Definition
Swing is the unequal division of a pair of notes: the first is longer, the second shorter and delayed. Shuffle is swing applied in a marked way, close to a triplet, especially in blues and rock'n'roll. The card “Groove, swing and microtiming” introduces the concept; here you get the math and how to program it.
The MPC percentage (Roger Linn)
On Roger Linn's drum machines (LinnDrum, MPC) swing is the ratio between the duration of the first note and the duration of the pair:
- 50% = straight, the two notes are equal.
- 54%: softens the groove without it sounding “swung,” according to Linn himself.
- 58–62%: the zone of funk, hip hop and groovy house; Linn observes that at 90 BPM a 62% can sound looser than a perfect triplet.
- 66% (66.7) = perfect triplet: the first note is worth 2/3 of the pair, the second 1/3. This is the blues shuffle.
- 70–75%: dotted rhythm (♪. ♬ = 75%), typical of certain marches or of “dotted swing.”
Swing is usually applied to the second sixteenth of each eighth note (sixteenth-note swing, house, hip hop) or to the second eighth of each quarter note (eighth-note swing, jazz and blues).
In milliseconds
At 90 BPM an eighth note lasts 333 ms; the pair of sixteenths inside the eighth lasts 333 ms.
- 50%: second sixteenth at 167 ms. 58%: at 193 ms (26 ms delay). 62%: 207 ms (+40 ms). 66%: 222 ms (+55 ms).
Formula: delay = (swing − 50%) × duration of the pair.
Swing in jazz changes with tempo
Measurements on recordings (e.g. Friberg and Sundström, 2002, ride cymbal of jazz drummers) show that the swing ratio decreases as tempo increases: at slow tempos the first note can last more than twice the second (beyond the triplet), at very fast tempos the ratio approaches 1:1. Soloists also tend to play more “straight” than the drums and slightly behind the ride. Take the values as indicative: swing is a continuum, not a box.
Shuffle by genre (indicative)
| Style | Swung subdivision | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Blues shuffle, rock'n'roll | eighth notes | 66% (triplet) |
| Jazz medium swing | eighth notes | 60–70%, variable |
| Boom bap, lo-fi | sixteenth notes | 55–65% |
| House, deep house, UK garage | sixteenth notes | 54–62% (garage even beyond) |
| Funk | sixteenth notes | 52–58% |
| Trap, drill | almost straight | 50–53%, the feel is in the triplets |
| Half-time shuffle (Rosanna, Toto, 1982; Home at Last, Steely Dan, 1977) | triplets | 66% with ghost notes |
Programming it in FL Studio
- Channel Rack: the global Swing knob delays the even steps of the step sequencer; its scale does not match MPC percentages: adjust by ear or compare against a reference lane written in triplets.
- Piano Roll: in the Quantize tool you can set a swing; alternatively move the even notes manually with snap “None.”
- Swing per lane: apply different swing to hi-hat (more swing) and kick (less) for a layered groove; this is done by moving the notes of individual channels or by using different patterns.
- “Swing” tempo-synced delay: some plugins (e.g. Soundtoys EchoBoy) have a groove/swing parameter for the repeats.
Example in A minor
Lo-fi loop at 82 BPM: Am9 – Dm9 – Gm7/C – Fmaj7. Hi-hat in sixteenth notes at 61%, snare on 2 and 4 without swing (they are on the beats), kick on 1, 1-a (pulse 4) and 3&. Bass that follows the kick with the second note slightly late. Then try 54% and 66%: hear how the character shifts from “almost straight” to “dragged.”
Common mistakes
- Applying swing to everything, including pads and bass, making the mix “mushy.”
- Swing at the wrong resolution: sixteenth-note swing on an eighth-note groove does nothing.
- Forgetting that the sample's microtiming (slow attack) shifts the perceived point: a clap with 15 ms of pre-attack seems late.
Exercise
Program the same loop at 50, 54, 58, 62, 66% and export five files; listen blind and pick your favorite at three different tempos (80, 100, 124 BPM). Note which value works at which tempo.
Connections
“Groove, swing and microtiming”, “Humanize and groove templates”, “Quantization”, “Ghost notes and dynamics”.