Building Steam with a Grain of Salt by DJ Shadow – Drum Transcription by Robin Rapsys

This is the “beat repeat” section of DJ Shadow's classic, "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt" (Listen on Amazon Music) from 2:44 - 4:29. What's so interesting about this album is that it was entirely created by piecing samples together straight from vinyl records. I couldn't imagine doing that now given the tools we have today! If you haven't checked it out, it is an absolute landmark for instrumental DJs, hip hop, and really just music in general. It definitely had a large impact in a lot of genres we listen to today like downtempo, chillwave, trip-hop, etc. The album is entitled "Endtroducing" by DJ Shadow (Listen on Amazon Music). (commissioned links)

I wanted to transcribe this song because it wasn't played by an actual live drummer. Therefore, it calls for an unnatural but interesting playing style. It's a unique source of inspiration for a live drummer and I'm hoping it will draw me into this style and rear its head in my playing somehow.



The use of "beat repeat" is what I think had a big part in the creation of the drum n bass genre. Drum n bass beat patterns are found all over in this clip. If you were to take a few beats from one of these measures and repeat it over and over, it would sound a lot like a drum n bass track.

I have a deep interest in live drum n bass drumming or live jungle drumming. Some drum n bass artists I like are Photek (Listen on Amazon Music) and Amon Tobin (Listen on Amazon Music). Jojo Mayer and Johnny Rabb are a couple of masters at the live drum n bass style. They definitely brought a new level of technicality to drumming. (commissioned links)

Thanks for listening.

**Full Disclosure: I earn a commission if you click any of these links and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.**

**Copyright Statement** This video is not intended to infringe any copyright laws in any way. This is for the sole purpose of entertainment; no profit is gained from this. It is the copyrighted property of its respective owner(s).