A brass band masta
Jam on my pedal blasta
Would be so nasta

Congratulations to Charlie Campagna of Hockessin, Delaware!  He’s the winner of the Off-Set double bass pedal.

It was very difficult to establish criteria for the winner of this contest, since it is somewhat subjective.  I decided right from the beginning that the poem would have to immediately impact me in some way:  with humor, fancy rhyming, or just plain ridiculousness.  The moment I read the poem above, it made me laugh right away, and the rhyming was very clever.  Of course, some word trickery had to be performed for it to work, but creativity was the idea, and it worked out quite nicely.  So congratulations Charlie!

After the contest was over, subscribers to The Paradiddler newsletter were informed that many entries were received, and that it would be very difficult to select a winner (which, in fact, it was).  I ran this by Charles Fisher, owner of the Off-Set Bass Pedal Company, and he came up with a brilliant idea:  ‘Why not have two winners then?’  Fantastic!  But the subscribers of the newsletter should have known…

The January 24^th newsletter said the following:  “Don't forget to visit The Paradiddler this Friday, 8:00pm, for the winners of the Off-Set pedal.”  So now I had to decide on the second winner.

Another criteria for haiku greatness is if the poem moved me in some way, an inspiration.  The second winner did just that.  It was not a haiku poem, but a haiku poem of haiku poems, all strung together, to tell a story - a biography, of sorts.  It even has a title:  “To Keep Me From Sinking”:

Congratulations also to Chad De Soto of Guam – you are the second winner of the Off-Set pedal.

I want thank Charles Fisher once again for making such a great product to help us play drums better, and to make it available to subscribers of this site.

But mostly, I want to thank you, the subscribers and visitors of this site, which would not be possible without you.  So until the next contest, keep on drumming, and Charlie and Chad:  let us know how it goes with your new pedal!

]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2012/01/27/off-set-double-pedal-%e2%80%93-haiku-contest-winners/feed/ 0 http://theparadiddler.com/2012/01/20/van-halen-is-back/ http://theparadiddler.com/2012/01/20/van-halen-is-back/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:05:06 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=2409

I always thought Alex was a great drummer right from the start, but he took his drumming to another level for 1984. This to me was his best record, both for his playing and his drum sound. The drums sounded incredible (especially the bass drum) - leaps and bounds better than all previous records. He was for sure one of my favorite drummers during this time, and is one of my all-time favorite drummers (you can see my drum cover tribute to Alex Van Halen, “Girl Gone Bad”. Just cut me a little slack – it was a while ago ).

My favorite era was the David Lee Roth era. It was very difficult during high school not to hear “Everybody Wants Some!!” blasting in the back of the bus, every day. Since that was my favorite era, I decided to put together yet another ideal set list.

What you see above was my foray into the ‘Discussions’ feature on Facebook a little while back (actually, I did something similar with another band before the Van Halen discussion, but in this case, ‘the last became the first’).  I had a chance to see the band way back in 1984, but those plans fell through.  I did years later see them during the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour, with front man Sammy Hagar.  It was a great show.  Although Sammy Hagar has never been a favorite artist of mine, he did steal the show – he had it that night.  I really went to see Alex Van Halen, one of my favorite drummers, and he didn’t disappoint.  But that was a while ago, so I’m really sketchy on the details.

I happened to also see David Lee Roth live when he toured on his own, during the Skyscraper tour.  I actually didn’t know what I was watching:  Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Gregg Bissonette on drums (whoa, what a lineup).  The concert was very entertaining, and thinking back it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.  And oh yeah, Poison was the opening act!  Quite a wild night of music and showmanship.

But in my heart, I always longed to see the original lineup again.  Sammy Hagar just didn’t do it for me, nor did any of the band’s other iterations.  They did get back together again a couple of years ago, but again, I missed it.  But my brother didn’t, and surprisingly he wasn’t that thrilled with the show.

But here they are again, back in the spotlight with a new album, A Different Kind of Truth.  Time will tell if this new Van Halen is somewhat of a rehash of the old, or foray into the new, or some combination of both.  From watching their new video and single “Tattoo”, looks like Mr. Roth hasn't changed much as far as entertainment value goes (that’s probably a good thing, though).  In my estimation former bass player Michael Anthony only had a few shining moments (“Hang ‘em High” and “Girl Gone Bad” come to mind, maybe a few more), so Wolfgang Van Halen should continue to fill in adequately.  And uncle Alex and Dad Eddie?  It truly is awe-inspiring to watch them play – I’m up to it!

Back to the beginning.  Since I missed that show way back in 1984 (and from a couple of years ago), I decided to come up with a dream set list if these guys would ever get back together again.  I don’t think the guys would need any coaching from me in that regard (of course, if they contact me, I’ll answer!  ).  The criteria for the format of the set list is described below.

Will you agree with my list? Well, let’s find out! Here are the criteria that we must abide by:

• All songs must be during the David Lee Roth era (Van Halen I to 1984)
• All songs must fit on one CD

That’s it! So here’s what I would have liked to see, if I saw Van Halen on their 1984 tour, in the order I would have liked to see it:

1. Tora! Tora!
2. Loss of Control
3. D.O.A.
4. On Fire
5. Atomic Punk
6. Panama
7. Hear About It Later
8. Spanish Fly
9. Little Guitars (intro)
10. Little Guitars
11. Dance the Night Away
12. Drop Dead Legs
13. So This Is Love?
14. Unchained
15. Hot for Teacher
16. House of Pain
17. Eruption
18. You Really Got Me
19. Hang ‘em High
20. Girl Gone Bad
21. Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love
22. Everybody Wants Some!!
23. 1984
24. Jump

With the tour coming up, which songs would you replace?  From the new release, or from old?  Leave your comments, let me know if I’m right, or wrong, or crazy (“Spanish Fly”, really? – hey, it’s my list!  ).

Go ahead and ‘jump’!

]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2012/01/20/van-halen-is-back/feed/ 0 http://theparadiddler.com/2011/05/18/drum-clinic-jason-bittner/ http://theparadiddler.com/2011/05/18/drum-clinic-jason-bittner/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 22:45:54 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=2168

There are so many great drummers out there these days that it’s hard to keep up with them.

We of course have our main influences, the drummers we’ll always like and will always be our favorites, no matter what.  But it’s always a good idea to ‘broaden our horizons’, if you will, to check out the unique skills that so many up and coming drummers bring to the table.  This becomes great fodder for inspiration.

In my case, I favor the classic rock drummers such as Neil Peart and Phil Collins, plus guys like Steve Smith, Alan White, and the like.  It’s a style that’s very ‘composition’ like, and I find that it’s not always necessary to be ‘blasting’ beats throughout entire songs, be it with your hands or your feet.

However, one day I was driving around and changing stations at random on the radio, and I hit upon a college station playing death metal, or something like that.  Mind you, I am not a fan of this type of music, because the themes at display and the constant screaming at the top of your lungs or sounding like you’re hawking all the time – that style just doesn’t appeal to me.  But the drumming – I had never heard anything that fast before.  Lots of single strokes, for sure, but they sounded clean, both from the hands and feet.  I couldn’t stop listening.  I pretty much focused on the drummer (I don’t know what song or what band it was).  That was my epiphany moment regarding drummers in that genre.

I gained a lot of respect for drummers that can play that fast for any length of time, let alone a whole song!  I didn’t necessarily go looking for that kind of music to listen to even still, but if ever I did hear it, I would always pay attention to the drumming.

Flash forward a bit, and now I’m watching the Modern Drummer Festival 2006 DVD, and one of the drummers featured was Brann Dailor of Mastodon.  Here’s what I said back then in the review of the DVD:

“I’m not into heavy metal or death metal or whatever it’s called these days, but I really liked Brann Dailor’s presentation. I’m accustomed to seeing huge-o drum sets for this style of music, but Brann showed you don’t need that many drums to play in this style. Again, very fluid and precise.”

Once again, an eye-opener for me as far as the ability and skill of these drummers.  Now I really had to pay attention.

Fast forward a bit more, and Drum! magazine back in February of this year offered participants in their forum a chance to ask Jason Bittner any question they wanted (well, ok, the questions needed to be drumming related, and he had to feel impelled to answer them!).  Just before this forum event I had been in the market for a digital recorder.  I came across the Zoom recorders and one of the audio demos featured at ZoomH2.net was a drum solo of Jason Bittner recorded with the Zoom H2.  Not only was the sound great, but the solo was phenomenal.  I was convinced right there that that was the recorder I wanted.

Since Jason would be answering questions in the forum, I decided to ask him about the settings that he used on his H2 when he recorded the above-mentioned drum solo, and he was gracious enough to set me straight on some of the settings he used.  He also set me straight on something else, which you can see for yourself in the thread. 

By this time I was now familiar with who Jason was, I’d heard and seen a couple of his solos, and now I knew he was someone to pay attention to.  So when Ken Stanton Music of Marietta, GA announced that he was going to be performing a drum clinic on May 10^th (2011), I knew I had to be there.

As usual, I arrived about an hour and a half early to get a ‘lay of the land’, as far as the seating arrangement, which part of the store the drum set would be set up, my possible camera angles, etc.  Jason was already setting things up, making adjustments to the kit and the audio equipment he’d use to play the music he’d be drumming to.  He was also coordinating with the sound engineer located at the back end of the audience.

I decided to walk up to the kit, and when I noticed a pause in the setup activity, I decided to start a little small talk with Jason.  He mentioned that he had flown a lot that day, with very little sleep, but that of course, the show would go on!  Since that was the case, after confirming that it was ok to take pictures, I let him continue his setup process.

During the sound check he played to a song, and it actually was a great performance, although to Jason it sounded bad, which made him play bad (at least to him).  He got a round of applause from the audience, because at least to them it was great!  But Jason refused the applause, explaining that it was just sound check!  Just a testament to his professionalism.

The kit Jason played on was a beautiful Tama Starclassic Bubinga 5pc kit with what I believe is the garnet red glitter finish.  The snare was the Starclassic 5.5”x14” Antique Maple snare, rounding off the 6pc kit.  The cymbals were Zildjian, of which Jason became a recent endorser (he used to use Meinl):

• 3(!) hi-hats
• 2 chinas
• 2 splashes
• 3 crashes
• 2 rides

After a few words from the Zildjian representative, who was very glad to welcome Jason to the Zildjian family, Jason came out to thunderous applause.  After a brief introduction as to the content of the clinic, Jason rips in the first song.  (Note: since I was not familiar with Shadows Fall or the other projects that Jason was and is involved in, I didn’t catch some of the song names.  My apologies!).  Watching this first performance, right off the bat, convinced me why it’s such a great idea to go to as many drum clinics as possible.  You learn so much from the different styles of play.  Jason played with a lot of power, but his movements are extremely efficient.  From my perspective, he wastes no energy.  He’s not flailing away all over the place just for a showy display.  To play the style of music that he plays, you have to conserve your movement, and he’s a master at it.  Contrast that with, say, Thomas Pridgen, who plays all over the place!

Oh and by the way, this clinic was loud – the loudest I’ve been to.  My head was pounding on the way home.  I’m not complaining, though!

During this song, it seemed like there were some audio problems.  You could see in Jason’s face that he was very frustrated, but that turned out better for the audience because he played with anger and ever more power.  It was very impressive.  Since he had a ride cymbal on each side, he often switched between them, riding the right cymbal as is typical when playing right-handed, and also riding the left cymbal, playing ‘open-handed’.

Jason continued through a few more songs, including Shadows Fall’s “Thoughts Without Words”.  He displayed some serious blast beat drumming.  I was really liking his use of the two ride cymbals.  Having one on each side makes it easy to incorporate 32^nd note playing on the rides, which is a very colorful way to fill in the musical space.  I also continued to be very impressed with how much control and efficiency of movement Jason played with.  If you didn’t know who was drumming on these songs and you listened to them for the first time, you’d think he’d be flailing his head all over the place just for show.  His control was admirable.

Next Jason put on a drum solo where he put on an incredible display of independence.  The first part of the solo he dedicated to the late Joe Morello, playing a little traditional grip.  But after that, it was on!  Jason has very fast hands and feet, of course; but not only that, he really showed his independence skills during the solo.  He was playing these double bass patterns while also alternating strokes with the hi-hat and jam block (all feet).  Each stroke was cleanly articulated.

During the solo Jason displayed a couple of other jaw-dropping independence patterns.  He was playing a pattern with the two hi-hats that he controlled with the pedals while playing some other pattern with his hands.  On another occasion he played a constant pattern with the bass drum, while seemingly playing different meters with the sticks.  Each time he changed the time signature with his hands, it still matched what he was playing with his feet.  Don’t ask me what the time signatures were, because I don’t know them. 

He then ended the solo with a little swing pattern, which morphed into blast beats, then ending with another swing pattern.

Next was a questions and answers session.  Here are some of the interesting answers that came out from questions from the audience:

• Jason uses DW pedals “because they rule!”  They are what work best for him.  He tried the Tama Iron Cobras, but he just didn’t like the feel.  The DW 9000 pedals, adjusted at medium tension, are what give Jason the best response.  Any tighter and his legs start to hurt.  He emphasized that that is what worked for him. Each drummer needs to test different models and settings and determine what works for them
• It was around 2005 during Ozzfest where Jason got the idea of using two ride cymbals on each side of the kit.  He wanted to spice up some songs that he played a lot, and this was a way to do it.  It stuck with his kit ever since
• He tries to execute patterns however it’s easiest to play it at the moment.  This teaches dexterity as it allows for multiple ways to play the same pattern.
• He leads with his left foot when playing double bass patterns.  He didn’t realize this until drummer Dom Famularo pointed it out to him!
• His favorite drummer of all time is Neil Peart.  His favorite ‘modern day’ drummer is Steve Smith (hey, those are my two favorite drummers!)
• One day he showed Steve Smith a certain pattern on the bass drum (1-2 1-2-3 1-2), which is a pattern that can be played in a jazz setting.  Next thing Jason knew Steve was already playing the pattern like the next day live.  At least Jason had the satisfaction that he taught Steve something!
• The first drummer to inspire Jason to play drums was Keith Moon
• Jason had high praise for Mastadon drummer Brann Dailor (who was actually present at the clinic):  “He’s like a baker – he has rolls for days”

Next Jason went into the ‘clinic’ part of the clinic, if you will, where he handed out sheets that had many bass drum exercises.  He explained that the right foot lead is beginner level, whereas left foot lead is intermediate.  Some of the exercises he went over included:

• single strokes
• double strokes
• 8^th note triplets
• 16^th note
• 32^nd note (very fast!)

Jason emphasized that it’s a very good idea to alternate and reverse footing on each exercise which will expand dexterity and independence.

A tendency beginning drummers, and even intermediate drummers have is when they’re not double-bassing their hi-hat foot does nothing.  Jason emphasized that it’s important to learn how to keep time with the hi-hat.  “You have four limbs – use them!”

What does polka have to do with blast beats?  They have the same time signature (1-2)!  Jason displayed this by playing a basic polka beat, and then speeding it up super fast – it morphed into blast beats.  I’ll never look at polka the same.

Jason went on to play a song from another project he’s involved in (Hellspeak) where he incorporated a lot of the double bass techniques he had discussed.

Jason went on to answer more questions from the audience:

• Some of Jason’s weaknesses in his playing include:
  • His right hand.  He has had some physical issues with his right shoulder and elbow, so he always has to work really hard to keep his right hand up to speed
  • Double bass!  Although he’s known for his exceptional double bass skills, he feels he always has to work very hard at playing them cleanly; it doesn’t always occur naturally
  • Jazz, swing, odd time signatures
  • Traditional grip – he uses it when he plays Jazz and Latin, but that’s not often
• Always play for the song.  There’s no need to overdo blast beats just because you can.  If it fits, play it – if not, don’t.  Everything he practices he thinks of how they can be incorporated into songs
• As far as how often Jason practices – always!  After a tour he may take a five-day break, but any more than that and he feels he starts to lose something.  So if he’s not touring or in the studio, he’s practicing
• Some projects Jason’s working on is Hellspeak (he had played a song from that band earlier), and is working on a fusion project with Megadeth guitarist great Marty Friedman.  This latter project is ‘way out of the box’ for Jason, but it’s another way for him to express his creativity and to show that he’s not just a metal drummer

Next up was a discussion of the multi-pedal exercises on the lesson sheet.  It’s basically like playing double bass, except that you’re moving your feet to the other pedals.  It may sound simple, but it takes practice to execute it smoothly.  He demonstrated how to play a paradiddle with the feet using the different pedals (which, by the way, were bass drum, hi-hat, and jam block).  He had to try it a couple of times, but when he got it, it was downright musical.

Before he played his last song, Jason went on to talk about one of his experiences at Berklee.  He took a Jazz Independence class, and to teach Jason a ‘lesson’ he asked him to play a swing pattern, which he did.  The teacher then told him to play four on the bass with the swing pattern.  Then he was told to play heel down.  Jason is a heel up player, so that took some getting used to.  Then the teacher told him to walk the hi-hat.  That set him back about three weeks (Jason demonstrated what walking the hi-hat is)!  [Editor's note: Mr. Bittner later confirmed with me that he said 'rock' the hi-hat, not 'walk' the hi-hat. Thanks for the clarification, Jason!] Then the teacher told him to play in ‘unison’, which if I remember is throwing in the snare.  Well once he did that he lost his swing on the ride, so he had to go and get that back.  All happy now Jason showed the teacher, but now the kicker:  the teacher now told Jason to sing “A Hard Day’s Night” while playing!  So after all that, when Jason finally got that down, the teacher told him, “I just taught you 5-way independence”.  That was a beautiful lesson.

To sum it all up, Jason said that to him these are the most important things:

• Independence
• Dexterity
• Slow and steady
• Have fun!

He then proceeded to thank Ken Stanton Music for putting on these clinics.  He loves doing them and feels there aren’t enough of them.  I agree!

To yet more applause, Jason plays one more song.  This time, I put the camera and notepad away, and just enjoyed the performance with the rest of the audience.

Seeing the type of drummer Jason Bittner is in a live setting confirmed for me one thing:  there are great drummers in all genres of music.  Not only that, but it’s very likely that a lot of these drummers are good at other genres of music as well, not just in the one of their profession.  Jason is one such drummer.  He’s mainly known as a metal drummer, but he showed that he is a very well schooled drummer, very versatile, and his colorful drum solo and displays in Jazz and Swing really displayed his creative and technical side.  And let’s not forget:  Jason is an awesome metal drummer.  Very fast, and also plays with plenty of power.  Definitely a world-class drummer.  A Jason Bittner clinic is not one to miss, and I’m glad I didn’t miss this one.


]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2011/05/18/drum-clinic-jason-bittner/feed/ 0 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/11/20/rush-on-tour-the-paradiddlers-epilogue/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/11/20/rush-on-tour-the-paradiddlers-epilogue/#comments Sat, 20 Nov 2010 23:59:12 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1918

Before the details of Rush’s Time Machine tour came out, The Paradiddler wrote an article detailing what songs would be ideal for them to play on the tour (at least from The Paradiddler’s point of view). Usually The Paradiddler focuses more on drumming, and hence the drummer, than a particular band, but this band happens to have as one of its members The Paradiddler’s ‘reference drummer’. In the article “The Paradiddler’s Wish List for Rush’s Next Tour”, it was stated: “I realize that not everyone who visits TheParadiddler.com, or even some of those subscribed to the newsletter, is a Rush fan. But I hope you’ll indulge me, just this once, as I deviate a little from the complete emphasis on the drums and more towards an ensemble, if you will. That ‘ensemble’ being Rush, which of course who’s drummer is my favorite of all, Mr. Neil Peart.” I ask the reader’s permission once again to indulge the author on the flip side of this tour, or, as it turns out, the middle…

Yet again, Rush doesn’t fail to fool their fans.

Not that we mind, though!  As mentioned in the article “The Paradiddler’s Wish List for Rush’s Next Tour”, fans always try to guess what songs Rush will play when a tour is announced.  Not to be outdone, the article expressed, in full detail, what the author would have liked to see Rush play.

At the time Alex Lifeson announced that the band was going to tour, he made no mention of what the format of the show would be.  He did mention, though, that they were working on a new album, and that probably two of the songs would be featured on the tour.  This was something they did a few times, but it had been a while.  So it was a treat for the newer fans, and for those who’ve stuck around who remember such things.

So when I wrote the aforementioned article, I had no thought of there being a theme to the show, since there was no recent album (or CD) to support.  Silly me!  All I had to do was look at recent history, and see that Rush has toured based on a theme and not necessarily to support a record.  The 30^th Anniversary Tour was this way (even though they had released Feedback, which was just an album of covers, so that doesn’t really count ).

A little later Rush announced the details of the tour, and that it would be called the “Time Machine Tour” featuring all of Moving Pictures. Everyone and their mother (quite literally!) were excited about this news, since to date this has been Rush’s most successful album, and most Rush fans, and those on the fringe and even beyond, identify Rush mostly with this album.  My ‘wish list’ did include “The Camera Eye”, one of my all-time favorite Rush songs.  I had never seen them play that song live, so it was a real treat for me.

Now the race was on for the tickets.  I was determined to get better seats than I had for the Snakes and Arrows tour (lawn seats).  However, I was unable to procure the tickets right when they went on sale.  So I waited a bit, but I got them.  Front row tickets!  Well, as long as I got to the show early, because they were LAWN seats again!  (If you’re sitting at the front of the lawn, does that count as front row seats?  ).

My son was to accompany me again, to his second concert, both being Rush shows.  The bar was set high indeed!  My daughter would accompany me to the show as well.  We had never been to any concert together, so this was to be a treat for us.  A family affair!

So the day finally came for the show (September 29^th, 2010 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta [Atlanta], GA).  However, my daughter got really sick that day, so sick that she couldn’t go to the show.  The only way to console her was to tell her that Rush would be back next year touring their next album, Clockwork Angels. She was still bummed, but hopefully she’ll feel better the next time around.  But her loss was to be someone else’s gain.

I started thinking who could come with me in her place on such short notice.  I had an extra ticket now, so I made some calls.  First person, couldn’t reach him (he was disappointed later when I told him!).  I then reached a young friend who had never been to a concert of this scale.  When I offered him the ticket, he was ecstatic.  Anyway, we were three again.

The atmosphere at Rush shows is almost family-like.  You have people of all ages there.  Since many fans have stuck with the band for decades, they now bring their kids to the show (such as yours truly).  This makes for a very friendly vibe.  You hear a lot of chatter between people, total strangers, about when their first Rush show was and the stories behind them.  Truly, the Rush experience extends well ‘outside the gilded cage’.

I will go over a few of my observations of the show I attended, but if you really want a review of the entire tour, I suggest going to the news section of the Power Windows – A Tribute to Rush web site.  It’s arguably the best Rush fan site out there, and there’s extensive coverage of the tour, including the entire set list, reviews, show details, etc.

The venue was the typical (these days) outdoor amphitheatre setting.  I remember seeing Rush during the 30^th Anniversary tour in 2005 in West Palm Beach, FL at the outdoor venue there (the Cruzan Amphitheater, as it’s now called), and to me they’re practically identical.  We got there early enough, and when the gates opened and the legions of fans rushed in, we were able to secure our ‘front row’ seats.  Now for the waiting…

The show was a little late to start.  It finally opened up with a video of Rush poking fun at themselves (being called ‘Rash’ instead of Rush) – how the band actually began way back when.  It is incredibly funny.  As serious as Rush takes their music, they’re equally adept at poking serious fun at themselves.  So much for self indulgence!

When the actual band came out after the video and played “The Spirit of Radio”, it was evident that this was going to be a visual feast.  The light show was spectacular.  Throughout the concert, the light show was very well an integral part of the songs, and it was excellently executed (as Rush shows usually are).  But as far as visual feasts go, I’m always looking at the drums – oh my goodness.  I think this may be the best looking drum set I have ever seen.  The cymbals have a ‘steampunk’ theme, and the drums match.  Sabian.com explains how the theme of these cymbals, and by extension the drum set shell design, came to be, in an excellent article that’s worth reading.  There are some excellent accompanying pictures as well.  I’ve included a few of them here.^*

Photo by: John Arrowsmith

Photo by: John Arrowsmith

Within the set list, once again Rush brought out songs that they never played live.  The very inspiring “Presto” (from the 1989 release of the same name) was beautifully played.  The guitar sound was incredibly crisp and clean, and pierced through the air, loud and clear.  I’ve always loved this song, now even more after hearing it live.

They brought back the instrumental “Leave That Thing Alone!”.  Although Neil’s drumming sounded great throughout the show, this is the song where I really noticed how crisp and ‘poppy’ the snare sounded.  Also, of all of the versions of this song I’ve heard, the bass playing at the end of this one was just outstanding, better than all the others.  So much so, that after the song Geddy thanked the crowd for indulging their “little ditty”.  No problem, Geddy – anytime!

Another song that was played live for the first time was “Faithless” from their Snakes and Arrows release.  Alex was inspired to play the guitar like a violin, using the mic stand as a bow.  It was an incredible visual.

I don’t think I noticed at the beginning of the show, but Neil had full headphones on during the entire show, instead of the in-ear monitors.  This was most likely due to the chronic ear infections he was suffering from during the tour, as he detailed in his September 2010 edition of “News, Weather, and Sports”.  Neil writes about a variety of topics in these ‘reports’, and it’s always a very interesting read.  He almost always includes pictures and detailed descriptions of his motorcycle odyssey throughout the land, plus any other musings of, well, news, that is happening at that moment.

During the first set Rush played the first of their two new songs, “Brought Up to Believe” (BU2B).  This song was very LOUD, especially during certain sections when large columns of steam were spewed out in sync with the song.  I had heard the song when released via iTunes; the live version was even better.

Rush then played "Free Will", and I was wondering if, after a gazillion times of hearing this song, if it could still move me.  Well, it did! It was as good a jam (referring to the middle instrumental section) as I’ve ever heard, and especially Alex – he just went off like I’ve never seen him.  They made the song sound fresh, after all these years of playing it.

Sometimes the band will play a song at a slightly slower tempo than the studio version.  When “Marathon” was recorded on the Hold Your Fire tour on A Show of Hands, it was played a little slower than the studio version found on Power Windows. That wasn’t the case this time.  “Marathon” was played at a quickened pace, at least as fast as the studio release.  A timed explosion and a little extra ‘calm’ time after the mid-jam made this version of the song an instant classic.

The second set began with another very funny video of Geddy and Alex as ‘dueling’ music producers, and Neil as a cameraman.  The Time Machine was in play again (seen in the opening video), changing the musicians to different ages.  The theme continued as the video introduced “Tom Sawyer”, and hence the entire Moving Pictures record.  During the song you even see Neil playing lead guitar – hilarious.

Of all the songs I was eager to see, “The Camera Eye” was my most anticipated.  In the above-referenced ‘Paradiddler’s Wish List’ article, I explain why I love the song so much, so for me it was the summit of the show.  The song was shortened just a little, but tastefully so.  It is a grand and epic song, more so live.  By the way, of all the songs on the aforementioned wish list, this and “Witch Hunt” were the only ones played.  More on that later. 

All of the songs had some light show and/or video images associated with it, but some stood out more than others.  “Witch Hunt” had very haunting images capturing the essence of the theme of the song (with flame geysers going off with each ‘bell’ at the beginning of the song), while “Vital Signs” showed a spectacular choreographed light display with the synthesizer sequence.  A palate for the senses.

After Moving Pictures was over, it was back to the future with the second new song, “Caravan”, which is a loud, hard rocking song with a great instrumental middle.  If this is a portent of things to come, we’re in trouble! 

One of the main highlights of any Rush show is the drum solo.  When it was time for the solo, it was the first time that I observed it from a critical stance than from a fan’s stance.  In doing that, it was a totally different experience for me, and I didn’t realize I was observing it that way until the solo was over.  In the past I ranked all of Neil’s published solos, from ‘worst’ to first, in an exhaustive series of articles.  In doing so, I observed this solo with the mindset of comparing them to all the others.  Since I did it that way, I may not have enjoyed it as much as the typical concert-goer.  That’s not to say I didn’t like it – it was incredible, and Neil introduced some new sounds and patterns to the mix.  There was a stick drop, and it seemed like the electronics failed at the end, but all in all I’ll say that it was at least as good as any of the solos he’s done in the past, which is still, to say the least, pretty darn good.

Alex then delivered a beautiful solo on a twelve-string acoustic, which then transitioned into “Closer to the Heart”.  They changed it up a little by playing a little reggae, and the jam at the end was just awesome.  Again, ‘finding a way’ to infuse some freshness into the classics.

“La Villa Strangiato” was played in the encore, with a sort of polka type intro.  The last song was “Working Man”, a fitting end to a tour called the “Time Machine Tour”, with the song that started it all for them.  It also had a reggae type intro, but it was all business after that.  This might have been the best version of that song ever.  The jam of all three in the middle of the song was simply unearthly, especially Alex – he was out of his mind with his solo, some of his best playing that I’ve ever seen.  Geddy was doing his best to keep up, and of course, he did – it was spectacular interplay between the two, the way only musicians who’ve played decades together can jam.  Oh, and Neil?  Of course, he kept right up with them, laying the foundation, so the other two could go wild.  There was no better way to end the show.

I have to admit that even after the Hold Your Fire tour way back in 1988, I was ‘worried’ that the guys simply could not keep up that level of musicianship.  There were just so good, that I thought only youthful energy could make it look and sound good.  I’m so glad that I didn’t have a clue what I was talking about!  They continue to amaze me.  It may be the case that they can’t play as fast or tight as, say, what was on display on the Grace Under Pressure live DVD, but that’s not even the point anymore.  If they still played like that, they might not be around anymore.  They continued to progress musically, lyrically, and in their overall songwriting ability.  More than ever their playing serves the song, which to me is critical.  They can play anything they’ve recorded in the studio, with a maturity that may be unequalled in the music business.  Their musicianship is simply off the charts now, and even if you’re not a Rush fan, I would think that if you saw them live, you would at least appreciate the professionalism that these guys exude, in addition to how much respect they have for the music, and their fans.

I think I’m finally agreeing with Geddy that they’re playing better than they’ve ever played.  I had a lot of respect for Alex Lifeson before, and he’s always been one of my favorite guitarists (alongside Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Pete Townsend, and Eddie Van Halen).  But for all the comments of him not being as good as the other two guys in the band, I don’t think that can be said anymore.  Alex has arrived – no question.  Geddy Lee continues to amaze me as to how he can handle the bass, keyboards, and singing without skipping a beat (literally!).  That guy is a multi-tasking genius, as far as I can tell.  And not only that, but doing it all with world-class skills that few can duplicate.  And Neil Peart?  Well, readers of this blog know that Mr. Peart is The Paradiddler’s main inspiration (see “The Reference Drummer”).  I am quite amazed at how much energy he still plays with.  He really hits those drums and cymbals hard, with authority.  He becomes the song he’s playing, and his famous (or infamous!) face of concentration is ever present.  Every time I watch or hear him play I have to get to my drums and play!  Truly an inspiration.  With these guys pushing 60, I don’t know how long they can keep playing with such youthfulness.  But one thing’s for certain:  I won’t question them anymore.

Just when we thought the tour was over, Rush has announced some European dates in the spring of 2011, including a visit to Ireland for the first time ever.  I have a feeling that Rush may be visiting other places they’ve never been to for the Clockwork Angels tour, but I’ll address that then.

Well, there’s still the issue of all those songs that remain on my wish list.  I’m still wishing!  But I also have a very special request, that I have no way of asking for it except to play it as a drum cover.  That will be coming up in an upcoming drum cover article, so look out for that.

Thanks very much to Alex, Neil, and Geddy for your continued dedication and inspiration.  “We hope to see you again sometime!”
________
^*From the article “Steampunk Cymbals” at Sabian.com]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/11/20/rush-on-tour-the-paradiddlers-epilogue/feed/ 1 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/10/23/drum-clinic-thomas-pridgen/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/10/23/drum-clinic-thomas-pridgen/#comments Sun, 24 Oct 2010 03:59:06 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1815

I knew who Thomas Pridgen was.  Then again, I didn't know who Thomas Pridgen was.

The dilemma I face as a drumming fan (and I'm sure many are in the same boat), is that there are so many great drummers!  There are those, however, who think that the drummers of today are no match for the drummers of yesteryear.  Well, that may be a debate for another time.

However, there are drummers who transcend time.  They would have been world-renown regardless of when they were born.  It's analogous to baseball, where some players would be great regardless of what era they played in.  As far as drumming goes, Grammy award-winning Thomas Pridgen is one of those drummers.

Since there are other drummers occupying my attention these days, I was not too familiar with Thomas’ work.  However, I had seen enough of him to be extremely impressed.  I had it ‘in my notes’, so to speak, to eventually pay more attention to this drummer.  I had seen him initially on DrumChannel.com (at least that’s how I remember it ), and I was taken aback at his, well, explosiveness. His arms were all over the place.  Actually, his whole body was all over the place.  I was surprised he didn’t fall off the throne!  But it was chaotic organization, because everything he played made sense – nothing was missed.

I then went to Drummerworld.com and looked him up there.  Among other videos, there’s one where he’s playing with The Mars Volta on the David Letterman Show.  This is a must see, because it to me personifies Thomas’ style.  Chaotic organization in action.  Now I knew for sure that if he was ever in town, I had to go see him.

I was notified via e-mail by Ken Stanton Music that Thomas Pridgen was going to be putting on a drum clinic in their Marietta, GA store on October 19^th (2010).  Yes!  My chance to see this master up close.  I immediately made plans to attend.  I wanted to arrive early (as in 1 ½ to 2hrs early) to get the ‘lay of the land’, as far as where Thomas’ kit was going to be set up (for camera angles and the like), determine the audience size, and to get a good seat!  Plus, you can’t go to a music store and not browse around. 

Of course, not everything goes as planned.  I was delayed, so I got there 45 minutes early instead.  Not too bad, but there was a good crowd there already, and the best seats were taken.  So I determined, as I did when I covered Will Calhoun’s drum clinic, that the best seat would be, well, standing.

I did, however, arrive during sound check.  Our ears were in for an onslaught, because it was loud. Thomas was testing each mic’ed section of the kit, and was very involved with the sound engineer to ensure optimum sound.  Although probably not intentional, it was a little funny watching the ‘bickering’ back and forth between him and the engineer.  But it was worth it, because in the end, it sounded awesome.

After sound check, Thomas stepped away to prepare for the show, and the drum techs stepped in to do final checks.  This gave me a chance to get a better glimpse of the kit by itself.  It’s a DW Collector’s Series kit.  Thomas did note later that the kit was not his, but that it was loaned to him for the clinic.  The cymbals were in store cymbals (Zildjian).  It was a 6pc kit, with the two floor toms being of the same size (13x16), with different tuning.  I thought the color of the kit was some flavor of cherry, but was corrected later:  it was red silk onyx, except for the last floor tom, which was blue twisted oyster.

The cymbals on the kit were huge, 18” and larger.  Even the hi-hats were 18”!  Later Thomas mentioned that on his home kit he uses 19” hi-hats!  That should encourage some experimentation!  The cymbals were curiously positioned (at least for me).  They were very close together, and it seemed like they clanged against each other when Thomas slammed them.  ‘Not that there’s anything wrong with that!’

To kick things off, DW and Zildjian representative Mike Carter of World Class Percussion, Inc. demonstrated how the sound, or pitch, of the shell can be greatly determined by the direction of the grain (which DW calls “Specialized Shell Configuration” [SSC]).  Although they did a great job explaining this concept, you really had to be there.  However, they did quote John Good, Sr. Executive Vice President and drum “woodologist” at DW.  He and Neil Peart created a couple of fantastic videos explaining what Mr. Carter demonstrated at the clinic.  So I’ll include links to the videos here:

Thomas came out to a roaring applause – here’s what we really came for.  He mentioned how appreciative he was of Ken Stanton Music, and how they cater to the students, instilling in them the love and appreciation for the music and musicianship.  He lamented that there was not as much emphasis these days on playing the actual instruments, but more on sampling and producing.  While recognizing that the latter are important, learning the actual instruments, to Thomas, brought more joy and satisfaction.

He then went into playing to a song.  Of all the clinics I’ve been too, this one seemed the loudest, not so much because of the amplification (Marco Minnemann’s clinic was very loud also), but because of how hard Thomas played.  He absolutely slams the drums and cymbals— relentlessly.  The hi-hat stand was swaying to and fro, maybe because they cymbals were 18”!  I was afraid he was going to knock those over, but the stand stood firm (kudos to DW hardware!).  His bass drum play was also spectacular.  He used a single pedal, but at times it sounded like a double pedal.

Thomas is really a spectacle to watch drumming.  He doesn’t just play ‘with his arms’.  He puts his whole body into it.  At times he looks like he’s falling over!  His flailing dreads contributed to the animated drumming – it truly was a one-man show.

After that song, he talked a little bit about how great it is to be doing something you love.  He’s never had a day job (that happens when you win the Guitar Center Drum-Off at nine years old).  He said that playing drums are supposed to fun.  Whenever he tried to make money playing drums, he didn’t make money.  But when he played for fun, the opportunities came more easily, and the money came with it.  Funny how that works!

He then went into a second song that had somewhat of a Caribbean feel to it, but it was hard rock, hard hitting all the way.  Again, a one-man spectacle.

After that display, Thomas went on to explain practically his whole story of how he got to where he is.  He spoke too fast for me take in everything he said, but that wasn’t a bad thing – he was very enthusiastic and animated, and funny as well.  He didn’t speak down to the audience, but rather he just seemed like ‘one of the guys’ just having a pleasant conversation.  Some highlights:

• He wanted a $3,000 Pearl Master Series drum kit at nine years old
• Entered and won the Guitar Center Drum-Off at nine years old (he won the Pearl kit)
• Dennis Chambers took a personal interest in him
• Went to Berkeley for two years

He went on to talk a little about his stint with The Mars Volta.  Since he was the only African American in the band, he had to find a way stand out, to be as visual as possible.  So he took his shirt off, used a huge gong, and tried to play as loud as possible.  Well it worked!

He also talked about how proud he is of his current band, The Memorials.  It’s his band, and it allows him more flexibility to be himself.

He went into yet another song, introducing it as “don’t know what it’s called – just listen.”  Sure, no problem!

Thomas continued to dazzle with his seemingly unlimited energy and precision.  He went on to play another song that had somewhat of a Middle Eastern flair, but again, with a heavy hard rock edge.  He never lost his place, although you’d think he should with how ‘all over the place’ he played.  On occasion he dropped a stick, and even yelled at himself at times, but never was the beat lost.

You also can’t ignore how incredibly fast Thomas played.  Whether he’s rolling the snare at a low volume, or flying across the toms, his speed is blazing.  He has incredible control of dynamics.  His ghost noting is also exceptional.  You’re always hearing something being struck, and this is where he uses ghost notes masterfully – he fills all of the musical space, and doesn’t necessarily leave that to the other musicians.  You could describe his overall playing as a constant drum solo, but always within a musical context.

Thomas took an opportunity to answer a slew of questions from the audience.  Here are some of the answers he provided:

• He doesn’t suffer from carpel tunnel syndrome or the like because he varies his grip frequently (French, American, German)
• He plays double bass ‘secretly’ at home.  He won’t play double bass just for the sake of playing it.  He feels that it is somewhat overplayed these days.  He’s not against it, but will play it only if inspired musically to do so
• He plays without a shoe on his bass pedal foot.  He has the emblem shaved down off the pedal of his home kit to allow easier implementation of different pedal techniques
• He loves seeing kids at clinics.  He started very young, and is inspired when young kids take up musical instruments
• He feels he plays great every night
• He hits himself in the face a lot
• While he’s in his 20’s, he’ll play loud and hard, with no shirt.  He’ll leave the jazz playing for when he’s in his 60’s and 70’s, and maybe he’ll wear a suit then too
• He laments that there are so few African Americans in Rock (something he had conversed with Will Calhoun [Living Colour])
• He demonstrated some finger exercises to increase speed
• The only way to get faster in drumming is to practice, no way around it.  He demonstrated some bass drum techniques to a youngster from the audience

There was more that was said, but like I mentioned before, he says a lot fast, so it was hard to keep up.  In any case, after the Q&A, he went into one more song, and he really poured it on.

One of the questions asked during the Q&A was from a fan who wanted to know how Thomas virtually transported the listener to another place with his playing.  That’s really what happens when you watch him play.  He has so much power, but doesn’t hold any of it back.  His playing is a visual feast.  After watching him play, your hunger for drumming is completely satisfied.  You could liken his style to an organized Keith Moon.  In any case, a sight to behold.  Yet another drummer to add to my small list of favorites.  If Thomas Pridgen is in your area, either via a drum clinic or with The Memorials, you do not want to miss it!  I’m very glad I didn’t.^*

_________
^*For a great many more pictures taken at the clinic, please visit The Paradiddler's Facebook page]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/10/23/drum-clinic-thomas-pridgen/feed/ 5 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/06/13/drum-clinic-walfredo-reyes-jr/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/06/13/drum-clinic-walfredo-reyes-jr/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:27:38 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1684

In January of 2009, TheParadiddler.com covered Sabian Live at NAMM, via DrumChannel.com (I would have loved to have been there, but since I couldn’t, thanks Drum Channel!).  Both the performances and backstage interviews were covered (as best as could be done).  One of the artists that dropped by was Walfredo Reyes.  No, not Jr. – Sr.

It was very interesting to hear from him and his son Danny what it was like at dinner time at the Reyes household (you can read all about it in the article).  It was a very musical environment, the result being a fine ‘batch’ of musicians!  Little did I know that covering this event online was a foreshadowing of things to come offline.

Almost a year and a half later (more specifically, May 27^th, 2010), Ken Stanton Music in Stone Mountain, GA hosts a drum clinic by none other than Walfredo Reyes, Jr. The family circle is complete! 

The location was familiar enough.  TheParadiddler.com also covered Will Calhoun’s clinic there, and it was a sensational experience.  It’s not a huge store, which allows for close proximity to the drummer, and a more personal experience.

I was not familiar with Walfredo before the clinic, but I knew he was very well known in the drumming community, having played with many big time artists, such as:

• Santana
• Gloria Estefan
• Toni Braxton
• Lindsey Buckingham
• Christina Aguilera
• Ricky Martin
• Smokey Robinson
• Steve Winwood

…oh my goodness, and on and on and on.  That’s just the short list.  A session drummer like this must have a wealth of experience to impart, so I knew I it would behoove me to attend.  I didn’t go alone this time, however.  My partner in crime came with me, my son Devin (the star of the Off-Set pedal review).

We arrived about 40 minutes early or so.  I like to take a ‘lay of the land’ so I can know where the good camera shot angles are (plus I like to sit in the front row ).  I like to mess around with the gear, not just the drums.  I didn’t get too much of a chance to set up right away though, because when I walked in, Walfredo was already practicing at the kit!

The gear he was playing on was a beautiful Mapex Meridian Maple kit (I’m going to say the finish was transparent cherry red), with Sabian cymbals and an assortment of ergonomically placed percussion gear (LP bongos, blocks, cowbells, and the like).

Walfredo was practicing with brushes, then with sticks.  His playing was very controlled and fast, easily flowing over the whole kit.  It’s not that I was surprised, but I was definitely impressed.  He made all the fills look incredibly easy.

In addition to practicing by himself, he had a couple of other musicians he was going to play with that evening: Gabriel Monticello on bass, and Myron Feltner on keyboards, two local musicians.  The thing to note is that Walfredo had never jammed with these two at all – it would all be spontaneous, improvised.

While the musicians were discussing which direction to take the improvisation, Walfredo demonstrated a few of the more famous drum licks of all time:

• the beginning of “Rock With You”
• thunderous drum fill in “In the Air Tonight”
• Jeff Porcaro on Toto’s “Rosanna”

After practicing, Walfredo got up and greeted some of those already there, myself and my son included.  Wally (as he referred to himself) was very friendly and down to earth, very approachable.  After the pleasantries Wally went off to prepare for the actual clinic, so that left my son and I to peruse the store.

Sometime after 7pm, Wally re-enters the scene to a most receptive crowd and starts explaining in detail what to expect from the clinic.

He mentioned that he had just recently flown in from Hong Kong, and had just met the two musicians he’d be playing with.  He’s very keen on being creative, not being structured when not necessary (although structure is very important too – more on that later).  He went on to talk about how music is the ‘universal language’, that even though we may speak different languages, we can all groove to any style of music and ‘get it’, no matter where we’re from.  And speaking of where we’re from, he made it a point to stress how grateful we should be in this country that we can so easily go to a local music store and have a wealth of instruments and gadgets to choose from, and people willing to give us lessons.  He had been to parts of the world where none of this was available, and anyone interested in percussion would have to fabricate their own sticks.  Of course, these sticks would not last for any length of time.  Some of those players had such great groove, but could not play for more than a few minutes.  So Wally ended up giving out some actual drumsticks so they could at least play for ten minutes straight.  Again, we need to appreciate the availability of the instruments here (and the accessibility of music stores, and artists themselves!).

Wally stated that he was going to start playing himself, and then later have the other two musicians join in.  He was going to display different styles, from rock, to Latin, Afro-Cuban rhythms – Wally called it the “Wally World Travel Agency”, and boy were we in for a ride!

He started his solo with just his hands and fingers, to something like a world beat, an amazing groove.  He then conspicuously incorporated brushes while never losing the beat.  He steadily maintained the beat while cleverly alternating between the snare and toms (snares down, by the way).

The Latin beat was ever present, especially when playing the bongos on his left.  The ‘woodblock’ and cowbell were prominently played as well.  While not skipping a beat, his snares went up and he switched to the regular sticks, and that’s when it got crazy!

Now Wally was playing very fast 32^nd’s (who knows, maybe faster ).  As he varied the tempo, he incorporated the cowbell with a steady beat.  It was ever present, even while he was alternating beats between the snare and toms.  It was an excellent application of a Latin-type structure in a solo setting.

By this time Wally was on a rampage of dizzying fills, double bass onslaughts, and his arms flailing away all over the place (organized chaos, you could say).

After that fantastic opening, Wally went on to explain some of the origins of the different parts of the kit, particularly the cymbals, which as currently configured on drum kits are really Turkish in origin.  The drum kit itself relative to other instruments is a recent development, as in within the last 100 years or so (whereas other instruments have been in existence for centuries, and even drums themselves as individual instruments for as long as humans can remember).

Next was a demonstration of how Wally uses the drum kit to essentially play two parts – the part of the drummer, and of the percussionist.  Different parts of the kit could mimic the percussive counterparts, for example:

• hi-hat --> shaker
• snare drum with snares down, and toms --> timbales
• cross-sticking --> woodblock

A drummer in his kit could also incorporate the actual percussive instruments, like the cowbell, woodblock (clave), timbales (or mini-timbales), bongos, etc.  Here’s Wally’s kit from behind, where you can pick out the different percussive instruments incorporated into the kit.

With this ‘practical’ percussive kit, Wally demonstrated the samba beat.  He made it sound like a percussionist more than a drum kit player, but then that was the point.  The drum kit player can be both the percussionist and the kit player (even simultaneously!), while the percussionist is just that.  Of course, that’s not a knock on the percussionist, but it’s a specialty.  The kit allows for more flexibility.  Wally also talked about the ‘bossa nova’ and described it as samba played on a drum kit with jazz.

Wally told a story about when he played with Santana and that for some reason (I don’t remember why) the percussionist was not there.  So Wally had to improvise the percussion while still holding down the beat with the kit.  Having at least a fundamental knowledge of both the kit and percussion allows for more flexibility (and more gigs!), as has been the case with Wally.

Subsequently, Wally started playing a ‘percussion’ solo, which then slowly morphed into a whole kit solo.  It was amazing how the transition was so fluent that you hardly noticed it until he was playing on everything.  Great example of using ‘what you got’.

Wally mentioned that he considers himself a ‘rhythmist’.  This makes perfect sense because if you look at drumming from a ‘rhythmist’ point of view, your view expands to other percussive instruments beyond the kit.  I think that, after seeing this clinic, Wally is the ultimate ‘rhythmist’!

He went on to mention something that I hadn’t thought of before, but it’s very true:  ‘Acoustic drums are a reflection of what you put in it.’  You can get a lot of different sounds from an acoustic kit (like getting percussion-like sounds out of the kit, as previously mentioned).  Just using the sticks, he struck different spots around the entire kit, and there were so many different sounds generated, very melodic.  When you buy an electronic kit, you’re buying specific sounds; you’re playing samples.  And even though there have been a lot of developments over the years in percussion and electronics, the mainstay, the acoustic drum kit, has always been the foundation.  It’s always there, always needed.

Wally then proceeded to start the next jam with the keyboardist, and then the bass player came in afterwards.

After this jam, Wally demonstrated the dynamic range that the drums have, particularly with brushes.  He demonstrated the ‘abanico’, which is the Spanish word for ‘fan’ (as in the device that keeps you cool).  It’s like a buzz roll incorporated into a beat.

But one of the coolest things Wally displayed was how to make the drums talk.  He made each drum a different member of the family:  the kid, the mother, and the father.  I call it the ‘Ice Cream Bit’.  The kid was asking for ice cream, but the mother had reservations about it.  The father emphatically said “no!”  The father was the floor tom, while the mother a higher pitched tom, and the kid higher still.  It was hilarious.  It was very similar to what Marco Minnemann displayed in his drum clinic when he drummed to “What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?” from the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian”.  Both examples displayed how versatile the drum kit is and how it can convey a wealth of moods.  Outstanding.  This led to another Latin-type jam with the other two players.

Wally then went on to discuss the flexibility that is needed to play to different audiences.  You may have great chops, but if your audience is a group of older folks expecting swing, then don’t play rock!  Someone once told Wally, “Do not disturb the groove!”  If your audience is more a dance-type audience, then play that kind of groove.  If your audience is all drummers (say, at a drum clinic), then all bets are off and just go crazy – do it all.  That’s what the audience expects!

He then went on to say that it is good to be open to different genres of music because it can have a positive effect on your growth as a musician.  He mentioned a funny story about when he was younger and he liked Alice Cooper, but when his father saw “that” he said, “I don’t think so!”  Then later Wally’s son is liking Slipknot and Wally said that every song is like Halloween!  How the tide turns.  But later his son presented him with a very melodic song, and Wally was surprised to find that it was Slipknot!  So basically he’s saying that it’s good to have an open mind as far as what effect different genres of music can have on our playing.  Of course, he then went into a little reggae jam (sweet!).

There were questions from the audience as well, so one of the questions asked was who were other drummers that influenced him (besides his father, which is an obvious one).  It was interesting that he not only mentioned drummers that influenced his drumming (Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Ringo Starr, John Bonham), but musical genres, such as salsa.  Growing up in Puerto Rico, you can’t help but be surrounded by salsa, and that genre had a big influence in his playing.  It shows in how Wally masterfully incorporates percussion into the drum set.

On that note, as far as influences go, Wally said that ‘if you want fresh rhythms, dig deep into the old rhythms’.  Many of today’s rhythms are based on different genres of the past, and one would be surprised to find out how diverse and complex some of the older music is, especially in genres like salsa.  A plethora of knowledge to say the least.

Wally started drumming at the age of 12, but it was not on a kit.  He was ‘forced’ to use just sticks and a practice pad for a full year before he got his kit.  This really helped him get the fundamentals down.  Nowadays he doesn’t go anywhere without his iPhone and a metronome.  You know what they say, ‘timing is everything’!  Playing to songs and to a click is essential in learning how to maintain a solid tempo when playing in a band.

Wally told a story about playing with Steve Winwood, and that he was told that a certain song was to be played at 87bpm (I believe the song was “Higher Love”).  Sometimes towards the end of a show the band’s adrenaline is pretty high, especially after a receptive crowd.  This could be problematic in the sense that the band may tend to speed up the tempo.  It’s the drummer’s responsibility ultimately (not exclusively) to maintain that tempo.  Even if the band complains later, you can tell them, “You guys said 87bpm, so I stuck to it!”

After the Q&A session, Wally finalized with a freestyle and funk-like jam, and an all out solo to top it all off.

After the drumming and the thunderous applause, Wally stuck around for a long time talking to those in attendance, taking pictures, signing autographs, and answering questions.  Very accessible, humble, a class act.

In conclusion, for me it was an unexpected pleasant surprise.  In the article “Beyond the Drum Kit”, I mentioned that even though I, like Wally, grew up surrounded by Caribbean music such as merengue, bachata, and salsa, I simply was not interested very much in percussion.  My interest was solely on the drum kit side.  Wally has completely changed that for me.

I see now that you can have the best of both worlds.  You can be a kit player and tastefully incorporate percussion, and still look and sound like a power drummer.  There are so many ways to express yourself, so many different tempos, so many different genres, that one is capable of playing if we just open our minds to the possibilities that drum kit percussion provides.

As far as Walfredo Reyes, Jr. goes, he’s made a major impression on me.  I was floored by his ‘controlled chaos’, his total control when he played his dizzying array of fills, both hands and feet.  He played with such power, but displayed an incredible sense of dynamics and grace, making the drums virtually speak.  The fact that he has so masterfully incorporated percussion into the kit solidifies his place, in The Paradiddler’s eyes, as a premier percussionist, a premier rhythmist, of our time.  He taught me how to incorporate percussion into the drum kit in a way that’s, well, just dang cool! I think when I grow up (drummingly speaking), I want to be Walfredo Reyes, Jr.




]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/06/13/drum-clinic-walfredo-reyes-jr/feed/ 2 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/04/04/the-paradiddler-wish-list-for-rush-next-tour/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/04/04/the-paradiddler-wish-list-for-rush-next-tour/#comments Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:09:26 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1586

Rush fans are a unique bunch.  There are so many idiosyncrasies attributed to them, too numerous to mention here (and beyond the scope of this article).  But what is within the scope of this article is that Rush fans seem to think they know what songs Rush should play on the next tour.

In different forums related to Rush, you’ll see fans put up entire set lists sometimes; others, just particular songs they’d like to see.  Some are songs we know Rush will never play live, but it’s always fun to dream.

Now before I continue, I have to make the obvious known that I too am a Rush fan.  Although, you wouldn’t know it by looking at me.  Even in my younger years, I never made obvious my taste for music, unless I was talking about it.  I never wore Rush t-shirts, I didn’t have a poster of Neil Peart on the wall, I didn’t brag about Neil Peart being the best drummer in the world (ok, maybe a little – but not that much!).  I pretty much kept to myself except with those I knew were also fans, or at least could carry on a decent conversation about music.  I made it a point early in life that these guys, just like any other human being, go to the bathroom, catch colds, get hungry, need sleep – all the things that make everyone the same.  I never worshipped them, but I did, and do, greatly admire their musical prowess, so the emphasis has always been on that.

I also realize that not everyone who visits TheParadiddler.com, or even some of those subscribed to the newsletter, is a Rush fan.  But I hope you’ll indulge me, just this once, as I deviate a little from the complete emphasis on the drums and more towards an ensemble, if you will.  That ‘ensemble’ being Rush, which of course who’s drummer is my favorite of all, Mr. Neil Peart.

So back to the lecture at hand.  Yes, even I, The Paradiddler, have a wish list for Rush’s next tour.  What Rush fan doesn’t?  But, instead of just listing them, I’m going to explain why they should play them.  It’s not a huge list either, just songs that I think would make the concert ‘complete’, at least for me.

I do admit that Rush has a knack for putting together an incredible set list for each tour.  If you watch the documentary “The Boys in Brazil”, which is the second DVD in the Rush in Rio 2-DVD set, Geddy explains the process of putting together a set list for the tour.  It’s a painstaking process!  They have so much material to cover, that in each tour some record (or records) get overlooked entirely, while others get a lot of attention.  A good example of this is their latest Snakes and Arrows tour.  While records such as Counterparts and Presto got no play at all, it almost seemed like a Permanent Waves II tour, because they played so much material from that record (even pulling out “Entre Nous”, which was never played live before!).  But as usual, the set list worked.  It was a great show, with a great song selection.

But what prompted me to do this listing?  After the Snakes and Arrows tour, I started thinking about what I would love to see Rush play in a subsequent tour.  Purely subjective, of course, but I know that if they played my requests, I know everybody would approve.  I decided that I’d hold off mentioning anything until I heard any news of Rush touring again.

Well, just recently Alex Lifeson told The Globe and Mail the following:

“We were off for a year and a half, and now it’s just pouring. Everything is totally crazy and there’s not a minute left in the day. We’ve got these half-dozen songs, and we’ll probably go in the studio and work on a couple of them and see how it goes, perhaps release something – and I say perhaps – and then we plan on being on the road in the middle of June. Ideally, we’d like to showcase a couple of these songs on the tour, come off tour in mid-October, go back in the studio and continue writing, then record through late this year and early next year, and then release the album in the spring of 2011 on a slightly more substantial tour. This [year’s] tour will probably be about 45 dates. Most likely summer, 2011, would be more like 70.”

This is exciting news indeed!  I would love to be totally surprised by a song (or songs!) I’ve never heard.  If that’s the case, and if Rush is going on tour soon, well, it’s time I reveal my wish list!

Before I go into my list, I’ll admit that I realize this could all just be an exercise in self indulgence, that of course I’d love Rush to play what I want, but like I said, it’s fun to dream!

My list is not long.  I’ll leave it up to Rush (like if I have a choice) to determine which new songs to play.  These are the ones they’re most passionate about, since they are the newest, so I won’t go there.  I got burned a couple of times trying to predict what song they’d play from their latest release.  For example, when I saw them on the Roll the Bones tour back in December of 1991, I for sure thought they’d play “Face Up”, because I thought it was a hip song, but they didn’t play it.  After reflecting on it, I think they made the right choice.  For the Counterparts tour (which I missed – grrr), I thought they would play “Cut to the Chase” for sure, but they didn’t play that one either.  I’m still wondering why they didn’t play that one, because it just rocks. Neil even sounds like John Bonham on that one, but anyway, a great song.  So the bottom line is I won’t even recommend what new songs to play (once a CD comes out, that is).

And of course, there are some songs that must be played on every tour.  “Tom Sawyer” is the prime example.  That song will forever be tied to Rush, so I don’t think they can avoid it.  It’s ok though, I never get tired of hearing it anyway!

So here goes:  What I’d like Rush to play on their next tour, in no particular order (unless otherwise stated).

This might be Rush’s most underrated song.  It is so epic, so grand in scope.  The theme of the song prances at a quickened pace; the lyrics play to the mood of the chords and vocals with uncanny precision.  It makes me want to go to New York and London!  Some of my favorite lines in all of Rock are in this song, sung so perfectly within the context of the mood of the song:

Pavements may teem
With intense energy,
But the city is calm
In this violent sea

Lyrically, it’s a masterpiece.  It stands the test of time.  And I think the music captures what the lyrics are portraying.  I just love it.

For those who’ve heard the song, the beginning begs for this song to be the opener of a Rush concert.  We got a snippet of it on the Exit… Stage Left DVD, where the beginning of “The Camera Eye” is used to intro the DVD (VHS at the time of release).  Geddy and Neil talk a little about entertaining and the ‘electricity’ of the live show.  The song starts off slowly, then builds up in intensity, more and more, and then just explodes into the scene with power. The whole crowd could be kept in the dark until the moment the band crashes into the song after the rising crescendo.  Lights blaring, the crowd roaring in approving applause – I could just see the whole thing.  Rush could use the song as a ‘warm-up’, per se, and play the whole ten minutes, which they could then go into their pleasantries, as they are apt to do.

So this song is my pick for the opening song.  Of course, anywhere in the set they play it would be fine by me!  Now tell me, is there another better song to start the show?

Let’s keep the ‘bring out a song never played live’ gig going!

I’m not sure this song was ever played live.  On the Snakes and Arrows tour (what I like to call the Permanent Waves II tour), they played “Entre Nous”, which was never played live.  That’s a song I never expected to see live, but it was beautifully performed.  It almost seemed like they played it like they’d never play it again.  For me, it had a sense of finality to it.

I actually think “Different Strings” is a better song.  It is ‘complicatedly simple’, or ‘simply complicated’ – take your pick.  I think it’s a wonderfully crafted song, and somewhat thought-provoking.  I think Dream Theater covered this song for a time.  I think the song would lend itself to be played live, be it how it was originally recorded, or as an acoustic break, a la “Resist”. In any case, lighters and cell phone lights would be on full display during this one!

Ok, seriously, it is time.  This song must come back to the set list.  Ok, I’m not one to make demands, but I can already hear the ominous brooding of this song demanding to be played again.  I love playing this song on the drums (hm, I think I’ll cover it someday soon!).  It displays several moods:  foreboding, tension in the air, suspense, urgency, and a triumphant finale.  And strangely enough, I’ve never bothered to think about or inquire what this song is about!

In any case, my feeling is that it’s a favorite among Rush fans, and I’m not sure it has been played since the Permanent Waves tour.  Looks like this song is getting the “Between the Wheels” treatment:  played for one tour and then dropped.  But it was brought back after Rush realized how good a song it was.  I hope they do the same for “Jacob’s Ladder”.

Looks like the Permanent Waves spell will continue!  At least if I get my way. 

It can be said of many Rush songs that they are ahead of their time.  They could easily have appeared on a future album, or whose lyrics transcend time.  “Losing It” is one of those songs.

This is one of my all time favorite Rush songs.  Lyrically it speaks to many of us that may hit a wall in life, be it physically or mentally, and find it insurmountably difficult to overcome those walls.  Or, as extolled in the article “Cheering Them On”, many dream about what they’d like to be, but for whatever reasons never achieve it.

In addition to being a wondrous song lyrically, it is also thus musically.  The mood portrayed by the music complements the words perfectly, something resembling a wistful longing.  The violin exponentially adds to the ambiance of the song, giving it an almost orchestral presence.  Simply beautiful.

I think Rush opened ‘Pandora’s Box’, as it were, by bringing to a set list a song that was never played live (“Entre Nous” on the Snakes and Arrows tour).  Now they’re gonna have to do it again!    “Losing It” is a prime candidate.  The grandness of the song lends itself to a live setting.

As far as the violin goes, I think technology has come along enough for them to be able to trigger it when and where they need it.  They’ve been doing stuff like that forever, so it shouldn’t be a problem (sure, easy for a fan to say!).

In this fan’s eyes (and ears), the best song on Power Windows (1985 release) is “Territories”.  However, when said record came out, the songs I liked the most were “The Big Money”, “Manhattan Project”, and “Marathon”.

Unfortunately, I missed the subsequent tour (I was living in Phoenix, AZ at the time, but that’s a story for another day).  If I had gone, I would have known why I think “Territories” is such a great song.  It was meant to be played live.

I didn’t discover this until I saw my first Rush concert in December of 1988, during the Hold Your Fire tour, and later when I saw the A Show of Hands VHS.  The song exhibits various ambient changes, and the music fits so well with the theme of the song.  Some of Neil’s most creative drumming is in this song as well, especially during the chorus.  The song has a triumphant conclusion, an apt ending to the animated documentary.  Just a very well constructed song that I would personally love to see live.

Where’s my instrumental?  Many years had passed after “YYZ” until Rush recorded their next instrumental (ten years!), but “Where’s My Thing? (Part IV of the “Gangster of Boats” Trilogy)” delivered.

I love the jazzy riff it implies, with the power of a rock beat.  The many dynamics of the song make it incredibly interesting to listen to.  All three contribute technical virtuosity to what I think to this day is one of their best instrumentals.

But when I saw it live, it went to a whole other level.  If any Rush song was meant to be played live, it’s this one.  It has a grandness to it when played in a concert hall, the chords making powerful statements of sound, especially during it’s ‘chorus’ parts.  Not only that, but during the Roll the Bones tour they played an extended intro to the song, an ethereal suspense which ended with Alex’s piercing chords to mark the beginning of the actual song.  I was blown away.

So what happened?  They made another instrumental (“Leave That Thing Alone!”) on their next album, and yet another instrumental (“Limbo”) on the next album after that!  So “Where’s My Thing?” fell by the wayside, so to speak, even though I think it’s better than the subsequent two.

So it’s time to bring back this great instrumental.  The ‘thing’s’ right here, so leave it alone!

This one’s just a feel good song.  For some reason unbeknownst to me, it reminds me specifically of walking the streets of Montréal or Toronto.  In any case, it’s a lovely song, very fitting as the last song on Counterparts.

In fact, that’s why I think it should go somewhere in the encore.  It’s also somewhat of a triumphant sounding song, which makes it fitting at the end.  Again, yet another song not played live before, but like I said, Pandora’s Box has been opened!

When the ‘Fear’ trilogy concluded with “The Enemy Within” on Grace Under Pressure back in 1984, we thought that would be the end of it.  Rush went backwards, actually starting with part three (“Witch Hunt” from Moving Pictures), then part two (“The Weapon” from Signals), then ‘concluding’ with “The Enemy Within”, part one.  They play all three parts live on the Grace Under Pressure Tour DVD, and it’s fantastically done.  “The Weapon” especially showcases why Neil is one of the best drummers around (you’ll have to see it for yourself!).

After that tour, “Witch Hunt” was played most of the three, even as recently as the Snakes and Arrows tour.  But ‘fear’ doesn’t sleep...

On Vapor Trails, part four of ‘Fear’ appears:  “Freeze”.  This song may have gone under the radar as far as great Rush songs go, but it certainly belongs in that category.  It is a complex song, with several mood and dynamics changes.  I see it as an undiscovered gem.

When I saw that “Freeze” was part four of ‘Fear’, I thought ‘Fear’ was coming back for the Vapor Trails tour.  It would have been nice to see Neil tackle “The Weapon” again.  But to my surprise, they didn’t play it!

So here’s another chance.  Now that the ‘Fear’ anthology has come full circle (can’t call it a trilogy anymore), it’s time for Rush to conquer their ‘fear’!

When a new Rush CD comes out, I try to guess which songs will be selected for the tour.  There are always misses (see above).  Sometimes I’m left wondering why the song wasn’t selected, because I thought it was that good.  When Rush released Vapor Trails, I was sure that “Nocturne” would be selected.

This is a great song!  It’s kind of different from other Rush songs in a sense:  the trebly bass riff, the wailing background vocal - it’s like the band went off on a tangent on this one (a good tangent!).  Neil’s drumming sounds youthful as well.

I could see this song being played on rock stations because to me it sounds radio friendly.  Again, it surprised me that it was not selected for the tour, because it’s such a unique song, even by Rush standards.  I think it would sound fantastic live.

So where in the concert should “Nocturne” be played?  Easy:  as prelude to the ‘Fear’ anthology.  Perfect.

Could it be time for Rush to consider playing another ‘side-long’ again?  I would guess that almost all Rush fans would love to see them play “Hemispheres” in its entirety.  Hemispheres is a favorite of many Rush fans, and this would surely please.  But I see a couple of difficulties with this choice (even though, again, I’d love to see it!).

One, Geddy’s voice is lower now than in yesteryear.  It is very rare that a singer who’s been around for decades that can still sing in the same register as when they were young.  Jon Anderson of Yes is a rare example of this, even though he may struggle a bit to still reach those higher notes.

This song would be one of the most, if not the most challenging of the older songs for Geddy to pull off live.  There are many notes sung in higher registers that, if Geddy were to sing them, he may need to sing alternate lower notes (like singing harmony).  Or, a la “2112” on the Test for Echo tour, the band could play the entire piece a key lower, allowing Geddy to reach those higher notes, which wouldn’t be so high at the lower key.  (They did this with “Circumstances”, which appears on the Hemispheres record, on the Snakes and Arrows tour).  But if they go that route, that presents another potentially big problem.

Alex’s opening chord played at the introduction of the “Hemispheres” suite is arguably his most famous chord.  It’s so unique, it’s practically patented by him (the suspended F-sharp chord).  As far as I know, it wasn’t used again (at least in a very recognizable kind of way) until the beginning of “Far Cry” on Snakes and Arrows, almost 30 years later!  If they play Hemispheres tuned down, that recognizable chord cannot be used.  Alex would have to come up with another chord that’s just as impactful.  Does that chord exist at a lower key?

These are the issues Rush would be faced with if they go with this piece.  If anyone can figure it out, it would be these guys.  I’m hoping!

And that, folks, is The Paradiddler’s wish list for Rush’s next tour.  I’m sure you have your favorites you’d like to see.  Please let everyone know here!  Or you can tell me how crazy I am, whatever.  In any case, let all know what you think!

By the way, 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.

In the meantime, have fun with my list, and yours!

]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/04/04/the-paradiddler-wish-list-for-rush-next-tour/feed/ 3 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/03/07/drum-clinic-marco-minnemann/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/03/07/drum-clinic-marco-minnemann/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:40:03 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1546

When I received the e-mail from Ken Stanton Music saying that Marco Minnemann was going to put on a drum clinic at their superstore in Marietta (Atlanta), GA on March 2nd (2010), I immediately started making plans to be there.  But it may not have been the case otherwise.

Until recently, I knew very little about Marco.  I had seen his name mentioned at times, but never enough for me to notice (so many drummers, so little time!).  But recently, DrumChannel.com had both Marco and Derek Roddy (Serpents Rise and Hate Eternal) together for a chat and drumming session, and I was blown away by both drummers.  It may be because I'm not into 'blast beat'-type music that I've not heard much of these guys, but there's no denying the incredible talent these drummers possess.  It takes an incredible amount of technique and energy to play what they play, but the duo solos they performed displayed an incredible array of power, finesse, creativity, and melody.  Here's a link to the rebroadcast of that show.  Put it on your calendar and watch it, because not only are they extraordinary drummers, but they have very refreshing insights as far as their approach to drumming that drummers of all styles can learn from.

So after watching that show, I decided that I may need to pay a little more attention to Mr. Minnemann!  Then comes the news that he's putting on a drum clinic locally and, well, a perfect storm of sorts. I started making preparations to cover the event.

I made contact with Jeremy Truitt, Drum Dept. Manager at Ken Stanton music, to come by the store and talk about the particulars of the event.  He was most helpful, showing me where the stage was going to be, audience location, even showing different spots where I could get some great camera angles for some unique shots.  This was gonna be good!

So the day comes, and now I’m really into the event.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing an incredible display of chops, and learning whatever I can.  With much anticipation, I head on down to the store.  I wanted to get there pretty early so I could situate myself, get a ‘lay of the land’, so to speak, make sure I had a good seat, and see where I could take some great photos.

The clinic was cancelled.

Winter decided to dump a snow storm to the Atlanta area, and for the safety of the drummers and all who would attend, it was decided that the show would be a no-go.  The guys at the store were obviously very disappointed, and rightly so.  It is not often that a world-class drummer can be in the area to put on a drum clinic.

But all was not lost!  Fortunately, that was not the only clinic that Marco had scheduled.  The Atlanta Institute of Music (AIM) had also scheduled a drum clinic on March 4^th.  No snow storm scheduled for that day!  It was a little further out, but that didn’t matter – I would be there.

I suspected that the vibe for this venue would be different than at the store, and I was correct.  When I attended Will Calhoun’s drum clinic, there were drummers there of course, but there were also people of all ages, very young kids included.  But AIM had more of a classroom, college-type feel.  Most in attendance were young adults, with a few older cats sprinkled around here and there.  I didn’t prepare so much for this event since I wasn’t planning on coming, so I was more like a spectator like everyone else, instead of a ‘reporter’.  The campus halls were boringly decored, but fortunately the action is in the classroom, and AIM teaches classes in drumming, guitar, bass, and recording.

I arrived about an hour early, again to make sure that I at least got a good seat.  There was definitely a buzz in the atmosphere waiting for the clinic to begin.  These guys knew who they were there to see, and they were excited.  There was lots of talk about cracked cymbals, trying to get drumming endorsements, recent and upcoming gigs - a real drummer’s event.

There was a sound check going on while we were waiting, and if it was any indication of what the show was going to be like, we were in for a real treat.  The drums sounded just fantastic (even being on the other side of the door).  The bass drum was very boomy, but it sounded so full and rich.  When the drummer played double bass drum fills and combinations all over the kit, the boom of the bass drums blended in with the combinations and produced very powerful and clean, piercing sound.  Now I couldn’t wait to hear what these drums sounded like while in the same room!

I think artists are good at sneaking by people because as we were all waiting outside the door, an inconspicuous Marco and a companion whizzed right by us, almost without us knowing it!  By the time we did notice, he was gone.  Guess it was time to get ready for the show!  After that little episode, all were invited to enter the performance hall.

First thing you notice as you enter the hall is Marco’s drum kit.  It was a beautiful 7-pc DW Gold Glass FinishPly^TM Collector’s Series kit, with Zildjian cymbals and DW hardware.  In addition, Marco had an additional snare (which I believe was also a DW) to the left, and another suspended tom to the left of that (ok, a 9-pc kit).  Just a beautiful setup.

After everyone coming in finished going gaga over the kit, those in attendance started settling into their seats.  I was fortunate enough to get a front row seat stage right, which was a great view.  Marco did not aim the bass drum directly to the audience, as is typically done, but instead faced himself straight to the audience, and positioned the bass drum to his right (similar to the positioning when playing two bass drums).  This allowed for an excellent view of both his hand and foot technique.

After being seated for a little while, Mr. Minnemann was introduced and out he came to the stage.  Very humble to his applause, he looks just like any other guy (he is tall, though!), very unassuming.  You’d never know he’s a famous anything.  But once sitting behind the kit, look out.

After thanking those in attendance and mentioning what he was going to do for the night (songs, solos, Q&A, etc.), he started playing to one of his songs.  Since I hadn’t followed Marco before this, I didn’t know the names of several of the songs he played to (nor did he introduce them).  But it didn’t matter, because he was playing masterfully right off the bat.  The sound of his drums were so clearly defined, and incredibly powerful and full-sounding.  Although there was amplification set up for the drums, it was clear that he was hitting them hard and with authority, but with pinpoint accuracy.  He absolutely didn’t miss a beat; his timing was flawless.

During the first song, the knob on one of the stands keeping a splash cymbal in place slowly started to give, but mid-song Marco adjusted it while not missing a single beat in the song!  It was a great display of concentration (and persistence!).  This first song had quite a jazzy flavor to it, but it was played with a lot of power.  I don’t remember hearing jazz, or what to my ears appeared to be jazz, played that way.

He went right into the next song (amidst a roaring applause of approval from the audience), and this one was a more ‘straight at you’, more aggressive type piece.  Although it did have its jazzy fills interspersed within, it definitely had more of a rock feel.  The combinations and patterns he played were dizzying, but at the same time it was never exaggerated.  As fast and as many fills he incorporated into the song, it was never too much.  It seemed to all fit seamlessly into the song, without being overdone.  This takes a great mastery of composition to accomplish, and Marco was exceptional.

The third piece was even more aggressive, starting as a straight-four rock piece, with lots of ‘double bass onslaught’ fills thrown in.  This was the shortest song of the set.

The fourth song was more melodic, almost electronic-sounding, robotic-like.  I was amazed at how different his drums sounded in this piece just by the patterns he was implementing.  It eventually went into a very fast tempo.  He was just all over the kit at this point, as he entered into the first solo of the night.

Marco showed incredible interplay between the drums, with a prodigious display of independence.  But throughout the initial songs and this solo, what impressed me was the force with which he played.  So much power, yet it didn’t seem like he was over-exerting himself to play that way.  The notes were even, and the dynamics he employed gave such life and a personality to the solo that it was a song within itself.  Instead of just displaying chops or fast rudiments, he combined these elements plus an incredible knack for composition that, as lengthy as the solo was, it was never boring.  But through it all, it was hair-raisingly powerful, and the audience hooted and applauded many times over.

With all that going on, many times Marco employed his stick-twirling techniques that left your jaw dropped.  Because as all of the previously described was going on, on occasion he’d dazzle with his flawless stick-twirling.  And it wasn’t just the twirling in the air – the sticks would strike the cymbals and drums while twirling.  He dropped his stick once, but he recovered so quickly that it almost seemed like it was part of the act!  He smiled many times throughout the playing (including when he dropped the stick), and it was great to see how much fun he was having.  No doubt the audience was having a blast as well.

There were several styles exhibited during the solo as well, from funky grooves, to complex jazz patterns, to straight out double bass combinations with every part of the kit.  Eventually the solo featured a very specific part of the kit – the cymbals.  A solo of cymbals ensued, showcasing the various pitches of each cymbal, and even the different sounds that each cymbal could produce, based on how the cymbal was struck.  He then performed some stick-twirling tricks with the hi-hat which was just awe-inspiring (difficult to describe!).

There were many, many favorite parts to this solo for me, but near or at the top would be the ending.  Marco crescendoed with a dizzying array of speed and dexterity, face-bashing power combinations, to all of a sudden slam to a halt and play “La cucaracha” on the toms.  It was such amazing and unexpected comic relief that everyone was just laughing, it was so hilarious.  He’d play the first part of that song, then go back to an incredibly fast power combination of fills and patterns, then slam to a halt again and play the second bar of “La cucaracha”.  Then he again played yet another powerful combination of complex fills and patterns, then slammed to a halt again to repeat the first bar of “La cucaracha”.  And that’s how that solo ended, with thunderous applause to follow.  Definitely one of my all-time favorite solos.

Marco then grabbed the microphone and started discussing some of his approach to playing, and his main point was that he doesn’t like repeating things very much, that he likes to be very creative and try new things, and challenge himself.  There was a certain cartoon project he was involved in where he was discussing with a colleague how to come up with something new, some type of pattern that never repeats.  Marco had an idea already brewing, so he proceeded to play a pattern which seemingly had no rhyme or rhythm.  Then he asked his colleague to repeat the pattern.  Obviously, he objected, because there was no apparent pattern.  Then Marco went on to tell the colleague that in fact the pattern was played exactly to the lyrics sung to “We Will Rock You” by Queen:

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo' face
You big disgrace
Kickin' your can all over the place

Now the colleague could play it immediately!  A seemingly random pattern was now associated with a familiar rhyme, and now the pattern made total sense.  Marco went on to show the audience another example, “Tom Sawyer” by Rush:

A modern-day warrior
Mean mean stride
Today's Tom Sawyer
Mean mean pride

So Marco figured out a way to create a pattern that doesn’t repeat, but made total sense.  So how could he apply this another way?  What if the words were not sung, but just spoken?  Could a drum pattern be, well, “patterned”, after that?  Marco came across a section of the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian” called “What Have the Romans Ever Done For Us?”  To our delight, a screen came down in the performance hall, and while the dialog of that scene was going on, Marco drummed a solo precisely to the dialog!  It was one of the most creative things I’ve ever seen done on drums.  Each character seemed to have a corresponding drum or combination of drums and cymbals.  A rumbling of drums would sound when all in the scene would mumble, and it was just hilarious.  Marco said that it took him about four days to figure out all of the spoken parts, first transcribing them to guitar and keyboards, and then to the drums.  Masterful.

He then went on to discuss independence, and started by playing a five pattern on one hand, while playing a nine pattern on the other.  Playing them simultaneously made for a sympathetic pattern that made sense.  He then went on to play a different pattern on each limb, and when played together it also made perfect sense!  This he says is how he comes up with patterns he ends up using later on.  If the pattern doesn’t work (meaning it sounds like crap ), he discards it.  Otherwise, he keeps it.

Next he played a double paradiddle using his feet on the two hi-hats in the kit, one on each side.  While that was going, he played a solo over it.  Independence indeed!

Next were some questions from the audience that Marco fielded.  Here’s the gist of them:

Q:  ‘What’s your favorite rudiment?’
A:  ‘Probably the 5-stroke roll’

Marco went on to demonstrate how versatile this rudiment is, and played over a 4/4, at different modulations, and different accentuations.  I never thought of the 5-stroke roll that way before!

Q:  ‘What’s your favorite genre of music?’
A:  ‘All kinds’

Marco emphasized specific bands more than different genres, and that these bands fell into all types of genre categories.  He likes music from Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, The Police, etc.  These helped with his playing because he liked them.  To him, it’s all about playing the right note.  “Whatever you like, you’ll learn it,” Marco said.

Q:  ‘What’s your musical background as far as family influences?’
A:  ‘Was one of the first in my family to play an instrument’

Even though his father was heavily into music, he did not play an instrument, but was very encouraging to his son.  Hearing metal music was what inspired Marco to pursue the music business.  His first gig was when he was about 12 or 13 years old, which he chickened out of.  But when he did actually get to play, he loved the response of the audience, and there was no turning back.  Even at the clinic Marco looked so excited to be playing to an audience and being very appreciative of it.

He always wanted to do his own thing and be as creative as possible, even regarding his kit setup.  That’s why, for example, the toms on his bass drum go 10”, 12”, 8”, instead of the typical 8”, 10”, and 12”.  This allows him more melodic possibilities for certain patterns he likes to play (I got this information out of him after the show with a little one-on-one time ).

It’s interesting that, as good a drummer as he is, when creating music Marco usually adds the drums last. He also plays guitar and keyboards, and after these parts are down is when he adds the drums.  To him this method allows him to be as creative as possible.

After these questions, Marco played a couple of his speed metal-type songs, “Diminished to b” and “Epitaph”.  It’s amazing to see what energy and endurance is required to play such songs.  “Epitaph” was more of a request from the audience, and I’m not sure Marco was planning on playing it.  He hadn’t played it in a while, but he did have it on his music player.  So off he went!  There was a section in the middle of the song where he seemed to forget what to play, but while he was thinking he just played some other pattern.  You could tell on his face when he remembered what to play, and it was smooth sailing till the end of the song.  That’s how a pro handles forgetting a drum part!

After these two songs, Marco fielded a few more questions:

Q:  ‘Where do you get all that energy from?’
A:  ‘I play every day’.

To Marco it’s a matter of dedicating a certain amount of time to practice.  This keeps your body in playing shape, especially if you play such demanding pieces as “Epitaph” night after night.

Q:  ‘How did you develop the foot speed you have?’
A:  ‘By practicing 16^ths and 32^nds, and rudiments’

Again, it’s a matter of practicing.  Once you reach a certain level, you can push yourself by just practicing faster.  Practicing rudiments with the feet also help with developing foot speed.

What was interesting is that Marco doesn’t consider himself a blast beat expert, even though he plays like one!  He basically heard it, and tried to imitate it in his style.  So it’s good to develop a musical ear to pick up on how to play certain songs or patterns.  This allows us to be more creative, until we actually learn the specifics on how to play these patterns, or make up patterns of our own that work for us.

Q:  ‘Who are your favorite drummers?’
A:  ‘John Bonham, Buddy Rich, Stewart Copeland, Vinnie Colaiuta, others’

Having these drummers as in influence allows for playing virtually any style that requires a drum kit.  In order to prove this, Marco finished the clinic with one last song, a Buddy Rich jazz tune called “Time Check”.  He played this song in a way I’ve never seen before, something I liken to ‘hard rock jazz’.  He played it with such power, but you could hear all the jazz nuances.  I’ve seen Buddy Rich (well, not in person) play this song, and I think these two drummers played it as good as it can be played.  An awe-inspiring, powerful way to conclude the clinic.

There’s a new drummer in my short list of favorite drummers, and that’s Marco Minnemann.  He sort of embodies what I like about my other favorite drummers:  the speed of Thomas Lang, his dominance over different genres, such as rock and jazz (Steve Smith), the power of John Bonham, and the creativity of Neil Peart.  That may be saying a lot, but these are the drummers that were around before him, so he had their styles and influences to draw from.  What we have is a multi-talented drum kit player who knows how to ‘overplay’ without overplaying, so to speak.  He’s very fast when he needs to be, has impeccable timing, has complete control over his kit, is extremely creative, and is just a downright humble guy.  And he loves to share how he plays with others – he holds nothing back.

If you’re fortunate enough to have Mr. Minnemann put on a drum clinic in your area, you do not want to miss it.  As much as I’ve written about here, it is nothing compared to seeing this world class drummer in action.  Hopefully he’ll come around my area again.  If so, I’ll be there!

]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/03/07/drum-clinic-marco-minnemann/feed/ 0 http://theparadiddler.com/2010/01/16/sabian-live-at-namm-2010/ http://theparadiddler.com/2010/01/16/sabian-live-at-namm-2010/#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:09:13 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=1410

NAMM is one of the busiest times of the year for the music industry.  Every January, the largest music products trade show in the world hits Anaheim, CA, and droves of enthusiasts go to check out the various products, or show off products of their own.  Then there are others who go for the music.  And at The Paradiddler, the focus is drums.

Once again, I did not have the opportunity to attend in person (maybe next year?).  Fortunately, we have sites like DrumChannel.com that streams the event.  It’s Sabian’s yearly “Sabian Live”, with live entertainment from some of the best drummers that use Sabian cymbals.  I, for one, use Sabian cymbals myself, and I’m very happy with them.  Of course, the pros make them sound phenomenal.

Similar to last year, DrumChannel.com had various camera angles during the show that you could switch between (five to be exact), with the fifth one reserved for the backstage interviews.  In reviewing DrumChannel.com’s Sabian Live 2009, I tried to glean from the interviews what I could while at the same time watching the live performances.  That was a tall order!  I missed some really great stuff on both sides, so I took a different slant this time.  I decided to be more of a photographer, taking video stills from the live stream of the musical performances, and presenting them here for your viewing pleasure.  Alas, I could not get the whole show (more on that later).

The event was co-hosted by Dom Famularo, drumming ambassador to the world, and Dream Theater’s own Mike Portnoy.  Dom reminds me of Terry Bozzio, in the sense that they’re both so enthusiastic about drumming that it’s infectious.  You can’t not like drums when you’re around those guys.  And that’s just from watching them online!  The only thing wrong with Mike Portnoy was that he didn’t play.  Well, he was there to host and MC, so we’ll let it slip (this time).

Musical guests for Sabian Live were:

• Little Kids Rock – students from the organization dedicated to putting music back in schools
• Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats
• Terry Bozzio, Tony Levin, David Torn and Pat Mastelotto
• Steve Ferrone with The Master Volume All-Stars featuring Steve Postell, Leland Sklar, Kevin Ricard and other celebrities

Here are some highlights from the performances.

Here’s the scoop on this fine organization, taken from LittleKidsRock.org:  “Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has been dedicated to putting music back in schools. We provide students with free musical instruments and instruction that focuses on their favorite popular music styles, including rock, blues, rap and hip-hop. So far, over 1,200 schools in more than 23 cities nationwide have benefited from a Little Kids Rock program, and the response from kids, parents and teachers has been phenomenal.”

The kids at NAMM put on a pretty good show.  They played two songs:  “Aces High” from Iron Maiden(!) and “La Grange” by ZZ Top.  Ok, I don’t even remember if I’ve ever heard “Aces High”, but these kids’ rendition of it was very well performed.  I’ll have to give it up to the bass player, though:  anyone (especially a kid) who can play bass like Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris is fine in my book!

Their rendition of “La Grange” was a little fast for my taste, but they got through it well enough.  I think that’s a song that has to be enjoyed at the original speed, but that’s just me!

Here’s a pic from their performance:

I had not the chance to see any of this band’s performances until tonight.  This was a real treat, because this group was fantastic.

I like Chad’s playing in Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I like his performances outside of that band more than inside.  In the 2008 Buddy Rich Memorial concert review (2^nd article), I talked about Chad’s excellent performance in the show, one of the best of the night.  I think his performance with the Meatbats was even better.  It seems like he plays more liberated when outside of RHCP.  That’s not a bad thing, however.  When you’re in a band, it’s always about the song, and the best songs are those where the musicians put the song first before themselves.  But with the Bombastic Meatbats, it’s more about jamming, and boy did they jam.

It was a very spirited set, six songs in all.  At least, that’s what I counted.  One of the songs sounded like a medley of three.  Chad introduced the second song called “Oops I Spilled My Beer.”  I’m positive many in attendance could relate J.  The Bombastic Meatbats to me were the best part of Sabian Live.

Here are some pics from the performance.

If Terry Bozzio’s going to be on the bill, you know you’re in for, well, complexity. This night was no exception.  I should have timed the first song, because it took forever! It was a brooding, dark, menacing piece.  The next day during DC at NAMM Terry mentioned that it was all improvised, and that for a lot of the performance he could not hear at all at least one of the other musicians.  It sounded all in unison to me, which was very impressive.  It seemed more like a progressive rock piece, kind of self-indulgent (in a good way though!).  Tony Levin’s playing was just sick – it amazes me how he’s flailing away on his ‘bass’ and creates such beautiful melodies.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that the Drum Channel feed dropped for the longest time.  But I did catch some pics of the performance, so here they are.

Well, it was getting very late at this point, and the feed from Drum Channel was a little shaky, but I did get a few pics from this performance.  I have to say that this was my least favorite part of the show, even though the drumming was very good.  Steve had a very nice pocket going.  He swears like a trooper, though!  The song selection was not my cup of tea, but I like anything live!

Here are a few pics from this performance:

And that was the show!

As far as the sound goes, it was much, much better this time around than last year, so Drum Channel got that right this time.  Chad Smith’s drums sounded just fantastic.  Like I said, that was my favorite part of the show.

In a future article, I’ll put out pics from some of the interviewing that went on backstage during the performances.  It’s very difficult to cover everything from afar (hm, I’ll have to assemble a team for the next one!).  In any case, it was a good time, with very good performances.  I believe Drum Channel will be posting these performances on their site in the near future, so watch out for those.

And that’s a wrap!

]]> http://theparadiddler.com/2010/01/16/sabian-live-at-namm-2010/feed/ 0 http://theparadiddler.com/2009/07/07/perry-peart-and-bozzio-pearls-of-drumming-wisdom/ http://theparadiddler.com/2009/07/07/perry-peart-and-bozzio-pearls-of-drumming-wisdom/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:04:17 +0000 Omar http://theparadiddler.com/?p=961

I eagerly awaited June 18^th, 2009. DrumChannel.com was going to feature Doane Perry (Jethro Tull), Neil Peart (Rush), and Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, DrumChannel resident). So many years of drumming experience, coincidentally from the so-called "progressive rock" genre. In any case, it was an event I couldn't miss.

Those who have followed TheParadiddler.com can deduce who my favorite drummer is, so I thought that this would be a good opportunity to get to know Perry and Bozzio a little more. Doane Perry I knew the least of, and I remember Terry from his Missing Persons days (crazy hair and all). Unfortunately, I missed Terry during his Frank Zappa days as well (boy, do I have a lot of homework to do!). But I can always catch up.

I had no expectations about this event. Maybe some thought that the three would at some point break out into an all-out jam, going crazy all over whatever drum kit they were presented. I for one, merely wanted to be a spectator and try to glean from them whatever pearls of wisdom I may not have heard before, and find a way for them to fit into my philosophy of drumming. I did submit via the chat room a couple of questions, but there were so many questions, and some most likely submitted theirs even days before the event, that mine were not asked (if anyone wants to know, and if I remember them, just let me know!).

So with paper and pen in hand, I listened, and waited. It actually was a little mesmerizing to see such great drummers altogether, like old chums, yapping it up, laughing with (and at!) each other - it was a lot of fun. From what I gathered, some people still seem to think that Neil Peart is a very moody, somewhat somber person. Maybe because he's so serious when he plays, that transfers to other parts of his life. Now I don't know him personally, but he seemed the most jolly and affable of the three (well, four if you count Don Lombardi, who was conducting the interview). Terry's just a nut (in a good way). His enthusiasm is so contagious - you can't help but get excited when you hear him speak. Doane was more the passive one, slowly doling out his story (even to the point of Neil 'mock' dozing off during one of his stories). They just all got along and had a good time.

Ahem, back to the paper and pen. So I thought I'd jot down the 'pearls of wisdom' that any of these guys might say that we would want to think about and remember. Of course, we can go to DrumChannel.com and watch the rebroadcast of the show, but for those who either missed it, or would like somewhat of a summary, the following is what I found most interesting. I'm sure I'll miss a few (or several) things, but hey, we can watch it again! I'll mention what the drummer said, and what I think about what they said. I'll be paraphrasing for the most part.

• Neil Peart: 'No other instrument is like the drums. There are as many different setups as there are drummers.'

  • The Paradiddler: How many instruments can you tinker with different positions to tailor to the individual player? Very few if any! But with drums, configurations are limitless. You have different piece counts, cymbal counts, throne height, tom angles, hi-hat height, how open you have the hi-hats, drum tuning possibilities (don't even get me started there!), percussion, etc. Really, how many ways can you configure a saxophone?

• Doane Perry: 'Drums are misunderstood. They seem easy, but most struggle past a straight four-beat. Drummers sympathize with each other.'

  • TP: I totally agree with this! Many look at drummers and think what they do is easy. "Oh, anybody can sit down and do what that guy's doing." But sit them down and have them play something simple as "Back In Black" by AC/DC, or almost any Creedence Clearwater Revival song, and they will always flop. I alluded to that in my article "A Perspective On Drum Covers". Even though I still think the drummers in the aforementioned bands could have done more, their simple beats served those songs. Plus, it's a lot harder to keep a solid beat than most think!

• DP: Doane said he at one time took lessons from Billy Cobham.

  • TP: This might have been the funniest reaction of the whole show. Both Terry and Neil were like "Whoa, wait a minute, back up - what did you say? Lessons with Billy Cobham? When did this happen?" Apparently nobody knew that! A little trivia for us drumming buffs.

• Terry Bozzio: 'The music you want to play should dictate what skills to practice. Also, practice what you don't know. Don't waste time practicing and warming up with paradiddles if you already know them."

  • TP: Ok Terry, quit bashing paradiddles! (Just kidding). What he says make perfect sense. If you're going to be playing more jazzy stuff, you might be wasting your time practicing blast beat double-bass drumming. You may want to hone your skills with traditional grip, for example. Or if you're going to cover rock bands, where most bars are straight fours, practice timing. Well, timing (or groove, maybe) is good for all genres, but that's just an example. I'm still practicing single and double stroke rolls!

• NP: 'The 9x13 drum is my benchmark drum size. I love the tonality.'

  • TP: In my article "Neil Peart Solo Number 3 - Rush In Rio, 2003", I called Neil's 9x13 tom the 'magic tom' (you'll have to read why if you haven't!). Little did I know what Neil thinks of this particular drum! It is a beautiful sounding drum. I'm sure for Neil this tom and his snare have a very good relationship!

• DP: 'The more you practice, the more things "come to you". But you have to sweat it; you have to practice a lot.'

  • TP: Personally, I've found this to be true. On a particular practice session that I recorded of myself, when I watched it I was actually dumbfounded that I could play what I was playing. I didn't realize until afterwards that I'd been trying to play specifically that way for some time, and I actually did it! And it came with practice.

• TP: "Gadd is in the details"

  • TP: Ok, this was me in the chat room, but I was actually surprised that I said it! Someone had commented that Steve Gadd's style of drumming, at least for this chatter, was boring. I then said the above. I got some compliments on that, but I do believe it's true. Many will swear by Steve Gadd's technique, so much so that most will agree that, well, "Gadd is in the details." I haven't followed Mr. Gadd as much as I'd like, but that's the great thing about all these great drummers: so much to look forward to!

• NP: "You don't have to keep the time; everyone's keeping the time."

  • TP: I find this to be true even when playing a drum cover. When I was recording my drum cover of Rush's "Dreamline", I found myself at times following Geddy Lee's voice more than Neil's drumming! Maybe Neil does this as well. Yes, everyone's keeping the time, but drummers, make sure you don't lose time, ok?

Well, there was a lot more said, but you can view the encore presentation at DrumChannel.com. This was more of a highlight list, the things I found most interesting, the 'pearls of wisdom'. But of course, the drummers had to jam, and jam they did. It wasn't a bombastic display, as some expected. But is was more a melodic approach. Well that went on for along time, and Don Lombardi had to stop them! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. Here are a few photos from the show^*. I hope you enjoy them, and if you missed it, go to DrumChannel and hear it from the boys themselves!

The trio at work

Terry's in there somewhere!

Terry Bozzio at home

"Even I don't know what to do with this kit!"

...and scene. That's a wrap!