Lift That Chorus!
If someone were to recall their favorite song, they would likely sing the part that stands out the most: the chorus. This section of the song is generally the most memorable and includes the overall lyrical message of the song. With so much of a song relying on the chorus, it’s important to make sure this section is impactful and appeals to listeners. One great way to add a subtle layer of rhythm and lift the chorus in comparison to the verses or other sections of the song is tambourine! With tons of options out there in terms of sounds, tambourines are great “lifters”. They can be dark, bright, rhythmically complex or simple, and anything in between!
A tambourine layer can be added in with snare backbeats and help drive the backbeat, or it can serve as a rhythmic subdivision to the song and help drive a different rhythm (upbeats, 16th notes, 8th notes, etc.). This percussion layer is very effective at making a chorus feel fuller without having to add another melodic or harmonic layer. On songs with dense instrumentation, this can help everything sit in a good spot without instruments stepping on each other.
Let’s look at some examples of what a tambourine can do. A great example of tambourine layering is Maddie and Tae’s song, Every Night Every Morning.
During the verse section a tambourine layer is added in on 2 and 4. This helps push the snare backbeat in terms of impact and strength, but also adds a panning layer. This verse tambourine is mainly panned to the right side, but on beat 4 there is a reverb tail and more volume coming from the left side. This isn’t a hard right-left panned effect, but rather just some subtle movement side to side. This gives the verse some movement and keeps things interesting without being too busy.
From the verse this song goes directly into the chorus. Here the tambourine changes from a 2 & 4 backbeat to a subdivided 8th note pattern. The 2 and 4 beats still get an accent, but the 8th note pattern is what drives the chorus and really lifts the chorus and hi-hat patterns specifically.
Lastly, the tambourine layer is used as a way to build coming out of a down verse. This verse is stripped down to acoustic guitar and mandolin playing whole note type rhythms. Adding the drums and tambourine back in on the chorus not only makes the last chorus feel bigger, it brings back the 8th note subdivision that was missing. This effect, paired with steel coming in, makes the last chorus feel very big without any real volume change and minimal instrumentation.
Using percussion layers and “lifters” is one of the best ways to make the different sections of your song stand out in unique ways. These layers can be subtle, aggressive, or anything in between. Next time you’re recording a song, try adding in a little tambourine and see how much it pushes your chorus to the listener!
As an added bonus, I’ll let you know what my all-time favorite tambourine is…it’s this one. I have A LOT of tambourines, but this Super Dry Studio model wins out most the time. It’s dark, easy to control and play, and it sits perfectly in a mix. From a mixing standpoint, this tambourine also takes reverb really well which makes it very versatile genre-wise.