Description
Notes From John
BPM = 115. The chart opens with rests, then a single bar of straight sixteenths that builds under a crescendo before the full kit comes in. The main groove has the kick on every beat, snare on 2 and 4, eighth-note hats and an open hat closing each bar. The choruses add crashes and sixteenth-note tom and snare fills, and a drum break of accented hits and rolls sets up the last chorus. In the outro the hats move to sixteenths, and the chart ends on a final bar of snare and tom sixteenths.
For the player
Ray Parker Jr. programmed the 1984 record’s drums himself on a LinnDrum with Simmons drums, so the original part is machine-steady. Keep the kick even and ride the downbeat so the open hat at the end of each bar lands cleanly. Play the chorus fills as written, and save the extra weight for the drum break. When the hats go to sixteenths in the outro, don’t push the tempo. At BPM = 115 the job is the feel.
Drum Sheet Music for “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr.
