Captain Pikant

Every once in a while we discover some great or unconventional tricks and techniques that we immediately mark down as "must try". In this episode we'll show you 7 of our absolute favourites - to use as inspiration for your own beats.

In this episode we're analyzing the rhythms of Radiohead - one of the few bands who managed to successfully reinvent themselves and pull off the transition from rock to electronic music. Lucky for us they also embraced drum machines in the process, using them in many different and interesting ways. We'll examine some great Radiohead beats, you'll hear how they work in context and once you see how it's done you can also use those ideas in your own tracks.

The drum pattern of Michael Sembello's "Maniac" is positively insane. It's what you'd get if you made a Synthwave drum track, decided it wasn't complex enough, glitched it up with a tiny dash of Aphex Twin and then put a second drum track on top of that with over a dozen Tom fills for good measure. Pure '80s maximalism with two of the most iconic drum sounds of that era.

Sweet Dreams is a brilliant example of how a deceptively simple drum beat (if done right) can make a song hit even harder. We're going to recreate it on a modern sequencer so you can follow along and use those techniques in your own beats. Milk bottles and cows on fake grass included. As a bonus The Intern will pick apart the iconic synth riff :)

Few bands have influenced the landscape of industrial rock and modern alternative music as profoundly as Nine Inch Nails. In this episode we'll analyze three songs that to me contain the essence of what makes a great Nine Inch Nails drum track: An easy one to learn the basics, a classic with a special surprise, and an insane one that made me regret including it in this video.