Page 14 - Drum Tyme Promo Advertising Book June 1st 2020

6/6/2020 9 Drumming Tips from the Pros | Sweetwater
Get Loose or Ditch the Click

Craig Anderton (Author, musician, audio guru)
“When you look at the tempo track for a lot of current pop music, it’s
a flat line…and we all know what flatlined means. This isn’t
necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not always a good thing, either.
Songs without a click track have tempo variations that can help a
song breathe.”
Click tracks (metronomes) have arguably done a lot of good for the
recording process, tightening up performances and greasing the
editing gears. But what a static pulse fails to re-create is the natural
push and pull of how a drummer interprets a song. Craig’s study
shows that some of the most celebrated music of the last century
has a detectable ebb and flow to its verses and choruses. So how to implement this in 2018? Try
recording live on the floor without a click track. Or, if you must play to a grid, build a tempo map based
around the drummer’s live performance.

Get into Character

Vinnie Colaiuta (Megadeth, Steely Dan, Jing Chi)
“During my formative educational years, I listened to everything. I
didn’t really differentiate between genres. I just embraced
everything. Eventually I started getting into sessions. If there were
types [of music] I wasn’t familiar with, I would listen and try to get
into the whole character of it — the whole, ‘what is it about?’ I think
if you can get inside the concept of a genre and open yourself up to
what that music is saying to you, then the other things will follow.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a drummer more musically diverse
than Berklee-trained Vinnie Colaiuta. From interviews and
performances, it’s clear this living legend has an appreciation for,
and understanding of, the drum kit that transcends beats and
patterns. This stems from Vinnie’s love of such a wide swath of musical styles — a love that continues to
grow with the projects he chooses to take on. If you want to diversify your grooves, study genres
outside your comfort zone. You may walk away with more than just a new set of chops.
Overcome Instrumental Plateaus

Stewart Copeland (The Police, Gizmodrome)
“Music is a wider world than whatever your instrument is. You’re not
a guitarist, you’re a musician. You’re not a drummer, you’re a
musician. You’re not a singer, you’re a musician. When you get sick
of singing, go pick up a guitar or a piano, or even a page! I urge all
my rock ‘n’ roll buddies, ‘Look, that reading/writing music thing, it
ain’t rocket science.'”
Within each drummer is the soul of a creator and heart of a
composer, whether or not you play other instruments. If your
creativity has become stifled behind the kit, don’t be afraid to move
on for a time. Plunk away at a piano or pick up a guitar and noodle.
Learn basic music theory. Sight-read a piece of sheet music. Maybe even test the waters with a new
instrument. Any skill you pick up outside the kit will have a net positive on your value behind the kit, in
the forms of new musical sensitivity and appreciation, and perhaps a new project (as with Copeland’s
Gizmodrome and Oysterhead) altogether.
By the way, the full Copeland interview, written by our friend Paul Kobylensky, is full of pearls like this
one. It’s definitely worth your time. Be sure to check it out here.

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