Brave New World: Effects

So my career as a bass player has been pretty low tech. The first three or four years, spent in Ye Olde Motor Primitves/Pants del Fwego, was me playing either a borrowed bass or a cheapie through a 30 watt practice amp. No effects. Not even really sure what all the knobs on the bass or amp did. In chapter two of my bass career, the Kim Deal project, I was still playing with no effects and crappy basses...through slightly better amps to be sure...but still only vaguely sure of what all the knobs were about. I learned to turn the volume on the bass all the way up and adjust volume using the amp...and that the other knob on my bass basically made things sound "sharper" or "muddier". Some things sounded better one way or another...but I stayed pretty middle of the road. I decided I liked a "clean" sound. And now I've entered chapter three...the Michael Ivins project...a man who said in Bass Player magazine "I never use a clean, Dave Matthews Band kind of bass sound—ever." So here I am...thrown into the world of effects. Luckily, with Ivins the education is pretty basic...possibly the best introduction I could have had.

Note here that, while I own an electric guitar, I've never played it what you might call "properly". Barre chords are still relatively new to me and the concept of power chords, though in theory understood to me, have not, in practice, become part of my toolbox. My history with the guitar is largely of playing chords in open position on an acoustic, usually with my thumb and index finger ACTING like they are holding a pick, but not ACTUALLY holding a pick (though I have started to use a pick now...perhaps in the last five years or so). I have never plugged an effects box into a guitar/amp rig...though the guitar amp I bought on a whim several years back has some crappy on-board digital effects.

So last night, our second FLIPS rehearsal, I learned several things about effects. Until now I've not understood any of this at all...and now it seems stupid and intuitive...but it was like a light bulb going on.

#1 Bass fuzz only sounds good on low notes. Turn it off if you know you are going into a high passage

#2 The volume knob on the bass can actually be used, you know WHILE you're playing, to do things like fade out

#3 Don't try #2 when you are "punched in" with an effect...cause you probably won't fade but instead will just suddenly drop out at some point while turning the knob (ergo, if you know you will need to fade out in an upcoming passage, "punch out" before you get the the note that needs to fade)

#4 The volume "punched in" is louder than the volume "punched out" all other things being equal. Try to adjust the volume on the pedal and the volume on the amp in such a way that this is less noticable (unless you WANT to be super loud punched in and super quiet punched out). For me I kind of want the level to stay pretty even. Suddenly...the design of pedals seems important. Can you turn the knobs with your foot? With shoes on?

#5 You kind of have to plot out when you will punch in and when you will punch out. For someone like me, who leans heavily on written notes while I'm learning a song, this means you gotta write in when to punch in/out onto your notes.

#6 If you only have one power cable and two pedals and both pedals need it...well there's some planning and bending over to switch the power cable involved in plotting your performance. For instance, my bass stays in tune pretty well...so the only tuning I do during a show typically is when I have to tune down to low D or back up to E. So when if I'm gonna do that, I gotta remember to switch the power supply back and forth between pedals. Or I gotta buy another power source or make sure I got batteries in the tuner (but it eats batteries and is too hard to put new batteries in on stage cause there's a spring that could get lost). Now I understand the benefit of a nice pedal board case with an integral power supply...expensive as they are. I also understand why buying cheap pedals that eat batteries is bad. And I get why guitarists always have to have a "sixer" power strip available (you might have a lot of power supplies to plug in if you don't have everything integrated into one power supply. Six pedals...six plugs...plus the amp...yikes).

So yeah...suddenly I understand a lot more about all of that bullshit going on at a guitarist's feet. I still think plenty of it is unneccessary and I still can't tell the difference between 90% of effects out there, but I can appreciate all that's going into figuring that stuff out.

CJ, 5/21 Inferno & 5/27 Mr. Roberts

My how I am slacking my duties of self-documentation. I completely forgot to document the last two shows.

They are probably best taken as a pair anyway...they are the tale of two shows...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

5/21 at the Inferno headlining with openers Knuckeldrager and Foxy Veronica's Peach Pies plus lots of naked art at an event called "Filth III". At this point there isn't really much to say that hasn't already been said too many times. The show did not run on time. We went on at 1:40am and despite being allowed to play until 2:15, had our set cut many songs short. It was kind of an unpleasant night that shook our faith in humanity. But, we got paid well. (EDIT: My amp was distorting for the show despite its new speaker...think it may just not be powerful enough for the venues we play. I had it DI'ed to audience, but on stage sound was poor. I had nothing to drink at this show.)

5/27 at Mr. Roberts opening for Dead Beat Club and Archie Powell. We went on at the right time. We played our whole set. We played "Hey" on request and pulled it off as well as we ever have. The crowd was awesome. We had a good time. Our faity in humanity was restored. But, we got pretty much stiffed on payout. (EDIT: see post about awesome Ampeg BA600 amp I borrowed for this gig. My bass sound was great on stage and I assume in audience...Mr. Roberts does not have a DI for bass or mic amps...so it was just on the power of the amp. I had, I think, one beer before and one beer during this show. I had drank earlier in the day too.)

Compare, contrast. Whadda ya gonna do...that's rock and roll in the gritty city. For my part I played pretty well at both shows...though better at Mr Roberts....based solely on the fact that I was exhausted by the time we hit the stage at Inferno and was making dumb brain mistakes.

Here's us at the Inferno playing Dead way better than I thought we did at the time. Something about waiting to play for hours and hours and staying up way too late just blows your brain up:


Setlists:

Filth 5/20/11 at Inferno
Debaser
Broken Face
Holiday Song
Bone Machine
Break My Body
Subbacultcha
I Bleed
Cactus
Is She Weird
Dead
I've Been Tired
Levitate Me
Gigantic
No 13 Baby
Hey
La La Love You
(we were cut off after La La Love You...but rest of planned set as follows)
Vamos
Nimrod's Son
Gouge Away
Tame

Mr Roberts 5/27/2011
Wave of Mutilation
Mr. Grieves
Isla de Encanta
Bone Machine
Trompe Le Monde
Is She Weird
Ed is Dead
Here Comes Your Man
Gigantic
River Euphrates
Debaser
Tame
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Manta Ray
Head On
Gouge Away
Nimrod's Son
Where Is My Mind
(planned encore was Vamos, but Hey was requested so we played Hey instead)

June 2011 Drum

The June 2011 issue of Drum! magazine was really outstanding. Mainly I liked the Career Guide.

Some thoughts/things to follow up on...

Derek Roddy's website

David Jarnstrom

Cobus Potgieter
This guy records drum stuff for youtube

Danny Gottlieb: Student of Joe Morello

Mark Schulman: Metal guy with light touch

Blondie Detroit 442

This will be fast and hard

General Status

So a couple of things have happened recently of note.

1. I kind of had a breakdown
I've been feeling really overwhelmed lately, and in particular feeling like my drum skills are on a slippery slope downward. I find it hard to force myself to practice tunes for the three groups that I drum for...and the more I avoid doing that the worse my skills get. My general skill and endurance has really been on the decline. And stuff that I used to be able to play with no problem is now really tough. Motivation is hard...but I really want to push through to getting in more alone practice time...both of the songs themselves and of basic skills.

2. I bought a practice kit
I've been thinking about doing this for a long time but it never seemed worth the expense. But in part because of #1 above, I was feeling like the time that I spend away from the kit is far too much. So I decided I needed a kit that could pretty much go with me everywhere. And that "everywhere" is pretty much to my girlfriend's basement and to my couch in front of the tv. I thought at first that I'd leave it in the girlfriend's basement...but as soon as I got it and set it up while watching tv at my house I could see where it's main home will be...in front of the tv. Not only is it super easy to go through instructional dvds like this...it makes it easier to just do exercises while "resting".

3. I wrote out a practice regime
For in front of the tv. I made up an exercise sheet that is essentially the same pattern of opening hi hats (on 1...repeat measure 4 times...then next measure on + of 1...on through all the possible combinations) with 2/4 snare and 4 on floor bass ...then with 1/3 bass...then with 1+/3+ bass...then with +1/+3 bass. The purpose of this is to 1) improve strength of my left foot 2) improve independence and 3) get to a place where I can play all those Clem Burke disco patterns. And then running single stroke rolls with right and left lead...and double stroke rolls with right and left lead...from 80 bpm to failure...on snare. Hopefully once I build those skills I can start running the singles and doubles around the kit. My ability to do rolls around the kit has always sucked and my left hand is really weak...I'm hoping this will improve all that. I haven't timed it yet, but my intention is for this to be a 10-15 minute exercise for all of it. We'll see.

Being a Pro

So, I'm never going to be a professional full-time musician. First off, I don't think I have the talent...and second, I know that I don't have the drive to self-promote and the tolerance for uncertainty that such a life would entail. Still, I plan to play music as long as I'm physically able and to do it with as many folks as I can. And for those reasons, it is worth listening to advice on how to be professional.

Last week at a rehearsal the lead singer called me "an academic." It was a compliment. All he really meant was that I took notes on songs. I don't really get how it is that people learn new songs without doing this...whether they be cover tunes or originals. For me, having a recording and writing notes is the only way to figure things out and to be able to remember what's going on for the next time. I don't know how people get by without doing this. Obviously they do...but I don't know how.

So I guess I'm glad to read the following nice blog post by a professional drummer.

Filling In Survival Guide
Last weekend I had the great opportunity to work with CCM Artist Big Daddy Weave on a tour date out in Missouri as a fill in for their drummer Jeff Jones. It was an incredible experience for me, and one where I was able to really hone in my skills doing sub-work. I decided after the experience to write a little map about how to fill in for other drummers and how to really nail it.

1) Preparation.

This is really the most important part of the process. You can never be too prepared for a gig. In this case their drummer sent me side view videos of him playing the tunes, and I also got a copy of the audio from the live show from top to bottom. I spent a good bit of time going through each song. I cannot over emphasize the need to listen to the tunes by themselves without charting first. This helps give me an idea of the feel that they are going for, and gives me a great idea about what kind of chops I’ll need to accomplish it. It also puts me in the right mindset style-wise so that I’m doing my best to duplicate the feel of the person that I’m subbing for. Remember, the goal here is not really to just play like crazy, the goal is to make it seem like you’ve played the songs 100 times and like their drummer isn’t away. You can’t do that without listening to the tunes intently.

2) Charting.

Once I’ve listened to the songs, it’s time to start making charts. I always start by finding the general tempo of the tune and writing that on the top of the chart. I also typically will write a style or song association. If it’s very Dave Matthews sounding, I’ll write DMB, or John Mayer or whatever so when I look at the chart I know how fast it is and what tune it reminded me of. That way I can associate quickly on stage if I forget what a song sounds like.

From there I’ll go ahead and listen 1 time through just getting the proper bars and the song form. I write everything in the Nashville number system, but I use all 1′s since I don’t need the changes. So a verse for me that’s 8 bars looks like this ( 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 :) I use the numbers to show a measure and the “:” is used to tell me a phrase has ended. So that would be an 8 bar verse with two phrases. It can get really complicated when you have odd meters and such, but I have a system for everything these days. Once I have the tune mapped out I’ll take another listen all the way through and I’ll write in the necessary grooves, variations, stops, band hits, etc. Anything that will help remind me of what the song is supposed to sound like. I’ll also write snare drum choices if I’m going to be changing them out in the show.

Charting is the most important part for me. I just played a 14 song show by reading through charts, there was no possible way for me to memorize 14 songs in one week, especially in the middle of doing studio work, so you live, eat, and breathe by the charts you write. So this process is very tedious, but necessary and eventually it even becomes fun. You can create your own language basically.

3) Gig Day.

Finally, you’ve listened, charted, prepared as much as possible. Now it’s time to do the show. The biggest thing for me, especially when we don’t have any rehearsals, is making sure that the tempo is at least close and the feel is right-on. This is much easier if you’re using a click track, but if you aren’t, the best thing is to try to get your own click into your mix so that you can at least start close to the correct tempo. All songs tend to move when you aren’t on the click which is why I am a huge advocate for the click track, but in many cases artists don’t use them, so you have to be prepared for that and be ready for whatever comes your way.

Once you’re on stage reading down your charts, it’s important to stay focused on the form of the songs. Keep your ears open, if you are hearing something different from your charts feel-wise, make adjustments. Your charts are there to guide you but sometimes artists make changes on the fly, you have to be listening as much as reading. If you know what the verse sounds like, and they want to repeat it, just be prepared mentally to keep following along. If you get lost in the chart keep your eyes and ears on the band leader, they will surely give you cues as to what’s coming next. I always try to make sure to make a point of looking out of the charts in the middle of the tune. If the second verse, pre-chorus and chorus are mirrors of the first, I’ll make a mental note, and use that time to interact with the other players. Then I get back into the chart before the bridge so I know what I’m doing. Don’t be so into the chart that you’re not with the artist on stage, but don’t allow yourself to get lost in the moment and forget about the huge stop on the first beat of the bridge :).

Hope this helps some of you guys. I’ve filled in and read charts on the stage for at least 15 different artists in the last few years, this has always worked for me as a survival guide. Peace!

Drummers: Phil Collins

As long as I can remember Phil Collins has been something of a punch line. I can't find a video of it, but I remember Rosie O'donnell once mistaking Sting for Phil Collins and it getting a big joke. And I remember the cheesy pop music of the 80s he produced. More lately, I've read and heard lots of people put him down as a musician and a drummer.

In one of my drumming magazines last night there was a "10 things to like about Phil Collins" article. I guess that, by the time I knew Genesis and Collin's solo career...they were cheesy pop. But long before that, Genesis was prog. And prog in my mind means complicated. And I never would have put Phil Collins and complicated in the same sentence before.

But I learn more and more every day that what I never knew about the history of pop music far out-shadows what I do know. And that's what this blog has always strived to be all about...me educating myself about shit I should have known a long time ago.

So, I had no idea Genesis started in 1967 and Collins joined in 1971...taking over lead vocals in 1976. Follow You Follow Me is the first song I am aware of by Genesis that I am familiar with...and that was 1978.

Here's the kind of weirdness they pulled:


Checking the Billboard charts, I can see now why I didn't know anything about their early days. They didn't hit it big until "Follow You Follow Me".





Drummerworld

Collins drums in odd times...Dance on a Volcano in 7/8


Fifth of Fifth


Also Cinema Show, Suppers Ready, Los Endos and Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album