The dim lighting hid the familiar bartender from me for a bit. Once I remembered where I was, I made sure to say "hello". When she returned the warm smile, I sat back down and waited for my compatriots, one of which was the man of the hour (well, actually, he was the man of the last 60 years, and he who spawned me, clothed, fed, burped and raised me). My father and my brother walked in shortly after I sat down, I wished Dad a happy birthday (to which he grunted), and welcomed my brother to Pasadena (where he doesn't visit very often). My dad's off-color remarks were in high gear as his Tourette's Syndrome-like rapid fire annunciations of various euphemisms for body parts were flying through the normally mid/high-brow atmosphere. Hey, it's his day!
The kit and the electric keyboard/piano were set up, taunting potential listeners with their ominous presence and capability of being loud, overbearing, captivating and annoying at the same time. My dad playfully suggests that we dually debut our duo/trio as musicians and saboteurs. Chuckling through a dim smile, I peruse the beer/wine list for a quenching beverage. I had walked to the restaurant. I was thirsty.
With beverages in hand, conversation in play, and the order on the wheel, our attention turns to 3 musicians taking the stage. The keyboardist, a 50-somthing grey haired fellow had been greeting arriving guests warmly. Looking like David Strathairn from A League of Their Own, he maneuvered himself stage left facing the drumkit and sax player. The drummer wore long pig-tails atop a slender 20-ish figure, the expression on her face as she took the stage seemed one part focused, and the other part frightened. She sat high over the kit as she collected her brushes and prepared to play.
Brass was forgetful. Sorry dude.
The band started with some very basic 12 bar structure. It was evident that we were not going to get the transcendent uptempo bop runs, but the droning romantic crooning numbers that the "anysomething" sax player could recite the melodic lines he was studying in class. I sort of cringed at first and figured maybe he'd be able to miss some of the poor note choices he was reaching for (it's why Jazz is hard).
What I found blandly unentertaining was the expression on the face of the figure behind the drum kit. I couldn't tell you if her eye color was light or dark. She seemed to focus on the snare as if it would play a trick on her if she gazed away once. She sat stiff on her throne, seeming not to enjoy herself, but to "work" the drums the same way the kitchen chefs labored over our evening meals.
As the table made conversation about notes the sax player was missing, and how we wish mon chere ami would show some other expression than misery and/or ambivalence, our stomachs also grumbled almost in a unison chorus. After a near 45 min wait, our meals arrived and we began to dine. I ordered my steak medium, but received it well done and dry. My brother ordered his medium-rare, but received minimal pink coloring on the inside, and dry as well.
Dad ordered the salmon. Good choice.
We eventually left, abandoned our plans for catching a movie nearby, and sat in a smoke shop, puffing on cigars and talking about our collective passions: rock n' roll, and baseball.
After that night, I was left wondering: what was up with that drummer? I understand jazz is something that takes more mental capacity than most other contemporary types of music, but you'd figure a gigging musician (even a student) would find SOME kind of energy/excitement for playing with other folks. Was it even fun for her? Why would she play if it wasn't fun. She wasn't terrible. She didn't foul up. She even took a solo and got a little impressive. But she wasn't fun to watch.
I started to type something like "this was a good lesson for me in that I should enjoy playing" yada yada yada... but the funny thing is: I do! Naturally. Get me behind a kit with some people I enjoy playing with, and I'm having a great time. I mean, unless Ed Murrow on the keys is giving me a hard time and I'm upset about it, I guess I could understand being morose, but really, I'd rather have fun behind the kit than most other places in the world.
(they had to substitute my $29 steak for short ribs... I wonder if the chef was a drummer...)
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Triplet Ostinato
I've been talking about "epic tom beats" for a few weeks now. They've been revolving in my head for a long time. A caffeinated me takes the elevator to the first floor of the building I work on, and if I'm sharing the elevator, I stay quiet. Otherwise, I'm usually working out some kind of pattern in the expanses of my cranial enclosure. Trust me, the reverb is fantastic in there!
So Wednesday I start thinking of a pattern in triplet. 2 right hands (floor tom) and one left foot (hi-hat closure). Easy enough. Of the two right hands, my 2nd right hand is the accent. When I imagine the beat on the rack tom that I want to play, 2 8ths and a triplet (with an accent on the third subdivided beat). I can play this when I'm not playing the ostinato, (it's easy), but then when I start using the hand/foot pattern, I'm toast!
Plus, I haven't decided what I want to do with my right foot. The bass drum (in my head) is non-existent so far. I might just use it to play the quarter note pulses, but still, it's not quite settled about how I want to use that.
So once I get this down and sorted, my left hand will be free to wander around the kit, playing the pattern on different voices (such as various rack/floor toms and the snare on accents), but also ad-lib'ing outside of the prewritten pattern.
I wrote the pattern out on a grid, and have worked on the ostinato last night and today in the duller points of my training meeting. Eep! Time to go back.
Fine.
So Wednesday I start thinking of a pattern in triplet. 2 right hands (floor tom) and one left foot (hi-hat closure). Easy enough. Of the two right hands, my 2nd right hand is the accent. When I imagine the beat on the rack tom that I want to play, 2 8ths and a triplet (with an accent on the third subdivided beat). I can play this when I'm not playing the ostinato, (it's easy), but then when I start using the hand/foot pattern, I'm toast!
Plus, I haven't decided what I want to do with my right foot. The bass drum (in my head) is non-existent so far. I might just use it to play the quarter note pulses, but still, it's not quite settled about how I want to use that.
So once I get this down and sorted, my left hand will be free to wander around the kit, playing the pattern on different voices (such as various rack/floor toms and the snare on accents), but also ad-lib'ing outside of the prewritten pattern.
I wrote the pattern out on a grid, and have worked on the ostinato last night and today in the duller points of my training meeting. Eep! Time to go back.
Fine.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
....then the guitar stops. The drums keep going and then the drummer hears the guitars stop, so he stops. The bass player looks up from his fretboard and then HE stops playing. Apparently something is amiss... "Dude, umm, can you actually throw more cymbals in there?" "Sure, ok." (Stick hits) Click - Click - Click - Click .... As the song starts over again, what the drummer played on the floor tom was switched over to the hi-hat. The guitarist nods to the drummer that it sounds like what he wanted. Then the verse starts and he begins to grumble the makeshift lyrics into the microphone...
That was probably the highlight of practice on Saturday. We took one of Chris's ideas he's been working on and made it happen. Hell, even Jason was able to follow along and solidify some bass lines.
We were able to get through a few new songs this way. Introduce them at the basic level, and jam on them until the decision gets made to "...do this for this many times and then we'll do the other part for 4 times..." The really casual nature of each member of Trunk (yes, myself included in that) makes it possible for the songwriter to drive the boat when it comes to producing the song. Usually, producers sit in and say "hey, you (points at one member) try playing this and you (points at another) try playing that because (insert reason here)". Well, Chris is doing all of this. I can tell when I've played something he likes because then he'll start to groove a little more and he doesn't stop the song and suggest something else. That's when you know I've "hit gold" so to speak.
The reason I say it's strange that this works for me is that I've driven the boat in most other projects that I've played in. The last project before Trunk, I was working by myself (instrumentally) to put the songs together. Let me tell you, that's really difficult. I have much respect for geniuses like Stevie Wonder and Prince who can just kick out tune after tune on each of the instruments. One of my favorite albums in the world is "Innervisions" (Stevie Wonder), with the first track only needing a few voices to fill out the player list. Other than that, Stevie plays drums, bass, keys, harmonica, and vocals for most of it. That track, titled "Too High" has got this really great, funky swing to it that I dare most drummers to take on. Stevie's got a feel that has a saucy, upbeat flavoring to it. He's got a pretty intricate ride pattern during the verses, adding energy and pulse to the listening experience. Prince's contributions to the Purple Rain soundtrack and his writing songs for Vanity, The Time, and his own band (with The Revolution) shows that he's got much versatility.
I look up to these guys, but realized in my past work that I'm better as a collaborator. So when I'm sitting behind the kit, and hearing what Chris wants me to do, I don't object. I don't grimace. I don't get upset. And when he's got ideas about what he wants to make happen, I listen, and try to fulfill those ideas as much as possible. Hell, I'll even offer the sticks over so he can beat out something he wants to hear. He's fabricated the song in his mind. I should know, this happens to me often as well, and I respect Chris's musical sensibilities enough to trust that he's got the best interest of the song in mind.
I've heard that a lot lately. "It's all about the song." Many people take that too far, and forget that taste and flavor is needed in the song, as much as space and dynamics. I like listening to busy patterns. I also like very simple grooves (as long as it grooves). Takes a lot to make the world go 'round... really.
That was probably the highlight of practice on Saturday. We took one of Chris's ideas he's been working on and made it happen. Hell, even Jason was able to follow along and solidify some bass lines.
We were able to get through a few new songs this way. Introduce them at the basic level, and jam on them until the decision gets made to "...do this for this many times and then we'll do the other part for 4 times..." The really casual nature of each member of Trunk (yes, myself included in that) makes it possible for the songwriter to drive the boat when it comes to producing the song. Usually, producers sit in and say "hey, you (points at one member) try playing this and you (points at another) try playing that because (insert reason here)". Well, Chris is doing all of this. I can tell when I've played something he likes because then he'll start to groove a little more and he doesn't stop the song and suggest something else. That's when you know I've "hit gold" so to speak.
The reason I say it's strange that this works for me is that I've driven the boat in most other projects that I've played in. The last project before Trunk, I was working by myself (instrumentally) to put the songs together. Let me tell you, that's really difficult. I have much respect for geniuses like Stevie Wonder and Prince who can just kick out tune after tune on each of the instruments. One of my favorite albums in the world is "Innervisions" (Stevie Wonder), with the first track only needing a few voices to fill out the player list. Other than that, Stevie plays drums, bass, keys, harmonica, and vocals for most of it. That track, titled "Too High" has got this really great, funky swing to it that I dare most drummers to take on. Stevie's got a feel that has a saucy, upbeat flavoring to it. He's got a pretty intricate ride pattern during the verses, adding energy and pulse to the listening experience. Prince's contributions to the Purple Rain soundtrack and his writing songs for Vanity, The Time, and his own band (with The Revolution) shows that he's got much versatility.
I look up to these guys, but realized in my past work that I'm better as a collaborator. So when I'm sitting behind the kit, and hearing what Chris wants me to do, I don't object. I don't grimace. I don't get upset. And when he's got ideas about what he wants to make happen, I listen, and try to fulfill those ideas as much as possible. Hell, I'll even offer the sticks over so he can beat out something he wants to hear. He's fabricated the song in his mind. I should know, this happens to me often as well, and I respect Chris's musical sensibilities enough to trust that he's got the best interest of the song in mind.
I've heard that a lot lately. "It's all about the song." Many people take that too far, and forget that taste and flavor is needed in the song, as much as space and dynamics. I like listening to busy patterns. I also like very simple grooves (as long as it grooves). Takes a lot to make the world go 'round... really.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Stick Control
I bash. Ask my hi-hats. They're angry with me. I hit them WAAAY too hard. I learned long ago from some drummer on the message board on the Tape Op site (a GREAT resource for MANY topics, I recommend trolling for anyone looking for technical knowledge about recording) that for appropriate sounding drums, one must hit the drums like you're angry, and hit the cymbals like you're sorry. Had I applied this long ago in a jam session with my buddy ChrisB and his friend Shawn, I would still have my Sabian AAXPlosion Crash. I miss it. :(
Stick control is a difficult concept for the beginning drummer to master. "What, you mean I can't hit the cymbals as loud as I want to?! But I've got anger to release, and adrenaline coursing through my veins! I'm a feral animal looking to lay siege to this circular shapen brass! My sticks are just extensions of my need to pound this beat into its own existence!!" When the tinnitus in your ears (and mine) stops ringing, listen here:
Cymbals and drums are completely different instruments. Drums have a low, hollow sound that hum when you strike them. Cymbals have a high, shimmery crash and then a ring out to them. The whole purpose for a cymbal "crash" is to infuse the song/musical piece with dynamics, punctuate patterns, add textures and voices. So when you're playing a groove and you want to indicate that the pattern will repeat, just wait and listen for the cymbal to bring you back around.
...but the hats. Oh, I can't help but feel the need to get all "aggro" when it comes to certain rock beats. Like "When The Levee Breaks" by Zeppelin... I just wanna HulkSmash that brass together!
To fix this, I'm thinking I'll have to work on something my friend Kit told me about. He said he learned it from Brain's video, "Shredding Repis On The Gnar Gnar Rad". How hard or soft one hits the drum is relative to the stick height. So when I lift my sticks up high off of the head, I WILL bring them back down hard again (as a factor of gravity, and my need to feel the groove), whereas if I barely let the tip of the stick hover over the head, I will not build any inertia when striking the drum again. Kit explained it in terms of degrees. Flex the wrist at 90 degrees, and you have quite a heavy stick hit, versus 45 degrees, the stick hit is not as loud.
I plan to use this in practice. Playing at a moderately fast tempo, and using 5 different stick heights to bring my stick to and simulate playing dynamically. I think first, I'll barely tap the head, trying to stay very quiet but also stay very even with the metronome. Then raise the relative stick height to about half an inch higher each "level" I get to. That way, I'm focused on how much control I can have.
But let's not stop there! I'll also try varying the levels of a double stroke. So the first exercise is for an alternating right-hand, left-hand pattern (open roll). This next exercise I'll use to vary the strokes when I'm hitting the drum twice with the same hand. This time, I'd start with a tempo I could play very relaxed with, and start with the stick height on the first stroke being higher, and then lowering it for the second stroke (and then alternate that to the other side). THEN, you switch which of those notes is the higher height.
Don't forget the feet! You'll want to make sure that your feet are at least keeping time. However, since I'm trying to incorporate more "double bass playing", I'll be working more to keep the alternating right-left-right-left pattern and keeping that going with my hands so I can build up the coordination (and cross-talk between contralateral movements and accenting). This IS a good exercise for the feet, though, and you can use your hands to do all of the time-keeping/alternating.
In thinking about my jazz patterns, (spang, spang-a-lang, spang-a-lang, spang-a-lang spang-a), I think it would be useful for me to develop my own progressive steps manual for that.
Trunk practice was yesterday, and it was great! I talk more about it tomorrow. I just wanted to get these thoughts out before I forgot.
Stick control is a difficult concept for the beginning drummer to master. "What, you mean I can't hit the cymbals as loud as I want to?! But I've got anger to release, and adrenaline coursing through my veins! I'm a feral animal looking to lay siege to this circular shapen brass! My sticks are just extensions of my need to pound this beat into its own existence!!" When the tinnitus in your ears (and mine) stops ringing, listen here:
Cymbals and drums are completely different instruments. Drums have a low, hollow sound that hum when you strike them. Cymbals have a high, shimmery crash and then a ring out to them. The whole purpose for a cymbal "crash" is to infuse the song/musical piece with dynamics, punctuate patterns, add textures and voices. So when you're playing a groove and you want to indicate that the pattern will repeat, just wait and listen for the cymbal to bring you back around.
...but the hats. Oh, I can't help but feel the need to get all "aggro" when it comes to certain rock beats. Like "When The Levee Breaks" by Zeppelin... I just wanna HulkSmash that brass together!
To fix this, I'm thinking I'll have to work on something my friend Kit told me about. He said he learned it from Brain's video, "Shredding Repis On The Gnar Gnar Rad". How hard or soft one hits the drum is relative to the stick height. So when I lift my sticks up high off of the head, I WILL bring them back down hard again (as a factor of gravity, and my need to feel the groove), whereas if I barely let the tip of the stick hover over the head, I will not build any inertia when striking the drum again. Kit explained it in terms of degrees. Flex the wrist at 90 degrees, and you have quite a heavy stick hit, versus 45 degrees, the stick hit is not as loud.
I plan to use this in practice. Playing at a moderately fast tempo, and using 5 different stick heights to bring my stick to and simulate playing dynamically. I think first, I'll barely tap the head, trying to stay very quiet but also stay very even with the metronome. Then raise the relative stick height to about half an inch higher each "level" I get to. That way, I'm focused on how much control I can have.
But let's not stop there! I'll also try varying the levels of a double stroke. So the first exercise is for an alternating right-hand, left-hand pattern (open roll). This next exercise I'll use to vary the strokes when I'm hitting the drum twice with the same hand. This time, I'd start with a tempo I could play very relaxed with, and start with the stick height on the first stroke being higher, and then lowering it for the second stroke (and then alternate that to the other side). THEN, you switch which of those notes is the higher height.
Don't forget the feet! You'll want to make sure that your feet are at least keeping time. However, since I'm trying to incorporate more "double bass playing", I'll be working more to keep the alternating right-left-right-left pattern and keeping that going with my hands so I can build up the coordination (and cross-talk between contralateral movements and accenting). This IS a good exercise for the feet, though, and you can use your hands to do all of the time-keeping/alternating.
In thinking about my jazz patterns, (spang, spang-a-lang, spang-a-lang, spang-a-lang spang-a), I think it would be useful for me to develop my own progressive steps manual for that.
Trunk practice was yesterday, and it was great! I talk more about it tomorrow. I just wanted to get these thoughts out before I forgot.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Split it up!!!
Yeeeah!
I don't know what made me think of Terry Bozzio after listening to some old Jon Theodore tracks from his "Golden" years. HAAAA!! I kill me! Get it? "Golden" years? Oh, get over yourselves!
I take it that my myopia is pretty evident, hopefully it doesn't outlast its welcome. I'm not anticipating having a JT fanboy-fest in each post, but I sincerely came up with some cool concepts to work on (if I can ever make time for my kit) while listening to Golden and Missing Persons. The idea I'm thinking of is having ordinary fills being expressed in not so ordinary ways. I'm thinking of your garden variety 4 note fill that is pretty standard in most rock songs I can think of. 1 - 2 - 3- 4 ee and uh Crash!
Well, imagine splitting those 16ths (4 ee and uh) into different hand-foot combinations (ok, let's see how well this comes out): (legend: rh = right hand, lh= left hand, rf = right foot, lf=left foot)
rh-rh-rf-lh, rh-rh-lh-lh, rh-rf-rh-lh, lh-rh-rh-rf, lh-rh-lh-lf... and other combinations. The reason that I use combinations in "right hand" or "left foot" versus playing to snare hits is so I'm not just hitting the same voice. If I can change up what I play (maybe not a single tom, but maybe like Kenneth Schalk, where I'm always changing up the notes during fills).
I don't know why Terry Bozzio made me think of this, (well, not in Missing Persons, per se). I guess because I don't see him as the type to just play 4 simple 16th notes as a fill an a crash (which is a cliched fill). I COULD see him playing that simple stuff, but throwing in these weird patterns to fulfill his own personal needs. Any man who creates a drum set-up that would allow him to play drums as notes and not just beats/rhythms would get bored with simplicity. Me? I guess it's just the caffeine that pushes the synapses to fire in different directions, like throwing water on a powered circuit board.
Serendipity! JT's odd patterns and voicings led me to think about throwing weird patterns in a very simple, tried-and-true fill... now if I can just get to a friggin' drumkit! I mean even a set of practice pads! Anything will work, as long as it's not the office desk that I've been banging my thumbs over. I'm sure my director (who shares the wall with me, and has asked me to turn down music before) is probably not very excited about my constantly working beats and patterns over and over again. Should I try to convince him that this is what happens when hospitals and institutions get me upset/angry?
Kit sent me back my recordings from our previous session. For having to work out some rust, the recordings came out great. They're not even rough drafts -- these are essentially my "click track" to what I will record in the very near future. I told Kit that I'd like to be able to work out the various fills in both songs, and smooth out the swing in "That Something". As of now, there isn't a whole lot of consistency in my kick pattern, and I'd like for all of the kick-snare hits to sound like they resemble each other throughout the song.
Sounds good? Sounds good.
I don't know what made me think of Terry Bozzio after listening to some old Jon Theodore tracks from his "Golden" years. HAAAA!! I kill me! Get it? "Golden" years? Oh, get over yourselves!
I take it that my myopia is pretty evident, hopefully it doesn't outlast its welcome. I'm not anticipating having a JT fanboy-fest in each post, but I sincerely came up with some cool concepts to work on (if I can ever make time for my kit) while listening to Golden and Missing Persons. The idea I'm thinking of is having ordinary fills being expressed in not so ordinary ways. I'm thinking of your garden variety 4 note fill that is pretty standard in most rock songs I can think of. 1 - 2 - 3- 4 ee and uh Crash!
Well, imagine splitting those 16ths (4 ee and uh) into different hand-foot combinations (ok, let's see how well this comes out): (legend: rh = right hand, lh= left hand, rf = right foot, lf=left foot)
rh-rh-rf-lh, rh-rh-lh-lh, rh-rf-rh-lh, lh-rh-rh-rf, lh-rh-lh-lf... and other combinations. The reason that I use combinations in "right hand" or "left foot" versus playing to snare hits is so I'm not just hitting the same voice. If I can change up what I play (maybe not a single tom, but maybe like Kenneth Schalk, where I'm always changing up the notes during fills).
I don't know why Terry Bozzio made me think of this, (well, not in Missing Persons, per se). I guess because I don't see him as the type to just play 4 simple 16th notes as a fill an a crash (which is a cliched fill). I COULD see him playing that simple stuff, but throwing in these weird patterns to fulfill his own personal needs. Any man who creates a drum set-up that would allow him to play drums as notes and not just beats/rhythms would get bored with simplicity. Me? I guess it's just the caffeine that pushes the synapses to fire in different directions, like throwing water on a powered circuit board.
Serendipity! JT's odd patterns and voicings led me to think about throwing weird patterns in a very simple, tried-and-true fill... now if I can just get to a friggin' drumkit! I mean even a set of practice pads! Anything will work, as long as it's not the office desk that I've been banging my thumbs over. I'm sure my director (who shares the wall with me, and has asked me to turn down music before) is probably not very excited about my constantly working beats and patterns over and over again. Should I try to convince him that this is what happens when hospitals and institutions get me upset/angry?
Kit sent me back my recordings from our previous session. For having to work out some rust, the recordings came out great. They're not even rough drafts -- these are essentially my "click track" to what I will record in the very near future. I told Kit that I'd like to be able to work out the various fills in both songs, and smooth out the swing in "That Something". As of now, there isn't a whole lot of consistency in my kick pattern, and I'd like for all of the kick-snare hits to sound like they resemble each other throughout the song.
Sounds good? Sounds good.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
There’s a lot to be said for being a music snob (especially having to justify many opinions). I guess that’s why I can spend so much time and energy punching little square tabs about organized sounds.
While everyone asks themselves just what in the hell am I talking about, if I say two words to drummers, they alone would stop wondering. The words: “Odd time”.
Though arguably made famous by Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five", bands like Rush, Dream Theater (a Rush influenced group), Pink Floyd and Tool reach into their bag of musical tricks in order to sprinkle seasoning (or come up with a truly wild concoction) on their songs. With Rush, songs featuring time signature changes like Natural Science, or (taken to a more extreme degree) Dream Theater’s Metropolis Pt. 1 (don’t get me started with Metropolis Pt. 2... I sometimes try to convince myself that I didn’t buy the album), you have bands that scatter these irregular beat patterns around their songs. With Pink Floyd’s “Money”, and Tool’s... well, most things Tool plays (I guess Danny gets bored), they use the irregular patterns to create regularity in randomness, while keeping a steady backbeat, the rest of the music dances around almost magically and at random.
To the lay-person, “odd time” is an alteration of the beat, pulse, or what I like to call, the “head-nod”. The nature of modern western music is cyclical, revolving around at a pace (tempo). There is the element of repetition which creates the air of familiarity to when we would hear the drum again (or guitar pattern). Odd time plays with that familiarity and either introduces an element of surprise (like in Rush or Dream Theater) or is primarily a means of providing texture (like heard in Tool’s The Grudge) to a revolving pattern that includes a non-normative amount of beats compared to contemporary pop music. So basically, it doesn’t sound normal.
But that’s not quite it, is it? I’ve have numerous conversations with Ryan about odd time feel, and whether or not it’s really necessary. Few bands can pull it off properly, but when the bands that can do, it’s almost seamless. Take a listen to “Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead. They make 10/4 sound natural (that’s 10 beat pulses before it rotates back to the beginning of the pattern).
Ok, so the reason this came up was because I had a conversation about why I love Jon Theodore’s playing so much. He’s brilliant in that his accents are outside normal convention. Then Thomas Pridgen came to mind. Most of the Mars Volta magic (as far as I’m concerned) left with Jon. Pridgen is an amazing, dexterous and capable (to say the least) drummer. However, his contributions (in my opinion) don’t carry the same weight as Jon’s does. As I was listening back to the Mars Volta albums that Pridgen plays on, I noticed that there was much play in the time signatures that the band was performing in. When listening, I got the sense that no matter how much I’d try to keep my head nodding in a time, I couldn’t keep it up.
This is where the “right” and “wrong” come into play. With Theodore, I felt that I never lost sense of where the strong pulses were supposed to be. Particularly when the beats got very complex (like “L’Via Vasquez”), I just know that my head would nod faster. Dream Theater is another example of times that I’ll lose the groove. “Metropolis pt. 1“ has all the tempo changes inside of the time signatures as well. I think it depends on my mood, but if I feel that I’m more in a mood to settle into hypnosis, changing the tempo and where the beats fall is the sure-fire way to pull me out of that mood real quick!
I originally meant to start this blog out as a comparison between Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgen, but really, I think the broader picture should be “appropriate use of odd time signatures to create a sense of urgency or texture”. How would I incorporate this into my own songs? I have less interest in putting odd times in my songs. I like throwing accents around the beat, but in the times that I’ve tried to use the random time signatures in my songs, I before had gotten so involved in how cool the odd signature is, I lost the audience.
Anyways. Can you tell that I haven’t played drums in a while?? I’m starting to go stir crazy.
While everyone asks themselves just what in the hell am I talking about, if I say two words to drummers, they alone would stop wondering. The words: “Odd time”.
Though arguably made famous by Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five", bands like Rush, Dream Theater (a Rush influenced group), Pink Floyd and Tool reach into their bag of musical tricks in order to sprinkle seasoning (or come up with a truly wild concoction) on their songs. With Rush, songs featuring time signature changes like Natural Science, or (taken to a more extreme degree) Dream Theater’s Metropolis Pt. 1 (don’t get me started with Metropolis Pt. 2... I sometimes try to convince myself that I didn’t buy the album), you have bands that scatter these irregular beat patterns around their songs. With Pink Floyd’s “Money”, and Tool’s... well, most things Tool plays (I guess Danny gets bored), they use the irregular patterns to create regularity in randomness, while keeping a steady backbeat, the rest of the music dances around almost magically and at random.
To the lay-person, “odd time” is an alteration of the beat, pulse, or what I like to call, the “head-nod”. The nature of modern western music is cyclical, revolving around at a pace (tempo). There is the element of repetition which creates the air of familiarity to when we would hear the drum again (or guitar pattern). Odd time plays with that familiarity and either introduces an element of surprise (like in Rush or Dream Theater) or is primarily a means of providing texture (like heard in Tool’s The Grudge) to a revolving pattern that includes a non-normative amount of beats compared to contemporary pop music. So basically, it doesn’t sound normal.
But that’s not quite it, is it? I’ve have numerous conversations with Ryan about odd time feel, and whether or not it’s really necessary. Few bands can pull it off properly, but when the bands that can do, it’s almost seamless. Take a listen to “Everything In Its Right Place” by Radiohead. They make 10/4 sound natural (that’s 10 beat pulses before it rotates back to the beginning of the pattern).
Ok, so the reason this came up was because I had a conversation about why I love Jon Theodore’s playing so much. He’s brilliant in that his accents are outside normal convention. Then Thomas Pridgen came to mind. Most of the Mars Volta magic (as far as I’m concerned) left with Jon. Pridgen is an amazing, dexterous and capable (to say the least) drummer. However, his contributions (in my opinion) don’t carry the same weight as Jon’s does. As I was listening back to the Mars Volta albums that Pridgen plays on, I noticed that there was much play in the time signatures that the band was performing in. When listening, I got the sense that no matter how much I’d try to keep my head nodding in a time, I couldn’t keep it up.
This is where the “right” and “wrong” come into play. With Theodore, I felt that I never lost sense of where the strong pulses were supposed to be. Particularly when the beats got very complex (like “L’Via Vasquez”), I just know that my head would nod faster. Dream Theater is another example of times that I’ll lose the groove. “Metropolis pt. 1“ has all the tempo changes inside of the time signatures as well. I think it depends on my mood, but if I feel that I’m more in a mood to settle into hypnosis, changing the tempo and where the beats fall is the sure-fire way to pull me out of that mood real quick!
I originally meant to start this blog out as a comparison between Jon Theodore and Thomas Pridgen, but really, I think the broader picture should be “appropriate use of odd time signatures to create a sense of urgency or texture”. How would I incorporate this into my own songs? I have less interest in putting odd times in my songs. I like throwing accents around the beat, but in the times that I’ve tried to use the random time signatures in my songs, I before had gotten so involved in how cool the odd signature is, I lost the audience.
Anyways. Can you tell that I haven’t played drums in a while?? I’m starting to go stir crazy.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Feet!
For the first time (and probably the only time in 2011), I was able to spend a Saturday morning at home, sleeping-in without having made plans to do something with that morning. I was quite adamant about it, really, anticipating that I'd meet with the band later. 9am was all I could sleep in to, so I thought it'd be best to launder and possibly work out some patterns. One of my roommates was out, so I was tasked with keeping the volume down for Mario (I didn't know if he was asleep or not).
The kickpad (pad for the bass drum/kickpedal) lay dormant in the trunk of my car for too long, evidenced by the dust/dirt accumulation on the face and frame. I cleaned it off, fixed the clasp of my kickpedal, and folded my persian rug to protect the wood floor.
I started with heel-down singles at a very slow pace, listening to a few songs and keeping tempo with the songs. When a new song with a slower tempo would play, I would attempt a double-stroke (or a even a paradiddle) so I could vary the patterns. At some point, I realized that I could observe what I was playing in the mirror (narcissistic, isn't it?), and see how far back my beaters were retracting after a stroke. As was to be expected, my left foot had so much less control than my right foot, the beater angle varying greatly from one stroke to the next. The difference is heard in the sound, and felt in my ankle. Generally, when you're playing evenly, you can't differentiate between sides. The mirror helps me to address that, but I'm also thinking about the feel of the attack and how relaxed the action is.
So after finishing with the exercise, I'm expected in Garden Grove in an hour and some minutes, so I get ready to head out, bringing my pedals to possibly see if I should be incorporating any left bass drum pedal voicing. The playlist in the car on the way down consisted of The American Daisycutters (my friends' band) for the first (virgin) listen. When I got around to the 405, I switched up to the LA Rock radio stations (my favorite is 100.3). I don't know why I thought to check on Chris's text at the 405/22 split (about 50 minutes into my travels), but apparently...
...I'm 24 hours too early!!! He scheduled it for Sunday!
I'm such a calamity!! A quick phone call to Chris, and I'm on my way to his house in Long Beach to meet with Presley, Laurel and Chris. Chris and I work out the patterns of the song he was composing, and yes, this is sure to be a pretty fun piece to compose. I'll have some wiggle room to throw in some cool accents and voices. I also think this new song will facilitate more voicings (more toms) and a double kick pedal may come in handy for some of the parts, so we'll see how that works out tomorrow. It wasn't a waste at all, since I also got a chance to hang with the family on a perfect Saturday!
I'll have more to blog about as long as I don't mess up the schedule again.
The kickpad (pad for the bass drum/kickpedal) lay dormant in the trunk of my car for too long, evidenced by the dust/dirt accumulation on the face and frame. I cleaned it off, fixed the clasp of my kickpedal, and folded my persian rug to protect the wood floor.
I started with heel-down singles at a very slow pace, listening to a few songs and keeping tempo with the songs. When a new song with a slower tempo would play, I would attempt a double-stroke (or a even a paradiddle) so I could vary the patterns. At some point, I realized that I could observe what I was playing in the mirror (narcissistic, isn't it?), and see how far back my beaters were retracting after a stroke. As was to be expected, my left foot had so much less control than my right foot, the beater angle varying greatly from one stroke to the next. The difference is heard in the sound, and felt in my ankle. Generally, when you're playing evenly, you can't differentiate between sides. The mirror helps me to address that, but I'm also thinking about the feel of the attack and how relaxed the action is.
So after finishing with the exercise, I'm expected in Garden Grove in an hour and some minutes, so I get ready to head out, bringing my pedals to possibly see if I should be incorporating any left bass drum pedal voicing. The playlist in the car on the way down consisted of The American Daisycutters (my friends' band) for the first (virgin) listen. When I got around to the 405, I switched up to the LA Rock radio stations (my favorite is 100.3). I don't know why I thought to check on Chris's text at the 405/22 split (about 50 minutes into my travels), but apparently...
...I'm 24 hours too early!!! He scheduled it for Sunday!
I'm such a calamity!! A quick phone call to Chris, and I'm on my way to his house in Long Beach to meet with Presley, Laurel and Chris. Chris and I work out the patterns of the song he was composing, and yes, this is sure to be a pretty fun piece to compose. I'll have some wiggle room to throw in some cool accents and voices. I also think this new song will facilitate more voicings (more toms) and a double kick pedal may come in handy for some of the parts, so we'll see how that works out tomorrow. It wasn't a waste at all, since I also got a chance to hang with the family on a perfect Saturday!
I'll have more to blog about as long as I don't mess up the schedule again.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Old Influences
I jump in my car... I drive over to Bev's house to feed Lily, Sam and Penny (ANYTHING to keep them from meowing excessively... ugh). Anyhow, as I hop back into my car (yes, there is much activity with my hopping and jumping), I speed towards the freeway and flick the radio on (lots of action words... yes, my mornings are this active).
I should note a disclaimer before I proceed: I listen to radio. I know the playlist is very "selective" (aka, SMALL). I really mess up my CDs because I don't take care of them (part of my deficit of attentiveness to putting them away), so if I'm kind of tired of what's currently in the deck, then I toggle through the stations with crossed fingers, hoping at some point that I'll be delighted by SOME gem of music that I've not yet run across. Related to this story (blog post), I found Welcome To The Jungle played on KROQ at 10pm last night. That was STRRRRAAANGE! They played Reggae this morning. That was not as strange, but still left me feeling a little perturbed. Not to worry. It'll be fine.
KLOS is playing Paradise City by Guns N' Roses, which used to be (and at times STILL is) THE song. I remember sitting in my room listening to the chaos in cacophony that was the Mike Clink production. I was 7 when first exposed to those sounds, and at 30, I'm STILL completely enamored with the entire Appetite for Destruction album. There was something about the energy and the vigor in the music that I just couldn't get enough of (and I think it threw me into this MTV-laden haze where like-dressed bands would deliver goods, but fail miserably when it came to matching the edge and poise of this TRULY motley group of rascals). As I drove and air guitar and air drummed all the parts quite expertly, a pervasive thought entered my soundclouded synaptic cluster (brain): Steven Adler was WAAAAAAY cooler of a drummer than Matt Sorum.
Now, this is a time-old argument among lots of fans of all types of music (particularly those fans with a need for hierarchical categorization of their entertainers of various types (musicians, sports figures, actors, celebrities, etc): "Who is the best?" I fed into that fallacious argumentative pit MANY times as a youth, and once I became a creator myself, then I stopped participating, but there are some instances where this comes up (mostly when I think there's absolutely an answer to that question) and I just have to continue on the downward spiral of opinion.
So, "IMHO" (In My Humble Opinion), I'm absolutely certain that MUSICALLY, Steven Adler was a much better fit for Guns N' Roses than Matt Sorum. Matt Sorum replaced Steven Adler when Adler's addiction to illicit narcotics overtook his ability to be a productive member of the band (also noted, he was one of Slash's closest friends). So, Sorum gets a thumb's-up for being sober. However, Adler played with swagger and swing, while Sorum played with sheer precision and... well... precision. I think that Sorum decently navigates through some songs on the follow-up release to Appetite; the Use Your Illusion CDs. My favorite of Matt's offerings was "Locomotive", and possibly "Double-Talkin' Jive" and "Garden Of Eden" (which are essentially the same beat). I feel that the essence that Steven lays down is palpable at faintest, and kinetic at best. He was fired inside of the Use Your Illusion sessions, but was able to track one last time, on the song called "Civil War" from the Use Your Illusion II CD. The "feel" of that song really stands out from any of the other songs on either of the two CDs, which incidentally is my favorite on either of those releases. WHY?
I think Steven Adler plays with more sense of dynamics. His cymbal crashes are akin to mortar fireworks that explode in the sky, where Matt Sorum has a consistent drive to the song, and the accents don't pull the song in any direction. Sorum is certainly a skilled player, but definitely pale in MY comparison to the addiction-addled Adler.
I wonder if his relation to Lou Adler had anything to do with GNR's rapid ascension to label attention... hmm... I digress.
Anyhow, the end of Paradise City is a 2.5 minute amphetamine rush with heart-racing, screechy vocals by Axl, smouldering guitar solos by Slash, and skin-bashing by Adler. What I find interesting is that with a good subwoofer system, you can hear the kick drum pound out groups of 3 8th notes at a tempo up around 260bpm (I THINK) resulting in a driving pulse to the song. I tried playing this long ago, and my foot would just cramp up from a lack of fitness. Did you realize that Steven Adler used to play with two bass drums? True story! The band suggested it'd be a better idea to downsize the kit to make it easier to lug around. Weird that Matt Sorum used to play with 2 bass drums (even though it was a waste... he never did anything with this left bass drum... just put up cool decals on the resonant head).
Anyways, towards the last half of the beat, you can hear Adler start to vary up the rhythms he was putting down (with the bass drum). I'm thinking he started getting tired, so instead of just powering through, he started to finesse the song a little bit by throwing some more tasteful (than brute) bass drum patterns. I just find it fascinating when I hear environmental/human aspects of the recordings in these old classic recordings. Like when Mitch Mitchell hits his sticks in drum solos inadvertently (listen: "Voodoo Chile" - Electric Ladyland).
Yes, this is the stuff I think about.
Anyhow, I was telling Ryan that I wanted to jam again. I talked about these "Epic" tom beats that I want to throw down. Thundering beats like patterns on my 14" and 16" floor toms that take up a lot of space. I've been thinking about them for some time. I call them "Epic", but in no way do I mean that they'd be "good", or anything to write home about. I've just been thinking that I want to hear some thundering drum patterns that didn't involve cymbals or pocket playing. I also think it'll be good work to write some of these patterns out so I can incorporate lots of hand/foot combinations, and left hand dominant patterns from accenting the snare, hi-hat and cymbals.
It's been 3-4 days since I've had drumsticks in my hands. I need to get my focus in gear.
I should note a disclaimer before I proceed: I listen to radio. I know the playlist is very "selective" (aka, SMALL). I really mess up my CDs because I don't take care of them (part of my deficit of attentiveness to putting them away), so if I'm kind of tired of what's currently in the deck, then I toggle through the stations with crossed fingers, hoping at some point that I'll be delighted by SOME gem of music that I've not yet run across. Related to this story (blog post), I found Welcome To The Jungle played on KROQ at 10pm last night. That was STRRRRAAANGE! They played Reggae this morning. That was not as strange, but still left me feeling a little perturbed. Not to worry. It'll be fine.
KLOS is playing Paradise City by Guns N' Roses, which used to be (and at times STILL is) THE song. I remember sitting in my room listening to the chaos in cacophony that was the Mike Clink production. I was 7 when first exposed to those sounds, and at 30, I'm STILL completely enamored with the entire Appetite for Destruction album. There was something about the energy and the vigor in the music that I just couldn't get enough of (and I think it threw me into this MTV-laden haze where like-dressed bands would deliver goods, but fail miserably when it came to matching the edge and poise of this TRULY motley group of rascals). As I drove and air guitar and air drummed all the parts quite expertly, a pervasive thought entered my soundclouded synaptic cluster (brain): Steven Adler was WAAAAAAY cooler of a drummer than Matt Sorum.
Now, this is a time-old argument among lots of fans of all types of music (particularly those fans with a need for hierarchical categorization of their entertainers of various types (musicians, sports figures, actors, celebrities, etc): "Who is the best?" I fed into that fallacious argumentative pit MANY times as a youth, and once I became a creator myself, then I stopped participating, but there are some instances where this comes up (mostly when I think there's absolutely an answer to that question) and I just have to continue on the downward spiral of opinion.
So, "IMHO" (In My Humble Opinion), I'm absolutely certain that MUSICALLY, Steven Adler was a much better fit for Guns N' Roses than Matt Sorum. Matt Sorum replaced Steven Adler when Adler's addiction to illicit narcotics overtook his ability to be a productive member of the band (also noted, he was one of Slash's closest friends). So, Sorum gets a thumb's-up for being sober. However, Adler played with swagger and swing, while Sorum played with sheer precision and... well... precision. I think that Sorum decently navigates through some songs on the follow-up release to Appetite; the Use Your Illusion CDs. My favorite of Matt's offerings was "Locomotive", and possibly "Double-Talkin' Jive" and "Garden Of Eden" (which are essentially the same beat). I feel that the essence that Steven lays down is palpable at faintest, and kinetic at best. He was fired inside of the Use Your Illusion sessions, but was able to track one last time, on the song called "Civil War" from the Use Your Illusion II CD. The "feel" of that song really stands out from any of the other songs on either of the two CDs, which incidentally is my favorite on either of those releases. WHY?
I think Steven Adler plays with more sense of dynamics. His cymbal crashes are akin to mortar fireworks that explode in the sky, where Matt Sorum has a consistent drive to the song, and the accents don't pull the song in any direction. Sorum is certainly a skilled player, but definitely pale in MY comparison to the addiction-addled Adler.
I wonder if his relation to Lou Adler had anything to do with GNR's rapid ascension to label attention... hmm... I digress.
Anyhow, the end of Paradise City is a 2.5 minute amphetamine rush with heart-racing, screechy vocals by Axl, smouldering guitar solos by Slash, and skin-bashing by Adler. What I find interesting is that with a good subwoofer system, you can hear the kick drum pound out groups of 3 8th notes at a tempo up around 260bpm (I THINK) resulting in a driving pulse to the song. I tried playing this long ago, and my foot would just cramp up from a lack of fitness. Did you realize that Steven Adler used to play with two bass drums? True story! The band suggested it'd be a better idea to downsize the kit to make it easier to lug around. Weird that Matt Sorum used to play with 2 bass drums (even though it was a waste... he never did anything with this left bass drum... just put up cool decals on the resonant head).
Anyways, towards the last half of the beat, you can hear Adler start to vary up the rhythms he was putting down (with the bass drum). I'm thinking he started getting tired, so instead of just powering through, he started to finesse the song a little bit by throwing some more tasteful (than brute) bass drum patterns. I just find it fascinating when I hear environmental/human aspects of the recordings in these old classic recordings. Like when Mitch Mitchell hits his sticks in drum solos inadvertently (listen: "Voodoo Chile" - Electric Ladyland).
Yes, this is the stuff I think about.
Anyhow, I was telling Ryan that I wanted to jam again. I talked about these "Epic" tom beats that I want to throw down. Thundering beats like patterns on my 14" and 16" floor toms that take up a lot of space. I've been thinking about them for some time. I call them "Epic", but in no way do I mean that they'd be "good", or anything to write home about. I've just been thinking that I want to hear some thundering drum patterns that didn't involve cymbals or pocket playing. I also think it'll be good work to write some of these patterns out so I can incorporate lots of hand/foot combinations, and left hand dominant patterns from accenting the snare, hi-hat and cymbals.
It's been 3-4 days since I've had drumsticks in my hands. I need to get my focus in gear.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A.D.D.
This morning I received texts from Chris Cadiz about some ideas for a new song he had. Jamming them out on Saturday was fun and I dig the song concept, but since Chris and I come from such divergent musical backgrounds, I knew that what I was thinking was going to be far off the mark, making any composing on my end temporary and inconsequential (which I’m oddly fine with). This morning’s texts meant that Chris’s head was spinning with ideas that he wanted to solidify. He suggested that the vibe we wanted to go toward was something like “You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire” off of Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf album. After some productive hours at work, I clicked through my repository of albums on my work computer, and queued the song onto the player. As the groove kicked in and my feet started moving, I start to anticipate the chord changes in the song (and since there are chord changes in this new Trunk track, I was wondering how they’d be addressed in the songwriting process), and in anticipation, I start dreaming of “Birdsong” from Tomahawk’s Mit Gas.
Cue adoration for John Stanier. I remember the “Unsung” drum groove, and my mind wanders to his work on Battles’ “Race: In” off of Mirrored. Oh shit, “No One Knows” starts playing and again my attention is back to the notes coming out of the speakers. I’ve been in dreamland for about the last 2 minutes.
I’ve been thinking of ostinato patterns and their usefulness. Actually, more like dreading them, since I can’t play a simple jazz pattern to save my life. I don’t know what it is, I think it’s just simply my inattentive nature that makes me bored when I try to reach outside of my comfort zone. But if I could get my right hand to play 3 16th notes (with a rest on the 4th) and incorporate a rock beat with my other limbs for this, I think that would be a step closer to being able to play a jazz pattern. I think the stipulation would be that I’d have to play the 2nd and 4th beats on the hi-hat with my left foot (closing the pedal). I’m describing it in a complicated way, but really, it’s basic. Any beginning drummer that has taken lessons can already do this, and they’ve likely not been playing for a dozen years.
So, I still haven’t set my kick pedal up. I keep looking at the instructions that I wrote myself on my mirror (about non-accented double strokes to “Behind Closed Eyelids”) and saying “I’ll get around to you”. I think I’ve been dreaming of the patterns in 4-Way Coordination more than anything, but dreaming isn’t doing, and I’d better get on it.
Anyways, just wanted to spread some love for John Stanier.Monday, June 27, 2011
Start At The Beginning
My name is Chris. I've been playing drums on-off for years, but I feel that every time I listen to a song (either known or unknown), I learn something absolutely new for myself (and wonder how many others it would be useful to. I had aspirations of writing a book about my learning experience on the drums, but as with everything I think about, it's usually a "hey that'd be cool", and then I get bored with it (or distracted by something else). This blog will be my periodic expose about some of the stuff that is frying my brain at the moment.
So far, I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near the drummers I'd like to emulate. I have a ton of "favorite drummers" out there, though the consistent top guys are Jon Theodore (Mars Volta), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and Danny Carey (Tool). But then when asked, I have a tendency to vacillate between all kinds of other types of drummers for all kinds of different reasons (David Sanstrom to David Garibaldi, Clyde Stubblefield and Derrick McKensie to Gene Hoglan) and I never really can seem to just nail it down to one guy. There are so many great drummers that have something to contribute to the greater, larger picture of where I'd pull ideas from. Like Paul Rudd. That guy can sit back on a groove all day. Probably doesn't even break a sweat.
Anyhow, I think a right-handed drummer's biggest issue is the left side. There are many drummers who are not afraid of the left side, but I think that has most to do with their inclusion in some kind of high-school drum corps program and from that they've worked out of the George Stone manual and the dexterity isn't suffering as bad as a recreational player like me that started out listening to When The Levee Breaks and wanted to just bash out the beat on a full kit. I think Travis Barker is one of these kats. I saw him play on the Craig Kilbourne show years ago in a drummer tribute to drum corps (Mike from AAF and Chad from 311 and I think Adrian from No Doubt were also in this), so they were all playing marching snares and striking with traditional grip. I'm not one of these types. My left hand sucks. I mean, I'm able to do doubles, but very very slowly. Anyhow, I tried working out of the George Stone book, but found it to not be as helpful as just generally playing around the kit.
I think my favorite book is still Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed. That book was phenomenal in introducing new concepts slowly. That's the only book that I've been able to work out of without getting bored. I just got a new book recently called "4 -way Coordination" that I've worked out of (just the first page), but it's got progressive steps like Syncopation, which is awesome and I'm stoked about. It's really kept my playing from deteriorating, and given me a better approach to the drum kit than stuff like the Stone book.
So I got on the kit on Saturday, which was the first time since April 28th (Trunk's Glasshouse show), and there was a little bit of rust that I worked out, but I could feel my mind still being agile, so I was excited that I hadn't lost the fluency of ideas around the kit (I mean, whatever fluency I DID have... there's a bunch of stuff I still need to learn). One of the things I noticed was that my left-side (which usually suffers for my right-side dominance) was actually more comfortable to play with, and that I was starting to get some more ideas out that way. I think one of the things that was key was the fact that I was practicing playing double strokes to a song's tempo (I'd done that about 3 times the week prior). I don't know what the tempo of the song is, but it's "Behind Closed Eyelids" by Shpongle. It's a consistent beat, so I'm not worrying about the tempo/time changes in the song. So, I'm happy that it worked out to where my left hand was actually more developed than before.
Another tactic that I've been using is getting my feet to operate while at work. Pulling the toes up while in a seated position is not something my body is used to, so I'm trying to get it more used to it, akin to playing heel-down (where normally I play heel up). Yesterday on my friend Kit's drumkit, I was able to play some 32nd notes (in a quad roll around the kit) for the first time. Though he is rocking a DW 9000 pedal (where I have some old Iron Cobra with wood beaters), I think playing heel-down definitely contributed to the coordination in the lower leg.
Kemo brought me my kick drum pad back, so all I have to do is steal some used carpeting to save the wood floor in the room from my double pedals and I've got me a cool practice location!
Anyways, I'm just rambling. Hopefully I can keep up the blogging. We'll see.
So right now, the drumming that is occupying my brain (that I'm trying to emulate) is thanks to Gary Novak on Chick Corea's Elektrik Band II - Paint The World. Kind of a corny group, but his work on "Ished" is some of the most fluid left-hand work I've ever heard. He plays with such control of his dynamics, it's not even funny. I think I may have to transcribe that track before I can really know what to do (or what he's even doing).
OH! I almost forgot... something else I'm trying to kind of work on is hand-foot combos. RH-RF 16ths at 80bpm. I've been trying to do that while I work (well, when I'm reading a protocol or something). And left hand lead rudiments.
Alright, that's it so far. I'll try to keep myself updated with my progress.
Later.
So far, I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near the drummers I'd like to emulate. I have a ton of "favorite drummers" out there, though the consistent top guys are Jon Theodore (Mars Volta), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and Danny Carey (Tool). But then when asked, I have a tendency to vacillate between all kinds of other types of drummers for all kinds of different reasons (David Sanstrom to David Garibaldi, Clyde Stubblefield and Derrick McKensie to Gene Hoglan) and I never really can seem to just nail it down to one guy. There are so many great drummers that have something to contribute to the greater, larger picture of where I'd pull ideas from. Like Paul Rudd. That guy can sit back on a groove all day. Probably doesn't even break a sweat.
Anyhow, I think a right-handed drummer's biggest issue is the left side. There are many drummers who are not afraid of the left side, but I think that has most to do with their inclusion in some kind of high-school drum corps program and from that they've worked out of the George Stone manual and the dexterity isn't suffering as bad as a recreational player like me that started out listening to When The Levee Breaks and wanted to just bash out the beat on a full kit. I think Travis Barker is one of these kats. I saw him play on the Craig Kilbourne show years ago in a drummer tribute to drum corps (Mike from AAF and Chad from 311 and I think Adrian from No Doubt were also in this), so they were all playing marching snares and striking with traditional grip. I'm not one of these types. My left hand sucks. I mean, I'm able to do doubles, but very very slowly. Anyhow, I tried working out of the George Stone book, but found it to not be as helpful as just generally playing around the kit.
I think my favorite book is still Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed. That book was phenomenal in introducing new concepts slowly. That's the only book that I've been able to work out of without getting bored. I just got a new book recently called "4 -way Coordination" that I've worked out of (just the first page), but it's got progressive steps like Syncopation, which is awesome and I'm stoked about. It's really kept my playing from deteriorating, and given me a better approach to the drum kit than stuff like the Stone book.
So I got on the kit on Saturday, which was the first time since April 28th (Trunk's Glasshouse show), and there was a little bit of rust that I worked out, but I could feel my mind still being agile, so I was excited that I hadn't lost the fluency of ideas around the kit (I mean, whatever fluency I DID have... there's a bunch of stuff I still need to learn). One of the things I noticed was that my left-side (which usually suffers for my right-side dominance) was actually more comfortable to play with, and that I was starting to get some more ideas out that way. I think one of the things that was key was the fact that I was practicing playing double strokes to a song's tempo (I'd done that about 3 times the week prior). I don't know what the tempo of the song is, but it's "Behind Closed Eyelids" by Shpongle. It's a consistent beat, so I'm not worrying about the tempo/time changes in the song. So, I'm happy that it worked out to where my left hand was actually more developed than before.
Another tactic that I've been using is getting my feet to operate while at work. Pulling the toes up while in a seated position is not something my body is used to, so I'm trying to get it more used to it, akin to playing heel-down (where normally I play heel up). Yesterday on my friend Kit's drumkit, I was able to play some 32nd notes (in a quad roll around the kit) for the first time. Though he is rocking a DW 9000 pedal (where I have some old Iron Cobra with wood beaters), I think playing heel-down definitely contributed to the coordination in the lower leg.
Kemo brought me my kick drum pad back, so all I have to do is steal some used carpeting to save the wood floor in the room from my double pedals and I've got me a cool practice location!
Anyways, I'm just rambling. Hopefully I can keep up the blogging. We'll see.
So right now, the drumming that is occupying my brain (that I'm trying to emulate) is thanks to Gary Novak on Chick Corea's Elektrik Band II - Paint The World. Kind of a corny group, but his work on "Ished" is some of the most fluid left-hand work I've ever heard. He plays with such control of his dynamics, it's not even funny. I think I may have to transcribe that track before I can really know what to do (or what he's even doing).
OH! I almost forgot... something else I'm trying to kind of work on is hand-foot combos. RH-RF 16ths at 80bpm. I've been trying to do that while I work (well, when I'm reading a protocol or something). And left hand lead rudiments.
Alright, that's it so far. I'll try to keep myself updated with my progress.
Later.
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