Examples of different pulse layers using Rolling Stone top songs

This article builds upon the concept of the three layers of a song. If you are not aware of this concept please read this article here first.

The quant, a main part of the pulse layer, is the instrument that defines the smallest level of notes that will be significant to the user. It is the foundation that the rest of the song leans upon. Sometimes there is the pulse of the song is not just one instrument but a combo on a pulse from one instrument and a predictable pattern.
Usually the quant is found via the drummer's symbols, however in this Ray Charles clip notice how the piano defines the "shuffle 8th notes" as the smallest unit and this is the foundation of every other instrument in the band.



Notice that on "Satisfaction" that the quant is defined by the snare (1-2-) and the tamborine (3-and-4).



Note the steady beat of the vibraphone (I think that is what instrument that is) on the quarter beat for the intro to Good Vibrations which makes a pulse for the song. Note that it isn't the quant in itself because the guitar riff pattern is playing on the downbeats which later mirrored by the drums. On the chorus, the synth strings eigth notes take over the pulse as the quant. This changing quant pattern is one of the strongest and most used of all popular music.



On Respect by the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, the pulse is a steady drum beat on the quarter note. The numberous counter melodies combine to make the quant. All of these hang on the steady beat of the straight drum track.



In John Lennon's Imagine, the piano is the pulse of the song for the intro and the drum kit takes up the pulse after the chorus.




Mavin Gaye's "What's going on" uses the common drum quant pattern.