Starman

For Slappy Hour in January:

Doesn't look too hard.

Lessons, Week 40

EN played a rough cut from Clovis Mann's new recordings and we played along to it. It was a cajun type feel. I couldn't quite get it and he didn't write it down, so it is lost to me now. There was an off-beat ride cymbal and a snare hit only played every other measure...plus bass and high hat foot work. Then he gave me a written exercise of the same genre. I couldn't get that either. But I'm gonna work on it this week. I think that he expects me to play new things a little too fast sometimes...it's hard to take a new concept that is hard and play it fast (or what is fast for me). The thing is that I'm sight reading or sight "hearing" these parts AND trying to play them. My brain is so busy trying to figure out what is actually going on that I can't get to the part where I am actually working on playing it. It is easier to memorize the pattern FIRST...then work on playing it. I think I just need to be better about admitting to him that I need to slow down. I'm not sure if he's just trying to push me to do more than I think I can do or if he just doesn't realize. Usually I can get these things when I slow them way down at home.

After the exercises we played some The Meters tunes, which were really fun and pretty easy for me. I think I have a real predisposition for playing funk...it is easier for me to pick up than other things. I think he tries to pull me out of the depths of dispair with something fun in the lessons.

Nicko McBrain

So...counterpoint to Joey Jordison...

Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden


When I was growing up, all the guys in middle school really dug Iron Maiden. I gotta wonder if it didn't half have to do with their evil little cartoon character mascot. Maybe it was the boys' way of transitioning from childhood to manhood.


I read a small quote from Nicko McBrain in a magazine this weekend that said that he doesn't play double bass pedal. It seems pretty clear to me that this is a requirement of metal these days, so it is really interesting to hear that a legend of the genre didn't play double. Neither did John Bonham for that matter.

Where Eagle's Dare (considered "very complex and masterful"):


Alexander the Great (with a 7/8 riff)


Brighter Than a Thousand Suns (with a 7/4 riff)


The Longest Day (with a 14/8 riff)


The Evil That Men Do (fast single bass pedal)

Joey Jordison

So you can't read drum magazines for very long without running across the image of Joey Jordison, the drummer for heavy metal band Slipknot

I know that metal is supposed to be technical and difficult to play...but I just don't get it. Not the heavy death/speed metal stuff anyway. Playing fast and hard and maybe not even together. Guttural screaming. It's funny, cause I used to think Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden...that these were too heavy/loud...but now those seem melodic and musical compared with stuff like Slipknot. To each their own...I don't begrudge anyone their tastes...but it literally doesn't make any sense to me.







This is kind of cool, a soundcheck:

Modern Drummer

I know that drum magazines are really just a vehicle for selling expensive equipment and albums, but I love reading magazines and I love drumming...so it makes sense that I would enjoy drum magazines. And I have found it really nice to be exposed to all kinds of drummers that I've never heard of and to hear what their process has been. There's cool exercises too.

This summer I decided to subscribe to a drumming magazine. I chose Drum! because:
1. It was cheaper ($19 versus about $36 for MD)
2. It seemed cooler
3. I hate the title "Modern Drummer" and the font they use for their title (note, this seems to have improved)

There are other drum magazines around, but these were the two biggies and the ones that seemed most applicable to my interest in American rock music. Others are Downbeat (jazz), Traps (which I think is defunct), Classic Drummer(formerly Vintage Drummer), Drum Connextions (from NZ), Not So Modern Drummer, Rhythm (from UK), Sick Drummer (metal), and Drum Head. Tiger Bill keeps track of mags here, including some that are only online.

Since my Drum! subscription began I have found that I read them, cover to cover, really quickly...and then start craving more material. So I've been buying Modern Drummer off the newstand for a few months now.

Modern Drummer came out with a screaming $29 deal that includes some digital thing and two cds...so last night I caved and subscribed to it too.

Now I wonder how long it will be before I start buying a third magazine off the newstand...(Drum Head the next logical candidate)

Accents and Fills

I worked for a while on Sunday on an accent pattern that the Nod guy does. It is a really simple 16th note pattern, but the accents change everything. It is one of my first forays into accents. It's a more advanced concept, but I think it will make a big difference in my sound.

I also spent some time working on some fills from some Green Day songs. I tend to gloss over these and stick to the groove (like I was doing with The Nod accent pattern too), but it is probably time for me to start tackling these kinds of things.

The Nod

I finally got to see a full Nod show on Saturday night. I confirmed a fair amount of the drum parts and learned a few new things. There was a weird ride and high hat thing that I didn't quite get...not something I've seen people do before (it actually looked like he was hanging onto that by a thread himself). The guy is kind of interesting because he uses a fair amount of jazzy type cymbal stuff, but he also hits really hard pretty constantly. It's an interesting hybrid. I also noticed that he has a double bass pedal. I haven't noticed much crazy bass drum work on the recording, so I wonder if he used it on the recording.


I've been thinking lately that I want to start hitting a bit harder myself (and I've been doing so), but I think it is definitely a balancing act. You can get carried away with being a hard hitter. I don't think it is always a good thing.