Creating a Realistic Drum Jazz Loop

Programming any form of basic jazz presents its own problems. Jazz is an improvised music and does not lend itself to programming as as well as other forms of music. With that in mind,  we will be looking at how to create a convincing basic jazz beat loop. 

The basic jazz beat is shown in figure 1. This is how it is usually it is written although it can also be interpreted in triplet form.  Without any alterations it can be somewhat uninspiring and mechanical sounding. Unfortunately, this is how it usually programmed in DAW or typical  drum machine part. 

In figure 2 we have the same jazz beat but with two accents added on the first and third beats. Even with this small change there is an improvement in the overall feel of the pattern. The accents could also be shifted over one beat if desired.

To take this another step further as shown in figure 3 we have added up and down arrows on the specific sixteenth and quarter notes in the pattern to indicate pitch changes rise or lowered pitch respectively. The pitch changes do not need to be too dramatic just subtle changes will do.  Note it is likely you may need to assign our ride cymbal pattern to additional  tracks to implement the pitch changes. In any case there should a much better interpretation of the pattern at this point, although adding a second measure with additional pitch changes could be used as well.

Lastly to make this a little more convincing, a rim click could be added on the fourth beat (quarter note) of the pattern for more emphasis.

Overall, this pattern could be used as is or could combined with bass and drum patterns to realize a number of musical styles blended in with the context of the jazz idiom.  (We might have a look at this later in another article.) In conclusion, hopefully we have provided some insight and will prove useful in providing a more interesting musical setting.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3