# Afrobeat — Tony Allen / Fela Kuti groove # Reference: Tony Allen "Psycho on Da Bus" (2010), Fela Kuti "Zombie" (1977), # "Lady" (1972), "Water No Get Enemy" (1975), "Expensive Shit" (1975), # "Tony Allen: The Afrobeat Drummer" transcriptions (Florent Barbier) # Tony Allen (1940–2020) invented Afrobeat drumming. His style is a unique synthesis: # - West African highlife polyrhythms (especially Yoruba rhythmic concepts) # - American funk and jazz (James Brown, Miles Davis influence) # - Heavy ghost-note snare technique (borrowed from New Orleans) # - A subtle forward push on odd 16ths (captured by the swing_soft feel setting) # that creates the Afrobeat "levitation" effect — the groove that floats. # # Three variations model Fela-era Afrobeat styles: # tony_allen — the signature groove: displaced kick, ghost army, 8th hi-hat # fela_hardcore — denser, more political urgency (Zombie / Expensive Shit era) # highlife_lite — West African highlife influence: lighter, more melodic, congas lead # # GM notes: 36=kick, 38=snare, 42=closed HH, 46=open HH, 70=shaker (maracas), # 63=conga (open hi), 49=crash # # ── Step grid notation ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── # Each character in a step grid represents one subdivision of the bar. # Resolution controls how many steps per bar (16 = 16th notes in 4/4; 12 = 16th notes in 6/8). # # X Strong accent — velocity = base_velocity × 1.00 (full hit / downbeat) # x Medium accent — velocity = base_velocity × 0.75 (firm stroke / upbeat) # o Soft hit — velocity = base_velocity × 0.55 (brush / light touch) # g Ghost note — velocity = base_velocity × 0.28 (barely audible, mostly felt) # . Rest — no note fired at this step # # Beat positions — 4/4 at resolution 16 (one char per 16th note): # pos 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 # 1 e1 +1 a1 2 e2 +2 a2 3 e3 +3 a3 4 e4 +4 a4 # (1/+/2/+/3/+/4/+ = quarter beats; e = "e of"; a = "and-a of") # # Swing / feel: the 'feel' field shifts odd-indexed steps (1,3,5,7…) forward in time. # swing_soft — odd steps delayed ~16 % of a step (light swing) — the Afrobeat float # ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── name: Afrobeat family: world bpm_range: [90, 130] time_signature: [4, 4] resolution: 16 feel: swing_soft instruments: kick: { note: 36, base_velocity: 100, velocity_range: 10, timing_jitter: 0.012, duration_beats: 0.12 } snare: { note: 38, base_velocity: 80, velocity_range: 18, timing_jitter: 0.014, duration_beats: 0.09 } hihat: { note: 42, base_velocity: 72, velocity_range: 12, timing_jitter: 0.012, duration_beats: 0.07 } hihat_open: { note: 46, base_velocity: 82, velocity_range: 10, timing_jitter: 0.014, duration_beats: 0.16 } shaker: { note: 70, base_velocity: 58, velocity_range: 12, timing_jitter: 0.020, duration_beats: 0.06 } conga: { note: 63, base_velocity: 80, velocity_range: 14, timing_jitter: 0.016, duration_beats: 0.08 } crash: { note: 49, base_velocity: 95, velocity_range: 8, timing_jitter: 0.010, duration_beats: 0.22 } humanization: timing_jitter: 0.016 velocity_jitter: 18 velocity_drift: 0.08 sections: intro: type: count_in hits: 4 note: 42 groove: bars: 1 variations: - name: tony_allen weight: 3 # Tony Allen's signature groove as heard on Fela's 1970s recordings. # KICK: beat 1 (pos 0), and-of-3 (pos 10), beat 4 (pos 12) — the kick # avoids the downbeat of beat 3, creating a floating "push" quality. # Allen described this as "putting the kick where people don't expect it." # SNARE: heavy ghost note army throughout; backbeat accent falls on beat 2 # (pos 4) and beat 4 (pos 12) — the ghost notes between accents are as # important as the accents themselves. The swing_soft feel stretches odd # steps slightly, producing the Afrobeat "micro-triplet" texture. # HI-HAT: steady 8th notes — the metronomic anchor that holds everything # together while the kick and snare float around it. # SHAKER: continuous 8th note pulse — the "agogô" substitute. kick: "X.........X.X..." snare: "g.g.X.g.g.g.X.g." hihat: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." shaker: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." - name: fela_hardcore weight: 2 # High-intensity Fela groove (Zombie era, 1977). The kick is more forward, # landing on beat 1 AND the "and-of-2" (pos 6) — a funk hemiola that drives # the horn section forward. The snare's displaced backbeat (on and-of-2 (6) # and and-of-4 (14)) creates maximum rhythmic tension. The open hi-hat on # the 8th upbeats (pos 2, 6, 10, 14) adds an aggressive sizzle. # Congas add a second rhythmic layer — Fela always had at least one percussionist. kick: "X.....X.X......." snare: "g.g.g.X.g.g.g.X." hihat: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." hihat_open: "..x...x...x...x." conga: "X.......X......." shaker: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." - name: highlife_lite weight: 2 # West African highlife influence (King Sunny Adé / Femi Kuti style). # Lighter than pure Afrobeat — the kick stays on beats 1 and 3, the snare # is more restrained, and the conga carries the main rhythmic conversation. # The open hi-hat decorates every 8th upbeat — a characteristic highlife # guitar/drum texture. More dance-hall, less political urgency. kick: "X.......X......." snare: "....x.......x..." hihat: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." hihat_open: "..X...X...X...X." conga: "X...X...X...X..." shaker: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." fill: bars: 1 variations: - name: snare_ghost_burst # Snare ghost notes escalate to full accents — the Afrobeat fill that # Tony Allen uses to build tension before a horn stab. snare: "gXgXgXgXgXgXgXgX" kick: "X..............." - name: polyrhythm_break # 3-against-4 polyrhythm fill: kick on the 3-note grouping positions # (pos 0, 5, 10 = groups of 5 16ths... wait, let me use 3-note groups: # pos 0, 4, 8, 12 plus conga at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 = 5+4+3+2+1 grouping: # actually conga at pos 0,3,6,9,12 = every 3 steps = 5 hits = polyrhythm. # This is the Afrobeat "three against four" that Tony Allen loved. kick: "X..X..X..X..X..." snare: "....X.......X..." conga: "X..X..X..X..X..." - name: conga_fill # Conga solo break: congas take the fill alone while kick marks the bar. # Simulates the "solo" calls that Fela's percussionists would make. conga: "X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X." kick: "X..............." shaker: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." crash: bars: 1 variations: - name: standard crash: "X..............." kick: "X.......X......." hihat: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." shaker: "x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x." structure: fill_every: 8 break_every: 0 break_length: 1 crash_after_fill: false dynamic_build: false