Swing 16ths on Dance Beats
Swung 16ths are tricky, if you swing too hard it can sound cheesy and date. If you swing too little then there’s no real effect. That’s my opinion. The mastery of a good swing feel comes from a sense of imperfection and control, simultaneously. This can be tricky to program when putting in notes on the grid, I find that using your ears and just feeling the right placement of the note is key. Check out the tutorial video for more on this.
Some great albums with excellent use of swing feel in dance are “Untrue” by Burial, also “Immunity” by Jon Hopkins. “CMYK” by James Blake is another great one. Just blast one of those on your headphones and you’ll hear what I’m talking about. The feel is slippery and creates a sense of movement. Groove is happening for sure!
When adding ornaments to your beats, try using swing 16th’s and experimenting with those. Try not to make the anticipations too loud, these are ornaments after all. The listener will capture and feel them, even when the ornaments are not in your face. See the tutorial for a better demonstration of this.