When I think back about this track, the first thing that comes to mind is Hard Bass 2006 in the Silverdome (Zoetermeer, Netherlands).
After I produced the track and delivered it to Scantraxx, they sent it to some artists.
I went to the Hard Bass party as a visitor to party.
Even though I already played some big events, I still really looked up to many artists.
So their opinion really mattered. During the event I met The Prophet and Brennan Heart, amongst a few others. They told me there were totally blown away by the sound of Drummer Beat. The kicks, the melody, etc.
A big compliment that I sill remember until today.
The Track & Kickdrum The track itself was made without a lot of alternative versions. Very rare in my way of working back then. I remember my tracks Veritas and Perfect it. I think both those tracks had 4 or 5 different versions.
Drummer Beat was one of those tracks where everything in the studio came together. The melody was an instant fit and the kick drum led the way in the track.
I produced this kick drum in the months before that. Not that it took me months to complete. It was just that with every track I did, this kick drum got improved.
Honestly, if you ask me to create a kick like this again, I don’t know if I can reproduce the exact same sound. The kick doesn’t have a definite pitch. It’s a mixture of 10 to 15 different layers, each with a different pitch. I just didn’t care & know back then.
The Intro and Drums They were produced like they are, because of the vocal. ”To a Funky Drummer Beat”. This had to mean I had to add some nice drum elements right? The intro loop, which I actually found in a samplepack, wasn’t really timed 100% accurate to the tempo of the track. That’s why mixing the track from the intro is kinda challenging. This didn’t stop my colleague DJs and me from playing the track. Back then, the audio timestretching wasn’t as advanced as it is now. So I kinda had to improvise a bit and stretched it the way I did.
After I finished the track, a colleague producer told me it would have been a good idea to chop all the drum elements and align them to the beat. Another lesson learned. (some producers are probably doing a facepalm now…) I think the beauty of of some of my tracks back then, was that I just didn’t know. Creativity of the mind over technology and knowledge.
The Screech When I think about this sound, I can’t think of any other track that has a sound like this? Was I the only one using the specific synth back then? Nah, probably not. I created this sound with Native Instruments FM7. A lot of detuning, voices and some distortion.
Playing the track Another thing that comes to mind when I think about Drummer Beat, is my set on Q-base 2007. I opened with the track, but the CD player / Mixer was on a wrong setting. I wanted to open up with the screech, but I couldn’t get the sound to work. Luckily MC Da Syndrome saved my day and addressed the crowd to make some noise. When everything was set again, I didn’t want to lose time by cueing to the screech. Nobody actually knew I had a different opening in mind. If you listen to the set now, you hear Da Syndrome announcing me as if nothing happened. I can’t remember how often I opened my sets with the screech sound that pitches down and up. Maybe over 50 times?
For my performance on Qlimax 2009, I decided to make a new version because of the fact that I played the original so much already. I added some choirs and improved the mix. Today I still play the original mix now and then. It still works. And that is one of the biggest compliments & achievements a track can get.
To be timeless …
