The Paradiddler » drum cover

Drum Cover – Kiss, “Parasite”

Omar — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:50:25 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTtbCyWHApU

I must’ve been seven or eight.

I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth. As I was brushing, I started to sing “Parasite”, by Kiss. By that time Kiss Alive I had been out a couple of years, and I, as well as my other three brothers (how convenient), were well into Kiss. I couldn’t help myself, so I spent over three minutes brushing and singing.

When I got out of the bathroom, the whole family was there waiting for me, and they burst out laughing. They all knew what I was doing, and could only imagine what I looked like, blathering lyrics and toothpaste all over the place. I was embarrassed to say the least, but I had fun anyway.

Years went by, and soon I discovered another band that would change forever my perception of what good music is, that band being Rush, and that drummer being Neil Peart. So I forgot Kiss for a long while.

Fast forward many years later (to, like, now), and I’m perusing YouTube and I come across some videos of Kiss. The memories came flooding back to me from my childhood. I loved Kiss. They definitely were a sight to behold, but looking back, their live performances were absolutely stunning. For the type of music they played (i.e., straight ahead in-your-face rock), they were awesome. Ace Frehley was such a phenomenal lead guitarist, and to this day remains one of my all-time favorites. Musically, the roles were clearly defined: Peter, drums; Gene, bass; Paul, rhythm guitar; Ace, lead guitar – that was it. And they made it look easy, too.

So now I’m going through all these videos, and I come across a couple of live performances of “Parasite”. Besides the embarrassing episode mentioned earlier, I marveled at how awesome this song really is. Great riffs, pure straight-ahead rock, and just 3 ½ minutes long – a neat little package of Rock greatness. There were some great songs from that era of Kiss, but this was the one I wanted to cover.

I decided that I wanted to cover the live version off of Kiss Alive I instead of the studio version (Hotter Than Hell). The studio version was very raw and too slow for my taste. It seemed like Kiss got the song the way they wanted by the time the ‘Dressed to Kill’ tour came along, and has pretty much remained unchanged since.

The aforementioned YouTube perusing had me come across a fantastic live version of the song, titled ‘Kiss – Parasite – Cobo Hall 1976’. I really liked the speed of the song, which I think made it sound to me as one of the best live versions I’ve heard. But I also wanted to play to an officially released version, a la from Kiss Alive I. However, this version is a little slower than the Cobo Hall performance. So I cheated.

I imported the Kiss Alive I version into the Audacity audio editing program. I then increased the tempo of the song without raising the pitch. This allowed me to play at the speed I thought the song sounded the coolest (as played at Cobo Hall), while still playing to the released version.

As far as the video production of this cover goes, I’m going to reserve the details for the upcoming ‘using just your camcorder and Windows Movie Maker’ course. Several techniques are implemented such as effects, animations, multiple camera angles, etc., that will be explained in great detail then. You can make very good drum cover videos with very little – I think this cover is an example of that.

So enjoy my tribute to Peter Criss, leave your comments, and I hope you’re inspired to produce great drum covers of your own!

Drum Cover – Genesis, “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight/The Musical Box” Medley

Omar — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:26:36 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHjFgH7h03A

My infatuation with classic Genesis is a recent event.

For many years, I had heard of the so-called ‘classic Genesis’, but I never bothered to find out more. The Genesis I knew was from Abacab on, and only a few songs from before that (“Follow You Follow Me”, “Misunderstanding”, “Turn It On Again”). I thought that Phil Collins was a good drummer (he was at least the best singing drummer), but I was way into Neil Peart to notice.

Rush and Yes filled my progressive rock needs quite nicely, until Pandora opened my eyes (ears, actually) to what I was missing. Once I heard “The Fountain of Salmacis” for the first time, I thought, “What’s this?” The music was so creative, imaginative, and complex, that I was immediately drawn in. I started checking all of the band’s music from 1971-1977 (an era I call the “Steve Hackett Era”), and I now had another band who I thought was on the same plane as Rush and Yes (at least by my reckoning).

My biggest revelation was the drumming of Phil Collins. He was great – definitely one of the best progressive rock drummers of all time, in my opinion. His playing was so intricate, and always just right for the song. He wasn’t just playing drums, but it seemed like the drum parts were as complex as the guitars and keyboards – they filled a lot of space. And not only that, but if you watched him play, he played so effortlessly. It seemed so easy for him to play with such complexity. No wonder Neil Peart reveals in the "Rush - 2112/Moving Pictures Classic Albums" DVD, that hearing drummers like Phil Collins made him think that that was the level of playing he had to achieve. I agree!

Eventually I decided that I wanted to cover Phil Collins from the “Steve Hackett Era” of Genesis. There was so much to choose from, and all very difficult. One day, however, I was perusing some Genesis-related videos on YouTube, and found an audio clip from a 1978 show, a medley of “Dancing With the Moonlit Knight” and “The Musical Box”. Both of these are monstrous songs, and this live version was just some of the best music I’ve ever heard, period. It was so majestic and epic, with a hard edge, very fast, and showcased Genesis at possibly their musical peak. There was no turning back now – this is what I was going to cover (gads).

I knew that I was going to play to the studio version of “Dancing…” off of Selling England by the Pound, and I also knew that I would include the middle instrumental part of “The Musical Box”, till its end. What I didn’t know was which version of “The Musical Box” I would use. In the end, though, after much listening, I ended up choosing the following parts:

“Dancing With the Moonlit Knight”, from Selling England by the Pound
“The Musical Box” middle instrumental part from Nursery Cryme
“The Musical Box” finale from Seconds Out

I used the Audacity audio editing program to put the three sections together to make the transitions seamless. “Dancing…” has a quicker tempo than does “The Musical Box”, so I used Audacity to speed up the instrumental section to approximately the same speed as “Dancing…”, without raising the pitch. Since the finale of “The Musical Box” is a slower piece anyway and a complete change in ‘atmosphere’ and mood, I didn’t have to tinker with that at all.

The drumming to these songs is very difficult (for me, anyway), so much so that I actually gave up on it for a time. I recorded myself playing to it, but there were so many mistakes that I thought that maybe this was beyond me. I spent the next couple of months letting the drumming fester in my mind. When I approached it again from a fresh perspective, it seemed to make more sense, so I tried it again.

I opted to use one camera angle instead of multiple angles, and I also recorded the drumming with the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder. I had few ideas in my mind as to how the end result was going to look, so this project was a little too much for Windows Movie Maker.

CyberLink PowerDirector allowed me to set up multiple tracks, and easily slide the different takes into the proper position so both audio and video transitioned smoothly. Adding additional audio tracks allowed me to perfectly align the audio from the Zoom H2 with the video of the drumming. I then muted the audio from the video recordings so only the H2 drumming was heard. That’s the technical stuff (summed up).

After the drumming and recording was done as best as possible (that is the most important part), I started thinking in artistic terms. How could I make this just a little different from the typical drum cover? It’s so obvious – I would sing! I decided to sing the first two lines (of which I removed from the song to accommodate, well, me). Crazy? Of course! ‘No guts, no glory’, as they say.

“The Musical Box” has been sung by both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins. When Peter sang it, we remember the desperate old man he portrayed lusting over his love. But when Phil sang it, it felt more like a longing for a lost love. The latter is what I tried to capture with my interpretation of someone longing for a lost love. Of course, the finale is one of the best endings in all of rock.

As difficult as it is to try to play anywhere near the greatness that is Phil Collins, it is equally as rewarding when you see the final result, and it’s actually not bad! So in your case, for your drum cover, feel free to embellish your video anyway you like, because, in the end, it’s about you, your interpretation, your take. Take some risks. But always have fun. And remember: it’s about the drumming ultimately, so once you have that down, you’re free to take your drum cover wherever you like.

If you have any questions at all on any aspect of the video, leave it as a comment below, so all can benefit from the dialog. Well, you can leave kudos too.

Drum Cover – Rush, “The Analog Kid”

Omar — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:09:45 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8euD9O-g_1E

Welcome to another ‘drum cover’ edition of The Paradiddler. This time it’s another one of my favorite Rush songs, “The Analog Kid”, from their 1982 release Signals.

Just recently, a subscriber to The Paradiddler newsletter asked me why I play mostly Rush covers. The main reason is that that’s what I grew up listening to the most, and I always said that if I ever get a drum set (and keep it), dang it I’m gonna play Rush! I guess you can say it’s to get it out of my system. But I’m not complaining!

There’s a certain discipline to playing Rush songs, a certain vibe that I don’t get when playing other songs. I’m sure it’s mostly due, again, to how much I listened to the band growing up (I still listen to them a lot). I always feel like, when playing a Rush song, that the three musicians are always aware of the sensibilities of the other two, and they always play to the song. It’s not just about drumming, it’s drumming to the bass, the guitar, and especially the singing. It’s like being taken to school, per se.

I have a long list of songs I still want to cover; who knows if I’ll get to them all. They are mostly Rush songs, but there are others thrown in there as well. In any case, each song teaches me something new – it’s always a learning experience. So I shall continue to play my list, hoping that the viewer (and listener) gets something out of it, however small.

As far as “The Analog Kid” goes, that was not my next choice. I had something else planned, but somehow this song comes up (I don’t remember where – Pandora, YouTube video, or other), and I thought to myself, “hey, I think I can play this right now!” It’s one of my favorite songs, and it has a really nice groove, so I figured, what the heck, let’s play it!

Around this time, I’m also starting to experiment with different recording equipment and video editing software. I recently purchased the Zoom H2 recorder, and it records drumming significantly better than the built-in microphone on the camcorder. Also, I’m dabbling with CyberLink’s PowerDirector 9 video editing software. I’m going to class on both of them – that is, I’m self teaching myself how to use them. Hands on is the best way to learn, so I decided that this would be an opportunity to experiment.

Of course, the most important part of any drum cover is the drumming itself, so I started to set myself up to play. I always record myself practicing the song, since I don’t want to miss a possible great performance! Anyway, I was planning on recording multiple angles for this cover, but the audio cable from the H2 to the camcorder just wasn’t long enough. Since my camcorder has the built-in mic-in jack, I have the flexibility of recording any angle I want, while leaving the microphone (the H2) in the best spot for recording the drums, while still maintaining the proper left/right stereo image. I decided to buy a longer cable.

Now being really prepared, I positioned the H2 in the ideal spot (about 2 meters straight away from the bass drum, on the floor [more experimentation with that to follow]), and connected the long audio cable from the H2 to the camcorder. With the camcorder at the angle I wanted, I start playing. I play several takes at that angle, then I position the camcorder at another angle, record some more – rinse, lather, repeat, rinse, lather, repeat… I even recorded shots of my feet on a couple of takes.

I had a lot of takes recorded, so I let it be and a few days later I sit down to edit. I was anxious to get into the new editing software, and I have to tell you it was a little daunting. It blows Windows Movie Maker out of the water (even though Movie Maker is adequate for most drum cover recording, as I discuss in the “Recording Drum Covers” series), but for what I wanted to do, I needed to jump right into the program.

While I was messing around with PowerDirector, I was noticing that there was a subtle ‘humming’ sound coming from the speakers while I was evaluating each video take. They all had this hum. I started listening more closely, and it seemed like the right channel was the culprit. No drumming was coming out of the right speaker. And it wasn’t just one of the videos – it was all of them. My stomach knotted.

After I ensured the actual speakers were connected properly to the computer and other audio sources sounded correctly, I went back to the source videos and opened them in the native video software that came with the camcorder. I played the takes there, and indeed, every video was recorded with no sound from the right side (just the humming). Let’s just say I was not happy! All of that drumming, all of that recording, and it was useless. After I finished fuming, I decided I had to re-record.

I then decided to test the audio cables (all of them) to make sure they were not defective, so I recorded some random playing with each cable to see which one was bad. I was certain it was the longer cable I had just purchased, but after viewing my tests, they all sounded good! Now I knew that the culprit was me! I didn’t ensure the cables were securely connected to the recording devices, so the right channel didn’t take. Moral of the story: after everything is connected, do a test recording, and then view it to ensure both channels record! Whew, I’m spent.

By this time I’m pretty disillusioned, and I’m not into the multiple angle option anymore. Of course, I want to record the cover, but this time I decided to leave the multiple camera angles for another cover, and just try to get a good one-angle take. Of course, it still means I have to play it again! At least I’ve practiced – a lot.

By this time also I had lost a lot of time, and I was anxious to get my video up on YouTube. I was still in the learning process with PowerDirector, so I went back to Windows Movie Maker and did the audio and video synching there. However, PowerDirector has a very good effects library, so after synching in Movie Maker I imported the ‘rough draft’ into PowerDirector and added the effects there, and polished it off.

I did learn some valuable lessons recording this cover. “Don’t be hasty!” Also, we need to ensure everything’s plugged in properly! And, sometimes the tools you used before can still be useful (Windows Movie Maker), even when you’ve upgraded. Some tools are still good for some things, and it may be that the best thing is to incorporate all of the tools and use what’s best for the task at hand.

As far a the actual cover goes, as always, I play it by ear. Every cover I've done is based on what the song sounds like to me, and how I've seen the actual artist play it. I may also look at how others have covered the same song. There was a section of this song that I was a little at odds as to how I was going to play it. During Alex Lifeson's magnificent guitar solo, Neil is playing a pattern on the snare and bass drum. This is all it sounds like to me, but I've seen others riding the floor tom as well. I've tried listening for the floor tom during this section, but I really don't hear it. Or, it's so subtle that it almost wouldn't make a difference if I rode the floor tom or not. I know that if I rode the floor tom, it would be more pronounced than I'd like it to be, making it sound a little too different from the original. So I decided, whether Neil is riding the floor tom or not, that I not do it. As it turns out, I think that section of my cover sounds pretty much like the original, so I'm satisfied with my 'artistic' decision.

In the end, I like how it came out, even though a couple of times I was a little off time (but I recovered nicely!). I’m not sure I’ll ever record a ‘perfect take’ where I play note-for-note, but one thing’s for sure: if I never arrive, I’ll definitely enjoy the journey.

Drum Cover – Paramore, “That’s What You Get”

Omar — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:07:55 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14oi7j6ZOFg

Welcome to another drum cover edition of The Paradiddler. This time we’re covering “That’s What You Get” from Paramore, the unplugged version.

This is a little different from previous covers (well, significantly different, as you’ll see). But first, a brief on how I came to choose this song.

A few short years ago, the Twilight saga took the world by storm. Not only the movies, but the music was pretty good as well. On the original Twilight soundtrack, I heard a soaring, beautiful voice that I had never heard before. It was Paramore’s Hayley Williams, and the song was “Decode”. The song rocks; a nice, fresh deviation from the typical stuff I listen to. I thought maybe I’d cover the song someday, but in the meantime, I’d just listen.

Fast-forward to a few months ago, and I catch Paramore performing an ‘unplugged’ show on the Palladia channel. It actually originally aired on MTV back in the Fall of 2009. It was a great performance. Of particular note to me was Zac Farro’s drum kit – just a two piece! He was only using the bass and snare drum, with hi-hats and one cymbal. He also was using brushes instead of sticks. He made it all work with this simple setup – I was impressed.

One of my wife and I’s favorite songs from the show was “That’s What You Get”, so much so that I decided to cover the song. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to cover a song from a more modern group, that was currently hip. Anyway, one thing I like to do is hit up YouTube and see others covering the same song. Wow, what I found was a boat-load of covers for this song! Popular indeed! Of course, this song came out on Paramore’s Riot! back in 2007, so there has been plenty of time for people to cover it. I had to think of a way to make my cover a little different.

I went back and viewed the unplugged performance, and it hit me that I could just set up my kit the same way Zac Farro did, and cover the acoustic version of the song. I didn’t find anyone on YouTube covering it that way, so I decided that that was the course I would take. I thought it would be a nice challenge to play with such a small setup, since I’m used to having several shells in front of me.

Even though Farro used brushes for his performance, I wasn’t going that route. I have the Ultra-Tone quiet sticks from Lidwish Soulutions, which purport to lower the volume of your drumming by about 40% without using any kind of silencing on the kit itself. I’m also using the Ultra-Tone bass drum beater as well. As you see in the video, I am able to forgo the bulky Vic Firth isolation headphones and use regular, almost invisible stereo earphones to hear the song because the Ultra-Tones reduce the noise of the drums enough for me to comfortably hear the music. An aesthetic benefit!

As I was practicing the song, I was wondering how else I could make the video different. The unplugged show was more of an intimate setting, not as loud, so I wanted to imitate that in some way. It occurred to me then that I could just move my kit in front of the fireplace in the living room and play with the fire going. That did present another challenge, though. Since I wanted the fire to be part of the video, I knew I was going to run into the problem of lighting. I didn’t want there to be too much light in the room to drown out the fire’s light. But if I used too little light, the camcorder may not be able to compensate and record a clean video, and the result may end up too grainy. So I experimented with different lighting ideas and camera settings.

I was determined to use as little light as I could get away with that the camcorder could handle. I set the camera to record at its highest resolution (which I always do anyway). I also set it to its ‘night’ setting, so it would be more sensitive to light. The living room light had to be off, but I turned on lights from surrounding rooms. I also used the LCD TV by pausing a Blu-Ray movie on a bright scene (the movie was Avatar, by the way). The ending result was a video that displays a somewhat intimate, quiet setting, like, well, an unplugged performance! Just the effect I wanted.

I did record several other angles to mimic a multi-camera view of the performance. There were certain parts of the song where I wanted to switch views to emphasize some pattern, but in all of those shots those particular views did not come out like I wanted them to. So I ended up using only one view, and enhancing the video with a few special effects. Sometimes the effects give the impression of multiple cameras, so that’s another way of getting your ‘multiple views’, as it were. Sometimes in editing you have to make sacrifices for the benefit of the final product!

And on a more personal note, this song was requested by my wife, so I was very happy to oblige! This performance is dedicated to her.

So I hope you enjoy the video! Of course, please leave your comments, questions, and the like below. Some big-time favorites will be coming soon (hopefully), with a few more experiments that I’ll incorporate. Until then, happy viewing, and happy drumming!

Drum Cover – Rush, “Double Agent”

Omar — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 23:06:39 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA7YOwgpxZs

A drum cover decades in the making. The history behind this cover is, well, loaded, as you’ll see. And there’s more than one reason for the way this one come came out. Here’s the scoop…

If you were able to see the documentary “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage” (a highly recommended view), you’ll note that the 80’s for Rush was very synthesizer-heavy. This resulted in the guitar having to compete in the same frequency range as the synthesizers. You could say that it took a little toll on Alex Lifeson’s psyche, in that he wanted his guitar sound to come back out more into the fore. The other band members agreed, and both Presto (1989) and Roll the Bones (1991) reflected a move back towards a trio-like sound, with keyboards being used more to accentuate rather than as a main feature.

However, in my ears anyway, these two releases, especially Roll the Bones, sound a little too tinny, if you will. Even though it was a trio, there wasn’t really much power behind those chords. I thought they could have sound a little heavier. Well, I was about to get smacked in the face!

Out comes Counterparts in 1993, and I was blown away. This was the sound I was looking for. Very heavy guitar, deep bass, and articulate but loud sounding drums (Neil Peart’s Slingerland snare never sounded so good), and I thought that at that point this might be the best sounding Rush record of all. To this day, it’s arguably my favorite sounding of all Rush releases. And the songs don’t disappoint.

I could go on ‘for miles and miles’ about all the songs, but that’s beyond the lecture at hand. One song in particular really caught my attention: “Double Agent”. Very creative drumming on that song, like I’ve not heard before. A dark theme, almost nightmarish, “caught between darkness and light” – the song seems like it goes back and forth between the two extremes, then eventually breaks free in the end.

Throughout the verses Neil alternates between the china and ride cymbal on each beat. The hi-hats are not used at all in the song (that I can tell), which again I thought was very creative pulling that off. Also, where in the first two verses Neil is alternating the china and ride with the china on the down beat, on the last verse he reverses it and plays the china on the up beat, and the ride on the down. He just can’t play the same way throughout a song! The genius of the drumming is not so much in the complexity, but in the creativity. I didn’t have a drum set at the time, but I figured someday that if I had one, that would be a song to go immediately on my list.

“Double Agent” was played live during the supporting tour, but never made it to the set list in subsequent tours. We’ll get back to that in a bit. In any case, one of Rush’s best songs, in my opinion.

Ok, now let’s flash back a few years to my youth. When I discovered Rush, I did as any new Rush fan does – I went through the entire catalog! It was incredible to me how intricately and detailed (and complexly) this trio played, even in the earlier years. One record I fell in love with right away was Caress of Steel. Not every song was a gem, but for certain two stood out: “The Necromancer”, and “The Fountain of Lamneth”. The latter was Rush’s foray into the side-long songs. As a kid developing my taste for reading, I came across Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shannara, and in reading it it reminded me very much of “The Fountain of Lamneth”. Each made me like the other more.

“The Necromancer” was another story. Half the size of “The Fountain of Lamneth”, it has three compact ‘movements’, each building with intensity and speed, with the last one slowing down with a triumphant ending. However, the second movement has a fast-paced instrumental that showcases the dexterity and energy of the three young musicians. My favorite stretch on the whole record, which I thought would be awesome to play, and even better to see Rush perform live.

However, the album was not Rush’s favorite. Even though they thought much of it when released, it was not received very favorably by the public, so as time went on very little of it was played live in later tours (“Bastille Day” mostly – still a pretty good song). I still held on to the hope of at least seeing the instrumental jam of “The Necromancer” incorporated somehow in the live show.

Ok, now we flash-forward back to the future. As I’ve mentioned previously in the article titled “The Paradiddler’s Wish List for Rush’s Next Tour”, once I found out that Rush was planning a tour, I set out to list what songs I wanted them to perform, as sort of a public request. Two of those songs made it to the tour, although for a reason not expected: “The Camera Eye” and “Witch Hunt”, but because they decided to play Moving Pictures in its entirety. None of the other songs from the list made it to the show.

I did have another very special request that I purposely excluded from the article. I didn’t want to make it public because I really didn’t know how to put it in words. In the aforementioned article, it stated, “I do have a couple of other items on my list that are so good (again, at least I think so!), that I won’t reveal them here. I have special plans for those, and if they come to fruition, trust me, you’ll find out in due time.” Well, this cover is the result of the ‘couple of other items’. I figure if Rush doesn’t want to play anything from Caress of Steel, this would be a sweet compromise.

I don’t really know when it hit me that the aforementioned instrumental part would sub nicely in the middle of “Double Agent”. I went over it in my head, and concluded that it would work. So using Audacity audio editing software, I mixed “Double Agent” and the instrumental part of “The Necromancer” so that they seamlessly blended together, without missing a beat. I wanted to make sure that it sounded like it was meant to be played that way.

This cover also marked my foray into multiple camera angles. I really wrestled with this idea since I’m very much into playing the entire piece from start to finish, in one take. But I only have one camera, and this ‘medley’ lent itself perfectly for multiple angles since there was more than one song involved, and the instrumental section I thought merited special attention. I couldn’t avoid it – I had to play and record multiple takes.

All of the angles are a combination of three full takes of the song. I then selected the angles I thought best ‘fit the part’, so to speak, but I didn’t want to go crazy. The song is still the most important thing, even though I added some special effects as well so as not to look too monotonous. Of course, I had to ensure that when I cut away to another angle, both the audio from the video (meaning me playing) and the audio from the song were in perfect sync. This was quite a challenge with Windows Movie Maker, but I think it worked out ok. And that guy at the end – who’s that?

On another musical note (hm, unintended pun, but I like it!), on the original “The Necromancer” instrumental, of course you hear Neil playing the ride on the eighth notes (I believe the instrumental is in 6/8 – please correct me if I’m wrong). But he’s also simultaneously opening and closing the hi-hat in sync with the ride, on the eighth notes. This was a little too much for me to handle, so I only struck the hi-hat with the stick when the song called for it. Something else for me to practice!

So in essence, this article^* is also a ‘double agent’ of sorts. Not only is it my typical drum cover article, but it’s also a public request from The Paradiddler for Rush to play something from Caress of Steel! There is some great musicianship exhibited on that record, and “The Necromancer” has some fantastic hard rock passages that I think is overlooked by most, and even by Rush! I would be so happy if they played anything from that album.

Another interesting thing to note is that some really great songs are played once when it comes out, then not played again for a very long time (when Rush comes to their senses!). This happened with “Between the Wheels”, which is on the Grace Under Pressure release of 1984. Only played on that tour, it came back during the R30 tour in 2005. I believe the same has happened to “Double Agent”. Great song, played on the Counterparts tour, but overlooked subsequently. It’s time to bring it back! You can add this cover to ‘The Paradiddler’s wish list for Rush’s next tour’. I’m just giving them an idea, is all.

Anyway, enjoy the song, and please! Let me know what you think below. Drum on!
__________
^*I want to acknowledge the assistance of Pauliewanna, one of my YouTube friends. My initial upload of the video was blocked by YouTube because of copyright (meaning my sound was very close to the original, so I took it as a compliment ). He assisted me in disputing the block, because my videos are for educational purposes (and yes, and maybe laugh while you learn!). Have a look at his drum covers. If you like Rush, he does a great job playing those songs. Again, thanks Pauliewanna!

Drum Cover – “Jacob’s Ladder” by Rush, Exit… Stage Left

Omar — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 02:49:58 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAUGr13Hsto

Welcome to another drum cover edition of The Paradiddler! This time we'll be analyzing my cover of one of my favorite Rush songs, "Jacob's Ladder".

I became a fan of Rush during the Moving Pictures era, as many of their current fans did. Soon after that studio release, Exit... Stage Left (ESL) came out (1981), and I was permanently hooked. I loved how these three guys could produce so much music. I also loved how they absolutely toyed with the beat of the songs, always seeming to play ahead, right on, or behind the beat - and in unison!

One of my favorite tracks was "Jacob's Ladder". It has four 'movements' of varying speeds and moods, starting off foreboding, and then ending triumphantly. In this live version, there's an additional old ballad-type intro, which is not found in the studio release (Permanent Waves, 1980).

And speaking of the studio release, it was inevitable that eventually I would want to hear it. So I did, but to me the live version is significantly better. The live version seems much smoother, and more adeptly fills the musical space. So when the time came to cover the song (as in now), the choice was obvious.

However, recording this cover was a nightmare. For all my covers up until this point, I've decided to record the whole performance in one take. It just seems like a more genuine, organic performance recording it that way. I never minded so much leaving a few errors in, since I could use these as teaching points.

But recall that I mentioned that the guys were 'breathing the beats', as it were, playing behind, spot on, and in front of the beat throughout the whole show. This was very evident on this song as well, and it gave me fits! I lost count of how many times I re-recorded myself playing this song. And the song is over eight and a half minutes long! Many times it sounded like there were two drummers, and that is very distracting.

To change things up, I played to the song on the CD instead of the mp3 player. After finishing that recording, I was feeling pretty confident that I nailed it. I then went to Windows Movie Maker to sync the video with the mp3 on the computer. Much to my chagrin, I was playing faster than the mp3! The CD player was playing at an ever-so-slightly faster speed than the mp3, so right from the get go, I was already playing too fast. Of course, I didn't notice the speed increase because the 'key' of the song did not change. I was about to do a Keith Moon on my drums when I settled down, and decided to record myself another day.

Eventually, I settled on a recording that I could live with. Like I mentioned in "A Perspective On Drum Covers", I look at it as how the drummer would play the song on any given night on a tour. No two nights are played exactly the same, but they all turn out pretty good!

I again had a few timing issues on this recording, but they were brief. I added the video effects to break up the monotony of the single camera angle.

As an aside, in the article "The Paradiddler’s Wish List for Rush’s Next Tour", I listed "Jacob's Ladder" as a song they should bring back. This was before I knew what the format would be for their present tour. And although Alex Lifeson mentioned that this song was a strong possibility to be included in the tour, it wasn't, possibly due to time constraints. Maybe next tour? One can hope!

In any case, please feel free to leave your comments below regarding my playing, yeah or nay, or anything else regarding the recording as a whole. Till next time, enjoy!

“All My Life” by Foo Fighters, Drum Cover

Omar — Wed, 26 May 2010 03:01:09 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwC5qorcuhA

Welcome to a ‘drum cover’ edition of The Paradiddler! This time around we’ll discuss my cover of Foo Fighter’s “All My Life”.

A lot of time had gone by between covers. I had my drums put away, so I did a lot of thinking, mostly about how I wasn’t playing!

Anyway, I started to make a list of the songs I wanted to cover (eventually). Playing covers, for me, strikes a balance of learning from the pros and making practicing (and playing!) fun.

It was fun to come up with this list because it makes you start preparing in your head how you’re going to play certain parts. Will you play it as originally recorded, or will you add a certain flavor to make it your own? Sometimes that decision may not occur during the planning stages, but during the performance itself.

But let me digress a bit. After I made my list, I decided that I would play “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, by Nirvana. I chose it more for the energy and passion that Dave Grohl exhibited when playing it, and because it’s fairly simple to play since the drum phrasing doesn’t change throughout the song. But that simplicity is deceiving.

When I sat down to play this song, for some reason my timing was all over the place! It’s my favorite Nirvana song, the energy is off the charts, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

So while I was dealing with this frustration, I scrolled through my ‘set list’ and I found the Foo Fighters’ “All My Life”. Another favorite of mine (plus another Dave Grohl connection), I decided to sit down and just play to it, and it felt good right away! It felt very natural right off the bat, and it was loads of fun to play. So I decided then and there that I would publish this cover instead.

My goal is to try to play to the original as close as possible while incorporating a few subtle changes. I like to think of those changes as how the drummer might play the song on another night of a tour. Even though he changes it up, it still sounds like him. I’m just another night on the tour. (See “A Perspective on Drum Covers”)

The main differences between my cover and the original is the splash in the middle of the song (at the end of the second verse), and during the chorus I played the ride cymbal with straight eighth notes, instead of accenting with the bell of the ride. There are other differences both in playing and with the video effects, just to change it up and make it a little more interesting. I’ll let you figure them out!

Something I did differently this time around also is to publish the video before writing the accompanying article (I usually do both simultaneously). I posted the video on a couple of drumming forums so people could see my take on the song, and give me some feedback on my playing. I got some very good feedback, and I may do it this way going forward. I’ll include the links here so you can also benefit from the observations. Of course, you the reader can chime in as well!

So that’s the scoop! Like I said before, if you have comments, suggestions, kudos , leave them here. Happy drumming!

Girl Gone Bad by Van Halen, Drum Cover

Omar — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:51:21 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCKC5NNdYjU

The Paradiddler coming at you with another drum cover! This time, it's "Girl Gone Bad" from Van Halen's 1984.

This is my favorite Van Halen song. In fact, I believe this is Alex Van Halen's best recording. Although he was always one of the most powerful drummers around, I don't think his drumming stood out sound-wise from Van Halen's debut album all the way to Diver Down. HOWEVER, what a difference an album makes! It seems like Alex re-invented himself for the 1984 album. The drums were way more pronounced and up front; and those bass drums! What power. Those Ludwigs never sounded so good!

There are some things going on in this song that, at my developmental stage, I can't quite reproduce yet. For example, the triplet ride pattern he plays at the beginning and after the band jams halfway through the song, was just too much for my forearm to take. So I compensated by changing the pattern to two singles plus a triple ride pattern. 'The bar remains the same', so to speak, so I think it works out ok. I think it's a pretty creative alternative, actually (as I pat myself on the back)! Also, at the end of the song when everybody's jamming out, Alex alternates his left foot between the hi-hat and the left bass pedal. I stayed clear of that (for now) because it would just throw me off. But with all the cymbal noise, I think I could get away with it .

Van Halen is in my top five favorite bands of all time (hmm, I smell another article in my near future!). And Alex Van Halen is definitely one of my favorite drummers. I am very glad I could play some semblance of this song, because it just rocks!

“Future Times/Rejoice” by Yes, Drum Cover

Omar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:44:38 +0000

Here's the latest drum cover from The Paradiddler: "Future Times/Rejoice" by Yes.

I haven't updated my 'Artists' page as of late, but one of the drummers I wanted to make sure made my initial list was Alan White. He's one of my favorite drummers, very unassuming, and to me, the best timekeeper in rock. At least earlier in his career, he played with so much power, but it was always controlled. I listen to such songs as "The Gates of Delirium" and "Sound Chaser", especially live, and I wonder how he had so much stamina. The guy was an animal - I love it!

I always thought that Tormato was one of Yes' most underrated LP's. It sounds somewhat unpolished, yet all members at the time (Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Alan White) were at such musical peaks during this period. There are some musical compositions so beautiful and complex that it might be the best 'prog rock' LP of all time, at least from a compositional aspect. Yes, I know others may disagree, maybe thinking that these guys were just way too self-indulgent, and as far as rock goes, this was way out to the side. To that I say: "Bravo for self-indulgence!" Songs like "Madrigal" and "Onward" have some of the most beautiful compositions in all of rock (if we could actually classify these songs as 'rock'). Some of the music on this LP (or CD) transcends rock - they are masterpieces of music.

Which brings me to "Future Times/Rejoice". This to me is a nightmare to master. There seem to be several time changes in the middle of a bar, and I'm very hard pressed to catch them even after several takes. At times I'm trying to count certain bars so I don't lose my place, and I almost lose it entirely a couple of times. But I held on, and I think, for the difficulty of this piece, although not perfect, I'm satisfied.

As I do more and more of these covers, I'm trying to vary the difficulty and style of song. My favorite band of all is Rush, and I could cover a bunch of their songs. But that route is too obvious (I will cover more of their songs, of course, but it has to be somewhat spectacular). Yes is my second favorite band, and I may do a couple more covers from them eventually. But I may venture into Spanish rock, heavy metal (nothing offensive though, I promise!), and even jazz. Gotta make it interesting!

Let me know what you think!

Drum Channel’s Air Drumming Contest with Chad Smith

Omar — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:43:21 +0000

If you've read my three-part series on my origins (The Paradiddler, Origins), then you'll already know that, at least for the moment, I'm mostly a self-taught drummer, and I learned how to play by air drumming. You also surmised that I'm a big fan of Neil Peart, Rush drummer extraordinaire. So when DrumChannel.com came out with the "Chad Smith Air Drumming Contest on YouTube", well, you know I had to enter!

I chose a song I'm pretty familiar with, since I've been hearing it since it came out in 1982 - "Subdivisions" by Rush. In real life, I'll need a couple more drums and cymbals to play it to my satisfaction, and that's where air drumming comes in!

For now, I'm a pretty good air drummer (if I must say so myself!). My real drum playing, at least by my standards, has much room for improvement, which is a nice way to say 'it's all uphill from here'! I've gotten a hold of some drum instruction videos and documents on improving your play, and will be reviewing them extensively in the near future and letting you know what I think.

You can click on the previous link to go to DrumChannel's air drumming challenge. Of course, anyone can enter (the details are there), but if you're not, then view my video! The winner is the one with the most views by July 15, 2009 at 3pm EST. And of course, for your convenience (or mine!), I've included the video here. Tell all your YouTube-viewing friends! And thanks for viewing. Let me know what you think as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-aP8Pxhv-s