Swing Rhythm in Classic Drum Breaks From Hip-Hop’s Breakbeat Canon

Abstract

Certain recorded drum breaks, i.e., drum patterns played without other instrumentation, have achieved iconic status, largely as a result of being frequently “sampled” in other recordings. Although these highly influential drum breaks (sometimes called breakbeats) have been integral to much of the hip-hop and other music produced in recent decades, there has been little scholarly investigation of their rhythmic features. To that end, this study examined 30 classic drum breaks from the “breakbeat canon,” focusing primarily on sixteenth-note swing (a systematic delay of even-numbered sixteenth-note divisions of the pulse). Such swing was common among the examined drum breaks, though the magnitude of swing was often fairly subtle (median swing ratio = 1.2:1). In contrast to some findings regarding jazz drumming, the magnitude of swing was uncorrelated with tempo, though the ranges of both variables were somewhat constrained. Backbeat delay (a systematic delay of snare drum at even-numbered beats) was found to be frequently present at beat 2, but not at beat 4. Additionally, this study introduces a quantity called “swing density,” defined as the proportion of even-numbered divisions (at the swing level) that contain events. The importance of this quantity to the perceptual effect of swing is discussed.

Effects of tempo, swing density, and listener's drumming experience, on swing detection thresholds for drum rhythms

“…Câmara (2016) examined excerpts from 13 funk and jazz-funk recordings (roughly 90-130 BPM), and found that drummers primarily used 16th-note swing ratios between 1.0 and 1.3. Similarly, Frane (2017) found that 16th-note swing ratios between 1.0 and 1.3 predominated among 30 classic "drum breaks" (mostly 80-100 BPM) that have frequently been sampled in hip-hop recordings. Neither Câmara nor Frane found a notable correlation between tempo and swing ratio.…”

“…Swing density is the proportion of even-numbered subdivision onsets that are overtly indicated by note onsets in a given passage (Frane, 2017). For example, in the swinging pattern shown in Fig.…”

“…Because lowering the swing density lowers the proportion of overtly unequal subdivisions in a swinging sequence, Frane (2017) speculated that a swing's perceptual salience may decrease as the swing density decreases (see also Ikegami and Shigeno, 2016). If lowering swing density does in fact reduce swing's perceptual salience, then one might expect listeners' swing detection thresholds to be higher when swing density is low.…”

“…Swing has been celebrated in the musicological literature for creating a pleasurable, propulsive sense of "groove" that both implies and inspires physical movement (Benadon, 2006;Butterfield, 2011;Frane, 2017). But how swing creates that experience in the listener is not well understood.…”

“…However, the present paper uses the term swing only in the stricter sense. It is also important to note that although the word swing is often associated specifically with jazz, swing as a feature of rhythm is prevalent in many genres of music (Câmara, 2016;Frane, 2017;Friberg and Sundstr€ om, 2002;Houle, 1987, p. 86).…”