The Garden of Sound

No, I'm not getting all poetic, just posting two videos related to Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun". A great 90s track with some KILLER drumming from Matt Cameron on it.
Here's an interview with the producer,  Michael Beinhorn.



One of the takeaways for me, aside from what mics were used on the drums because admittedly, I need to learn more about that side of it, is that the musicians recorded their parts separately. I never would have guessed that because it sounds very live and natural.

And here's Matt Cameron's track, semi-isolated. Phew!



I love the way that dude plays! See ya soon......

Articulation Exercise

This post is influenced by Dan Weiss and Sonny Rollins. Why? Because both articulate on their respective instruments in a lot of interesting ways. This is something I think a lot of drummers ignore. Namely, how are you attacking the drums? There's a lot of different ways to do it, and that creates variety.
So, this is pretty simple. My apologies for the size of the pic. We're just taking a paradiddle, and doing different combinations of buzzes, dead strokes, and regular strokes. I find when both hands are changing their techniques of sound production in a short period of time, it can be quite challenging. I also have some other variations suggested at the bottom of the page. Very simple in conception, but challenging in practice. Speaking of practice, that's what I should go do now. Happy trails folks......

Self-Review

Okay, this is going to sound very egotistical, but I was checking out a video of myself the other night. What struck me most about it was how much it captured where I was musically at the time. ( It was filmed about 10 years ago. ) The cool thing is, listening/watching old recordings can hip you to things you were doing and didn't quite develop, or how your sound has changed and why. Also, if the recording is old enough, one tends to forget all the subjective stuff around it and it can be listened to like it's someone else. I always encourage young players to record themselves and then check it out for what they like and don't like. It's one thing for ME to tell you what I like in your drumming, but your taste and aesthetic might be quite different than mine, and it's what YOU think that really matters here.
In short , it's good to occasionally review things you've done musically, so you can see where you've been and where you're headed......so, get going! :)

The Joy of Brushes

I once had somebody come up to me at a gig and say that he was sorry I had to play so much brushes that night. Now, the gig was with a vocalist, but I don't ever recall her telling anything about how to play, let alone what implements I should use. Nope, I would say a good 90% of the time, I'm plying brushes because I want to. I may want a quieter groove or I may just want a different colour for that tune/intro/soloist. I'm not sure if I've made this abundantly clear but there are way more sounds available to us with brushes, and barring buzz strokes, we can also play all the stuff we play with sticks as well. Some of the things we can do are....


Circles
Normal taps
Articulated taps ( "whipping" the drum with the brushes )
Legato taps ( playing toward the drum horizontally as well as vertically. Jeff Hamilton is a master of this. )
Other legato shapes ( lines, triangles, z-shapes, all usually done while staying on the drum. )
Rolling the brushes across the drum to make the brush almost act like a rolling pin.
Accents created with the handle of the brush while still keeping the wires on the drum
Creating "buzz-like' sounds by hitting the rim of the drum with the handle, then bringing down the wires as they rebound.
Brush flams ( running over one brush with the other )
Choking up on the brushes a la Vernell Fournier to create less sweep sound but a more stick like sound and response.
Depend on the type of brushes, using the handle to create rimshots ( in the case of wood or extremely hard rubber), mallet type effects ( with softer handles ), or triangle imitations ( with the metal handle).

I'm not actually going to post any examples of these types of playing, but I would encourage you to seek them out. ( Hint: some of them are even posted on this blog ). Have fun!

Dedication and Inspiration

Awhile back I was complaining about the sort of drum-related dreck one often sees on Instagram, but like most things on the internet, there is another side to this. One of the the drummers I love following on IG is the great Dan Weiss. His posts are always interesting and thoughtful, and he often posts excerpts from his online lessons   (available through Patreon ) which look amazing.
One post that really spoke to me is this recent run down of his practice schedule. Check it out......

Now, that's a lot of material, but when he writes "all day practice", he really means it! When he did this, he started at 7:30 AM and ended the session at 8 PM ! Think about that the next time you think you've "practiced hard" ( I'm mainly speaking to myself here, truth be told! ) It just goes to what's possible if one is dedicated to one's art form. Dan's a monster, and part of the evidence for this is right here. I'm not suggesting we're all physically and mentally capable of practicing this long ( again, I'm speaking about myself as much as anyone ) but I think we can all agree it's likely we could be practicing ( or playing, or listening ) more. Thanks for the kick in the behind, Dan Weiss! :)

When you're playing,

Ask yourself the following questions.

1. Is my dynamic correct for what's going on?
2. Am I playing too busy, too sparse?
3. Am I playing appropriately for the style?
4. Does the time feel good?
5. How does this piece start? How does it end? Am I helping it get there?
6. Am I contributing positive energy to this situation?

This has nothing to do with the above: I just think it's awesome. Here's Bill Evans, Eddie Gomez, and Alex Riel, rehearsing and then taping a tv show. Thank goodness for European tv or we'd never see any of these great musicians in their prime!



Music is great! Also, I need to check out more Alex Riel........

Quick words of wisdom.......

Here's a quick bit of great advice from Vinnie Colaiuta. I love everything he says about drums almost as much as I love hearing him play. His responses are unfailingly intelligent and insightful. Even his response to this frankly drum jock/nerd question gets to the heart of the matter! Inspirational as always......