| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 2763.1 | | MANTHN::EDD | We are amused... | Fri Nov 01 1991 17:51 | 8 |
| Most of the Roland machines supported the "grid" interface.
One hint: Double your tempo and you can double your resolution,
allowing you some more flexibility in the "swing vs straight" time
programming dilemma. You'll use twice as much memeory, but that doesn't
seem to be an issue with your application...
Edd
|
| 2763.2 | For Jazz? | BSS::STPALY::MOLLER | Fix it before it breaks | Fri Nov 01 1991 18:37 | 22 |
| As for Jazz presets....
I don't think that you'll like whats available, as the current logic is
to address very broad needs (which usually means 2 or 3 R&R beats, with
some fills, some latin/bossa nova, some waltz stuff, and usually presets
that you can't imagine what you'd ever use them for). The Roland Gear
(what I use) is quite flexable, and the pattern method of programming them
is quite easy to do, once you work out what you are looking for (5/4
is not that obvious, but can be done by chaining patterns together). All
in all, these machines prefer 3/4 or 4/4 timing (that's what the displays
are optimised for). I'd get something with both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT
capability, just for your own sanity down the road (you'll find it easier
to sell if you want to get rid of it if it has both of these on it).
A good (and cheap starter) would be like a Roland TR-505 (Used costs
around $125.00 to $150.00). I'll share any paterns that I have that might
relate (these would work on pretty much any pattern based sequencer).
For a better sound, you might look into the Roland R5/R8 or the Alesis
HR-16 or the newer Alesis drum machines. Yamaha has a series that sounds
good also.
Jens
|
| 2763.3 | Check out the Yamaha RY-30... | SUBWAY::GRAHAM | The revolution will be televised | Fri Nov 01 1991 20:45 | 10 |
|
I have the Yamaha RY-30...a bit pricey topping over $400 ...but
does some amazing things among being multi-timbral, supporting
various Yamaha wave and tone generator cards....and regular
cassette deck backup. Easy-to-use editing tools and nice CRT.
I control my RY-30 from my Studio Vision's (sequencer) internal
clock.....so no need to program it directly...
Kris...
|
| 2763.4 | Problem? No Problem. | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Mon Nov 04 1991 11:41 | 9 |
| BTW, you can mix swing and straight timing in the same bar by
programming at a resolution of 6 steps per beat; straight eighths
are 3 steps apart and eighth triplets are 2 steps apart. All the
Roland drum machines I've owned allowed this; the only problem was
the earlier ones could only handle 16 steps per pattern, so 6 step/beat
resolution required 2 pattern bars.
len.
|
| 2763.5 | onward | RANGER::WEBER | | Mon Nov 04 1991 19:23 | 32 |
| I got to play with a unit that almost does what I want, the Roland
CR-80. It sounded okay and appeared to have flexible and easy song
programming. What it doesn't have is a lot of jazz patterns. It has
three basic patterns with four variations of each, but the three basic
patterns cover different styles, so that really means that any song
would only have the four variations of one pattern, plus a fill. Not
very exciting, and too expensive for what seems to be a modern Rhythm
Ace.
I looked at two other units: the Roland R-5 and the Alesis SR-16. The
salesman didn't know enough about the R-5 to make it do anything but
run the canned demo. The Alesis seems to be programmed just like the
Drumulator, but has a better display. Both sounded fine. I was
disappointed to find that the human interface hasn't improved much
since my last machine. If I were to buy one, it would probably be the
Alesis, since it was small and a few hundred dollars cheaper.
re: .2 Thanks for the advice. Appreciate your offer of patterns, but I
already know all the patterns I need. I was just hoping not to have to
bother. We already have access to a TR-505. Using just the presets on
it is grim--I haven't tried programming my own patterns on it, but I'm
beginning to suspect that this will be easier than finding a unit that
will do what I want.
re: .1 &.4. I had meant to say that you couldn't mix triplets and
straight time in one measure, not one pattern, and I always found it a
nuisance to have to use two bars to get around it. The machines I
looked at didn't have that problem.
Danny W.
|
| 2763.6 | Drum patterns ? | SED002::LINCE | | Tue Nov 05 1991 17:42 | 11 |
|
Hi -
Has the discussion concering "canned" drum patterns come up anywhere ?
If so, could someone point me the right place ? I am not into drum
programming at all, and really would like to get drum patterns and
fills for my Roland R8.
Thanks
Jim
|
| 2763.7 | Here's some | BSS::STPALY::MOLLER | Fix it before it breaks | Tue Nov 05 1991 19:31 | 5 |
| I entered a bunch in quite some time ago. See note: 1786 (Commusic notes file).
These should get you started. While none are anything fancy, they are pretty
consistant with what you hear on the radio and are things that a real drummer
would play in a lot of cases.
Jens
|
| 2763.8 | Posted Long Ago in Music Notes | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Wed Nov 06 1991 13:45 | 259 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Musically Literate NonDrummer
Lesson 6 - Notation and Keeping Time
OK, enough talking about the instruments, let's get on to what you play
on them.
Warning - this lesson contains pictures that may end up getting split
across screens. As Notes has no "test page" facility like runoff (at
least that I'm aware of) your best bet is to print this and read it
offline (where I'll bet the pictures are split across page boundaries).
If anybody's got any suggestions about how to deal with this problem I'd
appreciate the help.
First we'll need some notational conventions. I wish there was some way
you could actually hear the examples rather than have to imagine what
they sound like, but such is the state of today's terminal art. Worse,
I can't use actual musical notation ("standard" drumset notation is
really only a loose set of conventions for abusing standard musical
notation) assuming lowest common denominator access to the net. My
definition of "musically literate" doesn't require that people actually
be able to read music, and there're probably enough of you out there
that have access to drum machines, that it's worth using a drum machine
oriented kind of notation.
Drum notation doesn't need to worry about time values (lengths or
durations of notes) in the same way that other instrument notations do;
in drum notation you use longer notes as a convenience to avoid writing
rests (and in any case you leave out a lot of rests by convention - you
notational purists are going to get a headache from all this). Drums
don't sustain; all you care about is hitting the drum at the right time;
the "duration" of the impact is arbitrarily short, and drum parts would
be more difficult to read if every event were notated as a 64th note.
Further, since drums aren't melodic instruments, even though they may
have pitch it is essentially irrelevant from a notational standpoint,
especially as each drum is usually capable of emitting only one pitch
(without being retuned) for the extent of a piece.
So, this leads us to a notation that clearly identifies what drum gets
played when, and little more. We do this by assigning each drum to its
own line, and establish placement in time by reference to an arbitrary
standard subdivision of the beat. Those of you familiar with drum
machines may recognize this concept as the "step". The chosen
subdivision can change from bar to bar, as the resolution of musical
events changes from bar to bar. This will typically be 16th notes (4
steps per beat), but we will have occasion to use resolutions as fine as
16th note triplets (6 steps per beat) or maybe even 32nd notes (8 steps
per beat).
My sympathies to those of you out there that CAN read music, as you will
not be able to exploit your pattern recognition skills to quickly
recognize particular rhythmic patterns in this variant notation. You
will learn, as I have, to move facilely between them, though, with a
little practice.
OK, the notation itself:
First the time reference; unless otherwise noted, you can assume the
resolution is 16th notes. I will include beat numbers to facilitate
counting out the rhythms. A 4/4 bar will have the following "ruler":
1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .
If space becomes a problem, we can compress things horizontally, thus:
1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...
and if bar lines are important (they're certainly helpful) they can be
added:
| | | | |
1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...1...2...3...4...
Without the additional spaces, the bar lines are on the downbeat rather
than before them, but such are the exigencies of displaying music on an
alphanumeric device. Where space warrants, the typical two bar ruler
will look like:
| | |
1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .
Then, each drum sound gets its own line. Let's take as our first
example the drum rhythm that opens The Rolling Stones' "Off My Cloud"
(it's well known enough [am I showing my age?] and complex enough to
serve as a good example):
Ex. 1 | | |
1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .
hihat |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|x . x . x . x . . . . . . . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . * .|. . . . * . . . * * * * * . * .|
bass |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
You'll note that I've notated the hihat events with an "x", but the
snare and bass drum events with "*"s. This is a carry over from drum
notation where the cymbals are notated with "x"s (ride beats) and open
diamonds (crash events), while drum events are notated with ordinary
notes. I don't know how this convention came into use.
Typical drum notation assigns the cymbals to the first space over the
staff (on the bass or F clef, this corresponds to B; drum notation
traditionally uses the bass clef), including the ride cymbal, hihat when
played with sticks, and crash cymbal. The high tomtom goes on the space
for G, the snare drum on the space for E, the low tomtom on the space
for C, the bass drum on the space for A, and the hihat when played by
the pedal on the first space under the staff, the space for F. Other
tomtoms or a second bass drum are accommodated in a variety of ways,
typically by resorting to using the lines on the staff (e.g., a 2nd,
lower pitched high tomtom on the line for F, two other low tomtoms on
the lines for D and B, and a second bass on the line for G). Sometimes
drum parts are written out on a special staff with as many lines as
there are drums.
One more notational convention; when the hihat is played in the open
position with sticks, the event is notated with an open circle. This
looks like a half note, but it will usually have a flag like an 8th or
16th note; watch out for a quarter note's worth of open hihat - it looks
like a half note - the only way you can tell what's meant is by how soon
the next hihat event occurs, which you can tell only from position. I
suppose you could use a tie across several 8th notes, but ties are
virtually unseen in drum notation. (They occasionally show up in
conjunction with cymbal crashes, which are relatively "long" duration
percussive events. You will also see them tying an open hihat hit to
the closed hihat hit that immediately follows it.)
OK, back now to our example (which includes no dynamics markings - we'll
get to that eventually). This example includes the three things common
to virtually all drum patterns (the basic unit of a repeated rhythm is
usually called a pattern) used in rock drumming:
* the RIDE beat, typically played on a cymbal;
* the BACKBEAT, almost always played on the snare drum, on the counts
of 2 and 4; this is a fixture of dance music; and
* the DOWNBEAT, almost always played on the bass drum, on the count of
1; similarly a fixture of dance music.
In addition, the hihat pedal is traditionally used to close the hihat in
synchrony with the snare drum backbeat on 2 and 4. We will get into the
combined use of sticks and the pedal on the hihat later; for the time
being assume that the hihat is left closed when it is used as a ride
cymbal (as in the example).
Also note that the bass drum usually plays on more than just the
downbeat. When it does, there is usually a primary accent on the
downbeat.
You may have noticed that I'm hedging everything with "typically" and
"usually" and other such weasel words. That's because the "rules" are
just a place to start from and are routinely broken to make things more
interesting.
Now we can talk about "keeping time". The two basic variations on
keeping "straight" time in the rock context are:
Ex. 2a |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 2b |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
You'll note that they differ only in that the second variation includes
the bass drum on every beat, accompanying rather than alternating with
the snare. The difference in sound is subtle but noticeable if you know
what to look for. I decide which to use in a given context by feel.
Sorry, I don't have any advice for when to use which. The former (2a)
has more of an "oompah oompah" feel to it; the latter (2b) hs a more
continuous pulse.
A righthanded drummer will play this pattern by playing the ride cymbal
beat with the right hand, the snare with the left hand, and the bass
with the right foot. If the hihat were played by the pedal, the drummer
would play the hihat pedal with the left foot. These limb assignments
are not sacred - I am a right handed drummer who plays with my feet
"reversed"; i.e., while I play ride with my right hand and snare with my
left, I play bass with my left foot and hihat with my right. Most
people find it easier to coordinate the snare and bass drums if they are
on different sides of the body. I chose to put my hihat on the right
side of my set and forced my limbs to learn accordingly. People who
listen to me can't hear a difference, but drummers who sit down behind
my kit freak out - first they assume that I'm left handed, but then it
sinks in.
Anyway, you should try tapping out this pattern with three limbs. You
can add the hihat pedal (left foot, in sync with the left hand) if you
want. A working drummer can play time in his sleep - a good test is to
play time while reading. When I first started playing, this seemed
impossible, but one day I noticed I was doing it (not only was I doing
it, I was doing it and thinking about it at the same time). Of course,
I mean reading something irrelevant, like a newspaper, not reading the
music you're playing. Read out loud to make it a fair test. Keeping
time is the most basic thing a drummer does; everything else is more
difficult (and irrelevant if you can't keep time).
This is called "straight" time to distinguish it from "shuffle" time.
Shuffle time is borrowed from jazz and the blues. Shuffle time has a
"bouncier" feel to it than straight time, achieved by delaying the
second cymbal beat of each eighth note pair. Strict shuffle time
looks/sounds like this:
Ex. 3 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . . x x . . x x . . x x . . x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
In jazz, the ride beat is modified slightly to this:
Ex. 4 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . . . x . . x x . . . x . . x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
(I.e., every other "anticipatory" beat is dropped. This notation's most
obvious deficiency is apparent here - there's no grouping of events into
quarter note valued units via beaming. The "x . . x" grouping would
be notated as a dotted 8th and a 16th beamed together. Then the
difference between this unit and the unadorned quarter notes would jump
out at you.)
Shuffle time is usually played with a more relaxed feel, by subdividing
the beat into 8th note triplets rather than 16ths; this is sometimes
referred to as a "12/8 feel" because by changing the tempo and
resolution you can notate it as 12/8 rather than 4/4.
Ex. 5 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
cymbal |x . . x . x x . . x . x|
snare |. . . * . . . . . * . .|
bass |* . . * . . * . . * . .|
Sheet music often doesn't bother notating shuffle time - it just notates
everything as straight time, with an admonition to the effect of
3
/-------\
+----+ +-----+
| | --- | |
| | --- | |
* * * 7 *
(i.e., read each pair of eighth notes as an eighth note triplet with the
middle stroke dropped).
Next time, more on the ride beat.
|
| 2763.9 | Posted Long Ago in Music Notes | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Wed Nov 06 1991 13:50 | 416 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Musically Literate NonDrummer
Lesson 7 - More on Timekeeping and the Ride Beat
In the last lesson we introduced the notion of "keeping time", which
establishes the tempo and defines the barlines. Corollary to keeping
time is the "pulse", the rhythmic ebb and flow underlying a piece. In
rock drumming, the pulse may be defined as much by the rest of the band
(e.g., guitars, bass, keyboards, etc.) as by the drummer. The pulse is
repetitive, and usually only changes to correspond to the large scale
structure of the song. The pulse is what listeners feel as the basic
rhythmic character of the song. One way to think of the pulse (also
sometimes called "the groove") is as how a non-rhythmically-
sophisticated listener would clap his/her hands "in time" with the
piece. It may be a straight quarter note pulse (every beat), it may
alternate beats (especially if it syncs with the backbeat on 2 and 4),
it may be an eight note pulse (especially if the bass plays a repetitive
eighth note pattern), or it may be more syncopated (like the "Bo
Diddley" beat).
We've already seen the basic straight time ride beat:
Ex. 1 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
Most ride beats can be played on either the ride cymbal or the closed
hihat. You can also ride on a more or less open hihat. Led Zeppelin's
"Rock and Roll" is a good example of this.
It's rather unusual for a drummer to play the ride beat with no accents
at all (i.e., with a "mechanical" evenness). Accents on the ride beat
(which will do a great deal to help define the pulse) can be achieved
either of two ways:
1) hit harder, or
2) hit differently (either a different part of the same cymbal, or with
a different part of the stick, or on another cymbal)
"Hitting harder" tends to happen naturally, especially on the downbeat,
each beat of the bar, or the backbeat. If we use a "X" to represent
accented cymbal strikes, these three common variations would look like:
On the downbeat -
Ex. 2 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |X . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
On each beat of the bar -
Ex. 3 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |X . x . X . x . X . x . X . x .|
On the backbeat -
Ex. 4 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . x . X . x . x . x . X . x .|
(A note to drum machine programmers. Unless your drum machine is MIDI
compatible and responds to velocity data, you are probably limited to
the accenting facilities built into your drum machine. This typically
amounts to one or two levels of accent applied to everything being
played at the time of the accent. This is not that unrealistic, as only
very capable drummers can apply different accent levels to different
voices played at the same time; generally all your limbs accent
together. The keyboard analogue is playing a 4 part contrapuntal piece
with accents scattered throughout the different parts - playing such
requires some skill.)
"Hitting differently" requires a little more in the way of deliberation
(and hence skill) on the part of the drummer. These accents can be (and
typically are) placed the same as "hit harder" accents.
The options on the ride cymbal are:
1) hit the bell, with the tip or shoulder of the stick. This produces
a cutting accent that is best used with restraint. The shoulder of
the stick provides a stronger, more piercing accent.
2) hit the shoulder of the cymbal with the shoulder of the stick. This
comes perilously close to using the ride cymbal as a crash, and
provides a big sloppy (i.e., not temporally well- defined) accent.
3) for a more subtle accent, hit the edge of the cymbal with the tip of
the stick. Normally the ride beat is played on the shoulder of the
cymbal with the tip of the stick. Moving to the edge will add a
pinch of overtone/crash to the accented beat. (Riding constantly on
the edge will produce a "trashy" kind of ride beat that is sometimes
appropriate - cf. Ringo's rides on the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love"
and other early songs.)
4) if you've got more than one ride cymbal, go to another ride cymbal
for the accent. This may not be convenient at fast tempos,
especially if your (ride) cymbals are spread out across the set.
You can always use a crash cymbal, hitting it on the shoulder with
the tip of the stick rather than crashing it on the edge with the
shoulder of the stick; this will provide an accent similar to moving
to the edge of the ride cymbal (option 3 above).
The options for the closed hihat are:
1) open the hihat a little. A closed hihat, especially when struck on
the shoulder with the tip of the stick, produces a very tight,
clearly defined ride beat. Opening up the hihat "loosens up" the
ride beat, giving it more overtone content and a longer sustain.
2) hit the edge of the closed (or partially closed) hihat with the
shoulder of the stick. This produces a fatter, "controlled crash"
kind of ride beat. It also provides more volume than playing with
the tip of the stick.
3) go to a different cymbal. Few drummers have more than one hihat in
their kits, so this means going to a ride or a crash.
Hitting the bell of a closed hihat, or hitting the shoulder of the hihat
with the shoulder of the stick, doesn't work. Well, better said, you
will get an unusual metallic clunk kind of sound that most people choose
not to use.
Note that you can't do any of these things with current drum machines.
If you have access to a sampler, sample these sounds as well as the
basic cymbal sound and throw them in as accents (assuming your sampler's
got enough storage to keep them all online at the same time!).
A common variation for a stronger 4-beat pulse (especially on the hihat,
and even more so when hit on the edge with the shoulder of the stick,
rather than on the shoulder with the tip of the stick), or in slower
tempos for a more open feel (especially on a thin or light ride cymbal,
or one with rivets) is to go to a quarter note ride:
Ex. 5 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |x . . . x . . . x . . . x . . .|
There's a nice strong quarter note ride on Bob Seger's "Gamblin' Man".
A bouncier or reggae-like pulse can be established by moving the quarter
note ride off the beat:
Ex. 6 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |. . x . . . x . . . x . . . x .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
The hihat offers a few additional expressive opportunities not available
on the ride cymbal. These are 16th note rides, and opening and closing
the hihat to provide another kind of accent.
A 16th note ride will typically not work on a ride cymbal, as it will
build up into an almost crash-like shimmer and bury the individual
impacts (it might work on the bell, but that would provide an
obnoxiously insistent ride beat):
Ex. 7 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x|
At most reasonable tempos, playing continuous 16th notes requires both
hands; since one hand also has to play the snare drum backbeats, the
stick that would strike the hihat on 2 and 4 gets moved to the snare,
thus:
Ex. 8 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x x . x x x x x x x . x x x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
This would normally be sticked as follows:
Ex. 9a |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |R L R L . L R L R L R L . L R L|
snare |. . . . R . . . . . . . R . . .|
in contrast to the normal sticking of the straight time ride beat:
Ex. 9b |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
cymbal |R . R . R . R . R . R . R . R .|
snare |. . . . L . . . . . . . L . . .|
A good real example is Dave Teegarden's drumming for Bob Seger's
"Hollywood Nights":
Ex. 10 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x x . x x x x x x . . x x x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . * * . . .|
bass |* . * . . . * . * . * . . . * .|
accent |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
There are other, more subtle, accents in Teagarden's playing on this
song, introduced by small, equally subtle changes in the openness of the
hihat. Drummers do this deliberately, or it may simply reflect
something as mundane as the drummer's moving around to get into a more
comfortable playing position. Not all art or expression is deliberate
or controlled!
If there's no snare (dropping the backbeat for an 8 bar (or so) bridge
is a time-honored trick in arranging), then the backbeat's place in the
ride can be accented:
Ex. 11 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x x X x x x x x x x X x x x|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
You can also ride on a more or less open hihat. The classic example of
this is Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll".
The open hihat can be used to provide accents in the ride beat. The
easiest is to just ride on the hihat while opening and closing it in
sync with the snare drum's backbeat (the accent comes when the open
hihat closes, so the hihat has to open in anticipation of the accent):
Ex. 12 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x . o . x . x . x . o . x . x .|
hh pedal|. . . . x . . . . . . . x . . .|
This can also be done with a 16th note ride, an effect that became
synonymous with disco during the barren 70s:
Ex. 13 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x o . x x x x x x o . x x x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
hh pedal|. . . . x . . . . . . . x . . .|
The easiest way to describe the difference in sound between the closed
and open hihat is a closed hihat has more of a "chick" sound, while an
open hihat has more of a "hiss" sound. A closing hihat mkes a sort of
"sheee-ick" sound. Listen to the examples I've cited. It's best to
think of the ride on a closing hihat as two rhythmic events - whether
the accent falls on the first or the second of the pair depends on the
context - e.g., isolated open/closes tend to be perceived as having the
accent on the close, while running (e.g., 16th notes) rides on the
closed hihat will make the openings feel like the accent.
(I will not bother notating the hihat pedal anymore unless necessary.
You can assume that the pedal opens the hihat for the "o" notes and
closes it for the following "x".)
This can also be played with the hihat left open for two 16th note steps
(i.e., an 8th note's worth), which more obviously breaks up the
continuous 16th note pulse:
Ex. 14 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x o . . x x x x x o . . x x x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
hh pedal|. . . . x . . . . . . . x . . .|
Another place to put the accent is on the downbeat:
Ex. 15 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . o .|
and its 16th note analogue:
Ex. 16 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o|
A good recent example of the former is Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere":
Ex. 17 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x . . . . . . . . . . . . . o .|
snare |* . * * * . * * * * * * * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
The open/closed hihat can also be used to segue a transition from the
more open sound of the ride cymbal to the tighter sound of the closed
hihat at the boundary between verse and chorus or break. I use the
following in Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman", where the vocal goes "but
wait ... what do I see?" (the hihat closes on "wait"):
Ex. 18 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . . .|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hihat |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . o .|x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . * . . . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
I use a similar device in Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're
Alone", at the entry to the chorus ("I think we're alone now"):
Ex. 19 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . . .|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hihat |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . o .|x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
tomtom |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . * . * . . . . . * . * .|
snare |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
Open hihat accents can also be used in other contexts as required by the
song or arrangement. Here is Ginger Baker in Cream's "I Feel Free":
Ex. 20 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |o . x . x . x . o . x . x . x .|o . x . o . x . o . x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . * .|. . * . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
(Baker's drumming is lot freer and more improvisatory in feel than this
example can illustrate - consider this passage merely representative of
his playing in this song. Also note the syncopation in the bass drum
part.)
Another interesting example is John Densmore's playing on The Doors'
"Love Me Two Times" (in shuffle time):
Ex. 21 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
crash |x . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . . . . . . .|
hihat |. . x x . x x . o x . o|x . x x . . . . . . . .|
snare |. . . * . . . . . * . .|. . . * . *** * * . . .|
tomtom |. . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . . . . * * *|
bass |* . . * . . * . . * . .|* . . * . . * . . * . .|
The snare drum line is correct - I just didn't want to fill in all the
clock dots for 16th note triplet resolution. I stick (and foot) this as
follows:
Ex. 22 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
crash |R . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . . . . . . .|
hihat |. . R R . R R . R R . R|R . R R . . . . . . . .|
snare |. . . L . . . . . L . .|. . . L . RRL R L . . .|
tomtom |. . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . . . . R R L|
(right) bass |* . . * . . * . . * . .|* . . * . . * . . * . .|
(left) hh pedal|. . . . . . . . u d . u|d . . . . . . . . . . .|
The "u" and "d" for the hihat pedal represent "up" and "down"
respectively. The "right" and "left" are for traditionally footed
drummers. "L" and "R" denote the left and right hands respectively.
This sticking facilitates moving around the drumset and feels natural to
me.
Sometimes I play a 16th note triplet rather than two 16ths to lead into
the snare/tomtom fill in the second bar of the pattern - this means
squeezing three notes into a third of a beat, giving each note a time
value of a ninth of a beat. Some (most?) drum machines can't handle
this kind of resolution, and won't let you program events at this
resolution (at least in step mode).
The only way around this is to actually go to 12/8 and change the tempo,
up to 360 bpm (i.e., quarter notes in 4/4 at 120 bpm sound like dotted
quarters in 12/8 at 360 bpm). You will sometimes see a strange time
signature for 12/8, with 4 in the numerator and a dotted quarter (rather
than a number) in the denominator! Anyway, programming this pattern
this way will run into two problems - many drum machines won't run at
360 bpm (e.g., my Rolands top out at about 274 bpm), and a bar of 12/8
with triplet resolution requires 36 steps per bar, an unwieldy bar
length unless your drum machine has truly arbitrary bar lengths (my
Rolands like 16 step bars - I can make 36 step bars, but it uses up
three pattern slots).
Renotated in 12/8, example 21 looks like this:
Ex. 21a
1 1 1 1 1 1
12/8|1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..0..1..2..|1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..0..1..2..|
4/4|1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . . |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . . |
cr. |x . . . . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . |
hh. |. . x x . x x . o x . o |x . x x . . . . . . . . |
sn. |. . . * . . . . . * . . |. . . * . **** * * . . . |
tom |. . . . . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . * * * |
b. |* . . * . . * . . * . . |* . . * . . * . . * . . |
The sticking for the hands is as follows:
Ex. 21b
1 1 1 1 1 1
12/8|1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..0..1..2..|1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..0..1..2..|
4/4|1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . . |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . . |
cr. |R . . . . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . |
hh. |. . R R . R R . R R . R |R . R R . . . . . . . . |
sn. |. . . L . . . . . L . . |. . . L . RRLL R L . . . |
tom |. . . . . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . R R L |
b. |* . . * . . * . . * . . |* . . * . . * . . * . . |
I will talk more about sticking of fills in the lesson on fills, as well
as get into more about flams and other forms of grace note, which these
16ths and 16th triplets are closely related to.
I mentioned earlier that arrangers sometimes drop the backbeat,
sustaining the bass and ride beats through a section of the song.
Another arranger's option is to drop the ride instead of the backbeat.
This allows the drummer (whose ride hand is now free) to flam the
backbeat. It's unusual to drop the bass drum while retaining the ride
and backbeat; it would be a very subtle change that few average
listeners would notice.
The next lesson will conclude the discussion of the ride beat.
|
| 2763.10 | Posted Long Ago in Music Notes | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Wed Nov 06 1991 13:55 | 235 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Musically Literate NonDrummer
Lesson 8 - The Ride Beat, part 3 of 3
With this lesson we'll finish the discussion of the ride beat so we can
go on to snare/bass coordination next time.
The basic eighth note straight time ride beat can be embellished for
more rhythmic interest. The most common embellishment is to add one or
more 16ths to the pattern. This will frequently be done in conjunction
with an embellishment of the backbeat (about which I will say much more
in a subsequent lesson). The following two patterns show up frequently
in rock drumming, especially from the '50s and '60s:
Ex. 1 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x x x . x . x . x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . * . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . * .|
Ex. 2 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x . x . x . x . x x x . x .|
tomtom |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . . . . .|
bass |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
A real instance of example 2 can be found in the chorus to "The Night
Before" by the Beatles.
The 16ths can be played with one hand at surprisingly high tempos by
taking advantage of the natural bounce of the stick. When things get
too fast, however, the natural accent falling on the backbeat will
suffer, as you use up most of the bounce with the second stroke. I have
always admired drummers who can play figures like this at blistering
tempos (in this situation, anything faster than about 160 BPM) and
clearly articulate everything.
This same kind of embellishment can be applied to most or all beats of
the ride pattern, to provide a degree of insistence usually missing at
slower tempos. Consider the following, from "Lucille" by the Everly
Brothers:
Ex. 3 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x x x . x x x . x x x . x .|
snare |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
In conjunction with the ostinato bass/guitar pattern, this has a real
nice propulsive "groove".
Eric Clapton's rendition of J. J. Cale's "Cocaine" uses a similar
effect, this time on the hihat, in conjunction with the open/closed
hihat downbeat accent discussed last time:
Ex. 4 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
hihat |x . x x x . x x x . x x x . o .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
(Clapton's drummer also does some very interesting ride work during the
breaks, based on the offbeat ride of example 6 in lesson 7.)
Where appropriate, this device can be used to put some syncopation into
the ride beat:
Ex. 5 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x x x . x . x x x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
I sometimes use this pattern (example 5) in the bridge to Van Morrison's
"Brown Eyed Girl".
Where even more syncopation is appropriate, you can shift the snare off
the backbeat, thus:
Ex. 6a |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x x x . x . x x x . x . x .|
snare |. . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . . . * . * . . . * .|
accent |* . . . . . * . . . . . . . . .|
or employ the following ride pattern that seems to show up a lot:
Ex. 6b |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
ride |x . x . x x . x . x . x . x . x|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . . . . .|
tomtom |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
bass |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
In this case (example 6b) the doubled stroke is used to shift the ride
pulse off the beat.
This same device (inserting a 16th note into the ride beat, or
"doubling" one of the ride strikes) can also be used in the 12/8 feel or
shuffle time ride. The following example is from the Animals' classic
"House of the Rising Sun":
Ex. 7 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
ride |x xxx x x x x xxx x x x|
snare |. . . * . . . . . * . .|
bass |* . . . * * * . . . * *|
(Again, to avoid clutter, I've not bothered explicitly providing the
16th note triplet clocks.) The bass drum on the original recording (like
so many '50s and early '60s recordings) is very hard to hear, so I've
notated what I usually play. Note that usually does not mean always;
this is only a representative bar. To say more now would intrude on the
subject matter of the next few lessons.
Ride beats are often carried on other instruments besides the ride and
hihat cymbals. Quarter note rides will often appear as claps or played
on a cowbell. A particularly effective device is to drop the ride
cymbal in favor of an alternate ride. See for example Bob Seger's "Old
Time Rock and Roll"; twice in the song the ride cymbal drops out for a
quarter note ride on the cowbell.
A favorite alternate ride instrument is the tomtom. The classic example
is Barrett Strong's "Money"; see for example the Beatles' rendition of
it. Ringo's drumming on the intro etc. is derived from the original
and is worth noting here:
bar 1 (intro) 2
Ex. 8 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
(repeat two more times)
bar 7 8
|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bar 9 (1st verse) 10
|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
bar 11 12
|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
bar 13 (chorus) 14
|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . * . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . * . . . . . * . . .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
(etc.)
Eventually (the last verse?) the ride cymbal does get used. Needless to
say, this is a fun song to play drums on. Worthy of note are the
"turned around" "backbeat" during the verse (shifted from 2 and 4 to 1
and 3; see bar 11); the simple 8th note "fill" used to segue from the
intro (and later the chorus) into the verse (see bar 10); and the
syncopation that segues into the chorus (see bar 12). And throughout it
all, the constant ride on the tomtom. This is a powerful beat that
never fails to get people up on their feet dancing and clapping their
hands.
Another good example of a tomtom ride, also taken from the Beatles
repertoire (see why I get upset when people say Ringo was a lousy
drummer) is the bridge of "Hold Me Tight" ("don't know, what it means to
hold you tight"):
Ex. 9 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
claps |x . . . x . . . x . x . x . . .|
snare |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
tomtom |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
One of the things that should be clear from these examples is the role
the ride instrument can play in delineating the large scale structure of
a song. Changing the ride instrument from verse to chorus, or during
the bridge, or during a break (usually a verse), can be very effective.
In some unusual circumstances, even the snare drum can be used as a ride
instrument. Two examples that come to mind are Little Eva's
"Locomotion":
Ex. 10 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . * . * . * . . . * . * . * .|
tomtom |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . * . . . * . . . * . . . * .|
(note the offbeat accents) and the Bell Notes "I've Had It" intro:
Ex. 11 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
shaker |x . x . x . x . x . x . x . x .|
snare |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
accent |* . . . . . . . * . . . . . . .|
Well, without getting lost in details or enmired in interesting examples
of how to break the "rules", that pretty much covers the subject of the
ride beat.
I'll talk about the use of crash cymbals when I get to fills in a
subsequent lesson. Next time, though, I'll talk about the basic
snare/bass patterns used in rock drumming.
|
| 2763.11 | Posted Long Ago in Music Notes | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Wed Nov 06 1991 13:57 | 666 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Non-Drummer
Lesson 9 - Snare/Bass Coordination
While the ride beat and the snare/bass pattern are not completely
independent of one another, it's useful initially to talk about them as
if they were orthogonal. The snare and bass pattern provides the core
or nucleus of the drumset's contribution to a song's rhythm. Most
pop/rock songs use a given pattern extensively; while a song might be
more or less a hundred bars long, it will typically use only a dozen or
two distinct drum patterns altogether, and of those, usually no more
than two or three account for the majority of use. The others are
generally bars containing fills, used to provide large scale structural
accents and variety, many for one time use. We'll talk about fills in a
subsequent lesson. This lesson focuses on that handful of bars/patterns
that provide the rhythmic backbone of a song.
This differs fundamentally from jazz drumming, where far more variety is
the norm, and the drums are less of a backbone and more an integral part
of the tissue of a piece.
I talked a little bit some time ago about the roles of the bass and
snare in rock drumming. The bass has two roles:
1) to provide a timbral "bottom" for the sound. Large tomtoms tuned
low can approach the bass drum range, but a well-tuned drumset
usually keeps the low toms and bass out of each other's way (and out
of the bass guitar's way as well). The bass drum's sound is tighter
and has a shorter decay and less pronounced impact noise - this is
the beater/pad combination vs. the stick and head. A tomtom has a
fatter, purer, more pitched tone than the bass, with longer decay
and more bend.
2) to delineate the pulse. While the ride cymbal defines the
underlying "clock" for the beat, the bass drum provides the accents
on that clock, via its placement and its own accents. A key role of
the bass drum is defining the downbeat, or "where 1 is". This is
more important for dance music than listening music.
You can use a double bass drum configuration for more power (most single
bass drummers look at this as a sort of cheating, but it's really just
the choir principle - two instruments together usually sound better than
one instrument loud), or for tonal variety and "bass drum fills". (You
can usually tell a drum machine track programmed by a non-drummer by the
use of fill patterns in the bass, something live drummers rarely do.
This practice seems especially true of the funk and disco genres.) Bass
drum fills remind me of "bass guitar as a lead instrument" - while it's
an interesting notion that probably has a place, in most (commercial)
situations when the bass player starts playing lead the bottom falls out
of the music. A similar thing happens when the bass drum starts playing
too busily or too freely. Now, that's not to say that a busy bass drum
is a bad thing; it just requires good judgement and taste. I have heard
jazz drummers describe rock bass drum technique as "busy", but I think
they mean "recurring", especially with respect to the downbeat. In jazz
the bass drum is used mostly for accents rather than as a key part of
the timekeeping strategy. Anyway, I'd suggest checking out John Bonham
of Led Zeppelin, Neil Peart of Rush and Mitch Mitchell with Jimi Hendrix
as rock drummers with interesting bass drum technique.
The snare also has two roles:
1) to lay down the backbeat on beats 2 and 4 of each bar, and
2) to provide accents and fills.
I don't know why the backbeat is such a fixture of dance (and
dance-based pop) music, but it's the single most important part from the
drummer's perspective. You can get by without anything but a snare drum
in your kit. Ask any drummer "if you could only use one part of your
kit, what would it be?" and the answer will universally be "my snare".
You can get by with no ride, you can get by with no bass, but a dance
tune without a backbeat is not a dance tune. This is probably a
cultural effect, but I'd be interested in any historical background
anyone could offer.
When I think of snare/bass coordination, I usually think of it as
falling into four classes:
1) patterns with the bass drum on every beat. There are two important
variations on this theme;
2) patterns based on an eighth note pulse, but the snare and bass don't
play at the same time. There are theoretically 64 of these patterns
(8 eighth note "slots" per bar; 2 are "used up" by the snare
backbeat on 2 and 4, so 6 are left for the bass drum; in each of the
available slots, the bass can be present or absent, hence 2^6
possible patterns) but 32 are "uninteresting" by virtue of there
being no bass drum on the downbeat (1st beat of the bar), and of the
32 remaining, only a handful are commonly used;
3) patterns where the bass drum is synched to a 16th note resolution,
and the bass and snare interact at 16th note resolution. These
patterns tend to sound "funkier"; and
4) patterns that are two or more bars long, built from single bar
patterns from the first three classes.
Now I admit that this is a fairly arbitrary way to classify things, but
I've found it useful from a playing point of view.
The two "on every beat" bass/snare patterns are:
Ex. 1 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . * . * . * .|
This (example 1) is the classic 4/4 beat introduced earlier in this
series. Despite (perhaps because of?) its simplicity, it is a mainstay
of rock timekeeping.
Ex. 2 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * * * * * * *|
Example 2 has a much more insistent pulse to it, especially if the bass
guitar or keyboard plays a steady 8th note figure for the bass.
The 32 "snare or bass but not both at the same time and bass always on
the downbeat" patterns follow in examples 3 through 34. This lesson now
approaches true "drum book" style, by enumerating every possible pattern
you could play, whether they're musically interesting or not. Still, I
have used almost all of these in real playing situations, perhaps not as
the "main" drum pattern of a song, but at least for a bar or two as a
leadin or transition.
Before you look at these examples, you might want to try enumerating all
the possibilities yourself. You also might want to play each of these,
or program them on a drum machine. If you don't have access to a
drumset or drum machine, but do have access to a synthesizer that has
snare and bass drum patches and allows split keyboard access to two
patches at the same time, you can play them on a keyboard. Or, you can
resort to drummers' time-honored way of communicating musical ideas with
other notationally illiterate musicians - you can "sing" the parts using
"boom/chick" phonetics (not unlike the boles of Indian drumming).
These patterns have been grouped in pairs that differ only in the
presence of the bass drum on the "4-and-a-half" beat, anticipating the
downbeat of the next bar. This is another admittedly arbitrary
classification, but it feels natural to me.
Ex. 3 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 4 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . . . . .| bass |* . . . . . . *|
Ex. 5 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 6 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . . . . . .| bass |* * . . . . . *|
Examples 3 through 6 are probably the most rarely used of these
patterns, because of the "bass drum gap" between the 2 and 4 backbeats.
This can sometimes be an interesting variation for a bar or so,
especially if the drums are exposed or playing alone.
Ex. 7 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 8 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * . . . .| bass |* . . * . . . *|
Example 7 is a Stan Lynch (Tom Petty's drummer) "signature". Stan is an
excellent drummer, in the "simpler is better" vein of Charlie Watts and
Ringo Starr, but with more power and a fuller sound. Stan prefers BIG
drums, and you can hear it. Check out just about any Tom Petty number
(my favorite is "The Waiting") to hear this pattern. (We'll hear more
from Stan in the lesson on fills.) Stan's not the only drummer to use
this pattern; I heard it again just this morning on Badfinger's old hit
"No Matter What".
Ex. 9 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 10 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . .| bass |* . . . * . . *|
Example 9 is a variation of Example 1. At high tempos it may be a
little easier to play, and the snare will be a little crisper without
the bass drum doubling it.
Ex. 11 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 12 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . . * . .| bass |* . . . . * . *|
Examples 11 and 12 are unusual in their syncopation. Example 12 shows
up in Charlie Watts' playing on the Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman".
Ex. 13 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 14 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * . . . .| bass |* * . * . . . *|
Example 14 is used in the Kinks' famous "You Really Got Me".
Ex. 15 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 16 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . . * . . .| bass |* * . . * . . *|
Ex. 17 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 18 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . . . * . .| bass |* * . . . * . *|
Ex. 19 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 20 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * * . . .| bass |* . . * * . . *|
James Morton, author of "Mel Bay's Anthology of Rock Drumming", claims
that example 19 is the most common rock drum pattern, closely followed
by example 1. A famous example is Stewart Copeland's drumming on the
Police's big hit "Every Breath You Take"; don't be fooled by the
metronomic bass guitar. Example 20 is common variant; see for example
"DeDoDoDo" by The Police. These bass drum rhythms are also very common
in bass guitar parts.
Incidentally, Morton's book is one of the few drum books that I would
unreservedly recommend to drummers and non-drummers alike. It contains
over 800 different examples of drum parts taken from real songs, and so
far I've found only a few to be wrong. The examples are usually only of
the "main" drum pattern found in the song, so the book is not useful (or
intended) as a "fake book", but it does show the incredible diversity
possible within as limited a scope as rock drumming, and is full of
ideas for creating interesting drum parts.
Ex. 21 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 22 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * . * . .| bass |* . . * . * . *|
Examples 21 and 22 have a nice syncopated feel to them, with the bass
drum "straddling" beat 3. See also examples 27 and 28 and later
examples of two bar patterns.
Ex. 23 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 24 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . * * . .| bass |* . . . * * . *|
Example 23 shows up in Van Halen's latest, "Dreams". Example 24 is a
Ringo Starr "signature". This pattern shows up in a lot of early
Beatles tunes.
Ex. 25 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 26 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * * . . .| bass |* * . * * . . *|
Example 25 is a classic riff from the Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some
Lovin'". It's like example 24 except the two bass drum pairs straddle
the first backbeat rather than the second. The overall effect is quite
different though, underscoring the importance of a listener's perception
of where the downbeat ("1") is. (There's a nice Alan Holdsworth number
called "Where Is 1?" that makes a similar point with a little tongue in
cheek.) Example 25 also shows up in Led Zeppelin's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave
You".
Ex. 27 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 28 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * . * . .| bass |* * . * . * . *|
Ex. 29 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 30 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . . * * . .| bass |* * . . * * . *|
Ex. 31 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 32 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * * * . .| bass |* . . * * * . *|
Ex. 33 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .| Ex. 34 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * * * . .| bass |* * . * * * . *|
Example 34 is analogous to Example 2 in the same way Example 9 is
analogous to Example 1, and it has an equally driving pulse. John
Bonham of Led Zeppelin uses this one in "Rock and Roll", at a fairly
manic tempo (about 170 beats/minute), although Morton claims he's
playing example 2 (it can be hard to distinguish example 2 and example
34). It also shows up in the Psychedelic Furs' "Heaven", with a
completely different feel.
These patterns all have analogues in 12/8 or shuffle time. As explained
in an earlier lesson, these analogues are derived by replacing each
eighth note pair with an "eighth triplet" or a "dotted eighth and
sixteenth":
|1 . 2 .| |1 . . 2 . .| |1 . . . 2 . . .|
=> or
|* * * *| |* . * * . *| |* . . * * . . *|
Applied (for example) to example 19, this would generate:
Ex. 35 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
snare |. . . * . . . . . * . .|
bass |* . . . . * * . . . . .|
or
Ex. 36 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . . * * . . . . . . .|
Or, applied to example 34,
Ex. 37 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
snare |. . . * . . . . . * . .|
bass |* . * . . * * . * . . *|
to generate the generic "slow blues" pattern.
The 16th note shuffle version looks like:
Ex. 38 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . * . . . * * . . * . . . *|
Example 38 nicely sets us up to talk about the third class of snare/bass
patterns.
There are obviously a VERY large number of possible snare/bass patterns
if we go to 16th note resolution. I will mention only a a handful of
representative examples that show up commonly.
One trick, of which we will see more when we get to fills, is to use
3/16 groupings to provide a syncopated feel. A good example of this is
David Robinson's drumming in the Cars' "Drive":
Ex. 39 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . * . . * . . . . . . . . .|
This example also uses another variation, that of dropping the first of
the backbeats. The classic example of this is in the Ronettes' "Be My
Baby", with the legendary Hal Blaine drumming:
Ex. 40 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . . . . . * .|. . . . . * * *|
bass |* . . * * . . .|* . . * * . . .|
Another common pattern is to adopt the 1/16th resolution shuffle ride
beat in the bass (a la example 38), especially if only for the first
beat of the bar. Here is David Bowie's "Let's Dance":
Ex. 41 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . * . . * . * . . . . . . .|
or this example from the Doobie Brothers' "Without Love":
Ex. 42 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . * . . * . . . * . . . * .|
16th note resolution patterns also show up in ornamentations of the
basic snare/bass patterns, but that's the subject of the next lesson.
Up to now we've religiously committed the bass drum to the down beat.
This need not always be the case, but repetitive rhythms with no
downbeat marker can be hard to track. (Remember, this is dance music
for the teenaged masses.) One of the rare instances where this
convention is abandoned is Creedance Clearwater Revival's rendition of
Dale Hawkins' "Suzie Q":
Ex. 43 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |. * . * . * . *|
This has that "skipping" bass drum of examples 21, 22, 27 and 28, but
now interposed between *both* backbeats. In consequence you can hear
these pairs as straddling the backbeats, grouping them thus:
--+-------+----- +-------+-------
instead of
snare |. . * . . . * .| snare |. . * . . . * .|
bass |. * . * . * . *| bass |. * . * . * . *|
and hearing this as an edited polka, shifting the perceived downbeat a
half beat from where it really is!
Less unusual is abandoning the commitment of the bass drum to the
downbeat only for the 2nd bar of a two bar pattern, for example, this
pattern we saw earlier in Cream's "I Feel Free", and which also occurs
in the break to John Fogerty's "Rock and Roll Girls". Now the skipping
bass drum straddles only the downbeat of the second bar:
Ex. 44 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * * . . *|. * . * * . . .|
or this example from Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop""
Ex. 45 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . * * . *|. * . . * * . *|
This skipping pair serves to tie the two bars together in an interesting
way; listen to what happens to example 44 if the first of the pair is
dropped:
Ex. 46 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * * . . .|. * . * * . . .|
Now the first backbeat of the second bar comes on in a rush, led by that
divorced bass drum beat just after the unmarked downbeat.
This all nicely leads into the fourth class of snare/bass patterns -
multiple bar patterns, which we've already begun to discuss.
A classic two bar pattern is the "Bo Diddley beat", but we'll save that
for next time, as its syncopation plays into the subject of embellishing
the backbeat.
Simple Minds' recent hit "(Don't You) Forget About Me" uses a two bar
pattern consisting of examples 19 and 41 concatenated (example 7 makes
numerous appearances too):
Ex. 47 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . . . . . . * . . .|
bass |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|* . . * . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Another common concatenation is examples 20 and 25:
Ex. 48 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . |
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * . |
bass |* . . * * . . *|* * . * * . . . |
Note that this is just example 44 with the 2nd bar's downbeat restored.
You can of course go the other way - and put more of that skipping bass
drum into a two bar pattern:
Ex. 49 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * . * . *|. * . * . * . *|
Note that this is just the "Suzie Q" beat (example 43) with the downbeat
reasserted every other bar. With a quarter note ride, this has a nice
driving "push/pull" feel to it.
Then there's this from Ringo on the Beatles' "Paperback Writer"
(examples 7 and 29 concatenated):
Ex. 50 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * . . . .|* * . . * * . .|
or this from Max Weinberg on Bruce Springsteen's "Dancin' in the Dark"
(examples 9 and 25 concatenated):
Ex. 51 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . * . . .|* * . * * . . .|
Two bar patterns obviously break up the "monotony" of an unvaryingly
repeated single bar pattern, and lead to longer rhythmic phrases. They
are certainly more interesting to play.
Longer patterns are of course possible, but when you start talking about
patterns that run four or more bars, you're getting into the realm of
song structure, the topic of a later lesson. Three (five, six, seven,
nine, etc.) bar patterns are very unusual in rock drumming; I think this
is largely a consequence of the very strong predisposition to four bar
phrases of most pop song writers.
Patterns with the snare on the backbeat are not the only possibility -
without even getting into Latin and African rhythms there are other
dance rhythms that show up in pop tunes. We will explore these
variations in the next lesson.
There are a few additional variations on the basic time-keeping beat
that are important. For example, there's the classic pounding 4 to the
bar beat of Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", Paul Revere and the
Raiders' "Kicks" and the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction", or the more
"laid back" feel of the Turtles' "Happy Together":
Ex. 52 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |* . * . * . * .|
bass |* . * . * . * .|
This "snare on every beat" approach can be combined with the running
bass drum of example 2 (bearing to example 40 the same relation that
example 2 bears to example 1) to generate the pattern Ringo alternates
with example 29 during the verses of the Beatles' "Birthday", and which
constitute 7 bars of its 8 bar drum break:
Ex. 53 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |* . * . * . * .|
bass |* * * * * * * *|
But that's not all that's possible; if you double the apparent tempo of
example 9 by halving the time values (a process called "diminution"),
you get a polka:
Ex. 54 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. * . * . * . *|
bass |* . * . * . * .|
which also has a 12/8 analogue:
Ex. 55 |1 . . 2 . . 3 . . 4 . .|
snare |. . * . . * . . * . . *|
bass |* . . * . . * . . * . .|
Example 55 is the main drum pattern of the Yardbirds' "I'm a Man"; it
reverts to the straight time version of example 54 during the break
(with a somewhat more elaborate bass drum).
Because the polka of example 54 feels like example 9 in double time, it
is often used in a song's coda to give the exit a nice kick. See for
example the coda/vamps to The Kinks "'Til the End of the Day", Paul
Revere and the Raiders' "Steppin' Out", or the Beatles' "She Said She
Said". Example 54 is also the main beat of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To
Want Me".
If we double-time example 21 and tack on a double timed version of
example 9 with its downbeat dropped, we get this polka variant that Stan
Lynch uses in Tom Petty's "American Girl":
Ex. 56 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . * . . . * . . . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . * . * . . . . . . * . . .|
An interesting variation on this double-times examples 27 and 29:
Ex. 57 |1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .|
snare |. . * . . . * . . . * . . . * .|
bass |* * . * . * . . * * . . * * . .|
You can also halve the apparent tempo by doubling time values (called
"augmentation"). This can be done during a song to give it a sudden
open feel. This places the "backbeats" on beat 3 of each bar; a good
recent example is the chorus of Aha's "Take On Me", which shifts from
example 9 to:
Ex. 58 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . . . * . . .|. . . . * . . .|
bass |* * * . . . . *|* * * . . . . .|
Only the backbeat is augmented, but during this passage it is flammed;
the ride beat continues unchanged, but the bass drum changes completely.
Older examples of augmentation include the end of the live version of
Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" (in which example 54 shifts back
to example 9).
All right - we've looked at a lot of examples, but why did these
drummers choose to play that particular pattern in that particular song?
I can't tell you what went through their heads, but I can tell you the
sort of considerations I make when creating or picking (there's an
enormous repertoire of "standards" or "cliches" depending on your
perspective) a drum part for a song.
I see a couple of different perspectives to decide along:
* should the drums "fit in" or "stand out" with respect to the rest of
the song?
* are the drums a part of the texture of the piece or a background or
foundation for the other instruments to play against?
* does the song require a "simple" or a "complex" drum part?
When I jam, I have to improvise a drum part in real time. Depending on
what I feel from the rest of the jammers, I will either start out with
an emphatic drum part (e.g., playing any of examples 7, 12, 13, 14, 21,
25, 37, 41 etc.) which will establish a rhythmic "feel" that is hard to
contravene (e.g., example 13 is SO distinctive that it almost always
provokes "Honky Tonk Woman"), or I will lay back and just keep time
until I see where they want to go, and then adapt my drumming
accordingly.
And there are times when I'm working out a cover and I disagree anywhere
from a little to a lot with the part the drummer (or producer, or
arranger) has chosen. Finally there are the occasions where I have to
create a drum part from scratch for a new song. Unless the core rhythms
to the song are very syncopated or unusual (again, I'm leaving out Latin
and Reggae songs), I take the following for granted as as a place to
start from:
Ex. 59 |1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .|
snare |. . * . . . * .|. . * . . . * .|
bass |* . . . . . . .|* . . . . . . .|
(This is just example 3 again.)
I may, of course, reconsider this as the part evolves, especially the
downbeat of the second bar. I then fill in the bass drum based on where
the rhythmic accents in the bass and rhythm guitars lie. Usually the
bass drum will double the snare only when its part is metronomic (like
examples 1, 2, 50 or 51). I also have to pick a ride beat and ride
instrument (which ride cymbal - tight or loose? or the hihat - if so,
how open or closed? or something else like the tomtom? etc.) If the
song calls for more contrast between the drums and the other
instruments, or a more florid or syncopated part, we get into the
subject of the next lesson.
As you can see, a lot is possible based on some very basic ideas. Just
how many drum patterns are there? A VERY large number. A "ballpark"
analysis might go like this - a typical drummer has two hands and two
feet. A typical drumset has 7 voices that can be played with the hands
(snare, high tom, medium tom, low tom, hihat, ride, and crash), and two
that can be played with the feet (bass and hihat). If we consider all
possible patterns with 16th note resolution, we have 16 "slots" per bar,
each of which can take on one of some number of voice combinations.
These combinations can consist of no, 1, 2, 3, or 4 voices. There's 1
way to play no voices. There are 9 ways to play 1 voice (the two foot
options plus the 7 hand options). There are 99 ways to play 2 voices
(bass+hihat pedal; bass+(one of 7 hand options); hihat+(1 of 7 hand
options); 7 things taken 2 at a time (= 7!/(5!*2!) = 84) combinations of
2 hand options). There are 175 ways to play 3 voices at a time (trust
me), and 84 ways to play 4 things at a time (don't forget that the feet
are committed to the bass and hihat!). So that's a total of 368
possibilities for each of 16 slots, or 368^16 patterns, without taking
into account accents, flams, triplets, etc.. Now, 368^16 is a VERY
large number. I had to resort to logarithms (it overflows my Amiga) to
figure it out. That's 1.13*10^41. That's a hundred thousand billion
billion billion billion. If that number is hard to relate to, look at
it this way: it would take a computer enumerating these patterns at one
per microsecond about two hundred million billion times the age of the
universe to enumerate them all. Take *that*, Carl Sagan!
Well, I had hoped to be "comprehensive", but even this superficial
survey is pushing 800 source lines, so we'll have to leave it at this,
having at least touched on the major issues. Next time, embellishing
the backbeat.
|
| 2763.12 | Thanks Dr. Len | SED002::LINCE | | Wed Nov 06 1991 14:19 | 5 |
| Thanks - I sometimes have a difficult time traking down notes based on
keyword (too generic). Len, you are a legend in my circles - when you
gonna publish a book ?
Jim Lince
|
| 2763.13 | Seconded! | JANUS::CWALSH | The Man Who Knew Too Often | Thu Nov 07 1991 10:02 | 7 |
|
Well written, that man!
Any chance of posting 1 - 5? Is there anything after 9?
Chris
|
| 2763.14 | where oh where | WLDWST::DBRITTON | | Thu Nov 07 1991 14:06 | 1 |
| Where can I Find lessons 1-5? This is excellent work! Thank you.
|
| 2763.15 | Lesson 1 | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:15 | 355 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Non-Drummer
Lesson 1 - Drums and Drum Sounds
Let's start by talking about the drummer's instrument, the drumset. The
drumset is sometimes called "traps" - I don't know the derivation of
this, perhaps some reply can elucidate its etymology. You may hear a
drummer talk about his "trap case" - that's just a case that usually
holds the snare drum, cymbals, and miscellaneous small hardware. (This
accounts for only a modest fraction of a modern drum set.)
Drums are basically hollow cylinders (i.e., tubes) with membranes at one
or both ends. The tube part is called the "shell", the membranes are
called "heads". The head is tensioned by a circular "hoop" or "rim"
attached to the shell by a number of symmetrically placed "tension rods"
which screw into "nut boxes" mounted on the shell. The nut boxes are
also called "lugs", so if you hear someone talk about a "10 lug" drum,
that means the head is held to the shell and tensioned at 10 points
around the rim. Sometimes the lugs on both the top and bottom head are
counted, so this might be referred to as a "20 lug" drum.
Typically both the top and bottom heads have the same number of lugs.
Tension rods have standard square tops (thank the muse for standards)
that fit into a cute little T-shaped gadget called a "drum key", which
is the drummer's Swiss Army Knife (most drum hardware is held together
with tension-rod-like screws that only a drum key can turn). A drummer
without a drum key is helpless. I keep several spares stashed in
various strategic and tactical places (e.g., in my stick bag, in my trap
case, at home, etc.).
Nutboxes are usually styled uniquely to a brand/manufacturer, so you can
usually tell who made a drum from the shape of the nutboxes. Drummers
(especially studio drummers) may prefer one manufacturer's nutboxes over
another's for a variety of reasons, especially how much noise they make
(rattles and such due to internal construction) and how well they hold
their tension (much like tuning machines on a guitar).
The top head (the one which is struck) is often called the "batter"
head; there is no generic name (that I'm aware of) for the bottom head
of a two headed drum (other than the obvious "bottom head").
Drums are characterized by their type and size. Drum sizes are listed
as depth x diameter, in inches. In a modern trap set, (sometimes called
a "kit") there are basically three kinds of drums:
* the SNARE drum, whose characteristic sound comes from the vibration
of "snares" stretched across the bottom head. Snare drums are
always double headed; the bottom head is called (mirabile dictu) the
snare head. The most common snare drum size is 5x14, but deeper
drums are increasingly common, like 6.5x14 or 8x14. You will only
rarely see a 15" diameter snare drum, and other sizes are
essentially nonexistent. Shallower snare drums (e.g., 4", or even
3") are sometimes called "piccolo" snares, as they are usually tuned
very high.
Most drummers use only one snare in their kit, but it is not unusual
for a drummer to own several snare drums.
Snare drums are usually made of metal or wood. Snares used to be
made of gut, but now they're almost universally made of an open coil
(i.e., stretched helix) of wire. They're tensioned and held against
the snare head by the "snare strainer", that little lever thing on
the side of the snare drum. That lever (the "throwoff lever")
allows the drummer to remove the snares, making the drum sound like
a strange tom tom.
The snare drum has a sharp, cutting sound like a rifle crack. It is
most prominent in rock music as the "backbeat" on beats 2 and 4 of
each bar, and it plays a major role in accents and "fills".
* the BASS drum (also sometimes called the "kick" drum because it is
usually played with a pedal), which is typically the largest drum in
the kit. Bass drums may be single or double headed. They are
oriented differently from other drums, with their heads vertical,
because of their size. They are often used to support other drums
and hardware, again because of their size and weight. Bass drums
are almost always made of wood.
Bass drums are typically 14" to 18" deep, with diameters from 18"
(considered very small) to 26" or 28" (considered very large).
14x22 is a pretty typical size.
Some drummers use two bass drums. The jazz drummer Louie Bellson
introduced the double bass drum notion quite a while back (30
years?), but it has since become almost the exclusive province of
rock (especially heavy metal) drummers.
The bass drum provides the "bottom" of the drum set (hence the
name). It produces a powerful low frequency "thud" that is usually
played on (at least) the downbeat (beat 1) of each bar.
* TOM TOMs, arbitrarily divided into two classes, "shell mount" or
"aerial" toms, mounted on the bass drum or a stand, and "floor"
toms, mounted on their own legs. The shell mount toms tend to be
the smaller sizes. They run 7x10, 8x12, 9x13, etc.. Deeper shells
have become popular, and are often referred to as "power toms".
Their sizes run 9x10, 11x12, 12x13, etc.. Toms routinely come in
larger and smaller sizes. Shell mount toms come both single
(sometimes called "concert toms") and double headed.
Floor toms get larger; the smallest is typically 14x14, and they run
to 16x16 and 18x18. Floor toms are almost always double headed, but
some renegades (myself included) use single headed floor toms.
The huge arsenal of toms typical of today's kits was introduced by
Hal Blaine, one of the greatest studio drummers of all time, back in
the Phil Spector "wall of sound" days. Toms are almost always made
of wood.
A snare drum is really not much more than a shallow tom with snares.
Toms provide spice and variation. They are usually used for fills.
Wooden drums are usually made by bending a lamination into a cylinder
and butt gluing the joint. The number of plies in the lamination may be
significant to someone, so you will hear things like "6 ply maple"
describing a shell. More difficult assembly techniques may be used
(like staggering/overlapping the joins in the plies) if warranted.
While wood seems to be the default material for making drums, (except
for metal snare drums, which come in many interesting variations) you
will also find drums made of various exotic (and not so exotic)
plastics. There is even a guy in Australia who makes drums out of
hollowed out logs, so the shell is a single piece of wood that hasn't
been bent and glued into submission. The question of how the shell
material (or the number of plies or the kind of glue or whether the
shell is covered for cosmetic reasons) affects the sound is an open
issue, and you will find a wide variety of subjective (i.e., unsupported
by data) opinions on this subject. More on this later.
It is pretty important that shells be truly round, so the head can
vibrate freely and evenly. Rims/hoops help to keep drums in the round,
so single headed drums are more likely to go out of round (especially at
the non-headed end) than double headed drums. Drums should not be
stored on their side (bass drum mounting conventions to the contrary) so
as to avoid stressing the shell to go out of round.
Another important aspect of the shell is the "bearing edge", where the
head actually touches the shell. Most manufacturers seem to make
bearing edges that are chamfered on the inside at about a 45 degree
angle. The bearing edge will be gently rounded rather than knife-edged
so the head doesn't tear - remember, it's going to be put under a lot of
stress when it's hit.
Some other shapes besides cylinders have been tried for drum shells.
The most blatantly different shape is that of the North line of drums,
which have flaired bells (no bottom heads) that curve up so they aim out
at the audience. Another common variation (again for single headed
drums only) is to cut the bottom edge at an angle so the front (towards
the audience) is shorter than the back (towards the drummer). This
presumably increases the projection into the audience. How these two
different shell shapes affect the sound is not well understood. My
guess would be that they broaden the tuned resonance peak of the shell's
air column, potentially making the drum's pitch more diffuse. More on
this later.
You will hear drummers describe their kit as having so many "pieces" -
that's just the number of drums. The standard 4 piece kit consists of a
snare, bass, small shell mount tom and a floor tom. Up until maybe 20
years ago, this really was the standard kit - you almost never saw
anything else. Nowadays kits are highly individualized, and run to as
many as 12 pieces or so (mostly toms).
The sound produced by a drum comes from the head(s)' vibrations when
struck with a drum stick (there are other ways of making drums sound -
more on that in a subsequent lesson.) The sound of a drum has several
important aspects:
* pitch. Drum pitches are usually indistinct (i.e., don't correspond
to a well-defined single note), and just how indistinct dramatically
affects the sound. The pitch is largely determined by the head's
diameter (the bigger the head the lower the pitch), how tightly
tensioned it is (the higher the tension, the higher the pitch), and
its weight (the heavier the head, the lower the pitch). The
apparent pitch is also affected by the shell's depth - the deeper
the shell, the lower the frequencies it emphasizes.
You can play size and tension against one another only up to a
point, as they interact to affect a drum's tone as well as its
pitch. A large head tuned tight and a small head tuned loose may
have the same pitch, but they will sound very different. Also, a
given head size and weight has a limited range of tensions over
which the head "feels" right when played with a stick, which
(thankfully) is usually the same range of tensions over which the
drum sounds good.
Pitch may also be affected by interactions between the top and
bottom heads (if there is a bottom head).
* bend. When a head is struck, it stretches. The harder you hit it,
the more it stretches. This stretching affects the drum's pitch as
the head relaxes back to its inherent tension (that established by
the rim and tension rods). Thus a drum's pitch starts sharp, and
how sharp depends on how hard it's been hit. One way to increase
the bend is is to leave one lug loose - then one part of the head is
at a much lower tension than the rest of the head, and the pitch
sweeps down to the lowest tensioned part's. Generally, though, all
lugs are tightened to the same tension - a randomly tensioned head
feels strange and sounds choked. I think what's happening here is
such a head doesn't have even a vaguely defined fundamental
frequency or cluster of frequencies.
* spectrum or tone. The head vibrates in a very complex manner,
depending on where it's hit (usually near dead center) and how it's
damped and tuned. Damping is an important factor to be discussed at
more length later. The overall harmonic (or enharmonic) content of
the head's vibration determines the drum's overall sound. This will
be affected by the head material, how it's damped/contructed, where
it's struck, the presence/absence of a second (bottom) head, its
weight and tension (it's assumed to be the same size as the batter
head), and the length (or depth as it's sometimes referred to) of
the shell.
Once upon a time, heads were made of calfskin. Nowadays they're all
made of mylar. This a both and improvement and a loss. Everybody
agrees that calfskin heads sound better - richer, deeper, mellower,
you name it. But they are temperature and especially humidity
sensitive, and they're virtually impossible to find these days.
Mylar is a much more consistent and rugged material, but the
consistency cuts both ways. I think part of the reason calfskin
heads sound the way they do is because they're not perfectly
consistent, even within a single head. This inconsistency will tend
to spread resonance peaks and make the sound "warmer" or "fatter".
There's an analogous effect described in the April 1986 Scientific
American in an article on the baroque trumpet, whose interior was
not finished to modern standards and thus was much more "tolerant"
of notes that didn't correspond to formally correct resonances.
The shell acts as a tuned resonator (like an organ pipe),
emphasizing the fundamental or second harmonic depending on whether
the "pipe" is open (singled headed drum) or closed (two headed drum.
Note that the shell's resonant frequency (actually, the resonant
frequency of the air column inside the shell) is independent of the
heads' resonant frequencies. These two or three resonances (batter
head, bottom head if present, and air column) interact to shape the
drum's sound in complex and poorly understood ways.
There is much debate today on the effect of the shell's weight or
rigidity on the drum's sound - both sides are argued with equal
fervor. I believe the shell's major role is simply containing the
vibrating air column; the shell itself does not vibrate or
contribute to the drum's sound in theory. In practice it does to
some extent - drums made of wood sound different from drums made of
metal. Obviously the shell *does* vibrate and contribute to the
sound somewhat.
This question of the shell's role in a drum's sound has led to all
kinds of wierdness that doesn't seem solidly grounded in acoustics.
One good example is John Bonham (ex-Led Zep monster drummer) lining
his bass drum with aluminum foil to increase its "penetration".
Another example is the various treatments for shell interiors (one
of the best known is called "Vibrafibing") that are supposed to
improve the sound. My own guess is that unless the shell's interior
surface is very absorptive (especially of low frequencies, where
most of the action in a drum occurs, and which seems unlikely given
the dimensions involved) such treatments should have little effect,
especially on double headed drums, where the air column is coupled
to the environment only by the two heads.
Similarly, there's an outfit selling a "Resonance Isolation Mounting
System" (RIMS, clever acronym, what?) that purports to DRAMATICALLY
improve the sound of drums by suspending them by the rim rather than
hardware mounted on the shell, based on the proposition that
anything attached to the shell damps its resonance, and by leaving
the shell free to vibrate with its natural resonance, the drum will
sound better. Well, I'm not terribly sympathetic to this idea,
because although the shell does contribute something to the sound of
the drum, it's not the primary contributor - the resonance of the
air column within the shell is the primary contributor (otherwise
we'd all have shell-less drums, like Roto-toms, or the new Remo/RIMS
(yes, the same outfit) "HeadSet" - shell-less drums HAVE to be
mounted by their rims!).
Two headed drums tend to have a "fatter" or more bassy sound than
the equivalent single headed drum. Conversely, a single head drum
has a "tighter" sound, with a sharper impact transient, than the
equivalent double headed drum. A single headed drum also has a more
clearly defined pitch than the equivalent two headed drum. These
effects are due to the bottom head, which prevents the impact
wavefront from propagating out of the bottom of the drum, and which
is usually tuned lower than the batter head. In addition, a closed
"pipe" resonates at half the frequency of the same length open pipe,
so the two headed drum's internal air column has a lower frequency
than that in the equivalent single headed drum.
The bottom head provides some damping (resistance to vibration,
especially at higher frequencies), but all drums have an air hole
that prevents the bottom head from acting like an acoustic
resistance. The pulse of air coming out of the air hole can be
quite strong. Drum makers often use the airhole as an opportunity
to affix some kind of medallion to the shell identifying the brand
or manufacturer.
* decay. A drum is a percussion instrument, which means you can't
make it sustain any more than it wants to. Generally, higher
tension means faster decay; similarly, a bigger head will have a
longer decay than a smaller head.
Untreated, out of the box, drumheads have an obnoxious property called
"ring". This makes the drum sound "tinny". Drummers go to great
lengths to get rid of ring without destroying the basic sound of a drum.
That's why you'll see all that tape and folded up paper towels plastered
on the drum heads, or there'll be a pillow in the bass drum. Ring is
most obnoxious up close, so the move to eliminate ring was born in
recording studios where close mic'ing is a way of life. Studios close
mic mainly to eliminate bleed i.e., keep each of the drums' sounds
separate so they can be processed separately.
You really can't hear the ring that much when you get more than a couple
of feet away from a drum; it's dissipated in the air. Still, heads ring
without some kind of damping, so depending on the drummer's taste
damping will be employed to some extent. My rule of thumb, because of
the proximity effect, is to get rid of a little less ring than I'd
really like to; then the kit doesn't sound dead or muffled out on the
floor.
Most drums include some kind of internal damper, usually a felt pad on
an arm that you can adjust to press against the bottom of the head. I
consider these things to be worthless and have taken them off all my
drums. Their most obvious defect is that by pressing against the
bottom/inside of the head they "resist" the head stretching that occurs
at impact and thus affect more than just the drum's harmonic content.
Some drummers and drummakers get around this by mounting such dampers
outside the drum, with the pad pressing against the top/outside of the
head, but I have always found these esthetically ungainly. In any case
they asymmetrically damp the head - whether this is good or bad is
another open issue.
I think the cleanest way to eliminate ring is with various foam products
that attach to the underside of the head. Different head configurations
are also sold that purport to eliminate ring - e.g., "pinstripes" which
have a laminated layer around the edge of the head, "dots" that have a
lamination in the center of the head, "hydraulics", which are two layer
heads with a film of oil in between, and even woven Kevlar heads which
are virtually indestructible and inherently heavily damped. Needless to
say, such heads are more expensive than ordinary heads, and still
require some damping treatment.
All this is by way of a plea for sympathy when your drummer complains
about "headaches". Drumheads are far more temperamental than guitar
strings, and far more important to the sound.
One last comment is that as an engineer I am appalled by how "shoot from
the hip" most drum design appears to be. There's precious little
theoretical foundation for drummaking, and the empirical practice
doesn't seem to have any notion of measurement or controlled
experimentation. The active debating going on is almost entirely based
on intuition (present company most emphatically included).
|
| 2763.16 | Lesson 2 | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:18 | 168 |
|
Drums and (Rock) Drumming for the Musically Literate NonDrummer
Lesson 2 - Cymbals
The last lesson discussed drums themselves - this lesson will delve into
the other major sound producing component of a drumset - cymbals.
I'll assume you already have a general notion of what a cymbal is - a
flattish, brassish thing that when struck produces a shimmering,
metallic kind of sound.
There are three basic characteristics of cymbals that determine their
sound and hence use. They are:
* size,
* weight, and
* shape.
Cymbals come in a variety of sizes, from finger cymbals that may be an
inch or two in diameter, up to orchestral gongs that may be 4 feet in
diameter. The cymbals used with a typical drum set cover a much smaller
range of diameters - typically from about 14 inches to about 24 inches.
Generally, the bigger a cymbal, the lower its pitch, the slower its
response (both attack and decay) and the louder its volume.
Cymbal pitches, like drum pitches, are indistinct, but, again like
drums, cymbals can be ordered (i.e., sorted) by pitch. Cymbals produce
much lower fundamentals than the casual listener would suspect; if you
ever have the opportunity, listen closely to a cymbal that's been struck
(give it a few seconds to decay a little or you'll deafen yourself) by
putting your ear (or a microphone) right next to the cymbal (less than
an inch away) - the fundamental will be very obvious, and it's quite low
in frequency. It's also very low amplitude, so you won't hear it a few
feet away, the normal listening distance. Mostly you what you hear at a
distance is the very complex harmonic structure that is responsible for
the cymbal's characteristic shimmering sound.
"Response" means how fast the cymbal's amplitude builds up after it's
been struck, and how long it takes to decay to silence. Even fast
cymbals have rather long decay times - typically several seconds, one of
the things (in addition to the complex and very broad band harmonic
structure) that makes the sound of cymbals very hard to simulate.
The heavier (i.e., thicker - most cymbals are made of similar alloys
that have pretty much the same density) a cymbal, the higher its pitch
(yes - higher - you might think lower because of heavier, like strings
or drum heads, but for cymbals the thickness actually influences the
cymbal's rigidity, which is more of a factor than its mass); the heavier
the cymbal, the slower its response, again in both attack and decay.
Finally, the cymbal's shape influences its sound in complex ways;
generally, the flatter the cymbal (i.e., the less bowed or arched its
shape is) the lower its pitch, and the deeper the "bell" (or "cup") of
the cymbal (the dome-like thing in the center), the more complex and
richer the overtone structure. Some cymbals have no bell at all (these
are often called "flattop" cymbals) to be a tight, "pingy" sound.
These three characteristics (size, weight, shape) all interact to
produce an extraordinary variety of cymbal sounds. No two cymbals sound
alike, even though some manufacturers try to produce a consistent sound
from cymbal to cymbal (at least within a given type of cymbal).
The three important parts of a cymbal are the edge (the periphery), the
bell (the dome in the center, pierced by the cymbal's mounting hole),
and the shoulder, which is the area between the edge and the bell. Each
area produces a different kind of sound when struck. Moving from the
bell to the edge, the sound becomes increasingly shimmery and pitch
indistinct - i.e., higher overtone content.
Cymbals are made by stamping or pounding a cake of alloy (the recipes
are usually closely held family secrets) into a flat disk. The stamping
or pounding process significantly affects the ultimate sound of the
cymbal - very complex things are going on in the metal with respect to
grain structure and such. Cheap cymbals are just stamped out - they
sound like garbage can tops. Better cymbals are hammered into shape and
then finished on a lathe. The turning process may introduce obvious
grooves in the cymbal's surface, called "tone grooves". Some cymbals
are smooth finished, others bear obvious evidence of their hammered
origin. Lately, exotic finishes have become common, included colored
cymbals (e.g., black, red, blue). Earthy finishes (with tempering
splotches), and high polish ("brilliants") finishes are also common.
Zildjian has just introduced a silver/chrome "platinum" finish.
Generally, the finish does not affect the cymbal's sound. Some
manufacturers (Paiste, for example) coat their cymbals with a wax-like
finish to protect them from fingerprints and oxidation.
Cymbals are grouped by function into two major types - "ride" cymbals
and "crash" cymbals. Ride cymbals are generally heavier and larger than
crashes; their role is to carry the "ride" beat, a continuing pulse that
defines the subdivisions of the beat (more on this in a subsequent
lesson). As such, they have a more distinct (or "pingy") sound, and
less overtone content than a crash. Crashes are used for accents - they
produce that explosion of sound that most people associate with cymbals.
Ride and crash cymbals are played differently - rides are played with
the tip of the stick, usually on the shoulder, but crashes are struck at
the edge, usually by the shoulder of the stick (about halfway between
the tip and the butt end). More on sticks and playing in subsequent
lesson. Cymbals with tone grooves can also be made to sound by running
the stick tip across the grooves, producing a unique sound.
Ride cymbals are typically in the 18 inch to 24 inch range; crashes run
from 14" to 20", but there's a special subset of crashes called "splash
cymbals" (named for their sound) that run from 8" to 14". Splashes have
very fast response and correspondingly high pitches.
Another special kind of cymbal is the hihat cymbal, actually a matched
pair of cymbals. Hihats are played on a special foot operated stand
that opens and closes the pair - hence the name hihat (like tipping a
top hat). Hihats are usually used as ride cymbals, but as they open
their sound becomes more crash-like. Using the foot pedal to control
the pair's openness in conjunction with the drummer's sticking allows
hihats to be very expressive. Hihats run from 13 to 15 inches in
diameter, although 14" is a virtual standard. I have a 15" set, and I
much prefer their sound to 14s.
The basic cymbal sound can be modified by drilling holes around the edge
and inserting rivets to produce a "sizzle" effect. This seems to be
less common nowadays than 20 years ago. The effect of rivets can be had
without drilling the cymbal by draping a lightweight chain (the kind of
ball chain used in key chains works well) across the cymbal's surface.
Cymbals are mounted on stands. A major innovation in the past 10 years
has been the introduction of boom stands (like boom stands for
microphones) that allow a lot of cymbals to be positioned within reach
of the drummer (remember, a drummer plays sitting down, and there's only
so far you can lean or stretch). Stands without booms get in one
another's ways and fight for space with the rest of the drumset.
Cymbals are loosely mounted on a post and held down by a wingnut or
something functionally equivalent. The post is mounted on an adjustable
"tilter" so the cymbal's angle can be set. Obnoxious noises are avoided
by using a teflon or nylon sleeve over the post, and felt washers both
underneath and on top of the cymbal. A recent innovation is the use of
spring mounted posts that "give" with the cymbal's movement when played;
these significantly reduce the probability of breakage. Back in the
60s, "tiering" cymbals was used to get more cymbals in close; cymbals
were stacked by running the top cymbal's mounting rod through the lower
cymbal's mounting hole. This is impractical with today's heavy duty
stands and hardware.
Breakage can be a real problem with cymbals. The alloys used are
basically brittle, and cymbals take a punishing beating (especially
crashes), especially in the rock context. Breakage can be avoided by
careful mounting (never mount a cymbal so it can't move) and suitable
playing technique. For example, crashes should be struck with a wiping
motion more or less tangent to the edge and in the plane of the cymbal,
rather than down and into the edge. I have heard this described as
"drawing the sound out of the cymbal" rather than beating it into
submission.
Interesting sounds can be had by "rolling" on a cymbal (ride or crash)
with sticks or soft headed mallets - this builds up a tremendous
shimmering sound. Soft headed mallets will produce less sticking noise
and thus a softer, more ethereal kind of shimmer. Crash cymbals can
also be "choked" by hand immediately after crashing them (you just grab
the cymbal's edge and its vibrations die instantly), producing a
metallic "slap" kind of sound.
OK, that's it for cymbals. Next lesson, a quick look at some other
sound producing components of the drum set, and a discussion of sticks
and such.
|
| 2763.17 | Lesson 3 | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:20 | 208 |
|
Drums and (Rock) Drumming for Musically Literate NonDrummers
Lesson 3 - Other Sounds
In lessons 1 and 2 we covered drums and cymbals - in this lesson, we'll
talk about other instruments often played in contemporary rock
percussion. This brief exploration omits chromatically tuned percussion
instruments like the vibraphone ("vibes"), xylophone and marimba, and of
course, the piano, harpsichord and clavichord.
The most common additions to the basic trap set of drums and cymbals are
the cowbell and woodblock. In the trap set context they are usually
mounted on some kind of stand - a little gadget that held both a
woodblock and cowbell and clamped to the bass drum rim was a fairly
common accessory back in the 60s, but modern drumset configurations
don't leave any space to mount anything else on the bass drum, so
drummers use their ingenuity in getting these instruments into playable
reach. In Latin contexts (many of these additional instruments are
either Latin in origin or are featured more prominently in Latin music)
the cowbell is handheld, cradled in the hand.
Cowbells look like, well, cowbells, and they come in a variety of sizes
and finishes (copper, chrome, black, etc.). Sizes vary from 2" (cute)
to a foot or so (for a big cow). Cowbells (like so many other
percussion instruments) have indistinct pitch, the bigger ones having
lower pitch. Cowbells make a variety of different sounds depending on
where they're struck, and they can be played on both the inside and
outside surfaces. When held in the hand, the sound is "clunkier", with
less ring or bell-like tone. Cowbells usually have a rectangularish
cross-section, but the Latin pitched variation (the "agogo") has a
conical shape with a circular cross-section. Agogos usually come in
pairs, with a "high" and "low" pitch (though both are not usually played
together, i.e., to sound a "chord").
Woodblocks are hollow wooden boxes with a slit across the front and some
holes in the back. The slit allows the top of the box to vibrate; both
the slit and the holes allow the sound to escape. Woodblocks (you
guessed it) come in a variety of sizes and their indistinct pitch goes
down as the size increases. Woodblocks produce a nice "click" kind of
sound. They can be played either on the top surface or along the edge
next to the slit (which produces a fuller sound). A small woodblock is
a little smaller than a standard brick; larger ones do not get much
larger (maybe 2" deep by 6" wide by 12" long).
There are numerous variations on the woodblock concept, like temple
blocks. It's not unusual to see see a whole set of temple blocks
nominally tuned to some scale. There's also a big wooden box whose top
is cut into fingers of different lengths, each of which has a different
pitch. I forget what this thing is called, but it's fun to play.
Another click producer are claves, a pair of wooden cylinders about 6"
long and an inch in diameter, that are struck against one another. The
clave is also the name of a specific Latin rhythm. Claves produce a
very sharp kind of click sound, higher pitched and with less body than a
wood block.
Then there are shakers, which seem to have replaced maracas. If you can
find maracas these days, they're probably made out of plastic. I'm sure
everybody will instantly recognize their shape and sound as they're a
cliche in movies with any Latin musicians. For those who've led
culturally deprived lives, maracas are small (2 to 3 inches in diameter)
hollow gourdlike things mounted on handles and filled with a teaspoon or
so of small seeds (or lead shot - anything functionally equivalent
works). When shaken they produce a sound like seeds shaking around
inside a gourd.
(I should really make a tape of all these sounds, but I won't even
consider the logistics of reproducing it and distributing it to
interested noters).
Their function has been replaced by the more mundanely named "shaker",
which is a hollow cylinder (a tube) about 2" in diameter and 6 to 8
inches long, with a teaspoonful or so (season to taste) of lead shot
(maybe steel shot) inside. You shake them, and they pretty much sound
like maracas. About the only non-Latin song I can think of that really
features a shaker-like sound is "I've Had It" by the Bell Notes. (This
song also features cowbell and woodblock in a nicely syncopated rhythm.
Regular drums and cymbals only make an appearance during the break and
at the very end, although the snare is used a little during the intro
and the bass drum sustains the basic beat throughout.)
"Scrapers" (I think the Latin name is "guiro") are hollow, longish
gourd-like things with a ridged section that is scraped with a small
(lolllypop-sized) stick. There's a prominent scraper part in the old
Coasters' classic "Poison Ivy".
There is of course the classic tambourine, which was a fixture of '60s
era pop psychedelia. I'll assume everyone knows what a tambourine looks
and sounds like, and only note that nowadays they're almost always
headless, and made from engineering plastics rather than wood. Rhythm
Tech makes a very nice contemporary tambourine with a short arc of the
circle folded back into the center (looking like a partially eclipsed
moon) with a padded grip. This puts the grip closer to the tambourine's
center of mass, ostensibly to make it easier to hold and play. Drummers
used to put their tambourines on their hihats, so they could be played
by the pedal. For a while Ludwig even made a special "essence of
tambourine" designed specifically for use on a hihat - like so many
other '60s aberrations, it silently disappeared. Maybe because they
called it a "hihat sock jingle".
Headed tambourines are played differently than headless tambourines - in
particular, they have a head that can be played as well as the rim. You
can get an interesting effect by rubbing the heel of your hand across
the surface of the head while holding it with the other hand, or rubbing
it with the thumb of the hand you're holding it with. You can also just
hit the head with your knuckles or the heel of your hand, producing a
combined slap/jingle kind of sound. These playing techniques are more
common with orchestral use of the tambourine than typical rock use,
which usually just involves shaking it to make it jingle. People often
play a tambourine by slapping it against their thigh, which leaves nice
bruises if you get too enthusiastic. One fun thing about playing a
tambourine is picking it up or putting it down without making any noise.
You can also go crazy travelling with one that hasn't been muffled
somehow.
Three much more drumlike Latin percussion instruments are the bongos,
congas and timbales. These are all basically variations on the single
headed tomtom theme, but with distinctive sounds. All three are
typically configured in low/high pairs.
Bongos are the smallest of these instruments. They came into prominence
during the "Beat Era" (late '50s, early '60s) when the trademark of a
beatnik was a beret and a pair of bongos. Bongos, unlike congas,
timbales, and most other tomtom-like instruments, usually cannot be
tuned (headed tambourines also usually cannot be tuned, but you will
occasionally see high end tambourines or bongos that have tunable
heads). The small one will be about 4" in diameter, the larger (lower
pitched) one about 6" in diameter. Bongos are usually played with the
hands (using finger drumming or slapping techniques), but they may also
be played with sticks. The Yardbirds' classic "For Your Love" features
bongos played with sticks (and a harpsichord as well - no, the bongos
are not played with the harpsichord - I mean there's a harpsichord in
the song as well as sticked bongos). Bongos are usually made of wood,
with relatively heavier shells than equivalently sized tomtoms. The
shells are often nicely laminated from contrasting woods.
Congas represent an unusually deep or long sort of tom tom - while
typically 6" to 8" in diameter, they are usually about 30" long/deep,
and their shells are more "cigar shaped" (i.e., they bulge a little in
the middle) than purely cylindrical. Congas are tunable, and are played
with the hands and fingers. You can get a wide variety of sounds out of
a pair of congas, depending on where and how you strike the head.
Enthusiastic conga playing is VERY hard on the hands.
Timbales are basically shallow tomtoms with metal (usually brass)
shells. They are usually tuned quite high and have a distinctive
metallic sound with a very sharp impact transient. If you've ever seen
any of Sheila E's videos (before she met Prince, she was Sheila
Escoveda, a well known latin percussionist who backed up a lot of big
names, in the tradition of her father, Pete), she's usually playing
timbales. Timbales are about 14" in diameter and are played with
special (tipless) sticks.
This "once over lightly" wouldn't be complete without mentioning two
exotica - at least in the rock context - tabla and tympani.
The tabla is the principal percussion instrument of Indian classical
music (the real Indians, not American Indians). It is actually two
drums, the tabla, a two headed wooden cylinder, and the bayan, a single
headed metal bowl or pot-like drum. Both drums have skin heads (most
heads are synthetic these days) with pitch (i.e., hardened tar) patches
in their centers. The heads are tensioned with leather thongs. These
drums have (like other Indian instruments like the sitar, sarod, veena
and tamboura) steadfastly resisted the encroachment of technology. They
are played by hand and are capable of extraordinary expression. Indian
drumming is a lifetime study unto itself (so is trap set drumming, but
I'm in awe of the simplicity of the instrument and the complexity of the
music inherent in Indian drumming). I strongly recommend anyone
seriously interested in drumming listen to some Indian examples, both
for the quality of the sound and the complexity of the rhythms, which
routinely use "unusual" (to Western ears) time signatures and cycle
lengths.
Tabla were very big back in the psychedelic era, then fell out of favor.
They seem to have recently been "rediscovered". Many sampling
synthesizers now include tabla samples.
Tympani (spelled "timpani" by the less pretentious) are those orchestral
"kettle drums". They are unusual in that (like the Indian bayan) they
are dynamically tunable (you change the pitch of a bayan by pressing on
it with the heel of your hand; you change the pitch of tympani with a
pedal that, via an elaborate mechanism, adjusts the tension on the head.
Tympani are really very much like an enormous bayan; same general
shape.) Tympani are big - they run 20" to 30" in diameter and larger.
Tympani are chromatic; really spiffy tympani have tuning indicators that
are labeled with specific pitches; once correctly tuned, you can change
the pitch from C to C to D etc., just by sliding the lever to the next
notch. The pedal is used for glissandos (actually a portamento, as th
epitch changes continuously rather than in discrete steps).
The sound of tympani varies all over the map; it depends on the head
type (from calfskin to mylar), the bowl shape, the stick covering, the
tympanist's technique, etc.. They only occasionally show up in rock for
an appropriately pretentious or orchestral effect. One interestingly
unpretentious use of tympani is in the Beatles "Every Little Thing She
Does" (from the American "Beatles VI" album, and not to be confused with
the Police hit of a few years back).
OK, that's it for other sounds; I'm sure I've left out a lot of
interesting instruments that get used now and again, so any "experts"
out there, please feel free to contribute.
The next lesson will explore electronic drum sounds.
|
| 2763.18 | Lesson 4 | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:22 | 226 |
|
Drums and Drumming for Musically Literate NonDrummers
Lesson 4 - Electronic Drums
No discussion of contemporary percussion instruments could justly omit
electronic drums. They are changing the nature of modern drumming as
much as the advent of the electric guitar changed guitar playing. The
art and technology of electronic drums has advanced dramatically in the
past few years (perhaps as much as it took the electric guitar 20 years
to accomplish).
Electronic drums produce drum-like sounds electronically rather than
acousticly. Physically vibrating elements don't enter the picture until
the last minute, at the speaker. The electronic techniques used can be
either analog synthesis, or the much more recent (and to many ears, much
more effective) digital sampling.
Electronic drums come in a variety of configurations; the two most
important are the drum synthesizer and the drum machine. A drum machine
is a drum synthesizer with a builtin sequencer; one of my hopes for this
seminar is that people with drum machines will learn enough about
drumming to effectively program their machines. In this lesson I'll
concentrate on drum synthesizers - I'll probably touch on issues
relevant to drum machines as I talk about drumming and rhythms
throughout the rest of this seminar.
There are two parts to any electronic drum system - the instrument that
you actually play (usually referred to as a "pad"; in MIDI parlance this
is a "controller") and the electronics that translate the signal from
the pad into a drum sound (usually referred to as the "brain"). A brain
(I hate the term, but it's become so common I've given up fighting it)
can handle anywhere from 1 to a dozen pads, depending on the
manufacturer's engineering and packaging strategies. Usually a pad is
assigned to each drum sound. Sometimes a pad and a single channel brain
are packaged together (e.g., the original SynDrums, the Simmons SDS-1,
and the new JTG of Nashville DrumFX). A typical brain has 5 channels,
corresponding to a basic 5 piece kit (snare, bass, two shell mount toms,
one floor tom). Cymbals are still a rarity in performance drum
synthesizers, although they are incorporated into virtually all drum
machines. Pads and brains from different manufacturers are at best
barely compatible; there are no standards yet.
Pads are flat, maybe 2" thick at most. Their size is irrelevant, as the
synthetic drum's pitch is usually controlled by a knob on the brain, but
they are all pretty much the same size, about 10" to 12" across, which
makes them small enough to be manageable but big enough to hit. They
mount on standard drum hardware. The bass drum pad, more out of
tradition than anything else, is usually bigger and set up to take a
standard bass drum pedal. A recent innovation is the development of
trigger pedals which are played like a bass drum pedal but which include
a transducer and so need no separate pad. One less thing to lug to a
gig!
Pads come in a wide variety of colors, and each manufacturer tries to
choose a distinctive shape. The original SynDrums were round, but
Simmons led the trend by making hexagonal pads which have been copied
shamelessly. I believe Simmons was actually driven to trademarking
their hexagonal shape. Other manufacturers responded with pentagonal
pads, heptagonal pads, triangular pads, everything but squares (I don't
think anybody can accept square drums). Some pads attempt to duplicate
the feel of a real drum, some going as far as to actually use real drum
heads stretched over the transducer. Such heads may even be tunable
(which only affects their feel, not the generated pitch). Most pads are
much harder and less resilient than real drum heads.
Brains feature a wide variety of features and controls. The parameters
affecting sound generation are getting pretty conventional; i.e., most
brains have pretty much the same controls in this regard. I'll describe
the ones I know best, namely those on a Simmons SDS-8. The SDS-8 brain
has 5 channels, each of which is exactly the same. Each channel has the
following controls: sensitivity, filter, pitch, bend, decay, click,
noise/tone, volume, pan and factory/alternate. These five channels are
programmed with these controls to generate bass, snare, and high, medium
and low tomtom sounds.
"Sensitivity" determines how hard you have to hit the pad to get a given
sound level. It's most useful as a way of keeping the channel from
responding to spurious vibration (e.g., transmitted through the stands
from another pad).
"Filter" determines the overall brightness of the sound; this controls a
low pass filter's cutoff frequency. Other brains may have more
elaborate EQ (equalization) facilities built in.
"Pitch" controls the nominal pitch of the generated sound; I say
"nominal" because it interacts with the "bend" control. The generated
pitch can be from subsonic (VERY low) to a very high pitched ping. In
this respect drum synthesizers have a wider pitch range than real
acoustic drums.
"Bend" controls the direction (up or down) and amount of pitch bend
applied to the nominal pitch. "Bend" is usually set to bend down (see
the discussion in lesson 1), but some interesting (or bizarre if you're
less charitable) effects can be had by bending up. When centered this
control provides no bend. Clockwise and counterclockwise introduce
increasing amounts of up or down bend.
"Decay" controls the decay time of the sound (for you synthesizer types,
this corresponds to the amplitude envelope's decay parameter; the attack
would be very fast, the sustain level would be 0, and the release would
be the same as the decay so the sound is independent of how long the key
is held down).
"Click" controls the amount of impact noise. On the SDS-8 this effect
is very artificial sounding, but it's part of the "Simmons sound".
"Noise/tone" controls the relative balance of white noise (snare sound)
and pitched tone (tomtom sound).
"Volume" is exactly that - a volume control for the channel.
"Pan" controls the relative position of the channel's output in a
left/right stereo field. The SDS-8 has both stereo and mono outputs.
Finally, the "factory/alternate" switch selects the factory supplied
settings or the settings you have dialed into the controls. The factory
preset sound is the classic "Simmons sound", which you are probably sick
to death of from commercials and other jingles.
Other brains may include other parameters affecting the sound, or
special effects like reverberation (reverb dramatically improves the
sound of electronic drums, especially if you're going direct to tape and
not getting any room ambience). The number of "programs" will also vary
from brain to brain (e.g., the SDS-8 has only 2, one of which you can't
change; the SDS-7 stores 100 different "kits"). Some machines may use
digital sampling to generate the basic sound; parameters like those
listed above may then be used to modify the basic sound.
The motivation for electronic drums is two-fold:
1) first there's plain old convenience. An electronic set is far more
portable than the equivalent acoustic kit.
2) control over the sound, especially in recording or amplified (e.g.,
stadium concert) situations.
There are also other less compelling reasons (e.g., appearance, or
technology infatuation). Convenience/portability should be obvious to
anyone who's ever helped a drummer move his/her equipment, so I'm going
to talk mostly about control over the sound.
First off, there's no "bleed". Again for control reasons, acoustic
drums are mic'ed individually, although there may be a pair of mics
"flown" over the kit to provide some stereo ambience. Mic'ing each drum
individually cuts down on "bleed" (picking up a drum on some other
drum's mic), so the drum sounds are isolated, useful for EQ and other
processing. With electronic drums there are no mics and no bleed at
all. Further, there's no sympathetic resonance between nearby drums
(e.g., one tomtom's head vibrating in response to another tomtom's being
struck, or more common and more obnoxious, the snares vibrating in
sympathy with a tomtom). This effect is usually eliminated in a mic'ed
acoustic kit by resorting to noise gates. It contributes a great deal
to the ambient sound of live drums.
Second, it's not that easy to get a good basic drum sound out of a close
mic (close to eliminate bleed). There's that ring I mentioned back in
lesson one, and close mic'ing also means godawful high ambient levels,
which require really high quality mics to withstand. It can take hours
to mic a drum set to get a usable signal, plus you need a multichannel
(at least 8 channels) board just for the drums. (A typical drum mic
setup might entail mics on the top and bottom of the snare, one on the
hihat, one inside the bass drum, one inside each tomtom (for a total of
5 or 6), one on each crash (say 2) one on the ride (another 1) and 2 for
ambience - that's 14 altogether, never mind noise gates and other
processing gear!)
Of course, electronic drums are not unalloyed virtues. They have their
share of problems (but please note that all of these problems can be
fixed with more technology):
1) They sound as much like acoustic drums as an electric guitar sounds
like an acoustic guitar. Many people do not consider this a
"problem", but if you like the sound of acoustic drums and want the
convenience of electronic drums, ...
2) They don't feel like acoustic drums, and require a different playing
technique, but I doubt that electronic drums (here's my chance to
make a fool of myself) will provide drummers the same opportunities
to create new playing techniques that the electric guitar has. In
particular, electronic drums require less brute strength to achieve
high volume levels - many players play far too hard, and today's
electronic drums just saturate at a physical input level far below
what you can put into an acoustic kit. The net effect is sore arms
and hands, as the playing surface has none of the give of a
tensioned head. The playing surfaces are, however, far more
consistent from drum to drum than acoustic drum heads are (e.g., a
14" snare head and a 14" floor tom head have completely different
feels - they're at very different tensions - but a snare pad and a
tomtom pad feel exactly the same).
3) They don't have the expressiveness of acoustic drums. They don't do
rim shots, can't handle side sticking, don't have as wide a dynamic
range, don't respond to rolls the same way, etc.. A drum
synthesizer typically resets its envelope for each input event
(stick hitting the pad) - a real drum continues to vibrate, and the
second (or third/fourth/etc.) impact ADDS to that vibration, rather
than supplanting it. This is especially obvious on cymbals; a roll
on a drum synthesizer's cymbal never builds up that brilliant
shimmering effect that is the whole reason you do it on an acoustic
cymbal. I'll talk about side sticking and rim shots, as well as
playing variations, when I get to playing implements.
As I noted above, all these problems will eventually be resolved by the
application of more technology - better transducers and smarter brains.
I think acoustic drums face the same technological threat that the piano
does (see the December 1985 issue of Keyboard for a discussion of the
piano's future that is equally relevant to the future of acoustic
drums). I.e., if you can get an indistinguishable sound from an
electronic instrument that feels the same as its acoustic/mechanical
progenitor, and get the additional benefits of lower cost, increased
portability and additional flexibility (i.e., ability to make other
sounds), why continue making and selling the "old style" instrument?
Now, just because I believe this is going to happen doesn't mean I think
it's a good thing - drums are beautiful instruments in their simplicity
and the craftsmanship that goes into making good drums - while you may
be real impressed by the functional content and system architecture of a
sophisticated electronic instrument, when was the last time you really
admired how it was made?
|
| 2763.19 | Lesson 5 | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:25 | 251 |
|
Drums and Drumming for the Musically Literate NonDrummer
Lesson 5 - Sticks Etc., and Recording
The drumset is typically played with sticks. Sticks average about 16"
in length, are from 3/8" to 5/8" in diameter, and are usually made of
wood. The parts of a stick are:
* the TIP, which is the end that usually strikes the drumhead. Tips
may be the same material as the rest of the stick, or they may be a
different material (nylon is very popular) bonded (sometimes only a
pressfit) to the end of the stick. The tip is spherical or
egg-shaped, and is like a bead on the end of the stick. The stick
usually tapers down to the tip, and the thinnest part of the stick
is just back of the tip. Nylon-tipped sticks are said to give a
brighter or pingier sound, but I've played with both nylon and
wood-tipped sticks and I really can't hear that much of a
difference. Their real advantage is the tips don't break as easily
as wood tips, which tend to flake off where the tip profile cuts
across the stick's grain. Nylon tips DO come loose, however, and
they rattle. This is easily fixed with a drop of your favorite
cyanoacrylate adhesive (anaerobic glues like Crazy Glue or
SuperGlue).
* the SHOULDER, which is the tapering portion of the stick. The
shoulder may be very short (say, 2"), or almost half the length of
the stick. The length and taper of the shoulder affects how the
stick feels (long shoulders give the stick a more "whip-like" feel)
and balances (short shoulders move the balance point closer to the
tip). The shoulder takes a beating from cymbal crashes and is
generally the place where a stick breaks.
* the SHANK, or shaft, which is the untapered part of the stick, where
the stick is held. The shank will get dented from rim shots and
side sticking, but it's the strongest part of the stick and almost
never breaks; and
* the BUTT, which is the other end of the stick. The butt is usually
rounded off.
Sticks have distinct feels and their own sound. If you tap each of a
pair of sticks on a hard surface, you can feel the stick's "give" or
flexibility and hear its inherent tone. Pairs of sticks are generally
matched with respect to feel and tone; the stick manufacturer may do
this for you, or you may have to do it yourself when you buy sticks.
Sticks should be straight (unwarped); you can check this by rolling them
across a flat surface. If they "waddle", they're warped, and should be
passed over. Sticks usually come varnished (or polyurethaned), which
seals them from humidity and delays warping. Unfortunately, the varnish
is usually very slick and can make the sticks very slippery in a
sweating hand.
Drummers have a variety of strategies for dealing with slippery sticks.
One is to wrap the shank with a sticky tape - there are a number of such
products available for drummers. Or you can wear gloves; this also
eases some of the shock transmitted to your hands, but I've always found
wearing gloves uncomfortable and funny looking.
What I usually do is take a coarse rasp to the shank, scrape the varnish
off and leave a diamond patterned scoring (like knurling) on the shaft.
A few passes with coarse sandpaper gets rid of the splinters and leaves
a nice rough surface to grip. Some of my sticks eventually warp because
of this treatment, but by that time the shoulder is so chewed up that
they're ready for retirement anyway, if they haven't already broken.
Drumsticks are notorious for breaking. I think drummers who break
sticks or cymbals are just playing too hard. Some drummers see breaking
stuff as a kind of measure of their strength. If you have to play that
loud, you should probably resort to amplification. I've broken sticks,
but usually only after a couple of months of hard playing, and the
sticks were basically worn out anyway.
Anyway, breakage has led to a variety of exotic sticks, even metal
sticks. For a while Ludwig made laminated sticks - they looked nice,
but I found they just split along the laminations. Aquarian Products
and Duraline make graphite composite drumsticks; they're very expensive
but are reputed to be indestructible. I've never played them so I can't
say how they feel. (I use a Duraline woven Kevlar head on my snare
drum, as much for sound quality as durability; they cost three times as
much as an ordinary mylar head, but last at least three times as long;
maybe I should try their sticks.)
Drummers typically pick one style/weight stick and stick with it
(sorry); in general, jazz drummers play with lighter (i.e., thinner)
sticks than rock drummers. I started with fairly light sticks (7As for
anybody who cares) and moved up to heavier sticks over time (Vic Firth
Jazz, then 5B, finally Rock), mostly because they felt better as I built
up strength in my hands. I will occasionally change sticks during a
performance (e.g., go back to a Jazz or 5B) if the material warrants a
lighter touch. I have seen some rock drummers play with marching
drumsticks, which look (to me) like small baseball bats.
As you may have guessed from the previous paragraph, drumsticks have
"type names" (or numbers). Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any
rationale to the scheme. However, 7As or 5Bs (for example) from
different manufacturers seem to be pretty much the same length, weight
and taper. They differ in choice of wood, choice of finish, seasoning
of the wood, etc..
While it's usually the tip end of a drumstick that's used to play with,
sometimes drummers will play with the butt end of the stick. This is
usually done to get additional power or volume. Playing a ride cymbal
with the butt end of the stick gives a raucous sound with no finesse at
all.
There are a variety of mallets that are used to play percussion
instruments. I'm not going to talk about the kinds of mallets used to
play marimbas or xylophones, but I should mention tympani sticks, which
are useful on tomtoms and cymbals. Tympani mallets have felt heads (you
can get them in soft and hard versions, depending on the sound you want)
that essentially eliminate the impact transient. They give a very
round, mellow tone that's useful in some situations. On a crash cymbal
they provide a softer (slower attack) crash.
Brushes are almost never seen in rock drumming. Brushes are basically
just a bundle of thin stiff wires that can be fanned out of a tubular
handle to produce a sort of fly swatter like thing. (I read someplace a
probably apocryphal story that brushes were in fact originally
retractable fly swatters.) Brushes can be used to both slap/swat the
drumhead, or they can stroke the head (usually with a circular motion)
to produce a nice, subtle swishing kind of sound. This latter effect
requires that the drumhead have some kind of texture; most modern rock
drum heads have no texture at all. Drumheads used to be coated with a
rough white surface that was sprayed on and could be renewed when it
wore off; I haven't seen such a head in many years, but I'm sure they're
still available. Brush technique seems to be a dying art; I don't know
how much it's still used in jazz drumming.
I should mention bass drum beaters - they're not actually sticks, but
serve the stick-like function of hitting the bass drum. They are 1" to
2" diameter balls of wood, plastic or felt mounted on a 6" or so long
steel shaft that fits into the bass drum pedal. Harder beaters (e.g.,
wood or plastic) give more of an impact transient (slap sound) to the
bass drum. Softer beaters (e.g., felt) give a softer impact. The bass
drum head is usually protected from the direct impact of the beater by
some sort of pad affixed to the center of the head where the beater will
strike. This pad is usually felt or some felt-like material (Dr.
Scholls pads are a favorite material). This pad keeps the head from
developing a serious dent (bass drums are usually played HARD - the
tempered stainless steel shaft on my bass drum beater is bent from
playing stresses), as well as providing some damping for the head. Some
beater pads have a thin wooden, fibre or plastic disk embedded in them
to give back some of the slap that the pad takes away.
Finally, you can play drums directly with your hands or fingers.
Probably the most famous example of this in rock circles is John
("Bonzo") Bonham (of the late great Led Zeppelin)'s drum solo in Moby
Dick.
There are a variety of ways you can hit a drum with any of these playing
implements. The most obvious, and most common, is to hit the head dead
center. And the center is in fact quite dead; as a nodal point in most
vibrational modes of the drum, it's not the ideal place to hit the head.
Luckily, most drummers' accuracy is off just the small amount necessary
so that dead center hits are rare. As you move from the center to the
edge of the head, the harmonic content of the sound increases, as does
the rebound of the sticks. Rebound from the center of the head,
especially big, low tensioned heads, is quite limited. It's like the
head swallows the stroke. But the center of the head is where you get
the most fundamental from. So you play a little off center to get the
best of both worlds. Crescendos can take advantage of these effects by
starting at the edge and moving to the center of the head, building up
both volume and "fatness" of the sound.
"Sidesticking" is the name given to the technique of laying the stick
across the drum, with the tip off center and the shaft lying across the
rim; you lift the shaft a few inches or so off the rim and snap it back
down, all the while keeping the tip in contact with the head. This
produces a sharp click sound (sometimes called a rim click). It can
also be done with two drums (e.g., tip on the snare, shaft on a nearby
tomtom's rim). You can also play on the rim - the rim has a pitch of
its own, that seems to be a function of its diameter (i.e., bigger rims
have lower pitches).
"Rim shots" are the sound you get when the stick strikes both the head
and the rim at the same time (from normal playing position - neither the
tip or the shaft is in contact with the head or rim until impact). The
rim shot sound is NOT the sum of the rim click sound and the basic drum
sound - it's much more than that. I don't know what's going on
acoustically during a rim shot, but the effect is dramatic. Rim shots
are VERY loud and have a gunshot-like crack to them.
Another playing technique is the "flam". (There are other flam-like
techniques that I won't go into; if you're interested, check out a book
on "rudimental drumming".) A flam is what you get when both sticks hit
the drum just a fraction of a second apart. It's like a grace note, but
closer together. A flam produces a fatter sound, but if the strokes are
too close together they will swallow one another and you'll just get a
clunk.
Finally, I should talk about grip, or how you hold the drumsticks.
There are two grips in use, the "traditional" grip and the "matched"
grip. There is a great deal of contention within the drumming community
as to which grip is "correct" (i.e., should be taught to students).
I play most of the time with the traditional grip. It's easier to
demonstrate than describe, but I'll try. The left hand is more or less
palm up, with the butt end of the shaft resting in the fleshy area
between the thumb and index finger (forefinger). The middle of the
stick is held between the two pairs of fingers (split like the Star Trek
"live long and prosper" gesture). If you hold your left hand palm up
with the fingers slightly spread apart, and call the gaps between
fingers (from thumb to pinky) 1 through 4, the stick lies in gaps 1 and
3. If you close your hand around the stick, that's the left hand grip.
The right hand is more or less palm down, with the butt end of the shaft
crossing the palm and the stick held at the middle by the thumb and
index finger. If you turn the right hand palm up, with a natural curl
to the fingers, then lay the stick across your palm (like you'd hold a
dinner knife), your hand will close quite naturally around the stick in
the right hand traditional grip.
The matched grip is exactly what it sounds like - both hands hold their
sticks the same way, mirror imaged. The left hand grip is the
reflection of the right hand traditional grip; the right hand grips are
the same.
The arguments for the traditional grip are speed and finesse; the
arguments for the matched grip are power, and the observation that the
traditional grip is an artifact of marching drum positioning. I find
truth in both sides. I occasionally switch to matched grip when I need
more power/volume on the snare drum (played with the left hand), but I
find it harder to play fast "around the drums" or to double stick (i.e.,
let the stck bounce to get fast strokes at high tempos) with the left
hand. Maybe it's just a matter of practice and experience.
I should mention stick twirling and tossing. I never been much for this
sort of showmanship so all I'll do is mention that some drummers
consider it an essential part of their stage presence.
That's it for sticks and such. Before getting into basic rhythmic
issues, a brief discussion of the recorded sound of drums vs. their
live/unamplified sound.
What you hear on recordings or at amplified concerts is not the live
sound of drums. It's a very heavily processed version of the live
sound. It's usually heavily EQ'd to emphasize bass frequencies, and
there's usually a good deal of reverb added to "fatten up the sound" (if
there's anybody else out there with a Roland TR-707 and SRV-2000, send
me a note and I'll send you my SRV-2000 snare drum program that makes
the -707 sound like a cannon). Recordings also usually significantly
reduce cymbal levels (especially crashes) relative to the other drum
sounds). Live drums also have much more "ring" than recorded drums. So
don't be depressed (or blame the drummer) if you can't get (or don't
hear) that BIG FAT drum sound that's taken for granted on today's
recordings. Drums don't really sound like that!
|
| 2763.20 | Postface | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Thu Nov 07 1991 16:34 | 26 |
|
OK, that's everything I've written on the subject.
First, my thanks to Dave Bottom for taking the original raw ASCII text
and DSRing it.
As must be apparent, much of this material is quite dated. I also
never finished it; the projected remaining lessons/chapters were:
10 - elaborating the backbeat (more on snare/bass coordination)
11 - fills and breaks
12 - programming drum machines to sound like a drummer
My own copy of this document is littered with editing instructions,
I just haven't gotten around to revising the existing material and
writing the remaining chapters (for which I have substantial notes).
Finally, my thanks to so many for their kind remarks on the value and
usefullness of this stuff.
Maybe one of these days ...
len.
|
| 2763.21 | Another thank-you | TLE::YBOT::ASHFORTH | | Thu Nov 07 1991 17:05 | 15 |
| Len-
I've extracted the replies comprising "The Fehskens Method" and will print them
at an opportune time. The briefest of scans indicates that this is more suited
to what I need than any of the many articles I've seen- most seem either oriented
toward either the "skin-literate" or to the "musically illiterate," neither of
which (I like to think, anyway) describes me.
IMHO, the topic of percussion in general is the most gaping hole in the education
of musicians in general. The possibilities presented to the MIDI musician simply
highlight the lack to a painful extent, as an otherwise awesome production can
be made cliche at best, intolerable at worst, by lack of a great drum/percussion
part. I look forward to some interesting reading- many thanks.
Bob
|
| 2763.22 | Many more thanks | JANUS::CWALSH | The Man Who Knew Too Often | Fri Nov 08 1991 06:11 | 6 |
| Len,
Thanks again for filling in the gaps. Get working on those final chapters!
Chris
|
| 2763.23 | Market is there... | YUPPIE::LINCE | | Fri Nov 08 1991 15:04 | 31 |
| Len,
IMO your remaining chapters coupled with the previous material could
certainly be worthy of a marketing effort. I have advertised my
products in E.M. mag with success.
This community is starving for information of this type. Especially
the practical examples - "patterns". The current market offerings -
"Guide to the XYZ Drum Flagulator". Do not tell me how to make it
*sound* like a real drummer. More importantly, I want examples of what
a *real* drummer would do.... as you have provided.
As an electronic music hack - I'd certainly put my cash up to stop
this dull metronome that my R-8 currently delivers.
In the guitar community there a hundreds of books on the "hottest"
and latest "riffs". Len, I think you could become the "riff" king
publisher for drum machines!
"Fusion patterns for your drum machine" - by Dr. Len
"Polka with your drum machine" - by Dr. Len
"Big Band with your drum machine" - by Dr. Len
Anyways, I'm very serious! Why not send out a newsletter once a
month with the latest and greatest? I KNOW you wouldn't have a problem
getting customers.
Great stuff !
Jim Lince
|
| 2763.24 | Jazz-Swing drum patterns wanted | HOO78C::GULICKX | | Mon Nov 11 1991 05:37 | 16 |
| Hello all readers,
I am desperately looking for jazz-swing drum patterns, the kind to be
used for new Orleans dixiejazz and/or swing, especially with brushes.
The latter for trio or quartet bands like Benny Goodman.
I will develop them myself eventually but currently I am just
learning STEINBERG III software from the bottom on my Atari ST2, with
FP8 digital piano, SC55 sound module (with brushes) and TR505.
I need something to start with so I can concentrate on recording and
mixing.
Thanks in advance,
PS Used a few patterns from Len's lessons; they are superb!
|
| 2763.25 | | SALSA::MOELLER | Karl has...left the building | Mon Nov 11 1991 12:47 | 9 |
| Good to see len's material (again). I've long since lost my printed
copy of this stuff, and plan to extract/print again.
re .16 or .17, the origin of the word 'traps'. Mickey Hart, in his
excellent (better than the album) book "Drumming At The Edge Of Magic",
claims that 'traps' is a contraction of "contraption", describing this
new instrument that was created by turn-of-the-century black drummers.
karl
|
| 2763.26 | Backbone of Fills Chapter | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Tue Nov 12 1991 12:10 | 473 |
|
The following examples are not meant to be an exhaustive enumeration of
all possible fills, nor are they meant to be taken as "the best" fills
to use. They are representative, and should serve as a source of ideas
about fills. Beware falling into the trap of only using full bar fills,
or only playing the toms in order of descending pitch.
Ex. 1a - The classic "around the drums" fill. See also the 16th triplet
version, example 15.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . * * * * . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . * * * * . . . .|
s |* * * * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * * * *|
b |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
ac |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
Ex. 1b - A standard variation of the "around the drums fill" which returns
to the snare.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . * * * * . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |* * * * . . . . * * * * . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * * * *|
b |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
ac |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
Ex. 2a - A full bar of 16ths, all on the snare but with syncopated
accents, doubled in the bass drum
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
ac |* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
Ex. 2b - A full bar of 16ths on the snare, with syncopated accents, but
the bass fills in between the accents
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |. . * . * . . . * . * . . . * .|
ac |* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
Ex. 2c - A full bar of 16ths on the snare, but with syncopated accents
on the toms
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . * . . . . . . . . .|
s |. * * * * * . * * * * * . * . *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
ac |* . . . . . * . . . . . * . . .|
Ex. 3a - A "minimalist" 1/2 beat fill. The bass drum and cymbals are
only examples and would be determined by context. Note that
the cymbal doesn't play through the fill, even though a real
(right handed) drummer could play the fill with the left hand
and continue the ride beat in the right hand.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . x . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . . . * . * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 4a - A 1 1/2 beat fill; the 1/8th on the snare (at 3 1/2) is a
typical lead in.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * . * * * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 4b - A 1 1/2 beat fill, with the snare playing through.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * * * * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 4c - Another variation on the 1 1/2 beat fill.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * . * . * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 5a - A very common 1 1/2 beat fill. Examples 5b - 5e show typical
variations with tom substitutions for the snare; these ideas can
be used elsewhere as well. The bass drum is merely an example;
actual bass drum (and ride cymbal) will be determined from
context.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * * . * .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 5b
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * . . * .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 5c
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * * . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . * .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 5d
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . * .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 5e
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . . . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . * * . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 6a - Extending the fill into the backbeat, but with a very open feel.
Note that ride cymbal (optionally) plays through early part of
fill.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . x . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . * . . * * . * .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 6b - One of the variations of example 5 applied to example 6.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
rc |x . x . x . x . x . x . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . * . . * * . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . * .|
b |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 7a - A full bar 4 tom fill using flams, on the idea of example 6.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hmt |. . . . F . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . F . . * . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lmt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . * .|
Ex. 7b - A syncopated version of example 7a. Compare with example 2.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . F . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . F . . .|
b |. . * . * . . . * . * . . . * .|
Ex. 7c - A 5 tom fill syncopated on 16ths rather than 8ths.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hmt |. . . F . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . F . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lmt |. . . . . . . . . F . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |. * * . * * . * * . * * . . . .|
Ex. 8a - Around the drums with some rhythmic variety.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |* * . * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hmt |. . . . * . * * . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . * . * . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lmt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * * * *|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . * .|
Ex. 8b - Another variation around the drums.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |* * . * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
hmt |. . . . * * * . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lmt |. . . . . . . . * * . * . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 8c - Around the drums "between the 8ths".
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . * . * . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . * . * . * . . . .|
s |* * . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * * * *|
b |. . * . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
Ex. 8d - Another variation, repeating the same figure around the drums
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . * * . * . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . * * . * . . . .|
s |* * . * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |. . * . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
Ex. 8e - A different grouping of example 8c
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . * * * . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . * * * . . . . . .|
s |* * . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . * * . * .|
b |. . * . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
Ex. 9 - From the Beatles' "Hold Me Tight"
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |* * . * * . * . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . * * * . * . * .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 10a - A minimalist offbeat 1 1/2 beat fill
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . * . . . * .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . * . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . * . * . . . . . . .|
Ex. 10b - A variation on the offbeat tom idea, extended to a full bar.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |* . . . . . . . . . . . * . . .|
lt |. . * . . . * . . . * . . . . .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 11
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |* * . . . . * * . . . . * * . .|
lt |. . * . * . . . * . * . . . * *|
b |* . . . . . * . . . . . * . * .|
Ex. 12a - another repeating figure "around the drums". Compare examples
8d and 17.
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . * . * * . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . * . * * . . . .|
s |* . * * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
Ex. 12b - Example 12a on one tom - from Roy Orbison's "Oh Pretty Woman".
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |* . * * * . * * * . * * * . * .|
b |* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .|
Ex. 13a - Use of 8th notes makes for interesting variations
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . * . * . * . * * . . * * . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . * . . . * .|
b |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 13b - carrying the 8th note fill idea to the limit
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . * . * . * . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . * . * . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . * .|
b |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 14 - Swing feel or 12/8 time full bar fill
|1 . .|2 . .|3 . .|4 . .|
ht |* * . . . . . . . . . .|
hmt |. . . * * . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
lmt |. . . . . . * * . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . * * .|
b |. . * . . * . . * . . *|
Ex. 15 - 16th note triplets around the drums; compare example 1a.
|1 . . . . .|2 . . . . .|3 . . . . .|4 . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . * * * * * * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * . . . . . .|
s |* * * * * * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * *|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 16a - 16th note triplet variation of example 5a.
|1 . . . . .|2 . . . . .|3 . . . . .|4 . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . * . . . . . . . . * * * * . . * . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |* . . . . . . . . * . . * . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 16b - 16th note triplet variation of example 5e.
|1 . . . . .|2 . . . . .|3 . . . . .|4 . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . * . .|
b |* . . . . . . . . * . . * . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 17 - 16th note triplet variation of example 12a.
|1 . . . . .|2 . . . . .|3 . . . . .|4 . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . * . . * * * . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . * . . * * * . . . . . .|
s |. . . * * * . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * . . * . .|
b |* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
Ex. 18 - combining 16th triplet and straight 16ths.
|1...........2...........3...........4...........|
ht |............*..*..*..*..........................|
mt |........................*..*..*..*..............|
s |*.....*.*.*.....................................|
lt |....................................*..*..*..*..|
b |................................................|
Templates
---------
8th triplets
|1 . .|2 . .|3 . .|4 . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . .|
16ths
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
16th triplets
|1 . . . . .|2 . . . . .|3 . . . . .|4 . . . . .|
ht |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
mt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
s |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
lt |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
b |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|
16ths and 16th triplets
|1...........2...........3...........4...........|
ht |................................................|
mt |................................................|
s |................................................|
lt |................................................|
b |................................................|
|
| 2763.27 | Calypso Dance Rhythms with no "Backbeat" | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Tue Nov 26 1991 12:12 | 41 |
|
I was vacationing in Barbados last week and was struck by the conspicuous
absence of a backbeat in the calypso music I heard, despite the clear
"danceability". I made some quick notes on some representative drum parts;
these examples I heard from a band called "Square One".
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
hh |x . o . x . o . x . o . x . o .|
s |. . . . . . . . * . . * . . . .|
b |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
hh |x x x x x x . x x x x x x x . x|
s |. . . . . . * . . . . . . . * .|
b |* . . . * . . . * . . . * . . .|
|1 . . .|2 . . .|3 . . .|4 . . .|
hh |x x x . x x . x x x x . x x . x|
s |. . . * . . * . . . . * . . * .|
b |* . . . * . . . * . . .(*). . .|
The (*) denotes an optional note. The hihat is often doubled by the
vocalist's tambourine.
It's also interesting to not that many of the bands in Barbados are using
hybrid electronic/acoustic trap kits, with acoustic snare and cymbals
and electronic bass and toms.
Needless to say the steel drums were always acoustic.
All the bands I heard featured synths; they seem to be about one
generation behind - D-50s and M-1s for example.
len.
|
| 2763.28 | Hot and fast yes - backbeat no | NWACES::PHILLIPS | | Tue Nov 26 1991 14:20 | 28 |
| Len,
Calypso music never had a back beat to begin with and still doesn't.
However some of the more modern forms like Soca do have a back beat.
Also there a quite a few variations of the basic calypso rhythms.
Barbadians (Bajans for short) have developed there own brand of Soca.
Just about none of the current performers do calypso anymore they all
do soca, it is the happening music now.
As far as intrumentation goes, the West Indians musicans have always
tried to keep pace with the US. Some of the band in Trinidad have the
lastest gear (they perform up here regularly) and know how to use it,
most of the time.
I won't try to notate anything cause it won't come out right, you have
to hear it and feel it. However calypso hihats has a 'one two' feel
to it, it's syncopated. So sing 'one two one two one two....' and
there you got the hihats going.
Maybe I'll put some of the rhythms on the next
COMMUSIC tape. I also did some variations on the songs I submitted.
The music is easy to dance down the streets on carnival day
because there is no back beat to it.
Well, I thought I just add my two cents.
Errol
|
| 2763.29 | Thanks | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Tue Nov 26 1991 15:26 | 17 |
| Thanks Errol, you're clearly a lot more knowledgeable about this than
I am (as evidenced by your great COMMUSIC IX contributions). I just
scribbled down some things I heard. I think that the "one two" hihat
feel you mention corresponds to the "closed-on-the-beat, open-on-the-
offbeat" I notated in the first example.
BTW, we've never been clear if Bajan is an adjective or a noun; on the
island, the people seem to be called Barbadians and the food described
as Bajan.
Maybe we could collaborate on a "lesson" on Caribbean rhythms - if you
can play it, I can probably notate it for others to try. I think
a "dictionary" of Carribbean rhythms would be a great contribution
to a COMMUSIC tape.
len.
|
| 2763.30 | | MIZZOU::SHERMAN | ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 | Tue Nov 26 1991 16:09 | 4 |
| Yes! Do the dictionary! One o' these days, even *I* may want to do
something with calypso ...
Steve :)
|
| 2763.31 | I'll do it | NWACES::PHILLIPS | | Tue Nov 26 1991 16:31 | 12 |
|
Len,
I'll provide whatever help you need. I can put something on a cassette
or we could get together. The stuff I put on the COMMUSIC tape would
not be considered dance music in the islands. I do write caribbean
dance music though and hope to sell some of that stuff.
Bajan can be used both as a noun eg. 'Bajans are friendly' or
adjective as you noted eg. 'Bajan food'. Bajan is the the shortened
version of Barbadian and is used more nowadays.
Errol
|
| 2763.32 | | 4GL::DICKSON | | Wed Dec 04 1991 12:25 | 14 |
| If Wendy Carlos can do those synthesizer techniques records, why
not a CD plus book on percussion? In fact I know of a company
that is looking for authors for multimedia "books" using CDROMs.
They have several on music. I played a bit with one that taught
Japanese culture and language. The company is called "Voyager".
An interesting variation is to add MIDI output so you can capture
the sample patterns directly, use your own synths to hear them,
slow them down, etc.
The way Voyager works is you do the writing and they supply the
"programmer" who turns in into an interactive experience and an
artist for the illustrations. The ones I have seen are for Hypercard
on the Mac, but they might have PC stuff too.
|
| 2763.33 | Hmmmm | DRUMS::FEHSKENS | len, EMA, LKG1-2/W10 | Wed Dec 04 1991 18:33 | 4 |
| Interesting idea. Any information about who to contact?
len.
|