Beat 9E – Analysis
This beat, most obviously, doesn’t have any ghost notes. But it still feels like a DnB beat. Why? Because it is symmetrical.
Notice first that, with the exception of the last quarter note of the second measure (where the snare drum appears on beat 4 instead of the “and” of four), the second measure is the same as the first measure. I created this beat purely on paper; I might not have come up with it if I were at a kit.
As opposed to 9d, where we were taking a strictly vertical approach, let’s take a strictly horizontal approach to this one. Within this beat, there are 2 separate horizontal melodies. The first one is in the ride layer.
9v.
The second horizontal melody is in the accented snare and bass drum layers.
9w.
Also notice that these two horizontal melodies are backwards – the ride layer appears as eighth/eighth/quarter/quarter, and the accented snare/bass drum layer appears as quarter/quarter/eighth/eighth (or, at least it would if it weren’t for the small variation on the last quarter note of the beat).
Beat 9E – Application
As this beat contains two different horizontal melodies, let’s try doing some voice substitution for one of the melodies, while keeping the other constant. The following are ways to vary up the ride layer while holding down the accented snare/bass drum layer.
9x.
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