Hey 
When I’m working on a track and the main part of the track kicks in it sounds good but it just seems like it isn’t grooving? Seems flat. Are there any tips on the addition of plugins or drum samples to make it groove more (make it more dance-able)?
Thx 
Hey there.
There are lots of things you can do, it’s all about movement of some kind.
Try adding 16th notes for example, or a sound that is on the off beat (ie kick-sound-kick-sound) this makes the track sound faster.
Nudge your hi-hats forward a bit, maybe push the snare back, to get a kinda push-pull effect.
Have your bassline follow an off beat pattern, not just follow the drum.
Lots of little things you can do to add a bit of wriggle into your groove.
Most DAW have groove templates i use the swing templates in ableton and it just gives it that bit of groove instead of it being flat
I know this probably sound really silly but remove sounds, usually the biggest thing for killing a groove is sounds, to many complex patterns or to much noise confusing the brain and cluttering the mix. the best thing for groove in dance music is silence thats one of the things what creates a groove (silence between the hits)
Silence is also great for creating impact and is probably one of the best effects in music
maby you did this already… maby you didnt.
make sure that you are using your sidechains effectively. sidechaining IMO is what gives a lot of normal sounds that pumping groove that flows with the drums. effective sidechaining is crucial for getting that pumping groove out of riffs.
less is more.
concentrate on picking the right sounds instead of making sounds fit.
play with your keyboard
[quote]Jon_fisher (04/12/2010)[hr]I know this probably sound really silly but remove sounds, usually the biggest thing for killing a groove is sounds, to many complex patterns or to much noise confusing the brain and cluttering the mix. the best thing for groove in dance music is silence thats one of the things what creates a groove (silence between the hits)
Silence is also great for creating impact and is probably one of the best effects in music :)[/quote]
Waves do some great silence plug-ins. Spensive though, so I tend to sample mine. 
[quote]bangthedj (04/12/2010)[hr][quote]Jon_fisher (04/12/2010)[hr]I know this probably sound really silly but remove sounds, usually the biggest thing for killing a groove is sounds, to many complex patterns or to much noise confusing the brain and cluttering the mix. the best thing for groove in dance music is silence thats one of the things what creates a groove (silence between the hits)
Silence is also great for creating impact and is probably one of the best effects in music :)[/quote]
Waves do some great silence plug-ins. Spensive though, so I tend to sample mine. :P[/quote]
hahahahahaha i was half expecting that reply or something very similar.
try to use a groove template . and start moving the hats and the claps few ms back. to create laid down Beats . for tension move few ms forward .
also trying to play your own hats, percussion with your midi . u can achieve better and cooler results than just using other people grooves. but if you cant try also over lay other loop samples and see if the swing would help for the percussion and hats .
I find the golden rule with groove is, less is definately more. Ive heard really good solid danceabl grooves that consist of mabey 2-3 different sounds and nothing else. Also your bassline is a big player in how groovy your track is. You can mess around with swing templates but dont over do it! Theres a good tutorial here on SA that shows you how to extract the grooves from your favourite tracks and use it in your own. Also check out all your favourite producers and listen to the intros and outros of their track as this is usually where you can hear the groove best. Also remember that even though groove is a term to describe one thing, different genres have different grooves. Like for example in a house track everything is shifted of the beat here there and everywhere to give a more human feel where as in techno or hard dance everything sounds very on the beat and computery for a more pumpin aggressive sound.
i find that modulating hatz / cymbals or any other high pitched sound works really well .
wack a high /low pass filter on your high sounds a rock it to 1/2 a bar or a bar … and bingo you have subliminal modulation
Thanks a lot guys
It’s already sounding much more dance-able :D!
[quote]egg2 (06/12/2010)[hr]i find that modulating hatz / cymbals or any other high pitched sound works really well .
wack a high /low pass filter on your high sounds a rock it to 1/2 a bar or a bar … and bingo you have subliminal modulation :)[/quote]
I was going to post something similar… I stick a lfo on some white noise sometimes… like a little stab & modulate the cut off with the lfo. Keep changing the lfo until you get something interesting… +/or move the midi/audio file around the arrange a bit until it sounds bang on.
I sometimes bounce hits being delayed a bit & chop the bit out that I want & use that. Move it around the arrange then too