Kindred musical spirits?

A July quiz for you: what do “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal, “Sparks” by Coldplay, “It’s a Man’s World” by James Brown, and “The Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars all have in common?  Not too much stylistically.  But each of these songs is in 6/8 time as opposed to the standard 4/4 time you hear the most on your radio dial.  Since the free drum tracks I’ve given you the past few months were all in good old 4/4, I thought I’d do something a little different this time around to see what you creative people might be able come up with.
6/8 makes for a very pleasing groove, and it can be applied to just about any musical style you can think of.  Slow it down a bit and you can play some soulful R&B or make a beautiful pop song like “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M. or “In My Room” by the Beach Boys.  Turn up the intensity and you can have an edgier rock song on your hands, like “Breaking the Girl” by Red Hot Chili Peppers or even a metal song like “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica.  A more brisk tempo and you are suddenly in the world of arena rock (think “We Are The Champions” by Queen) or you could consider ripping out a ballsy blues guitar solo (kind of like “Texas Flood” by Stevie Ray Vaughan).
So it’s time to flex your songwriting muscles.  Take this month’s free drum track below and use it to make songs in as many different genres as you can possibly think of.  Jazz.  Alternative.  Polka.  Challenge yourself to write music in styles you never have attempted before.  The drum track is played by a world-class session musician as always, since DrumsForYou.com never settles for nothing less.  It’s got peaks and valleys, verses and choruses, and an epic section of rocking out towards the end (although it could be jazzing out, for all you can do with it).  Do something revolutionary with these drums and send it to us–we’d love to hear what you can come up with!

TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE TRACK CLICK HERE

Laid back summer music

As the mercury begins to rise, plenty of folks are having summer barbecues, taking day trips to the beach, and lounging in their back yards with a cold glass of lemonade. Summertime brings out the hardcore relaxer in all of us, whether you’re taking full advantage of a well-earned break from school or simply feeling nostalgic for the days when summer meant no responsibilities for three glorious months.

This month’s free drum track will help you welcome the dog days ahead. So what does the soundtrack to summer sound like? Typically, folks lounging by the pool want to hear some laid back tunes. Simple songwriting with memorable melodies and lyrics everyone can remember. Reggae grooves like Bob Marley and acoustic sing-alongs like Jimmy Buffet songs can often be heard on tropical beaches and hot back porches. Combining those two styles might yield something that sounds a little like Jack Johnson: acoustic guitars, mellow reggae-influenced beats and softly-spoken vocals.

Take the free drum track below (which I’ve entitled “Laid Back Summer”), grab an acoustic guitar, and play some chords that make you picture seagulls floating overhead. Because the track is played by a world-class studio musician (as is the standard here at DrumsForYou.com), it’s got all the nuance and pocket needed to inspire you to lay down a summer-themed tune that can live on in the hearts of millions–or at least in the hearts of friends who will love to play it as they throw a kickin’ neighborhood pool party! The track includes some groovy rim clicks as well as snare hits, and cymbal work on both hi-hat and ride, giving you tons of options to put together a new summer classic.

And hey, instead of a summer job, maybe you could license your songs to some surfing videos and make a little cash from it. The sky’s the limit. The blue summer sky, that is.

TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE TRACK CLICK HERE

Bring the shred

Ah, springtime… Not only are many a young man’s fancy turning to love, but sports fans have plenty of athletic action to keep track of. With countless fans watching their favorite basketball and hockey teams with bated breath to see if their team will get eliminated (or if their favorite baseball player will crank a home run today), I find myself constantly tuning in to ESPN to check out the highlights of the day’s sports action.

What does that have to do with this month’s free drum track, you ask? Simple: if you’ve ever watched sports clip shows, you’ll notice they always have music playing in the background. I’d assume this is to keep you excited and interested in watching, since the clips are fast-paced and the TV powers that be don’t want you to start getting bored if you’re not watching highlights of your favorite team.

But there’s a very specific type of song that goes along with these clips: guitar shredding rock. If you pay attention next time you’re catching hockey highlights, you’ll hear an endless number of Joe Satriani sound-alikes setting fire to their fretboards and cranking out tons of “Summer Song” clones to back up the hat-tricks and home runs that provide the visuals.

Naturally, I thought there would be nothing better than to see if I could write a shreddin’ sports clip song, something that SportsCenter would be banging down my door to try to license from me. Seems like it would be a fun line of work, playing guitar solos to accompany slam dunks. But what would my six-string heroics be without a solid, thumping back beat to drive the chunky power chords? Nothing, that’s what! So for this month’s free drum track, I’ve conjured up a seriously rockin’ beat worthy of some heavy guitar work. Of course, because this is DrumsForYou.com, this drum track is once again played by a top studio musician here in Los Angeles–so I was not at all surprised when it turned out sounding perfectly huge.

We’d love to hear what sort of songwriting you can come up with for this free drum track. Think Satriani and split finger fastballs!

TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE TRACK CLICK HERE

Phish

Last month brought us the reunion of Phish, the American jam band that amassed an enormous cult following of hippies and free-spirited college students through decades of relentless touring.  Carrying on the torch passed to them by the Grateful Dead in the ’60s, Phish fans developed a habit of packing up their VW buses and following the quartet around the country to experience their diverse and unpredictable live shows, each with a unique setlist culled from the band’s massive repertoire and filled with improvisational jams and extended instrumental solos.

News of the reunion made me look back and marvel at how much this little band from Vermont has accomplished.  While they never took the Billboard charts by storm, Phish made millions of dollars by connecting with their audience in a way many artists with a number one single never do: by making each show a unique, interactive entity that one must attend to truly experience.

That sounded like fun to me, so I couldn’t help but wonder how I could channel my inner-Anastasio for some new musical inspirations for my songwriting.  I wanted something that would make me think musically in ways I normally wouldn’t–something that would force me to break my mold of standard songwriting.  I also wanted a professional studio drummer to record it, since my guitar skills wouldn’t likely translate to a drum track that would do my idea much justice.

So I ordered this month’s free drum track, which I’ve called “Jam Band Song,” for the purposes of having a sweet groove just to noodle and jam over until I come up with something really cool.  This drum track is an upbeat mover in the style of Phish’s “First Tube,” a song the band tends to extend into a 15-minute live opus.  But just laying down a killer beat isn’t quite enough to inspire a truly authentic jam band feel.  A jam band must interact and react to each member’s nuances and ideas, so this drum track evolves and changes to give it the humanness that a drum loop just can’t provide.

Then again, maybe this free drum track will inspire someone out there to write the next big hit song after all.  What can you come up with?

TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE TRACK CLICK HERE