Linear Grooves

I love Steve Gadd's playing. As a teenage drummer in the late 70's I burned the grooves off of several copies of Steely Dan's Aja album trying to learn Gadd's solo sections on Aja. It was a gift when Modern Drummer published a transcription of his solo. No computers and software back then to slow things down. No DVD video instruction by the artist to explain the sticking. Just listening over and over working on different possible combinations and stickings. The Aja album led to the pursuit of other Gadd performances on vinyl which helped introduce me to artists like Chick Corea, Tom Scott, Ben Sidran, and the band Stuff.

Many of his performances contain examples of linear drumming. Gary Chaffee developed the school of linear drumming with his book Linear Time Keeping. It is a great book that helped explain a lot of what Gadd was playing.

I decided to share a little of what I know about linear drumming with a short instructional video that breaks down one of Steve Gadd's grooves. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

And now, for more on triplets...

In looking through the blog the other day I noticed a major hole in the content: We're running a blog about drumming and we haven't touched on any practical or technical playing advice! Well the blog is about the journey of learning the drums, and last night I came up with an exercise that I realized I needed to improve my own playing, so I decided to share it with the world.

As you may have guessed by virtue of reading the title of this post, I'm talking triplets. As every drummer should, I've thought a lot about triplets; timing and coordination, placement and voicing, accents and patterns. Once you get the timing of a triplet as it falls against the quarter note, you start moving them around the toms and incorporating the kick drum. These are things I've been working on for years. When it comes to triplet patterns and incorporating the kick drum, I start to get creatively excited. Here's what I do:

For purposes of this post, K=Kick drum, R=Right hand, and L=Left hand (we'll leave that left foot out of it for the time being). My standard 'triplet pattern with a kick' practice involved essentially 3 combinations: KRL, RKL, and RLK. So I've learned to put the kick drum at the front, in the middle, and at the back of the triplet. I've even gotten fairly quick at fills and patterns where the Kick drum placement changes in the scheme of the triplet through a fill.

Then Aaron Spears (I'm sure he wasn't the first. Here's a video of him playing and talking a little bit about this concept) came along and talked about 'flipping triplets'. Here's the basic triplet flip idea: KRL KLR (or RLK LRK). The kick drum is first both times, but the last two notes are reversed. Try this with your left hand on the snare and your right on a floor tom and you get some pretty cool sounds. This is what I was working on last night when I realized there was a glitch. If I did it fast and several times in a row I started to get off. I pulled that a part a little and found where the problem was happening. It should come as no surprise: It was where the sticking was reversed and I led with my left hand.

I've practiced different kick and sticking patterns, but those patterns never involved leading with the left hand, so here's what I came up with to simplify the lick and work out the problem. The easiest and most basic exercise is this: KLR. Try it. But don't just try it twice, pick a tempo that just slightly pushes your comfort level, and do that pattern for a full minute. Once that starts to feel comfortable, do the same thing with LKR and LRK. You may as well knock some of the dust off of that metronome while you're at it. Once you've got these 3 patterns down you can start to incorporate these 'left lead' patterns into some of those other triplet patters and come up with some really cool feeling phrases.

Don't forget: The quarter note is king, and equal spacing is essential. To play with other musicians and keep these 'left-lead' triplets clean, the timing has to be second nature. Let us know how the practicing goes, and if you find any fun new ways to use this!

Until next time...

Max Roach - Right under my nose...

I grew up studying jazz drummers in the 70's. While my buddys were copping Bonham licks and discovering Neal Peart I was cloning Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson. Moving past these big band greats on to other forms of jazz I discovered players like Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones and Jack Dejohnette. Max and Philly Joe were easy enough to understand but Elvin and Jack were definitely acquired tastes. Once I got it though, I was hooked.


I live in a small town about an hour and half from Nashville. About the last thing I expected to see on the front page of the local paper was an article about how the complete collection of Max Roach's drums were found the other day at a local moving and storage company. It was an unbelievable story about how Max's drums were stored in a barn in a town even smaller than mine about 50 min to the north. I was dumbfounded when I read the article. How could all of the instruments of one of the most important drummers of the last century be stored in barn in some tiny Tennessee town?

The story reported that the family claimed that only about half of the collection was still in the barn when they found it. That conjured up frightening images of some rural teenager bashing out rock grooves on priceless old K Zildjians that he bought for $50 from some guy in a barn.


I am going down to the storage company tomorrow to see if I can catch a glimpse of some of the gear. I will report on the outcome. I will be interested to find out if there are others as interested as I am to get a look at Max's gear. Stay tuned...


To read the newspaper article, follow this link: http://www.herald-citizen.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=EF0E9BB3-19B9-E2E2-6702ED7EC811E2F1

Well, I went down to the storage company and talked to one of the guys that worked there. He said the drums had already been shipped back to the Roach family in New Jersey. I asked a little more about how the drums had ended up in a barn in Byrdstown and he said that the drums were stolen and the guy that stole them had a friend in Byrdstown that stored the drums for him. He said only about half of the equipment was there when the moving company picked them up for the family. He also said the kit that Max played was not among the stolen property.

Pretty crazy...

Steve Gorman: Jealous Again

Without a doubt, I will probably be forever jealous of Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes. The list of what makes this guy an unbelievably pocket-oriented rock drummer is lengthy. Before I get into it, I must confess I have a nasty habit of looking backwards in music rather than forwards. Unexplicably I continually listen to records released long ago, rather than those most current. So, its understandable that I recently got into the Crowes, and not so much Lady Gaga.

Fast forward to getting a copy of WARPAINT after watching their excellent UNPLUGGED on MHD. And there it was, "Walk Believer Walk", track two of the album. I was floored with Steve Gorman's filthy, dirty groove. It wasn't just the forcefullness of the second 8th note heavy accented bass drum. It wasn't the way he matched the accents with the hi-hat either; laying off the first 8th note on the bass, and pushing it harder on the second 8th and rim shot. Nope, it was the whole heavy groove that felt dirtier than a Waffle House toilet seat.

Next comes "Oh Josephine" which "is my jam" on the record. Gorman quiets the verses with a barely noticeable snare, and follows the teaching of Bonham with a forceful foot matching the band on the bass notes. Also, see 1:58 for the way Gorman adds texture with a snare accent that I am now proud to steal all the time.

I could go on and on about his playing, and if he ever happens to read this, I am sure both of us will be embarrassed enough, but only one of us will know what they're talking about. In any case, I think Steve Gorman is a classic example of a musician who never forgets the 2 and the 4, and lets the groove get deep and decadent, without sacrificing the song. So maybe bypass "Hard to Handle", and give "Sometimes Salvation" or "There's Gold in Them Hills" a listen. Any thoughts?

Give Your Left Foot a Chance!

It's been a couple months now since I decided I wanted to change the tension on my hi-hat pedal. It's been the exact same amout of time since I realized my hi-hat stand was probably the worst piece of gear I owned. My tension adjustment seemed to have 3 settings: Sluggish, too weak to do much of anything, and completely locked up. I wandered into Fork's a couple days later and put my foot on a few of the pedals. I was astonished at how far these things had come since the last time I shopped for one. I had been left behind and I suspect I'm not alone. After all, hardware is easily the least exciting part of a drumset. I had the hi-hat stand lumped into the 'hardware' category in my head and neglected the device that controls everything that one of my 4 limbs does on the kit.

A little bit of attention to what the market has to offer now was enough to convince me to upgrade. I liked what Yamaha had out, but DW and Pearl stood out to me, much like they do in the realm of kick pedals. They're both really responsive and the DW had a slightly lighter feel. Pearl had a few more customization options and felt a little heavier, which I like so I ended up with the H2000. This thing has really improved my playing and my options with my left foot. I'm not suggesting that everyone run out and buy a new pedal, I'm saying that the Hi-Hat stand is easy to neglect and forget. Take a stroll through your local shop and put your feet on a few of them and see if you notice any major differences from what your foot is used to.

For me, it wasn't just the hardware either, it was great inspiration to put some real work into the precision and independence of my left foot (which also tends to get neglected). Coincidently, I saw John 'JR' Robinson do a clinic in Nashville last week which was a fantastic display of the kind of precision I'm talking about. Take a listen to JR on the chorus of 'Ain't Nobody' by Rufus and Chaka Kahn and you'll hear what I'm talking about in the Hi-Hat department (You can look it up and hear the whole song free on Grooveshark). Now that's some clean left foot-work!

Know your Late Show Drummers: Anton Fig

Anton is the guy that I hear the most late at night, because Letterman is my go-to late show. That said, I didn't know as much about him as I should have and I've found out some pretty cool things in researching him. What I do know is that he's an ultra-precise rock drummer and has the touch of a jazz drummer when he needs to, and that's what I've always enjoyed about him. I learned that he has a signature snare drum which I haven't heard, but the specs sure look good. He was born in South Africa and has been playing with Paul Schaffer for David Letterman since 1986, which makes me think that late night drumming really is as cool a gig as I suspected. Not only that, Anton put out a "Late Night Drumming" video in 1996 for any of you who aspire to be a late show drummer and still have a VHS player. More recently, he put out a record that he put more than 3 years of work into, cleverly titled 'Figments' which, upon previewing it in itunes, sounds pretty good! I bring up these things, not just to make Anton's work accessible, but also to say that he is prolific; A drummers drummer who's serious about his craft, education, and playing every chance he gets.

And then there's the video on Fig's Vic Firth Artist Page. Kurt and I are working to give you some insight into the drummers of late night, but nothing we can say will come close to the information in this video. Anton talks about moving to New York, subbing for Steve Jordan (more on him later) on Letterman, getting the gig, and working for Paul Shaffer. He says the band has a backlog of 100s of songs and that they practice for 15 or 20 minutes a day to learn theme music for the show's guests for that night. Other than that they rarely have an outside practice but occasionally get together to learn a group of new songs. One of the cooler parts of the gig and the interview is that they often back up the show's guests, such as Bon Jovi, James Taylor, and Miles Davis just to name a few. Anton talks about backing these great artists and the musicianship involved in making it sound like they're the band that's been on the road backing the artists for months. Quite a challenge if you ask me. Most of these things are found in chapter 3 of the video (all 4 are about 20 or 30 minutes total). The whole thing is a really insightful look at the life of a drummer with one of the most coveted gigs in the industry. I highly recommend checking it out!

At the very end of the video Anton gives some simple yet insightful advice on practicing. He mentions that a large part of practice is finding confidence. If you know you can practice and sound good and you get your own energy feeling good behind the drums, you can transfer that to the stage. He also mentions that improvements in your playing happen in very small increments during practice. This can be frustrating for me at times and it's good to hear those words from somebody like Anton. One small coincidental side note on the guy: I noticed him playing red drums the other night, and they've been green for years. Looks like he got a new kit. If new gear is as inspiring to him as it is to me, it seems like a great time to tune in and check out his playing.

Choosing a Bass Drum Head: EMAD vs Powerstroke 3

Choosing drum heads has always been a trying issue for me. You can walk into a drum shop and play a bunch of different drums and cymbals, pick up different sticks, and put your feet on different pedals. Choosing heads is different because you can't hear how they'll sound on your drums until you pay for them and get home. Bass drum heads are no exception and you'll spend almost $50 just to try out a new one. I recently switched heads and took time to listen to the differences between 2 of today's most popular models: The Remo Powerstroke 3 and the Evans Emad. Here's what I found.
Keep in mind that these 2 heads were made to do different things and this is more than just a brand comparison. The Evans Emad has an external dampening system and the Remo PS3 has a thin second ply around the outside of the head. Evans makes a comparable head to the PS3 (the EQ4) and Remo makes a head with external dampening (the Powersonic) but these two are the real deal in my book.

I've been using the Remo PS3 for years now. As you can see in the picture, I use the big Remo Falam patch to dampen it a little. This has always been a great head but I've often wanted a little more punch and a little less slap. Recently I heard that punch come out of a few very different drums and the common variable was the Emad, so I decided to give it a try. I put it on and noticed a few things. First and foremost, I heard the punch I was looking for. It almost sounded lower than it did with the PS3 and there was that little added 'kick you in the chest' thump to it. So far so good. I played around for a little bit and it sounded great but strangely quiet. Once I put my in ears in and ran my ipod it was noticeably quieter than the PS3. It does make sense that to have a dampening system on the batter side head will make the drum sound quieter to the drummer, and this is indeed the case. I lost some of that attack that I relied on hearing straight from the drums while I play and I'm sure it's lost on the audience as well. The next step was to play out with it, which I did this past weekend. We were on a big stage with a great sound system and The Emad was at its best in this setting and really thumped through the monitors. I was thrilled.

I'm playing a little club in Nashville without the big sound system next week and I already know I'm going to miss the PS3 and the volume I could hear straight off the drum. I also play in a more mellow indie rock Radiohead/Flaming lips type of band (the Golden Sounds) where I want my kick drum to sound more open, and I don't think the Emad will do that particularly well. The extra underlay around the PS3 sounds great, leaves the drum sounding open, and mutes out the weird undertones of a 1 ply head without the ring. The Emad head is really made to have that foam ring in it and you can take it out to open the drum sound, but it just doesn't sound nearly as good as the PS3. One more positive thing about the Emad is that it can make a cheap drum sound good. It mutes quite a bit of the drums natural tone and sometimes that can be a good thing. If you're rocking a budget kit, the Emad will make it punch harder than you ever thought it could.

In conclusion, I'll say that these are both great drum heads and the deciding factor should really be what type of gear you're using, what type of gig you're playing, and what sound you're going for. If you want the attack and a warm but more open sound, the PS3 is the clear choice. If you want that thumpy low-end sub-kick sound, the Emad is waiting for you. As for me, I'm thrilled to finally have 2 great options and will be keeping both of them around for the future.