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Rafa Cajón

Level 3 · Your First Groove · 3-4

Ghosts & accents

Same notes, pro sound: whisper ghosts, cracking snares.

What you play

B bass · S snare · g ghost · rest
1
B
&
g
2
S
&
g
3
B
&
g
4
S
&
g
70 BPM
startpass

How to play it

  1. 1Play the groove from 3-1 , same notes as before, with extreme layering: ghosts barely audible, bass full and warm, snares accented and sharp.
  2. 2Shrink the ghosts until your fingers stay at contact distance and move a few millimetres.
  3. 3Get the snare accent from the speed of the whip, not from effort.
  4. 4Your take answers one question: can you hear three distinct volume layers?
  5. 5Record about 90 seconds.

Listen forThree clearly distinct dynamic layers - whisper ghosts, full bass, accented snare - inside a steady groove.

start 70 · pass 90 BPM · take about 90s

Record a take

I start the click at 70 BPM, count one bar, and stop after about 90s. Phone about a metre away, facing the front plate. You get my notes within a minute of sending it.

Watch out for

  • • Ghosts disappearing entirely. They should be felt and barely heard.
  • • Accents dragging the tempo
  • • The layering collapsing at the faster tempo

Read about this