Jimi Hendrix Experience

I think there is at least one time in every musician’s life when they are completed fixated on one player or another. You study their style, set up your gear like them, and try your best to mimic their grooves, solos and fills. Sometimes, you can even obsess over them. (Sidenote: A letter to Neil Peart when I was about 15 years old actually did get a reply from the man himself! This was way before email of course).

For me, one player in particular, before Neil Peart, was Mr. Mitch Mitchell. Back in the day, my brother turned me on to Jimi Hendrix, and my first band covered Hendrix tunes. Looking back, I can’t name another drummer who could perfectly weave loose, bouncing jazz chops with the fire, attitude and groove of a rock drummer.

Mitch Mitchell in the studio

He was one of the funkiest drummers of his time. That is the main reason why I thought it would be great to feature a drum mix of his studio take of “If 6 Was 9″. As you listen you can actually hear the genius at work, with his unorthodox rhythms and fills. It’s all there:

He was one of the masters at creating a circular feel. You can hear it every time the band kicks in. He was even moving feels from triplets to straight 16th notes(at about 2:15). You’ll hear a bit of Tony Williams thrown in there too. Check out around the 3 minute mark. He just had something that no one else did.

Hope you enjoy this candid listen inside the genius of Mitch Mitchell.

I love the internet “tubes”. These “tubes” sometimes put us in touch with interesting people we otherwise may never meet. Diego Stocco is one of those people for me. Diego is a sound designer, which is an area of music I enjoy exploring. Diego creates sound(s) for many applications including video games, movies, and sample libraries. I stumbled upon his Vimeo profile a while back, and I was fascinated by his work. Check it out when you get a chance. With titles like “Bedside Table Bass” and “Drying Rack”… you are sure to find something out of the ordinary.

I contacted him a few months back, and he recently sent me a link to his latest work. It’s called “Music From Sand”. It’s a short track composed entirely from the sound of sand! Using various sampling techniques, he was able to pull beautiful, rich textures and tones from playing around with sand. The one technique that really grabbed my interest was how he created parts of the rhythm track. By taping DT Series Piezo Film to his fingers, he recorded the sound of his fingers hitting the sand. The sound that he produced is just brilliant. Have a listen and see for yourself:

The older I get, the more I realize that music is freedom. And, this video is a perfect example of just how free it can be.

iTunes

After having to learn nearly 60 new songs in the past few months, I decided to try to simplify the process by using my MacBook to help organize and learn the material. By playing around with iTunes and Adobe Illustrator, I came up with a helpful PDF file and some iTunes tips for the working musician. I hope this helps you in your quest for music. It has worked well for me so far.

iTunes for Drummers

iTunes is king for organizing your .mp3 and .mov files which makes it a great tool for musicians as well. When I need to learn a few sets worth of music, I rip the tunes to .mp3 files usually at a minimum of 192kbps, and then label them according to the band/artist I am working with, even if it’s cover music. I then label the “Album” category with something generic like “Live” or “Live at [insert venue name]“.

Now that I can easily locate their song list in my iTunes library, I create a playlist for every set that I am doing with the band or artist, and label them “Set 1… Set 2… Set 3…” and so on. Then it is just a matter of going through their song list and dumping each tune, in set order, into the newly created iTunes playlists.

Once I have the sets sorted, I’ll dump the playlists onto my iPod so I can walk around town and learn the tunes by ear. I find that this is a great way to familiarize yourself with the music because organizing the band’s sets into playlists really gives you a good feel for how the set will flow. It also helps you learn the intros and endings for the songs. I find that to be a big challenge when you are playing with someone for the first time. iTunes definately helps.

If you are lucky, they will supply you with their own live versions of the songs so you can learn their arrangements and segues. If not, it’s probably a good idea to organize a rehearsal with the band if the music requires it. That is where jotting down some notes about each song comes in handy…

Manuscript for Drummers

I have used a few different types of manuscript notebooks to jot down some ideas, grooves, and songs, but I found that most of them didn’t accommodate the space needed to write down a quick “cheat sheet” for a set that I needed to perform. So, I sat down and came up with a PDF file of blank manuscript that can be printed out and used to write out the music and key notes of each song.

Download Drum Manuscript PDF (A4)
Download Drum Manuscript PDF (US Letter)

In the PDF file I included enough space for the song title, a text box to write the tempo(bpm), space for the time signature, and a “ride key” that I use to quickly figure out the ride pattern of the song. It’s just four 1/4 notes that you can turn into 1/8 notes or 1/16 notes by tying them together with a pen or pencil. See Figure 1 below for an example. I found this to be an easy way to quickly get a summary of the tune. I usually grab the iPod and go through each song, writing down intros, grooves, major drum fills, and the endings of the songs. I enter the bpm in the tempo text box, and tie the notes together in the “ride key” to form the basic ride pattern of each tune.

Manuscript Figure 1

After learning the songs by ear, and also going through this process of writing out my notes on manuscript paper, I find that I get familiar with the songs quickly. Then, it’s just a matter of practicing a bit on your own and/or with the band as well.

At the gig I bring along my notes and a metronome so I can quickly set myself up for each song in the set. I have been doing this for a while now, and it seems to be work quite well. I would love to hear any other tips you may have. So feel free to comment. Cheers!

Ivan Pacheco

For those of you that thought the high school marching band wasn’t very cool… check out Ivan Pacheco ripping it up on a snare drum. During this video he displays amazing chops, and breaks into some nice grooves. He actually takes it to another level.

I’m not just saying this because I was in the Amityville H.S. marching band either!

Ivan Pacheco on Snare Drum

It’s a video of bassist Alvin Mills and an un-named drummer playing what looks like an old Alesis HR-16. They are doing a burning version of “Actual Proof” from Herbie Hancock’s Thrust record. Pretty cool. I am sure some DJs would love to work with this guy. Judging from his finger chops, he would be able to play some nasty break beats.

Special thanks to my good friend MAZ for the link! Maz also came up with the MySpace goods. The drummer’s name is D. Haynes:

http://www.myspace.com/dhaynesakafingerrs

The Lord is my drummer, I shall not rush.
He maketh me to lay out in tasteful places
He leadeth me beside cool meter changes
He restoreth my “one”.

Yeah man, though I read through the trickiest of charts,
I will fear no train wrecks.
For You are with it.
Your ride and Your snare, they comfort me

You setteth up a solo for me
In the presence of mine guitarists.
You annointeth my lines with drive.
My groove overfloweth.

Surely good feel and swing will follow me
through all the tunes of each set.
And I will dwell in the pocket
the whole gig long.

Amen.

The Winstons

Here is an interesting mini documentary on the “Amen Break”, which is a drum loop created from a 1968 record by The Winstons called “Amen Brother”.

Amen Break Documentary

The drummer is GC Coleman. You’ll know it when you here it:

The documentary chronicles the history of the “Amen Break” loop. This loop made its way from that copywrited funk record into hip hop songs by Third Base, NWA, and a slew of others. It then leaked into the drum & bass scene in the UK where it was actually copywrited and sold by a UK loop CD company who claim the loop was created especially for them.

Eventually, it was embraced by corporate America to help sell SUVs and blue jeans to suburban America. Interesting take on sampling and copyright laws. Where’s the RIAA when you actually need them?

Hi Hat Placement

Over the years I have noticed something when I sit in with a band on another drummer’s kit. Drum and cymbal placement is such a personal thing, but what I noticed most is that many right-handed drummers place their hi-hats far off to the left(see figure A). To me, this is a little limiting in that you need to cross your arms a fair bit to play the hats and snare together, unless you play lefty on a right-handed kit.

What I find that works for me is placing the hi-hats more in front of you, to the right, closer to the hi-tom(see figure B). The benefit of this is you free up your left hand to do more work on the hi-hat. Using this hi-hat placement allows me to throw in extra grace notes and syncopated hi-hat accents, which works well in the right spots. It makes spicing up a groove a lot easier. Give it a try sometime.