Making drum beats? & ethics question.

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donking2010
Posts: 19
Joined: 16 May 2016

19 Apr 2018

So I'm terrible at making drum beats so I was hoping to learn by others. I really like the drums in David Bowie's "Fame". So I searched and came across a midi file online... but, the midi drum beat sounds nothing like the actual song. I would attach the midi file but looks like that's not allowed. If you google the song and midi its the first hit.

Is it cool or not cool to ask if anyone has an accurate drum beat for Fame? I'd love to use it for a song I'm working on.... that sounds nothing like fame... except the drums. :)

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sublunar
Posts: 507
Joined: 27 Apr 2017

19 Apr 2018

Nothing wrong with learning from your sources of inspiration but a simple way to avoid outright copying it is to change parts of it here and there. You might even like the changes better than the original and knowing it's not a "ripoff" should make you even more happy with it.

Lots of drum beats are re-used without people even being aware of it so it's not even that big a deal to begin with.

I'm not familiar with much of David Bowie's work so I know I'd never recognize it even if you straight up copied it. But my sense of creativity would not let me just copy+paste a midi file from someone else's song. I don't even do that with free midi files or EZ Drummer. Gotta make it my own. And I usually prefer my version to the source. But admittedly, I do physically play drums a bit so that helps me decide how and what I want to change.

dberndt7
Competition Winner
Posts: 22
Joined: 31 Jul 2017
Location: Seattle, USA

21 Apr 2018

Not speaking for anyone but myself, but think the request is cool.. Even if you use it in a song it's probably not going to be much of a legal problem if it's just the drums.. although it'd probably stay away from a note for note transcription and just go with a groove that's inspired by the drums. I agree with sublunar, making a few changes make something yours without losing the vibe they brought you to the idea in the first place.

Fame's a great track. Great funky live drum groove. I think the hardest part of emulating that is getting the groove right. It's tempting.

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platzangst
Posts: 728
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

22 Apr 2018

You know, it's sort of ironic that "Fame" and ethics comes up in the same topic, because if I recall, the guitar riff on that track was swiped, more or less, by James Brown. The guitarist had been fired from Brown's band and wound up doing a lot of studio work for Bowie, and developed Fame's funky guitar lick. When Fame became a hit, Brown apparently got riled up and had the lick recreated for one of his own tunes. (I forget why, exactly - either lingering animosity to the guitarist, or thought Bowie was trying to copy Brown's overall style - which would be additionally ironic later when James Brown samples would be all over rap and hip-hop music...)

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selig
RE Developer
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Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

22 Apr 2018

There are multiple 'beats' on Fame, each could be a song on their own. I suggest using one, not all, of the beats and no one would be able to recognize it on it's own. Change the tempo a bit, change the key/feel of your music, put on your own melody, and it's YOUR song!
:)
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donking2010
Posts: 19
Joined: 16 May 2016

07 Nov 2018

Thanks much peps! I went ahead and remade some drum tracks that inspired me. And by the time I was done sound nothing like the originals. So I guess they were very inspirational! If your interested here's a link to my EP via the forum: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7509131

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