Rhythmic Elements
Rhythmic Elements are accentuated points along a repeating pulse. The pulse itself is a rhythmic element called the BEAT.
A BEAT is a repeated heavy point in time that you can feel with your body. A song’s TEMPO is how fast the beat is going. Tempo is measured in BPM (beats per minute).
When the rhythm repeats, it is called a MEASURE or BAR. The DOWNBEAT is the first beat when the rhythm repeats (i.e., the “ one” of “one – two – three – four – one – two – three – four”).
Much music is made of repeating groups of four beats. When a note lasts for a whole measure it is called a WHOLE NOTE. Notes that last for half a measure (two beats of a four-beat measure) are called HALF NOTES. Notes that last only a quarter of a measure (a single beat of a four-beat measure) are called QUARTER NOTES. The “one – two – three – four“ are all each quarter note beats.
An EIGHTH NOTE is half of a quarter-note beat, while a SIXTEENTH NOTE is a quarter of a quarter-note beat (there are 16 sixteenth notes in a measure). And so on…
A TRIPLET is a group of three notes compressed into the rhythmic space of two.
TIME SIGNATURES show how the beats repeat and how fast the beats are. If they feel as if they repeat after every fourth beat, the song is most likely has a time signature of 4/4 (four quarter notes per measure). Waltzes are written with a time signature of 3/4. Some songs are 5/4, 6/8, etc.
Rhythmic Dynamics
Remember that DYNAMICS can occur in rhythms. People will naturally “lay back” or “push” at certain places in a song or a repeating rhythmic groove. Most rhythmic dynamics happen naturally (without notice rather than intentional) and often occurs because a drummer is “leaning” a certain way (or even because they are not yet experienced enough to play with consistency).
For example, a punk rock drummer will tend to play with more energy than calculated thought, and as a result some of the drum hits may be ahead of the exact place they are intended for. This explains why punk rock snare drums are pushing the beat more often than big rock ballad snare drums.
If a certain rhythmic note is important in a style of music, a drummer may unconsciously emphasize that beat by playing it harder, and unless they begin to play the note earlier than they play other notes the extra effort required to play harder may actually cause the note to be hit slightly later, giving it a laid back feeling that can actually make a beat feel heavier. Remember, the drummer may rush to hit that all-important note.
The end result is that naturally performed drum parts WILL contain certain internal dynamics rather than be precise and exact.
Further, there is important emotion expressed in rhythmic dynamics, which is why music made with drum machines that play each element exactly on the beat is often considered mechanical and “unnatural.” To compensate, composers often will add repeating loops of live drumming to their machine drums in order to add the missing rhythmic dynamics.
Drum loops can be tricky. A drum loop is a repeated drum phrase (usually one or two bars in length). Many drum loops contain rhythmic dynamics, and certain drum hits will be slightly off time.
When using several drum loops, it is possible to create moments when drum parts are slightly off time in different directions. This can go beyond a rhythmic “smudge” and sound (or feel) like a mistake.
People who use multiple drum loops often shift their relative positions to minimize blatant problems. Then again, many people just don’t care, and simply throw things together until it kind of sounds cool as their compositional process.
Harmonic Elements
Harmonic Elements are tonal and have pitch.
Sound waves create PITCH (TONE). The faster the sound wave, the higher the pitch. When a sound’s pitch increases until it is a perfect multiple of the starting pitch, the note has a similar but higher sound. This is called an OCTAVE. The pitch differences between octave points are mapped out into different SCALES.
Most cultures around the world use scales that have been made up from specific subdivisions of an octave. Some scales have developed along with regional musical instruments. There are “primitive” tribes that do not use a standard scale system at all (each tribe member tunes their instrument so it plays a note that sounds good compared to the chief’s note even if it clashes with another tribe member).
Western music is based on scales and chords made up from notes along those scales. There is a great amount of musical emotion in different combinations and sequences of musical notes, and in the way instruments approach and trail away from notes. Consider the emotions expressed in a human voice, saxophone, blues harp, violin, guitar or other instruments that play between notes or approach notes from above/below.
Instruments such as piano get additional expression from dynamics, because the sound changes along with the volume as you play harder.
In Bulgaria there is a choral group that specializes in singing MICROTONES (tones between standard notes). The chords made with microtonal notes have more varied expressiveness than chords made with only western scaled notes.
Instruments
You will encounter various instruments that you will need to record, and record well. Some will be very easy, such as plugging in a bass or a synth. Some will be difficult, such as recording a quiet singer standing between a loud drummer and a Marshall Stack.
It helps to have an idea what the instrument should sound like in the end (which you learn by listening to “model” songs with specific sounds you want to emulate), but also to have an idea of how the instrument actually makes noise. You need to know that a flute projects important sound from the top, and that shoving a mic into an instrument’s hole or flared end is not necessarily the right thing to do.
Research any instrument before recording it for the first time. Where does the sound come out? What part of the overall sound will it be expected to fill? Is the instrument a solo sound or part of an ensemble?
These things will influence any decisions you make. Remember to use any pictures or descriptions of mic techniques you see as something to try, not something to automatically do (even whatever you read here).
Talk to the musicians and ask what they usually do to capture “their” sound. Many engineers do not do this, but rather just grunt at the musician while setting up the mic in the same old way. You might be surprised at what you hear, and just the act of asking makes the musician trust you a little bit more.
Take what they say into consideration, and even set up what they usually do as an alternative to compare to if you have the extra mic and fader. Do not forget you’re capturing their sound, which they sometimes know well. Of course, expect the occasional person who sounds one way in their head and another way out their horn.
Walk around and move your head up and down around the instrument until you find a “sweet spot” (please use caution with drums and Marshall stacks).
Choose a microphone that will optimally capture the tonal characteristics you noticed are important when in the sweet spot, such as a bright sounding mic for cymbals rather than something boomy.
Place the mic where you thought sounded good, and move it if needed or if just curious. You can always go back to where you were, especially considering how easy it is to document with cell phone pics these days.
If you’re dealing with a direct plug such as with a bass, synth, computer (etc), you’ll need to make sure you are getting into your system the right way (often through a direct box). That’s it.
Once you have the instrument (from either mic or direct) in your input channel, you can now process with compression and EQ (if needed), and record the sound.