The beating heart of rock 'n' roll is the snare drum playing the back beat.

The back beat is an emphasis on the second and fourth beat of a four beats to the bar song. A typical track to listen to is Walk Of Life by Dire Straits. Sometimes the snare drum will be recorded with a gated reverb as used by Phil Collins.

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Chuck Berry wrote the song Rock 'n' Roll Music with the line: "It's got a back beat you can't lose it." The film about the Beatles in Hamburg was called Back Beat and I know a drummer in a group called Back Beat.

I was on the staff of Simmons Electronics pioneering the production engineering of electronic drums. But it makes no difference. Electronic kits or acoustic kits then the back beat reigns supreme.