SSW, 1/8/2011, Crystal Corner Bar

I had modest dreams when I started playing in bands here in Madison. Amongst them, to play at the High Noon Saloon, the Harmony Bar, and the Crystal Corner Bar. All three have now been accomplished.


I had a head cold, but solidered on for this. Managed to pull it off decently. Used my own kit. Didn't drink any alcohol. Plenty of sleep and food. Loaded in (my black kit) from a back alley door straight to the stage at 8pm for a 10pm start. I continue to be happy with my stripped down gig kit and the hardware bag that I'm improvising with. The sound guys did some interesting (read: strange) things...asked me to play louder (I didn't)...asked Rick to use a different amp (he didn't)...and put some super weird effects on the vocals. The much storied green room wasn't anything that I'd write home about. Having a bathroom and a tv ought not to make such facilities considered top of the line IMHO. I left right after playing to continue recovering from my illness. We had a nice turnout. I don't know what the take was as I left before cash out.

My only real reflection on my playing is that 1) I don't practice these songs anymore, which is probably not good and makes them less than second nature and 2)when you are stone cold sober playing songs that aren't really that hard, your mind begins to wander and focus on strange things. The effect is hyper-consciousness...which while drumming...is bad. You can't drum and think too hard about what you are doing or you will screw up. I need to work on some strategy to deal with this that doesn't involve alcohol.

Setlist (it was David Bowie/Elvis's birthday, so we pulled out Starman with a psych-out Jailhouse Rock beginning). We crammed these 15 songs into a mere 45 minutes without running over:
1. DON’T GIVE ME NO LIP CHILD
2. BOSCOBEL BREAKOUT
3. HATE & WAR
4. I HATE THE RICH
5. MR. SUIT
6. HELICOPTER
7. DANCE 4X TO THE RADIO
8. NEW ROSE
9. WARSAW
10. EVERYBODY’S HAPPY NOWADAYS
11. POLITICAL SONG FOR MICHAEL JACKSON TO SING
12. TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS, PLEASE
13. TOO DRUNK TOO FUCK
14. FUCKED UP AND WASTED
15. STARMAN

Thoughts On Playing Slow

So one of my bands has these "cock rock" tunes that require playing relatively slowly. When I was playing with the grunge ensemble that fell apart I had noticed that the slow songs were the hardest (stuff like Plush or Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots...or Cumbersome by Seven Mary Three). I'm finding the same thing now. Fast is hard in it's own way...but fast is kind of something you can easily build up to. Slow is tough, though.

Playing inconsistently when I play slowly is probably a huge groove killer (and what prompted the comment about playing behind the beat). It's something worth working on.

I imagine the only real way to work on this is to play with a metronome and improve my sense of internal timing at slow bpms.

Below is my first attempt at embedding an mp3 player into a blog post. Still working out the kinks. It doesn't seem to want to let me put the name of the song within the player or to allow you to fast forward or rewind. But this is the only code I could find that would allow an embedded player in Blogger. I guess Blogger isn't great for such stuff. But it works. Kinda. You might have to hit the play button twice.

This song starts fast, but at about 3:30 we switch into a slow "cock rock" bit. That's the kind of stuff I have trouble maintaining my tempo on.

Finding the Groove: Playing Behind, Ahead, On-Top

So there's these concepts of playing behind, ahead, or on-top of the beat. It has never come up in real life for me before, it's just been something I've read about in magazines. But last night someone asked me to play "behind the beat" (note to myself...this was for the second half of "Movin' On"). I guess it's time to start thinking more about this.

Here's a decent video:


Honestly, this is a very advanced concept. I'm not sure that it is necessary in the situation it was brought up to me. What I really think was happening last night was that the guitar player was rushing and that I was playing inconsistently (not staying one tempo) because I'm not used to playing slowly and because I was unfamiliar with the song. That stuff needs to get fixed first...and then...yeah...laying behind the beat would be ideal for the song in question.

I don't feel like we are rehearsing the tunes hard enough to get to that point, though. We basically play through things once...once a week. That's not rehearsing, that's playing. To get to a fine point like playing behind the beat...we need to be working more...like take an entire 3 hour rehearsal on one song and really work it rather than just play it. Right now most all of the advancement I am making with these songs is in my private practice by myself. Working on groove in that situation (where I'm playing with a recording by myself) is tough. If we really want to groove as a band...that's a group effort. We have to know the songs stone cold like the back of our hands...and then we can work the finesse. I think musical communication is pretty strained in this situation, though, so I'm not sure how we'd get to that point. We don't all have the same language or means to communicate. So we can't just talk to each other or write something down and have it be resolved. If we aren't able to communicate musical concepts well to each other in those ways, there needs to be more room to explore and screw up together. Jam it out...change things...jam it out more...fix it...come together. For now, that isn't happening.

So I think the main thing I have to do is learn the songs inside out the best that I can under the circumstances. That's the best shot I can have at getting to a groove point. For now, I'm still just barely holding on to the basics. Groove is a good prize to keep my eye on...but I kind of have to be patient with myself and acknowledge that beyond me just needing more practice and experience...the situation isn't ideal to foster such subtleties either.

Starting Lessons Again

I took drum lessons for 76 weeks ending on August 19, 2010. Whether or not I counted weeks in which we had to skip a lesson is a little iffy...but I believe I made the decision to start lessons in December 2008 and the lessons actually started sometime in February 2009. Prior to that I had taken lessons twice before, but neither time did it last beyond a few months.

My instructor for the 76 weeks, EN, left town, ending my lessons and I decided to take some time off. I thought I'd study independently...but a couple of auditions got in the way and a subsequent award of a drum chair in a band...and ever since then I've pretty much just been trying to learn that band's catalogue. I've had a couple of false starts with "studying" on my own, but it hasn't been sticking.

This Sunday I'm starting weekly lessons with a new instructor. He's the one my last instructor recommended, and he also comes with plenty of good press. Recently he was waiting to hear on a possible grammy nomination. It didn't come through...but that's the level of player I'm dealing with.

I'm not sure what my goal will be for this round of lessons. I'm gonna wait and see where he takes me to some degree. My general goal is just to continue studying in a way that takes me beyond just learning and playing the tunes my bands play. Challenging myself with concepts that I might not explore on my own. Improving my independence. Improving my comfort with odd time signatures and styles I'm unfamiliar with. Generally improving my sense of "groove" and timing. Making things more instinctual. Improving my ability to play all major styles on the fly. And just holding me to weekly study. Being held responsible for showing up and playing at least that one day a week...and perhaps even for preparing for that time.

With instructors I find that it is really just about personal chemistry for me. I have to get along well with the person first and foremost, and feel like I can communicate with them. I want them to push me...but not too hard. And I want them to be well organized. I think I will know after one or two lessons if this instructor is a good fit. In general, I do not like taking music lessons...so this chemistry piece is very important. If it is a good fit...then we'll have to see where it goes from there.

History

Whilst looking to verify that there is indeed no songs of the year for two years I came across this gem of a post:

"1/3/2006
Last Thursday I bought a five piece drum kit with three cymbals plus hit hats. Though I've been thinking of doing so since about 1995...and yet it still felt like an impulse buy.

They are now living in my basement along with an electric bass and electric keyboard...just waiting for a band to spring up into action."

It's worth saying that by summer there was indeed a band in that basement...and within a year I was gigging out on drums. And those drums and that bass are both getting regular exercise these days.

If you can dream it you can be it...you just have to do it.

Song of the Year

Every year since 1985 (with the exception of 06 and 08) I have picked a "song of the year." The song is supposed to represent the coming year. Sometimes it is a pessimistic song...sometimes it is an optimistic song. Sometimes I am not even sure why I pick the song...but they almost always end up...one year later...to have been an excellent representation of the previous year.

I pick the song on New Year's Eve for the coming year...and it is supposed to be the first song that I hear in the New Year (and the previous year's song is supposed to be the last song that I hear in the previous year). Of course, logistically this is not always possible, but usually it is.

This year I forgot all about it until Jan 2nd. I remembered and the first song that came to mind was Divine Hammer, by The Breeders. And so it is.



1985 Kids from Fame, I Still Believe in Me
1986 Go West, Don't Look Down
1987 Outfield, Taking My Chances
1988 Police, King of Pain
1989 U2, Where the Streets Have No Name
1990 Erasure, Hideaway
1991 Aztec Camera, Stray
1992 Erasure, Home
1993 Kirt Kempter, Standing on this Bridge
1994 John Wesley Harding, End of Something
1995 Poi Dog Pondering, Postcard from a Dream
1996 Indigo Girls, Watershed
1997 Poi Dog Pondering, Complicated
1998 Michelle Shocked, The Hard Way
1999 Ani DiFranco, Fuel
2000 The Nields, Giving it Back to Susan
2001 Barenaked Ladies, Falling for the First Time
2002 The Nields, This Town is Wrong
2003 Fleetwood Mac, Landslide
2004 Barenaked Ladies, Go Home
2005 Barenaked Ladies, For You
2006
2007 The Motor Primitives,Favorite Dream
2008
2009 Barenaked Ladies, Testing 1, 2, 3
2010 Barenaked Ladies, Maybe You're Right
2011 The Breeders, Divine Hammer

TD, Mickey's, 12/31/2010

Stopped by practice space and played two song warm up (HSUL and one other I've forgotten, maybe Gun in Your Grave). Setup at Mickey's was quick and not very stressful. When we arrived the tables and chairs were already gone and TNAMG had already set up the drum kit.

It was tall, as expected, and I used my own cymbals, snare, snare stand, and throne. The bass drum pedal wouldn't come off the hoop, and anyway he had a small bass drum so I would have had to adjust my pedal. I stuck with his, which was different than mine, but ok. His bass drum was super loud, which was great. I think it was a vintage pearl kit, one rack tom and a floor tom. The hardware was flimsy and old. He had a crappy rug that wasn't big enough and the weave was too loose to hold things in place. I was having sliding problems. And the right crash stand kept twisting sideways. Overall, not the worst borrowing situation, but it had it's moments. Also, I couldn't get the rack or floor tom to adjust down, so I played them high, but that didn't end up being a very big deal.

I think we played well. I goofed a couple of things, but probably nothing that the audience noticed. The boys played pretty well...something weird happened on one song, but we pulled it back together. Didn't drink at all that night. Had plenty of water. Didn't get much sleep night before but was off and napped all day.

Setlist:
Haven't Seen You Lately
Going Down the Drain
At the Door
Better N Better
Gun in Your Grave
It's Alright
Jack
Gotta Tell U
Vac Man