The Weeknd – Escape From LA (Drum Groove Transcription)

Included on the recent album After Hours by The Weeknd, “Escape From LA” deserves attention for its groove and the hi-hat feel in double time.
Here’s the transcription of the main groove: a slow hip-hop beat with an interesting hi-hat part at the end of every four measures. This is a drumset adaption since the drum part is played by a drum machine like most of the songs of the album… a different and creative perspective.

the weeknd escape from la drums

The bass drum and snare pattern is basically a two-bar loop. The hi-hat moves to a 16th sextuplet and in the last beat to an eight-note triplet subdivided into 32nd-note triplets. The two layers create a polyrhythmic groove, a six-against-four figure. Regarding polyrhythm, I suggest the excellent book Polyrhythms for the Drumset by Peter Magadini.

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