In Pop music, the bass also has become a focal point of the song. The bass elements of a Pop song, just as in most other music genres, are the glue connecting the melodic and harmonic content to the rhythmic content. Even being subtle with changes will change the sonic texture of your music and keep it flowing. If everything is the same all the time, it will get boring. The critical thing to take away from this is variation. With the further addition of fills, you can create a unique rhythm section for the song. I typically add extra percussion as the song builds to subtly introduce new rhythms and evolve the song. Utilizing percussion loops can also add a more human element to the beat and add to the bounce. Varying the hi-hats more and adding an extra snare for certain sections is a great place to start.
Pop music often contains extra elements in the drums to add more life and variation to the song. Now, just because it’s a simple beat doesn’t mean that you are done here. Then using hi-hats on each eighth-note or sixteenth-note will round out the backbone of your beat nicely. Placing a snare drum on the second and fourth beat is also pretty standard.
