Displacement
Pronunciation: dis·place·ment
Function: noun
Date: 1611

1: the act or process of displacing : the state of being displaced
2: the substitution of another form of behavior for what is usual or expected, especially when the usual response is nonadaptive —called also displacement activity displacement behavior

Displacement doesn’t only occur when diving into pools or dropping too many ice cubes into your drink (Jim Beam & Diet Coke), it can also take place in music. In the world of drumming, beat displacement is a technique where you change the perception of the back beat by moving the whole groove forwards or backwards (usually by an eighth or sixteenth note) while keeping the underlying time signature intact.

I first learned about beat displacement while going through my “Dave Weckl phase”. I was in the eighth grade and listened to nothing but Weckl’s debut album, “Master Plan”, for about three months straight. Apparently, Dave’s “Master Plan” was to confuse the bass player in my junior high jazz band by showing me how to move the beat around. Throughout the album, he constantly uses the technique of beat displacement, ultimately creating rhythmic tension until re-establishing the “one” of the downbeat.

Loop #33

Today’s loop is a basic example of beat displacement. It starts off as a straight ahead groove but in bar three and four I move everything back by one eight note, causing the back beat to occur on the “and” of 2 and 4. This gives the impression that the whole groove has shifted until it turns back around when the phrase repeats.

Note – this kind of stuff (and anything else inspired by Dave Weckl) should be used sparingly. A little goes a long way. Much like cologne or those packets of yellow mustard you get when ordering Chinese food.

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109 BPM

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