Don't give up your sound…FOR ANYONE!!!!

As someone who generally plays Jazz, I play for small audiences in small venues (COVID lockdowns notwithstanding). One great part of this is that I am rarely mic'd, so the drums are exactly as one would hear them acoustically in the room. So, generally I have been able to do my own "mix" with very little sound reinforcement. I think this is an important skill to learn that perhaps people that only learn and play on electronic drums or only play through a sound system miss. The relationships between the volume of your cymbals and drums, the amount they ring etc. are YOUR CHOICE, and good sound engineers will understand this. Occasionally when playing a festival, I may get an individual doing sound that maybe hasn't heard a lot of the type of music I play, and in that case, diplomacy and positive communication are the key. (Unfortunately, I didn't have many of these chops when I was younger.)

Quick example, I was working at a  Jazz festival once, and the house sound reinforcement people were generally people that only understood doing sound for big Rock shows, and the results weren't that good, .This was true from both the listener's and performer's perspective. During this festival I got to see Brad Mehldau's wonderful trio with Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy, and even though they were still dealing with the same sound people as everyone else, they sounded fantastic! Now, one factor is that they are all magnificent players, but another is that they played super quietly! There were lots of dynamics, but at a much lower level than most bands. When you play like that, the sound people aren't getting a ton of signal in their mics,  so it's very difficult for them to manipulate the tones they're getting, and all they can do is make them louder. :) A great lesson.

Okay, maybe this was a rant, but I'd call it a mini-rant! Work on your sound and I'll see you soon! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHIL COLLINS!

The FORM guys, the Form!

 The year was 1983. I was a (self-appointed) hot shot going to St. FX U in Nova Scotia, and I was attending a summer Jazz camp. Many great guest artists were there to teach, but none more anticipated than Saxophone master David Liebman. Now, to be honest, I didn't know Liebman's music super well at this point, just that he had played with Miles and Elvin and was seen as someone who was on the cutting edge of the music.

He was there for several days, giving a great concert with the faculty which concluded with Naima on solo piano! Heady stuff. He also played for the drummers and sounded like Elvin, but even looser, if such a thing is possible!

Well, it was with all this in my head that I found myself playing "Confirmation" with him at a jam. I'm not sure who else was playing but my very good friend and long time musical collaborator Mike Downes was on bass. I don't think I'm telling stories out of school to name Mike on this, as we have spoken of the experience since and he has helped me recall some of the details. 

So, anyway, we're playing, and for me I'm sure I was worried about being impressive and hip, and probably not listening very well. But even with my "green ears" I noticed that we were playing a lot of A sections in a row for an AABA tune. So, after the tune ended, Liebman looked at us, and in his classic NY style said this…..

And, Mike and I both hung our heads in shame and thought, "The Form".

But a cool thing happened, Mike and I both started take much more responsibility for song form and developed our strength and awareness of it. To this day, Mike's ability to concentrate and navigate song forms is second to none, and I would like to think that i have developed a similar skill set.

So, thanks so much Dave. I have been lucky to have performed with him a handful of times since, and I believe I've been a lot better equipped to contribute to the music. So folks, don't fret if you have a slightly embarrassing situation with a musician with more experience than you. It's the way you'll learn! :) 

"Slashing" Flams

 Okay, this is one of those things that I don't have a name for, but I thought the "slashing flam" sounds sort of swashbuckling, so let's go with that for now. It involves hitting two different drum/cymbal surfaces almost simultaneously, with one stroke, creating a flam sound between those surfaces. The history of me using this technique is sort of funny. In the '80s I was checking out an Ed Soph instructional video and was trying to learn this thing he was teaching where you sort of pull your arm out for accents or something. Anyway, i never learned the technique and probably misunderstood it in the first place, but afterward I noticed that I could hit either left side cymbal/small tom or hi-hat/snare almost simultaneously. But I currently started working on this with my right hand to play right side cymbal/floor tom or left side cymbal/small tom. Here is my first attempt, playing it in a 7 thing with a 3 beat cross stick…..

It's hard to see here, but I'm sort of making a circular/scooping motion with my arm so I can reach both surfaces on the way down. It's interesting, it seems to bring the sound of the tom out more when I buzz the stroke, otherwise it's easy to lose the sound of the drum over the volume of the cymbal. I will keep working with it though.

Here's another video where you can see the motion I'm making a little better. Sorry about the low volume of my talking in this one…..

Finally, I mention how this technique can have sort of a loose, almost crude feel that I really like. I'm not sure if this is what he's doing on this tune, but on the Fleetwood Mac tune, "Hold Me" there's a great fill after the break down, (2:45) where he sounds like he went for his tom and accidentally hit his cymbal too! Great, cool fill! Here it is….

Also, although this has nothing to do with what I was discussing, check out how he switches from hi-hat to bell of the cymbal halfway through each chorus. A truly unique player, who also looks great in archeologist's garb! :) 

Have fun! 

A little fun on the floor tom….

Here's a cool thing to do with brushes. The LH is clockwise circling in a dotted quarter rhythm while the RH  plays alternating legato strokes in a 7 beat downbeat/upbeat pattern. Will this beat be a in a world famous tune that rockets me to stardom while becoming part of the sonic signature of a whole generation? :) Probably not, but that's okay…………

Oh, I played this on the floor tom because the head was in a bit better shape than the snare drum head. Again, this is the drum set at the studio I rehearse at and these are NOT my preferred drum heads. I happily use ATTACK drumheads and everyone should go out and buy them! :) 

Thursday grab bag!

 Hey all,

I know Rick Beato can be polarizing (partially because he's become so successful) but I think he offers some great thoughts here on having people you trust vetting your work for you…

…And here's some great footage of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, and Brian Blade from  2004…...

As promised...

 Here's what I was working on the other week when I made the post justifying that I was working on it! 

First is a RLRLRLR 7 beat sticking, going between the small tom and crosstick with the Tumbao BD and half note LF. I'm thinking about it in 4/4. In fact I'm singing "Blue Bossa" to myself while I'm playing….

Next I'll playing a 7 beat figure between my ST., snare and bass drum, while playing a 3 beat figure I've been playing SINCE HIGH SCHOOL in the RH/LF. I'n still thinking in 4/4 though, and relating it all to a 12 bar Blues internally.

In closing, I remember seeing Steve Smith do a clinic and someone asked him how he prioritized his practicing. His response was "If you're playing with a band on the weekend and they're playing Brick House, learn how to play Brick House."

Hoping your practicing is mighty-mighty, and you're just letting it all hang out! :)