Machine Beats: Drumming like a Computer

In our recent microtime series, we explored how to push and pull time to give grooves a bit of a stagger. Doing so without making things just feel… bad… requires an extremely strong internal sense of time. Remember: in order to play off of the rhythmic grid, one must master the rhythmic grid. The whole notion of playing off of the rhythmic grid was largely popularized by J Dilla, who sequenced beats using a drum computer, but didn’t use quantization (fancy word for snapping things to the rhythmic grid).

But on the other end of the rhythmic spectrum is playing perfectly ON the rhythmic grid, emulating quantized beats sequenced on a drum machine. It’s only fair to give honorable mentions to drummers that can play freakishly tight.

Oddly enough, there’s a lot of overlap between drummers that can play directly on the grid and those that can play off the grid. The particular style of music being played really determines how tight the feel should be. Hiphop grooves can slip and slide around the beats, while drum n bass requires hermetically sealed precision. Let’s check out a few drummers that take some heavy influence from drum machines...

Deantoni Parks

Currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Deantoni Parks is involved with numerous bands and projects in addition to his solo material. Stylistically, Deantoni’s drumming is elaborately programmed drums come alive (a la drum n bass and jungle music). He plays with unbelievable precision, consistency, and speed. One of his earlier projects, known as KUDU, helped blaze a path for other bands performing drum n bass music with live instruments. Relocating from Boston to NYC in 2000, Deantoni’s style stood out and began influencing many other drummers in the scene, including Jojo Mayer.

Deantoni has also played on many albums by The Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Although the music is somewhat removed from drum n bass, you can still hear its influence in the way Deantoni plays. Check out this video to the right of a live performance with the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group (the really intense drumming starts at about 0:39). This performance showcases his ability to play absurdly fast, but without ever sacrificing precision or feel.

Deantoni also played on Noctourniquet, the penultimate album by The Mars Volta. This particular track has some incredibly difficult drum parts. It really sounds like a drum machine, but don’t be deceived! That’s just Deantoni’s ridiculously high level of ability. The speed and consistent dynamics pose a challenge to even the most seasoned drummers, but those elements are simply characteristic of Deantoni’s drumming style.

Louis Cole

Primarily known for his work with the band Knower, as well as his solo material consisting of catchy, short, high-energy funk tunes, Louis Cole’s drumming has been undeniably influenced by sequenced drum parts from drum n bass and jungle music. In the below video, a young Louis throws down a smorgasbord of drum n bass grooves. He utilizes all sorts of extended techniques to make his drumming sound exactly like beats that drum n bass producers in the 90s would program into a drum computer.

While we can’t say with 100% certainty that Louis Cole is one of the twisted minds behind the band Clown Core (because he won’t confirm or deny his role), it’d be too coincidental that there’s some random clown with the same body type as Louis, plays open-handed like Louis (left hand on the hihats), and performs with the same levels of precision and intensity that Louis does, and it not actually be Louis. In the off-chance that Louis Cole isn’t a part of Clown Core, we sincerely apologize. However, hats off to the “mystery” drummer for holding down drums and keys simultaneously while in a moving van. Watch the video to the left with caution. It’s an amazing display of musicianship, but it’s pretty “out there.” Don’t say we didn’t warn you...

Mark Guiliana

Gaining popularity in the NYC jazz scene before relocating to Los Angeles, Mark Guiliana’s drumming is an intriguing mashup of traditional jazz training and drumming largely informed by electronic music production. He plays with the precision of a drum computer, but the vocabulary and creativity of an experienced jazz master. While he tours extensively as a hired gun (most recently with St. Vincent), he also leads his own projects, which really function as his musical playground. The video below features some rhythmic gymnastics by an early project, Heernt. Mark has no trouble nailing these long passages filled with intricate rhythms.

More recently (in 2019), Mark released an album called Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music! The name might seem a bit strange, but it’s a pretty accurate description of the music. The collection of tunes sounds more like electronic music sequenced in a computer, but it’s all done by live musicians. The track embedded to the right further demonstrates Mark’s ability to play very “on” the rhythmic grid.

While he seems to gravitate toward integrating a programmed sound into his playing nowadays, Mark is basically a Swiss Army knife when it comes to drumming. He frequently backs jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and even performed on David Bowie’s Blackstar album. His career seems like its on a trajectory to cement him into one of the modern greats that will be studied for years to come.

Arthur Hnatek

Arthur Hnatek is a Swiss drummer and producer, mostly known among drummers for his work with pianist Tigran Hamasyan. Arthur is always looking for ways to integrate computers and synthesizers into his own music productions and performances. In the below video, Arthur performs on a sort of hybrid setup that blends acoustic drums and electronic components that respond to his drumming. Using delay, quantization, and randomizers, triggers attached to his acoustic drums send signals to a drum machine that physically strikes other parts of his drum set (instead of triggering prerecorded samples). The particular drum machine used here is the Polyend Perc. This setup allows him to improvise with the aid of computers while utilizing more parts of the drum set than he’d be able to alone. Arthur gives a much more detailed explanation as to how everything works in the middle of video.

Aside from his own experimental work, Arthur’s drumming with Tigran Hamasyan is simply incredible. Filled with rapidly changing time signatures, every beat division imaginable, metric modulations, and ample polyrhythms and polymeters, Tigran’s music is a one-stop-shop for practically every rhythmic concept. In the video to the left, Arthur flawlessly performs one of Tigran’s more notorious songs. It perfectly exhibits his masterful command of every rhythmic grid, in addition to his technical proficiency. This tune is off the album Mockroot, but we strongly suggest listening to other albums Arthur has played on (such as The Call Within, released in 2020), too.

All of the drummers mentioned are also exceptionally skilled at playing “off” the grid when they want to, but sometimes it’s more difficult to play with more of a quantized feel. Either way, their mastery of timekeeping stems from many years of practice and critical listening of various styles of music. They take inspiration not only from other drummers, but from producers of electronic music, especially hiphop and drum n bass. Emulating the vocabulary they use is a really fun way to practice, as well as develop a higher level of ability and timekeeping.