Swing is only audible when notes land on the delayed off-beat steps — a pattern with only on-beat hits is unaffected

Swing works by delaying every second 16th note. If no drum or musical event falls on those delayed steps, the swing setting has no audible effect. This is a common source of confusion: a producer applies 16th-note swing to a pattern whose hits all land on 8th-note positions and hears no change, because the swingable 16th-note off-beats are empty. To hear swing, the pattern must have notes on the delayed subdivisions. The effect is also more obvious at lower tempos (more space between beats) and depends on how busy the groove is and how long the drum decays are. The more densely a pattern occupies the 16th-note grid, the more pronounced the swing.

Examples

A pattern with hits only on 8th notes shows no 16th-note swing effect. Add 16th-note hi-hats and the swing becomes audible; ghost snare hits on the ‘e’ and ‘ah’ subdivisions become the primary swing carriers.

Assessment

Given a basic 8th-note kick pattern and a 16th-note hi-hat pattern, predict which will be more affected by a Logic 16C (58%) swing setting and explain why.