Can’t Feel My Face [Drum Cover] – The Weeknd Staves Here
‘Can’t Feel My Face’ by The Weeknd is a great composition that really gets audiences dancing. Released in June of 2015 the song holds it’s own among many pop classics. It reached number one in the charts and as of March 2016, it has sold 2,413,488 copies in the US. In the video you’ll see my Can’t Feel My Face [Drum Cover] performed with Kingtastic. There’s also a link below for my drum transcription of the original FREE for you to download.
Alas, my version isn’t identical to the original drum part. Mainly because on the original the drums are programmed and my performance is without the aid of a click track. Still, it was fun to perform and the audience seemed to enjoy it too.
Drum Part
The music is in the standard 4/4 time and it’s tempo is 108BPM. So it has a straightforward drum part, with the kick drum planted on beats 1 & 3. The back beat (snare) are on beats 2 & 4. Also, the hi hat pattern is straight 8th notes with an occasional open hat on the and(+) of beat 4. Very reminiscent of the drum beat from Billie Jean by Michael Jackson; only slower.
Drum Transcription of Can’t Feel My Face
In my drum transcription below you can see that the drums don’t come in until the 1st Chorus of the song. The drums enter with a drum fill which sounds to me like two different snare drum samples. Also, the accented hit on beat 4 may actually be a flam. For all intents and purposes I kept it as a single hit in my demonstration. Also, during my performance I’m playing a 5 Stroke Roll (ending on beat 4) as the drum fill.
As you can see, the drum part in Can’t Feel My Face is more like a drum loop with slight embellishments here are there. The drum fills at the end of the 4 bar cycles are similar. Basically, it’s two 16th note hits on the snare at the and(+) of beat 3, followed by a accented 1/8 note on beat 4. An open hi hat 1/8th note then follows on the and(+) of beat 4. Some of the fills have an 1/8th note snare hit actually on beat 3 preceding the 16th notes.
The 1st Pre Chorus of Can’t Feel My Face uses hand claps as the back beat on beats 2 & 4 (in my version a splashed hi hat was used instead). They get used once more half-way through the second Pre Chorus. This is a great breakdown technique before lifting the Choruses.
Furthermore, the Bridge section has a 1/2 time programmed drum beat that has a filter effect added to it. Also, it’s drowned in reverb to make it sound distant.
Production
The production on Can’t Feel My Face is pretty awesome. Hardly surprising when Max Martin is a joint producer. Great drum sounds that compliment the composition.
Along with the production, the arrangement of Can’t Feel My Face is extremely good. It uses a simple drum part well with breakdowns placed perfectly to enhance the next sections.
You’ll find simple drum beats can be highly effective when thought about in this way. In my blog Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon, I talk about the effectiveness of dropping a snare drum beat during the verses and adding it to lift up the next section. Simplicity at it’s finest.
Conclusion
In conclusion you can see why Can’t Feel My Face was a hit. Not only is it fun to play in my many cover bands, audiences appreciate it too. Whether it will stand the test of time? Who knows? For now, it works.
If you have any comments about my Can’t Feel My Face [Drum Cover] or feel I left something out, do let me know below. It’d great to hear from you.
Also, do remember to download my FREE drum transcription I hope you enjoy playing it for yourself.
Let me know in the comments section below.
