The King of Microrhythm 

Thanks so much to everyone who enjoyed this. If you want to help sustain the channel there's a way you can! You can join the over 500 people who are patreon patrons who, together, provide most of the budget for the channel. Support starts at just $1 per month. For just $2 a month you'll also get ocassional patreon-only bonus videos For $5 I'll also do my best to respond to any composing or video related questions you have For the $10 "Fanfarron teir" you get both the above, AND access to many of my scores and recordings, including many that I don't have permission to release publicly. And for $50 I'll also give you written feedback on a piece you send in each month (limited availability) www.patreon.com/davidbruce I know $1 or $2 per month doesn't seem like a lot, but it's literally hundreds of times more than we make from advertising per person! Thank you so much to all of our patrons who support what we do and make all of this free for everyone! David

hey! So I’m a drummer that specializes in Yoruba drumming which is ANCIENT. So much of modern black music has its roots in it, and you’ll actually SEE Dilla’s rhythm scheme at play in these century year old rhythm. The genre is called Bata and it’s played with three bata drums. And one of the drums entire jobs is to be as straight as possible to make that grid and the biggest drum is improvising and guiding the song through its sections….very complex and nuanced but the FEEL? It’s crazy

I used Dilla grooves and elements in my Hip Hop Symphony (Symphony #2 in Amin) during the 3rd movement. I wrote it in 2013. It premiered in 2023 at a 50th year celebration of Hip Hop in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park.

Wake up Adam Neely, David Bruce is doing Dilla Beats in classical music

in the marching percussion world, inverted flams are called malfs

It's good to see that musicians in EVERY camp, acknowledge J Dilla's genius. Well done, David.

Man the editing and graphical representation is outstanding

This goes so deep, I learned a lot! I especially like how you showed the back and forth between feeling and thinking through these rhythms!

Romanian here, huge lover of traditional & folk music. To hear of Dona Dumitru Siminică's "lazy and haunting" music explained via J Dilla's genius rhythmic approach was mindblowing. Thank you for the great video!

Love this! If you haven't already, you should check out "Timeless: Suite for Ma Dukes" by Miguel Atwood Ferguson - orchestral arrangements of some of Dilla's finest works, featuring a ton of guests 🔥

"One of the most creative things you can do is take something and put it in a context it was never designed for." LOVE this. Great video - thank you for it!

The beat that Domi and JD are playing at 18:50 is a Dilla produced track for Slum Village ‘Raise It Up’. (Samples a mental Thomas Bangalter dance track).

David I cannot express enough my gratitude for this video. Being black and a saxophonist, I’m very used to not having much of a space in orchestra and this video means so much to me when making classical mysic through appreciation of Dilla. Thank you

I was not expecting J Dilla to make an appearance on this channel. I love your openness to explore any kind of music you can get your hands on. That's a quality that not many people have. Thanks for the great, interesting and unique video.

6:00 "the Dilla tape vol 4" is just some fan-made compilation for a youtube video, that track is the instrumental to Slum Village's CB4

I always liked Jacob Colliers idea of dillaesque, wonky beats "rolling like an egg" giving it the famous groove

Dilla was a cellist??? insane! one of my new tag lines when I go out and perform my electronic lo-fi cello sets!

Love everything here, but to clarify, I think what that drummer was talking about in that clip (14:05) regarding feel is more that the way you learn these sounds is by doing a lot of listening and playing along to recordings and playing with people who have good feel. It’s possible technically to work out the exact subdivisions, but it’s not incredibly practical to do so(as shown in that cello example from earlier in the video), or at least not the most efficient way to learn it. At least from my perspective that was the intent behind what he was saying more than any sentiment of “you just gotta have it”.

Almost died here with the "ADJ SHFL" 😂 Great vídeo btw!

This compliments Digging the Greats' video "Dilla Time" wonderfully!

Absolute banger of a video! J Dilla, classical music, rhythm theory, visualization, audio examples, drum machine history… I had to pause and made a wonky beat off of the first grid that was shown, and only after that you get into the whole “ADJ SHFL” business, mind absolutely blown🤯

I LOVE what you did at 5:55+ where you speak on the beat you're presenting. It's not yet rap, yet it has qualities of it, it's smooth, feels right, and made me want to experiment in conversation to see how people respond. Thanks for the video ♥

Holy crap, what a great video. As a drummer, this is something we all (nowadays) end up learning about, but the way you break it down is something i wish i could have watched when i was still in high school. For me, i first encountered this as a tool to subtly direct other players in the band by putting the snare before or after the beat. It eventually grew into a stylistic option, like breaking the subdivision of a standard beat into quints and hitting 1 and 4 of those quintuplets on the hi hat, which is so tasty on r&b and hip hop

Your efforts to apply Dilla's influence to classical music are fascinating, I really think you're onto something! I was oblivious to his style until D'Angelo's Voodoo came on the radio one day - I had to pullover in the car to concentrate, counting it off in my head. It was like a lightning bolt that changed everything! As you say, you hear something like Chicken Grease and it's impossible not to move at least some part of your body to it!!

I have a special kind of respect and love for people who are already great at their craft yet are able to constantly be amazed and dive deep into topics that they could easily ignore, or worse yet, look down on. Hiphop is so often looked at as a simple subculture that just "rips off" older music; it is so nice to see someone actually studying it and giving one of its best producers his flowers. Thank you David!

21:24 polish language alarm. Fantastic video btw. You are the only "classical music youtuber" that inspires me. You see music differently then me but becouse of that when i watch your videos i always learn something new and i feel like i understand music a little bit more. Thank you for making videos and for making me appreciate music even more.

This is brilliant, what a start to Dilla month. I remember contacting you years ago asking you to check out Dilla after seeing a video you made which delved into rhythm, I forget which

Wasn't expecting the Hiatus Kaiyote mention! They're one of my favourite bands, cool to see them getting recognition outside of Melbourne 😁 (Super keen to see them later in Feb at Hamer Hall with the Dreamboat Orchestra!)

Best essay on Dilla beats in two decades so far. Thank You. It was always fascinating to hear some great wonkiness in Viennese Waltz. Some of the best classical pieces renditions sounds best because it is played systemically off the rhythm grid.

incredibly informative and digestable... thanks david!

You managed to make something here that kept me captivated for the entire length of the video. Well done!

Your understanding of this is amazing. Great content. Cannot imagine time and effort you've put into your education.

The creativity and craft you bring to explaining deep concepts is wonderful! Thanks for this effort!

I very much admire your attitude towards music in general because you do not consider the social status of the source, only the content, this is what we need a lot more of in the world, not just in music and the arts but also in the sciences. Most of the great composers in all eras and cultures don't care who the source is, or what their station is in life, only the content matters. Your classical music seems vastly more fun and interesting, much more emotionally engaging and I would think specifically because of your open mind. The nice thing about the rhythm machine is it can precisely perform what would seem impossible to master, but once the ear hears a rhythm the body can follow. There is an "ah ha!" moment when the body understands what the mind has been doing and also an "ah ha! moment when the mind figures out what it is that the body has been doing, the back and fourth interaction between mind and body, body and mind leads to innovations that would not come to exist without such a discourse. Many classically trained composers failed to see the genius in funk music such as what James Brown was doing only without use of any automated drum machine, which latter became subsumed into hip hop and associated with use of the drum machine. the draw back of the drum or rhythm machine is that it is a machine, it can not accommodate spontaneous improvised real time inspiration as can human performers. Much of the most ingenious passages in human performed music are originally MISTAKES, when the machines can not respond to these kinds of real time random mutation in the improvisational evolution of music, instead performers are slavishly bound to the predestined automated rhythm track which takes most of the spontaneity and hence the fun out of music. Classical music in the past contained a much larger improvised component, it was not all tied to conforming to a predetermined score. The problem with such freedom is that the most ingenious improvised content is often a mystery to its own performers who are not able to repeat what they have done because they don't know what it is that they have done. This is where recording is useful, one may treat improvisation as real time composition where the recording device is the notation, most good musicians can reproduce what they can hear performed again by the playback device. Each band, ensemble or orchestra including symphony orchestras tends to develop their own specific micro timing which becomes that groups signature "sound" Often times the difference between great performances and the not so great performances in nearly any style is down to tiny almost imperceptible timing inflections such as you have described, one can not pinpoint what it is but it boils down to to this: A performer who is bored sounds that way. To match these micro timing inflections takes a high level of physical and mental engagement that a bored performer can not keep up with, this is why many artists seem to burn out over time with their later performances tending to fall flat, while the artists that remain relevant tend to keep reinventing the micro timings to keep compositions fresh no matter how many times they have to play the same piece show to show. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TNm8egNjEuw.html This is a "Harmony Array" touch screen app that provides a field of buttons where each button initiates a characteristic tempo starting the moment the button is is contacted. The tempos in this case are tuned as for 12 equal (C-3 and C-2, G-3 and G-2 and so on) so only the octave related buttons shown on the screen produce tempos related by whole number ratios, which ratios provide all the basic note values of standard music notatioin. Playing several buttons at once produces several tempos at once so equally tempered "chords" (polytempos) may be played where the exact timing by which each button is contacted is crucial to the feel of the resulting rhythm, the same button combination can provide an endless assortment of radically different rhythms depending on WHEN the buttons are contacted. This device can also play tones such that as with any instrument that produces tones WHICH buttons we play tends to matter more than WHEN we play them. This is in contrast to tempo where WHEN we play the buttons tends to matter more than WHICH buttons we play, so for TONE it is FREQUENCY that matters the most while for TEMPO it is PHASE which matters the most. The processes that you have described are all about PHASE DIFFERENCES so you have hit upon the real nature of what is most important to rhythm, the NOTE VALUES matter less while the NOTE PHASES matter more, much of the common literature and technology has missed this crucial distinction.

Bruce, my friend. The amount of knowloedge you put into these videos is only a match to the amount of inspiration I get from them. I just love watching how these complex concepts end up in your own compositions

a youtuber i love and a topic i love! very nicely explained, thank you.

Thank you for giving Dilla his flowers to an audience that likely may not have heard of him. Bravo!

Amazing vid! Been listening to Dilla my whole life but this is such a satisfying demonstration on how beautifully nuanced feel can be

Amazing, this is so wonderfull to see. Dilla also used to play those beats unquantized directly into the mpc and not just a few bars but the whole beat. I read an interview once with a mixing engineer who worked with dilla and they had to fix a beat which got messed up in Pro tools. Dillas timing reference to the engineer was to move audio files a few babyfeet :)

Great informative video with brilliant use of the theme of creativity throughout. Really enjoyed it, thank you David Bruce!

Giant work on this video! Congrats Bruce and thank you!!

Wow, so glad I found this channel. It's absolutely a breath of fresh air to see someone with classical chops take on something usually relegated to contemporary production and beat making. Also your compositions are fantastic! Insta sub.

I love the way you consistently push me as (a classical musician) to think about the power of rhythm by engaging non-classical approaches. Thanks for the video!

Fantastic work and contribution to studies in beat composition. RU-vid needs more of this content

I think this might be my favourite music essay of all time. Thank you.

I'm leaving a comment for engagement and also to say that I really loved the video and think it deserves way more views than it has. These kinds of videos are very helpful to me because when I was young I wasn't exposed to much modern music like hip-hop and mainly knew classical music because that's what was playing in the house. Since then I've done a kind of 180 in my teens but I still feel like some stuff, even though I can recognize it, never clicked into place for me. I love wonky beats and I also really enjoy playing them but since I only got into them relatively recently I can sense that I'm missing the "feel" of it still. As an "ex-classical" guy I'm really grateful that I get to see your perspective on these things because they've always made my music listening/playing experience better.

Dude I got so happy when you brought up Dilla Time! I'm working through it now and the first few chapters are absolutely brilliant.

12:49 is actually a good example of one model of how jazz swing works in an ensemble. I can’t remember if David mentioned it elsewhere. The swing ratio and placement of the downbeats may differ from instrument to instrument (bass will often push, soloist will lag and straighten out) but congruence is often found between the drummers cymbal upbeat and the ensemble upbeats. I actually really like this as a model for ensemble swing feel - there’s some empirical evidence for it (more research would be nice).

Great video, just a quick heads-up I noticed a typo in one of your pieces at 21:25. The surname of the author of the words should be Tuwim, not Tumim

RU-vid dropped this video for me in my suggested videos, and I'm really glad it did. What an entertaining and well put together video! You've lined up a few rabbit holes for me to fall into, Thanks for taking the time to create, edit, and share

Excellent video David! Thanks for the insight

I'm a cellist and I will never laugh at being allowed to come in late.

14:04 This is funny, I was thinking that when we started to make beats like Dilla we were just focus on our head nod. And right at this moment you talk about the feeling

Incredible video man. Well done.

Big fan of both Dilla and your channel ahead of this video, and I was amazed of both the fact that you did a video on Dilla and the quality of the video! Well done! I remember playing in a RnB/neo-soul band long ago and we were also wondering wether this "slug groove", as we called it, actually could be quantified. We used Sibelius to write music, and the closest we got was a 32nd note ahead/after with "heavy swing". But we concluded it was best just to agree who was to play ahead or behind, and just "feel it", With your explanation I now see how I can apply this in a daw, playing on my own. Very informative and inspiring!!

Very thought provoking! The Grateful Dead also did a bunch of wonky/ out of ordinary rhythms and beats. One thing they do in some songs that I really like is they will will play a swing for half a measure and the next half isn't swung, often with a simple 4/4.

Never thought I’d hear Dona Dumitru Siminica mentioned in a David Bruce video ❤ Wonderful!

Thank you for laying this out so well. It's absolutely fascinating.

Your note at the end is very important. People who make beats are immersed in it all the time for years. That’s how the groove gets in them. I don’t have it but I’ve seen it. That’s why it would be a privilege to be in the chamber music group, to immerse oneself in it and let it become part of you.

This is the best explanation of Dilla's approach I have seen. Great job

Another fantastic video. I'm proud to be a supporter on patreon for years!

Amazing explanation! And great editing work. Thank you.

While this is a great analysis on this particular aspect of JD's music, I think there's still a LOT of room for analysis on what makes Jay Dee's music so special. In my opinion what makes his beats so compelling, emphatic and complete is a wholeness of musical coherence between the timbral qualities, harmonies, intricate bass lines and most strongly: the structural cohesion of it all. Every single element of the beat has a structural function and is actively doing something to develop the music, and it is not uncommon that in just 30 or 60 seconds complete musical developments occur. For me this also represents a bit of a complex problem in music theory in general which is rhythm = onsets (and sometimes tail ends, but not much more), which is where most of the analysis of J Dilla's music has been, when do some sound start, however there's a lot more to what makes rhythm than note beginning and ends, and that includes harmonic proportions, both timbral and tonal. Sure, J Dilla's music has very interesting patterns regarding most of the rhythmic aspects popularly analyzed but it is also MUCH MORE than that, there's a lot of attention being put on what the patterns of the drums are but very little regarding their relationship with the rest of the elements in terms of something beyond onsets. I loved the original pieces you showcased by the way! They show some great compromises and solutions regarding how academic notation and idiomatics deal with those kinds of rhythms.

Its entirely possible that Dilla stumbled upon this by not trimming the start of his samples perfectly.

I've discovered so many rythm beasts in this video !! Thx so much for all the work and all those discoveries !

I really enjoyed this video. I learnt so much from J Dilla, he's a musical father to many. Also love your theme song at the end of the video, had me bobbin' along.

Maybe music only got straight when we started to try and notate it 🤷‍♀

Dude, what an amazing video ! Very informative, very technical, very clear, thanks !!

Highly academic and sophisticated delivery of a fantastic topic yet fully understandable by any music lover of any level. You are a gem of RU-vid. I have followed Dilla for decades and have waited for a good study on him. Excellent work!

I think Dilla said in some interview that he'd put together drum loops by playing sampled hits (snare, hihat etc.) on the MPC pads by hand and thus the wonky feel, since he's not a trained drummer. He might have used drum machines like Linndrum sometimes but I don't think he messed around with manually shifting the swing ratio and stuff like that.

The Shaggs were not tied to the grid

Loved this! Your pieces at the end were beautiful.

this whole video have a very nice feel to it and its educational. perfect! ❤

The true creator of Lofi

I accidentally clicked to watch the video again, which I just went with. Because I like the way your brain works, and I could easily binge watch several of your videos back to back, and I honestly could have missed something interesting or important on the first watch. Thanks for making these videos!

Human sensibility and ability is always the primary innovative factor. This has always been done given the imperfection of human beings... even the most well trained. Interestingly I think our modern experience of it is largely through the highlighting of "common man" musical forms such as folk, blues, hip-hop, etc. where the production and experience of music is not primarily technical or academically analyzed but the emphasis is placed on in--the-moment, subjective experience. Middle Eastern and African tribal rhythms, played by multiple musicians often incorporated polyrhythms. It's a circle or pendulum swing where art first appears as primal and is eventually developed into something almost separate from human relevance and then travels back again to rediscover it's soul in the primal and imperfect.

Thank you for the effort and time put into this, many Dilla heads will appriciate.

Great video on a fascinating subject. Thank you!

I've been interested in the evolution of beats and I enjoyed your referencing newer acts and hearing these beat ideas in classical.

Thanks very much for this David - a great video - very insightful and a helpful balance between notation/theory and feel for beat bending.

So good to see you reaching out and highlighting such an important innnovator that isn't from an orchestral background

I truly enjoyed this, many thanx for creating this

masterpiece of a video, keep it up!

This is just excellent… I love that you are capturing the heart and the mind of Dilla! 👍✌️

Genius video. Content, editing, all. Thanks.

Really interesting video, and I think the visual style suited it beautifully.

Ooooh love that harp and Glock vox section! Thanks so much for another great vid David!

So happy to discover you David!!!!

Thank you for this. All kinds of great work here sir. Cheers!

That passage from your opera was beautiful. The rhythm was very convincing and created a real otherworldly, ungrounded emotion.

I like to point out how much work went into the edit of this very informative video. More power to you Mr. Bruce.

wow that graph w the rythms was maybe the best music visual aid ive seen running thru all the different rythms and showing while letting u hear them was cool to show exactly the where the feel comes from

Wow. This blew my mind. It makes me interested in your piece, which you reference at the end. I am going to give it a proper listen. Thanks!

Thank you! I've been experimenting with odd time signatures for the past few years and I have read some arguments for and against different ratios. It can be tricky to translate odd swing times in a DAW, but doable. This was such a great video, I have a much clearer understanding of how I can implement more experimental grooves. Amazing.

Great video! The moste intricate analysis of Dilla's work.

I spent my teens listening to pharcyde, busta rhymes, tribe called quest and had no idea who Dilla was. Back then he went by JD and I just assumed it was JD from Atlanta who worked with Kriss Kross and Da Brat. But he was all over everything I liked. In 1999 I fell in love with J-88 which would later be known as slum village, and that was the moment the world became better acquainted with J Dilla. Who would have thought my favorite little beatmaker would change the world. RIP to the genius.

Brilliant!!! What a great video❤

Great work 😮🎉

Killer eyebrows, man. Great video, especially for the visual grid and pie chart. I'm very visual so this is the best Dilla video I've seen by far! Thank you.

definitely sounds amazing on your music. Really gives a new dimension to orchetral music. Keep going and thanks for your videos :)