"Wake 'n Break" Series

Today's wake 'n break is a backbeat groove that utilizes three elephant bells of various sizes. ? Taking the bass drum first, we have anticipated notes falling on the "e" of 1 and on the "a" of 4. In the first two bars of this video, I played the bass drum on "1&" but I quickly decided to move it to the anticipated notes by the third bar. Feel free to try it both ways! Next, let's look at the elephant bells. Our largest bell is falling on the "e" and "a" of 1, and on the "&a" of 4. Taking the highest toned bell next, we have notes falling on 2, the "&a" of 3, and on 4. To finish the bells, our middle tone has notes falling on the "&a" of 2 and on 3. Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 2 and 4 as well as ghost notes on the "e" of 2 and the "e" of 4. Last but not least, we come to the hi-hats, where we have notes falling on "1&", an open note on the "e" of 3, and chicked notes on all of the upbeats or "&"'s. As always, I hope you dig it and again, my apologies for the lack of notation. I should have a new manuscript book early in the week.

Wake n Break No. 1974 - An Elephant Bell Backbeat
 
Today's wake 'n break is a sixteenth note backbeat that also has upbeats played on the snare drum. Starting with the ride cymbal, we have notes a steady slew of sixteenth notes on "1e&a", "2e&a", "3e&a", and on "4e&a". Looking at the bass drum next, we have notes falling on "1&". Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 2 and 4, as well as ghosted notes on the "&a" of each beat. Last but not least, our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". As always, I hope you dig it and my apologies for the lack of notation!

Wake n Break No. 1974 - A Sixteenth Note Backbeat With Additional Upbeats On The Snare Drum
 
Today's wake 'n break is a two bar halftime backbeat with a plodding bass drum part. When I was editing the video, I noticed that the bass drum tone became a bit distorted for the second half of the recording, so I decided to actually use the distorted section for some aggressive low end. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&" and 2 in the first bar, and then on "1&" in the second bar. Looking at the tambourine next, we have notes falling on "3&", and on "4e" and the "a" of 4 in the first bar, followed by notes on "1&", "2e" and the "a" of 2, on "3&", and on 4 in the second bar. Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 3 in both bars. Last but not least, our hi-hats have notes falling on the "a" of 3 and the "&" of 4 in the first bar, followed by notes on the "e" and "a" of 1, the "&" of 2, and an open note on 4 in the second bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1975 - Two Bar Halftime Backbeat With A Tambourine On The Ride Cymbal
 
Today's wake 'n break is a shell and rim groove with anticipated snare accents. Taking the floor tom first, we are playing the shell on "1e&" and "3e&" and the rim on "2e" and "4e". Moving along to the bass drum, we have notes falling on "2e" and "4e". Next, our snare drum has accents on the "a" of each beat. Last but not least, our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1976 - Rim & Shell Groove With Anticipated Snare Hits & Hi-Hat Chicks On The Upbeats
 
Today's wake 'n break is a four bar groove that is inspired by the 6/8 bembe bell pattern (but not the traditional bembe orchestration) with a halftime backbeat feel. Taking the hi-hat first, we have notes falling on 1, 3, 5, and 6 in the first and third bars, on 2, 4, and 6 in the second bar, and open notes on 2 and 4 in the fourth and final bar. Looking at the bass drum next, it's falling in unison with the hi-hats through the first two and a half bars. Last but not least, we come to our snare drum. Taking the ghost notes first, we have notes on 2 and 4 in the first bars, on 3 and 5 in the second bar, and on 2 and 4 in the third bar. Finally, we have accented notes on 1 in the second bar and on 1 and 6 in the fourth and final bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1977 - Four Bar Bembe Inspired Groove w/ Ghosted Snare & Halftime Backbeat Feel
 
Today's wake 'n break is an odd time groove in 7/4 that is built around double strokes played on the cymbals. Starting with the bass drum, we have notes falling on 1, 2, the "&" of 4, and on the "&" of 5. Looking at the ride next, we have notes falling on "1e", "2e", the "&a" of 4, and on the "&a" of 5. Moving along to the hi-hats next, we have notes falling on the "&a" of 1, the "&a" of 2, on "5e", and on "6e". We also have chicked hi-hat notes on the "&" of 3, on 4, and on the "&" of 7. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes falling on 3 and on the "&" of 6. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1978 - An Odd Time Groove In 7/4 With Double Strokes On The Cymbals
 
Today's wake 'n break is a pretty straight forward backbeat that utilizes a wooden tambourine. The reason I prefer a wood tambourine in this groove is because I dig the rim/block effect when striking the frame, but I would definitely like the jingles to cut through more. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1. Next, our hi-hats have notes falling on "1&", and open note on the "&" of 2, and another note on the "&" of 3. Moving along to the snare drum, we have accented notes on 2 and 4, as well as a ghost note on the "e" of 1. Last but not least, we're hitting the tambourine on 3 and on the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1979 - A Backbeat With A Wooden Tambourine On The Hi-Hats
 
Happy 4th! Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove that is built on top of a simple backbeat foot ostinato and utilizes a Nigerian talking drum. The ostinato consists of the bass drum on "1&" and "3&" and our hi-hats falling on 2 and 4. Now looking at the talking drum, we have notes falling on the "trip" and "let" of 2, as well as on "3 trip let" and "4 trip let" in the first bar. Finally, the second bar has notes falling on the "trip" and "let" of 2, on "3 trip let", and on "4 trip" and the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1980 - Talking Drum Over A Two Bar Backbeat Foot Ostinato
 
Today's wake 'n break was sponsored by Ivan Lychkov and at his request, I came up with this tom based groove with open hi-hats on the "&" of 2 and the "&" of 4 and played it at two different tempos. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and 3. Looking at the toms next, our floor tom has notes falling on "1e&" and "3e&" while our high tom has notes falling on 1, the "a" of 1, on 2, on 3 and the "a" of 3, and on 4. Moving along to the snare drum, we have notes falling on "2&" and on 4. Last but not least, our hi-hats are keeping a quarter note pulse with chicked notes on all of the downbeats, as well as open hi-hat notes on the "&" of 2 and on the "&" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1981 - Tom Based Groove With Open Hi-Hats On Two of The Upbeats (Sponsored Groove)
 
Today's wake 'n break is a four bar groove built mainly around the ride and snare drum. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes on 1 and on the "&" of 4 in the first three bars, followed by notes on 1, the "&" of 2, 3, and on the "&" of 4 in the fourth and final bar. Looking at the ride cymbal next, we have notes falling on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "&a" of 2, the "&" of 3, and on the "&" of 4 in the first three bars, followed by notes on the "&" of 2 and the "&" of 4 in the fourth and final bar. Moving along to the snare drum, we have ghost notes falling on the "e" of 1, on "2e", and the "e" and "a" of 4, as well as accented notes on 3 in the first three bars, followed by accented notes on the "e" of 4 in the third bar and on the "e" of 2 and the "e" of 4 in the fourth and final bar. Last but not least, our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1982 - A Four Bar Groove Built Mainly Around A Ride & Snare Phrase
 
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Today's wake 'n break is a four bar phrase that utilizes two different pitched elephant bells. Taking the feet first, our bass drum has notes falling on "1&" and on the "&" of 3 while our hi-hats are being chicked on all of the upbeats or "&'s". Looking at the snare next, we have accented notes on 2 and 4 throughout all four bars. Last but not least, we come to the elephant bells, where we have our larger bell playing a stream of sixteenth note triplets starting falling on "2 trip let & trip let", "3 trip let & trip let", "4 trip let & trip let" in the first bar, followed by notes on "1 trip let & trip let", "2 trip let & trip let", and on "3 trip let & triplet" in the second bar. Finally, our higher pitch bell is being shaken on the "&" of 2, the "&" of 3, and the "&" of 4 in the third bar and then on all of the upbeats in the fourth and final bar. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1983 - Four Bar Elephant Bell Backbeat
 
Today's wake 'n break is a two bar groove that is "blastbeat" based thanks to Blake Talbot's sponsored request! Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "&" of 2, and on "3&4&" in both bars. Looking at the hi-hats next, we have an open note on 1 in both bars and then notes on are falling in unison with the bass drum in the first bar. In the second bar, the bass drum is falling in the same spots but instead of falling in unison with the hi-hats, they're falling in unison with the ride bell. Last but not least, our snare is falling on 2 followed by our blasted notes on the all of the "e's" and "a's". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1984 - Two Bar Blastbeat Based Groove (Sponsored Groove!)
 
Today's wake 'n break is a backbeat that is driven by thirty second notes on the hi-hats, but we are alternating between slews of single strokes and slews of double strokes. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on "1&". Looking at the hi-hats next, our first thirty second note flurry are aggressive single strokes starting on 1 and ending on 2, followed by notes on the "e&" of 2 with the "&" being an open note. Next, our double stroke thirty second note flurry starts on 3 and ends on 4, again followed by notes on the "e&" of 4 with the "&" being an open note. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1985 - Thirty Second Note Hi-Hat Groove Alternating Between Singles And Doubles
 
Today's wake 'n break is a funky two bar phrase in 6/8 with an open hi-hat note for a pick up, and it's broken up between the bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hats. Due to a tropical storm, my internet/power has been shoddy all day and I just barely managed to get the video uploaded in time, so I haven't had a chance to break the groove down yet. I will try to do so as soon as I have a stable internet connection. In the meantime, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1986 - Funky Two Bar Phrase In 6/8 With An Anticipated Hi-Hat Pickup
 
Today's wake 'n break is a backbeat that is laid back and wide open with plenty of breathing room and a strut to it. It also begins with an anticipated pickup on the bass drum. Speaking of the bass drum, we'll start there with our pickup on the "a" of 4, followed by notes on the "&" of 1, the "e" of 3, and on the "a" of 4. Looking at the snare drum next, we have our backbeat falling on 2 and 4. Last but not least, our hi-hats have an open on 2, followed by notes on the "& trip let" of 2, the "a" of 3, and then an open note on the "e" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1987 - Laid Back, Wide Open, & With A Strut
 
Today's wake 'n break is a slow four on the floor backbeat with anticipated accents on the hi-hats. Starting with the bass drum, we have a quarter note pulse with notes falling on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Taking the hi-hats next, we have an open note falling on 2 as well as accents on the "e" of 3 and on the "e" of 4, and ghost notes on 3, the "a" of 3, and on 4 and the "a" of 4. Last but not least, our snare drum has accented notes on 2 and 4, as well as a ruff that leads into the bass drum on 3. As always, I hope you dig it and much love! Also, notations return tomorrow!

Wake n Break No. 1988 - Four On The Floor Backbeat With Anticipated Hi-Hat Accents
 
The last functioning track light in my drum room decided to die on me, so I had to record a percussion groove in the house instead, sans drum set. I decided to grab my talking dundun drum from Nigeria and came up with this phrase in 5/4. Looking at phrase, we have notes falling on "1e" and the "a" of 1, on "2&", on 3 and the "a" of 3, the "e" and "a" of 4, and on "5e" and the "a" of 5, with the note on 2 being played as a buzz stroke. As for the pitch, I'm manipulating it via squeezing on the ropes of the drum but if you have talking drum, feel free to chage the melody. I'm going to try and get one or two temporary lights put in tomorrow so I can record in the drum room again. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1989 - A Talking Dundun Drum Phrase In 5/4
 
Today's wake 'n break is once again away from my drum set due to faulty lights in the drum room, so I took out a pandeiro, a tambourine, and an old Hammerax Bash. Taking the Bash first, we have a steady quarter note pulse with notes on 1, 2, 3, and 4. Next, our other hand is playing triplets on the pandeiro and tambourine, with our higher pitch falling on "1 trip let" and "3 trip let" while our lower pitch is falling on the "trip" and "let" of 2 and on the "trip" and "let" of 4. As always, I hope you dig the idea and have fun developing it and making it your own!

Wake n Break No. 1990 - Two Tambourines & A Hammerax Bash Clap
 
Today's wake 'n break is a dirty sixteenth note snare groove with a broken swing feel and bit of a second line vibe. Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1 and the "a" of 1, the "&" of 3, and on the "e" of 4. Looking at the snare next, we have ghost notes on 1 and the "&a" of 1, the "&a" of 3, and on the "e&a" of 4, with accented notes on the "e" of 1 and on 4, as well as buzzed notes on "2e" and the "a" of 2. Last but not least, our hi-hats are being splashed on all of the upbeats or "&'s". As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1991 - Dirty Snare Groove w/ A Bit of A Second Line Vibe

 
I apologize for the crappy lighting again but since my track lighting went out the other day, I've been using a motion sensor light as my backup. lol Today's wake 'n break is a triplet based groove in 4/4 with a halftime backbeat feel (although I can see how it could be interpreted in 6 as well) and is built largely around a drum roll played between the hi-hats and the snare drum Taking the bass drum first, we have notes falling on 1, the "let" of 1, and on the "trip" of 2. Now we come to the roll that is being played between the hi-hats and the snare. On the hi-hats, we have buzzed strokes falling in unison with the bass drum, as well as notes on the "let" of 3, an open note on 4, and then another note on the "let" of 4. Last but not least, the snare has buzzed strokes on the "trip" of 1, on 2 and on the "let" of 2, as well as accented notes on 3 and the "trip" of 3 and a ghost note on the "trip" of 4. As always, I hope you dig it and much love!

Wake n Break No. 1992 - Halftime Backbeat Groove w/ Roll Between The Hats & Snare Drum
 
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