a smooth transition into the clave. I'll add those crashes in once I have the rest tight.

All good! It should come in handy in other songs too :)
 
Thank you my drummer friends, I can sleep easy tonight as I actually understand whats going on here now!

So... the pattern you showed in your comments does indeed start on the 1!

The thing that was causing me to get messed up is the crashes in the bar preceding this pattern -

Crash on the 2 and another on the "and" of 3 (purely accents on chord changes). By leaving them out (for now!) I've been able to focus on getting a smooth transition into the clave. I'll add those crashes in once I have the rest tight.

All good! It should come in handy in other songs too :)

Awesome! That's great to hear.
 
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