Just before going to college, I did maybe my second or third recording session. After the drums were tracked, the engineer asked if I would be adding percussion. Everyone else in the room shrugged their shoulders, so I made a shaker out of a Snapple bottle and some sand. Since then, I’ve always been better prepared to add percussion.
It’s hard to find a hit song without some percussion added to tie the rhythm section together or be the balance in timbres. Sometimes the drum set parts are written with the percussion parts in mind and vice versa. As a I started writing the things I think about when adding percussion, I never thought it would be such a long list.
Some of these tips are specific about how to play instruments or suggested rhythms, and others are more philosophical. Either way, these are just my opinions from two decades recording drums and percussion for a wide range of styles from jazz to Latin rock.
1. Be Subtle
My first studio experience was with Peter Rubbo when I was 16. He added a tambourine hit on beat two of a song and I’ll never forget it. Maybe it was the reverb on the 16-bit Alesis drum machine he used or perhaps it was the placement of the tambourine hit.
When the song came out of the intro and into the verse, he continued the tambourine hit on beat two. I remember being amazed at how much this subtle addition to the song changed the way I experienced it. Then, I noticed that he didn’t play every beat two. If the phrase was a little busy lyrically, he left it out.
Adding percussion to a song is supposed to add to the song, not take away. Consider the less is more approach. I put percussion on almost every song, and sometimes I approach the overdub like Pete’s tambourine hit.
2. Match the Aesthetic
Consider the lyric content and the kind of energy a sound is producing before choosing your percussion instrument and rhythms. For example, if the lyrics are about chasing a dream and the harmony and melody are bright, this is a no brainer – play sixteenth notes on a bright-sounding tambourine.
Let’s say the song has a darker harmony and melody and the lyrics are about loss. Darker cymbal rolls for the transitions would support the mood of the song and the overall artistic goal. Try pieces of thin sheet metal for a low roar. Mixing engineers can do so much with those sounds. Don’t have sheet metal? Sample a dryer and add some EQ and effects to lengthen and deepen the sounds.
If the song bounces along rhythmically and sounds fun and playful, try some upbeat accented broken sixteenth note patterns on cowbells and tone blocks. Consider a galloping feel while breaking up the rhythm to give the song some space, like when you have plenty of room to dance on an active dance floor.
3. Less Cowbell
Some songs need more cowbell, and that’s cool. If it’s a salsa tune or a driving rock song that feels like a cha cha bell is perfect, go for it. Add more cowbell. But that’s not all the instrument can do.
Cowbell can be approached with different ways of striking the surfaces. Play the top of the bell (flat surface) with the tip of the stick for a lighter sound, or play the edge of the bell with the shoulder of the stick for the common bell sound.I like to play combinations with the different striking surfaces to make a funkier groove that locks with the other rhythm section instruments.
Adding percussion like cowbell can initially take you right to the sound you’ve always associated with the instrument. How about using an implement like rods? The added sound from the rod grouping on the metal combines a softer cowbell sound with a dry shaker-like sound to make something new.
4. Shakers Are King
When I went to my first percussion audition for a UNT lab band, I called my high school drum teacher for some advice. He told me to show them that I can do more than play congas. Shaker was the first instrument that came to mind.
If you want to level up your shaker performance, check out this article on how to play shaker like a pro.
Shaker is something that can be added to almost any song if the player can control the instrument. Every shaker design requires a different control of the shaken contents. Once this part is mastered, accents and inner beats can take a song to another level.
When I’m adding percussion like shaker to a song, the hi hat rhythm is my first concern. That’s the sound that’s most similar to my shaker, so they need to be in some agreement. Of course, reverb, EQ, and panning can place the instruments in their own sonic spaces. But I would rather start with tracks that don’t need to be fixed.
Consider playing broken rhythms versus full bars of sixteenths. The full bar of sixteenths is usually where people go first. What if your shaker was copying the hi hat pattern from a Tower of Power tune or one from The Meters? That’s what I’m talking about. The shaker can be the top down rhythm that everyone hears first and wants to hear more.
5. Congas Make Conversations
If congas are clashing too much with the other drums and even the bass, the mixing engineer is likely to put them low in the mix. This is sometimes the goal when adding percussion to a track. But if the conga part is important to you, consider the conversation it can have with the other drums.
I start with upbeats and more complex syncopation to find a combination of slaps and open tones that fit with the drum set and support the style of the song. The gaps can be easily filled with this upbeat approach, so you have to next consider whether the gaps should be filled.
The most common rhythm you’ll hear on a track is the tumbao rhythm – recognizable by the slap followed by two open tones. Make a variation of this rhythm by simply adding a single open tone the sixteenth after the downbeat following the two consecutive open tones.
Go back to hit songs with conga patterns that stand out. Two songs that come mind are “Africa” by Toto and “I Want You Back” by The Jackson Five. Notice how clear the slaps and tones come through the mix. It’s about the pattern in relation to the other rhythms, but it’s also about the conga player’s technique.
“7 Conga Patterns Played on Popular Hit Songs”
6. Toys on Sustains
Percussion toys can refer to a lot of different instruments. The first ones that come to mind are goat nails, rattles, metal jingles, vibro slap, rain stick, and a snocker. The list could go on and on, but you get the point.
If you’re adding percussion and the song has some sustains, you have so many colors to add a new timbre. Shake a toy starting away from the microphone and gradually move it closer is a dynamic swell peaks. If there are no microphones, this technique still works, especially if you increase the rate of shake as you rise the instrument higher and higher.
7. Wind Chimes Are Annoying
I don’t really mean that the instrument is annoying. Playing wind chimes too much can be annoying, for sure. Wind chimes at the right place in the song, for the right duration, can take everything to a new level of balance and resolution.
But how much is too much? Use your best judgement. If you play them on two out of ten songs, that’s not much. For each song, more than two times needs to be seriously justified, but these are just opinions, not rules.
8. Don’t Be Too Traditional
Unless you’re playing a salsa tune or the goal is to be traditional, the conga and bongo parts, for example, do not need all of the inner beats. The marcha of the conga pattern will often fill the song with unwanted clutter.
Hose off the parts and tweak them for the new popular style. Take away the multi-layered samba and just play two or three of the clave hits. This approach leaves the well-educated percussionist with droves of ideas for a career of adding percussion to hit tracks.
I say all of this and still believe that sometimes the more traditional approach works perfectly. Gloria Estefan made albums with layers and layers of traditional rhythms and percussion instruments. Even The Jackson Five had conga patterns that included the full heel / toe strokes in between the slaps and tones on songs like “I Want You Back.”
9. Make Your Own Instruments
My friend Chris made a shaker as an art project in high school. He used a couple of soda cans, some paint, and I think tape. It sounded like a shaker and would have sounded great on the tune that need it.
I did my second professional recording session in the summer before going off to college. During this session, the tracking engineer asked be if I was going to be adding percussion. I wasn’t prepared but didn’t show it.
I had a cowbell and a tambourine. After finding a Snapple bottle in the trash and filling it with sand from the parking lot, I had a shaker. My friend Tom talked about that shaker for years, and my cousin David knew I got the idea from Chris. There’s nothing like making music with close friends. It’s the best part of being a musician – the brotherhood.
For another example, the feature percussion instrument on Michael Jackson’s “Don’t stop ‘Till You Get Enough” is a glass bottle. Percussion instruments are all around us. Grab a bucket and a soft mallet for a backing track kick drum.
10. Well-Placed Tambourine
This is more than being subtle. My friend Nate has always amazed me with the creative rhythms he wrote for tambourine parts. Whether he played the tambourine with sticks, his hands, or shook it, the part was essential to the tune – you’d have to play his part to cover the song.
Nate uses a lot of syncopation and broken sixteenth note rhythms to funk up the groove, but a well-placed tambourine doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, check out the tambourine on Paul Simon’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.” The verse is dry up beats, and the chorus is downbeats. It works!
11. Triangle Is The Hardest
We’re not talking about adding percussion that calls everyone in for supper – unless that’s exactly what you’re trying to do. Playing triangle is about precision and consistency. Every ding could stand out and reveal the differences if you don’t strike the instrument in the same spot with the same area of the beater.
This all may be true for concert and symphonic performances, but laying down some pop music tracks can be more forgiving. But that doesn’t mean triangle doesn’t deserve some serious respect.
I like to play a combination of open and closed sounds to get a funky brazilian approach in the groove. For example, play 1 e + 2 e + … with the open sounds (that ring) on the ands and the other beats are closed. Permutation this pattern forward a sixteenth, and the open sound will be on the e.
12. Play Bongo With Sticks
No timbales? Can’t get good sounds with your hands? No problem. Use sticks. The butt head of rataan vibraphone mallets with soft pencil grips on them. Whatever you want as long as it sounds good.
Bongo with sticks is a good substitute for timbale fills on a reggae tune or a song instrument in a drum break. Go easy at first and you’ll find the areas of the drums and implements that sound best.
If you want more information about bongo, check out this article on how to play patterns and styles, including explanations on technique (with video).
13. Balance Metals And Skins
Consider the frequencies and timbres of the instruments you’re layering. Adding percussion to your tracks can get cluttered really quickly or it can blend well with the right instrument choices. One easy way to blend the layers without the clutter is to choose a balance of metal instruments with the ones with drum heads.
The drum set part is often the king of the road. Adding cowbell usually blends well because it doesn’t conflict with the kick or snare, especially if the groove is really syncopated. Consider breaking up an intricate cowbell pattern by splitting the rhythms between two different cowbells.
Add shakers to these drums and bells to balance the frequencies, timbres, and rhythms. The high shaker needs to be weary of the hi hat, as I said above, but this can all be blended even more with EQ and reverb.
14. Shake The Feel
Listen to other rhythm section instruments. If they are shuffling the groove, the shaker or tambourine needs to the same. And it needs to be the same shuffle. Otherwise, adding percussion will be taking away from the other tracks.
Straight feels are usually the easiest. Sometimes they can get difficult if the straightness of the guitar rhythm, for example, isn’t as even as it should. Either this is something that can be fixed by the mixing engineer, or the percussion part may not work.
Shaker is serious business. I usually play through the song about two or three times adding these parts. Knowing that it can take a professional two or three takes to settle into the groove will help the process. I learned this recording jazz in Dallas.
15. Don’t Think Like a Percussionist
If you’re struggling to come up with a part, think like a guitar player. Grab the tambourine and play funky 7 chords with a wah wah. Okay, that’s a stretch, but you get the idea.
Some of the best examples of adding percussion to tracks come from untrained percussionists. The parts sound so good because they aren’t bound to techniques. They’re bound to what sounds good on the track.
Tito Puente played vibraphone like a timbale player and timbales like a vibraphone player. Think beyond the conventional rhythms and interpretations on the instrument to unlock something fresh.
16. Double the Drum Set
One way avoid conflicting with the drum set is to play right on top it. For example, add tones and slaps on congas that match the kick and snare rhythms. This works well when the kick and snare rhythms are simple.
Adding percussion may not be about a rhythm or instrument that stands out in the groove. It could be that the cajon, for example, is adding to the sound of the kick and snare. This gives the producer an opportunity to treat the tracks as backing the rhythm section – keep the track going through turnarounds when the drum set drops out and the vocals transition the song.
If you’re looking for more about how to play cajon, this article includes the basic strokes, exercises, and popular and traditional grooves.
17. Upbeats And Downbeats
When a song sounds like it needs something really simple, I often think about either upbeats or downbeats. Upbeats can add a lot to songs that are already have a simple groove. If you fill in with inner beats and more complex rhythms, adding percussion could be taking away from the vibe of the song.
And don’t thing you have play every upbeat in a bar. Try adding one wood block hit on one upbeat, then try adding something else that’s equally sparse and compliments the wood block. Make a call and response between two percussion instruments. I love doing this with jam blocks and cowbells, especially when it’s sparse.
18. Simulate Natural Sounds
A rain stick and a bird call placed tastefully can be a game changer for attic percussion to your songs. This is especially true if there are along held chords from other rhythm section instruments and there is an much happening in terms of melody or any other lead instruments.
Sometimes you have to think a little outside the box and simulate perhaps a campfire by crinkling paper and snapping bubble wrap. Maybe you’ll never have to add the campfire, but you may be adding percussion to a song and the producer asks for a horse galloping sound. Use a coconut cut in half and hollowed out.
19. Play What You Like
This one may seem obvious, but you have to remember that your own tastes will feed creativity. Trying to please everyone else is usually a losing game, especially when adding percussion to songs. You’ll win and lose just like anything else in life.
20. When In Doubt Roll
Although this tip is number 20 on the list, it’s probably the one that solves the most problems. If you are soloing and lose the beat, roll until you feel it. If the tambourine part changes from the verse to the chorus, do a shake roll to transition.
During parts of the song that may have more sparse percussion noises, a cymbal roll can underlie everything and tie it all together. A bongo roll works great for the noises themselves.
21. It’s What You Don’t Play
Last, but probably most important, leave some space. Some players try to fill all of the space and end up taking away the stylistic clarity that the song needs.
I usually come with a pattern on an instrument, try to make it feel good in the groove, and then figure out what I can take out to make it better. The rhythms you take out end up adding to the ones you leave in, so there’s no loss in value. There’s often a gain.
Final Thoughts
Adding percussion to your song can be simple or complex. Every song presents different potential for sounds and patterns. All that matters is whether you like the sound or not.