Rhythm Techniques for Djs/Controllerists

This month our resident rhythm expert, Ryan Lucero-  a professional drum instructor and performer, brings us another set of lessons on ways to improve your time and rhythm. Last month’s metronome basics provided a solid foundation for daily practice and now we dive into 3 specific voices that can be used in a set.

ControllerismLessonrythymtiming
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  • b_t

    To everyone with shitty comments: Stop watching these videos. We all know how amazing of musicians you are, and quite honestly, no one gives a damn about how simple, or non challenging, these techniques are for you. 

    Appreciate what these FREE websites give… FREE knowledge. Shut up and watch or don’t watch… use it or don’t use it. Simple as that.

  • Brian

    He’s pulling a “Justice”….. jk, playing a midi-fighter “acoustically” is like playing a practice pad, it makes just enough noise to let you know you’re doin’ it right. These vids are awesome, I’ve got a musical background (guitar) and vids like these make me realize I can do strumming patterns with cue points, with the added flexibility of being able to crab the little sucker.

  • Sam

    Hey,
    Check out the USB cable. its not plugged in. Am I missing something. 🙂

  • ctrld

    now for something a little more advanced…

  • Chris Pop

    I see the Giants hat… go Phillies!

  • JCH

    What metronome app is that? Do you have a link? Thanks

  • dj professor ben

    Fingers is the man… check out his other videos too he goes nuts on an APC along with a bunch of other stuff. Truly badass!!

    And people complaining about this video, seriously?? This website is constantly bringing us the bleeding edge of DJ technology and controllerism. There may be a few others working at this edge, but djtt has a broad audience of folks that range in musical experience and expertise. Drumming techniques and timing may be second nature to you if you’ve been banging sticks for 20 years, and turntablists have been practicing percussion skills on vinyl for quite some time, but there’s a whole new generation of DJs using technology who never learned how to play alongside a Buddy Rich video (or even a Q-Bert video) who could really use some basic introduction to the rudiments.

  • Ean Golden

    [quote post=”8534″]but you’re far from sharing a new concept with the world.[/quote]

    I am not claiming its the first of anything but I do think the concept is unique and worth sharing.
    ______
    We have seen:
    *Dj Clips/Loops/Effects/Software + Musician (in the video above)
    *Dj Full Tracks/Software + Drummer (Travis barker/AM)
    _____
    but in both of these cases, musicians are playing on top of original music that is played by a dj.

    In our project, I am attempting at turning the controllerist into another player in the band (not a dj) who does not play full tracks but instead uses cue points as his notes. I have not seen anyone else do this before except for Turntablists. The turntable works really well in that context but personally Im more interested in controllers. In our shows, every note that is played is actually struck by me, and variations in those notes are produced by various techniques which make this combination very expressive.
    _____
    Turntable bands in the late 90’s explored the same territory, and I am interested in seeing where controllers can take it from there. Its all about the experiment, change it up, try new ideas- or modulate on old ones. Then we just see where it takes you..
    ____

    @ DoubleDutch:
    That David ‘Fingers’ Haynes video is sick! thanks for sharing. I aspire to get somewhere close to that point but it takes a long time to master your instrument to that level and we are still working on defining what exactly the instrument is! 🙂

  • Ryan

    c’mon Ean….really?

  • MC-505 + Band in 1998......Noitulos

    [quote post=”8534″]but you’re far from sharing a new concept with the world.[/quote]

    Give em a break everyone in San Francisco seems to live in their own bubble….Everything Started in San Fran Right!

  • JumpinFrog

    ok guys… nice job on the triplets and all, but you’re far from sharing a new concept with the world.

  • Beatsnatcher

    Okay, I have to say this. At first i thought it was a joke, I was expecting Ean in the vid and out comes this guy with hair looking like that Justin Bieber iphone app where you can add his hair to random people: http://www.ibroomcloset.com/bieberhair.html

    The out of sync audio/video actually made me think yall got a Justin look a like to lipsync to Ean. I swear, that’s what I was thinking! 😀

    On a more serious note I found these rhythms to be very simplistic and not challenging at all. I don’t know if my sense of rhythm is advanced or if you’re just starting off easy to make sure everyone gets it.

    Either way it’s a good initiative, very nice.

  • Double DutchDj

    Cool tutorial!
    Check this vid below for the ultimate drum pad performance
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQuzYO4hp3A
    The swing is immense pure skill, once digital dj’s start to get near that sort of level, controllers will start to get real credibility as instruments.

  • SirchOne

    sick lesson.. sick remix! i think i’m goinng to be talking with my drummer friend about a little dj/drummer collabo 😀

  • Paddy

    waiting for the green day vid 😀

  • Dj PC3

    Pulling a little DJ AM & Travis Barker, inspired duo huh? Ain’t made at you, love that combo… interested to see how you guys spice up the DJ/Drummer combo… The previous mentioned was a lot of scratching combined with a drummer…

  • Ean Golden

    [quote comment=”38927″]Duuuuuude, how long did it take u to practice that?? SOOO intense.[/quote]
    you mean the green day thing? Suuuuper long 🙂 but it totally rocks now and we are almost ready to shoot the full video and share the new concept with the world.

  • Simply Amazing

    Duuuuuude, how long did it take u to practice that?? SOOO intense.

  • Str8upDrew

    Great lesson. Can’t wait for the live video.