There is More to music than you think....

[SabianKnight]

Let's expand our minds and increase our awareness and respect for the craft with this interview from renowned bassist and music director, Ricky Minor and drumset musician, Greg Hutchinson.



Ricky Minor -- http://www.yamaha.com/publications/allaccess/summer2006/RickeyMinor_AASummer06.html

Minor says: "You have to understand big band, jazz, pop, country, rock, show tunes—the list goes on and on."

"In my 30-plus years of playing music, I've worked with some of the greatest artists around," says Rickey. "Stevie Wonder. Celine. Sting. These people have so much talent that you rise up to their level. It's like sports—if you're playing with top players, it improves your own skills. These experiences let me bring so much more to the game on American Idol."

The arrangers see me coming and say, ‘Here comes the red Sharpie!' I cross things out and say, ‘This is way too much!' You might have a great (string){insert your insrtument here} part, but if it doesn't have any space, it doesn't breathe. As a bass player, I understand and appreciate space."

Greg Hutchinson -- http://www.yamaha.com/publications/allaccess/summer2006/GregHutchinson_AASummer06.html

Huchinson says: I have my hand in all the grab bags," he chuckles. "But whatever style of music you play, you have to want to play it authentically. If you can't do that, then don't play it!"

"When you get to work with people who were actually around when jazz was created, you get a whole different sense of what the music is about," he reflects. "Those musicians took their craft very seriously. It was their lives. The things you learn from them apply to everything: How to conduct business. How to play on the road. Understanding what it takes to be successful and attain longevity in the business."

"... Groove is the essence of music. If you can hit a groove in any style, you'll always have work."

Hutchinson often compares drumming to singing. "You can't just pound the drums," he insists. "You have to know the song's melodies. You have to know where you are in the structure. Instead of just beating on the drums, it helps if you caress the sound out of them. A lot of my students come in thinking this means hitting harder. But it's really about understanding the connection between the stick and the drum. You need a quick release from the head. If the drumstick stays next to the head, the drum is muffled. When you apply full pressure to the bass drum, you get a thud. But when you release the pedal quickly so the beater barely hits the head, you can actually control the pitch of the bass drum."

[SabianKnight]

This thread is to show/expose the intricasies that are the guts of music. Today's "drummers" seem to want to be instrumentals/"the show" rather thna musicians that make music, communicate through song.
We are here on LGM to dispell that. So buckle up and step up. Those vets out there that can contribute do so here. Come out of the shadows and make a mark... It's time to REALLY change the game by exposing the truth of the call of music.


Get up,Stand up...

[SabianKnight]

Peter Erskine, 2002 interview - Yamaha All Access Magazine -- 

Question:To what extent should players mold themselves to fit a particular situation, and to what extent should they simply be themselves?

Answer: "I used to think that I had to leave my stamp on a musical situation. Now I have the confidence to simply serve the music. The music will always tell you what to play. It's simpler than people think. If you can play time and observe basic musicality, you needn't torture yourself with the question of "What do I do?""


Do you have any advice on playing with—rather than against—a bassist?
Listen, and allow them room to do their thing. If a bassist begins to do something rhythmically complex, it's most likely because there's a good, solid pulse at that moment. Don't "Mickey Mouse" or jump on their bandwagon when they play contrapuntally.

Because you started out so young, you got to play with some of the greats of earlier generations. How did those experiences shape you?
I learned to play in an ensemble and get along with other musicians as human beings. But even though the jazz tradition is filled with examples of older players leading the young, I must say that I learned the most about drumming from my wife and children. They taught me about life and appreciating the full beauty of being truly grateful for what I do.

Teddy Campbell , Summer 2002 interview - Yamaha All Access Magazine

"I come from the gospel world, where we don't use clicks and loops—we just play! Playing to a click is something you have to practice almost every day. It's easier if you're playing with percussion and drum loops that have a lot of eighth- and sixteenth-notes. Working with a straight quarter-note click, with no shakers or tambourines running through the track, is a lot harder. But that's exactly what I have to do most of the time, especially in the studio. I often come in after a whole band has already recorded tracks, and I have to use that simple click to follow what everyone did. I tell you, it can be really hard when a young drummer gets thrown into that lake of fire!"

Sessions of that sort have honed Campbell's ability to negotiate the exact placement of each drum in his kit. "When I first came into the game," he recalls, "I might have been aware of a 'pocket,' but I didn't think about each drum individually. I've learned to do that since then. Now I know what to do when a producer or music director asks for a little less on the hi-hat, or a stronger top on the snare, or to lay the kick back here and there."

[SabianKnight]

Michael Baker - Fall 2000 interview - Yamaha All Access Magazine

http://www.yamaha.com/publications/allaccess/summerfall2000/AA28.htm

 Baker says his real education started after he graduated from the North Texas State University jazz program, when he took a gig with jazz trumpet titan Clark Terry. "It was like being in the jazz army," recalls Michael. "Clark made me look at the real basics, like keeping time, corralling the beat, and pulling a big band together."....

Baker absorbed additional old-school influences as the drummer for the song-and-dance revue "Sophisticated Ladies." A former ballet dancer himself, Baker learned volumes from accompanying such African-American dance legends as Gregory Hines and Harold Nicholas. "They executed everything a little ahead of the beat," notes Michael. "That way, by the time the audience perceived the motion, the beat had arrived. Nothing was right on the beat, but it felt like it was right in time from the audience's perspective."

"Such flexibility of placement is the defining trait of a great studio drummer," insists Baker: "You have to be able to play each drum like a separate instrument. Maybe the bass drum will feel ahead of the beat, the snare drum will lay way back and the hi-hat will be right in the middle. People like Jim Keltner and Steve Gadd are masters in that ability to make each drum sound like a different voice."

[SabianKnight]

Ahmir "?uestLove" Thompson - Winter 2001 - Yamaha All Access Magazine

Once you read this below, ask yourself: Has anything changed? Am I like this?

Yamaha - To hear Thompson tell it, the disc is an outgrowth of the joys and frustrations of trying to create deep music in a shallow cultural climate:

?uestLove - "Our aesthetics are from the long-gone era of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, but we're trying to cater to the fast food, just-add-water audience of today. But the way we see it, there are two paths to longevity: you can switch your style to cater to the times, or take the longer art road where you set high standards and follow them. You have to push the envelope all the time, and in order to do so, you have to constantly be learning."

[SabianKnight]

Manu Katche, famed drummer for Sting and Peter Gabriel - Summer/Fall 200 interview - Yamaha All Access Magazine

You started out as a pianist and were educated at the Conservatoire National de Paris. How did that mold you as a drummer?
It made my approach be about more than just playing a beat and keeping time. It helped me understand the importance of harmony, melody, words and atmosphere.

Which drummers inspired you?
I have rarely been inspired by drummers, though I listen to and respect them. My main influences are singers and soloists. I listened to Miles, Coltrane, Monk, and R&B singers like Donnie Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding.

When you're faced with a new piece of music, do you conceptualize your part or simply empty your mind and groove?
I never just empty my mind and groove. I listen carefully to the piece and search for its essence, trying to find a way to be in harmony with it. I try to figure out what the music is trying to express, and then I try to build a journey on the drums from there.

[SabianKnight]

Dave Weckl - Summer 2004 interview - Yamaha All Access Magazine

http://www.yamaha.com/publications/allaccess/summer2004/weckl.html


You're known for your phenomenal technique. Do you need good technique to be a good musician?

Everyone has their own way of doing things. But I've always been attracted to players with great technique, because to me it feels better when someone is in command of what they do. I've never been interested in technique for the sake of technique. It's just that the more control I have over my body in relation to the instrument, the better the music feels going down and listening back.

Do musicians ever get discriminated against for being too technically skilled?

[Laughs.] Well, I'm probably near the top of that list!

Why have you remained so committed to teaching?

I enjoy giving back that way. I enjoy seeing someone get to a new level in their own playing through some experience I've had or something I've been taught by others.

Do you tend to see similar strengths and weaknesses among your students?

The most common issue is the lack of foundational development. Too often they haven't paid enough attention to the ergonomics of the drum set in relation to the natural movements and positions of the body's limbs. Another issue is that some players are very limited in their listening. They haven't been exposed to enough different drummers, cultures, and styles of music. So I usually advise them to listen a lot — and to everything.

[hendoo]

Thanks Doc, I'm Speachless.

[fLaT-fIfTh]

Preach, Doc! Preach!

God Bless

[SabianKnight]

Eddie Bayers - Crown Prince and heir to Nashville's Sessions Drumming Throne -  Winter 2005 - Yamaha All Access Magazine

Yamaha - Nashville-based drummer Eddie Bayers is at the top of his profession, winning dozens of industry awards and playing with such greats as Vince Gill, George Strait, Steve Winwood, Peter Frampton, Bob Seger, Trisha Yearwood, and Garth Brooks. But he didn’t always sit behind the skins;—in fact, he began his musical career as a professional pianist with a classical and rock background.

Eddie is equally comfortable playing pop and country. Besides, he says, “I’d like anyone to tell me the difference between country and pop records these days. The bed of the music in pop and most country today is pretty similar. Take Shania Twain: those records are produced by Mutt Lange, who also produced bands like Journey. Playing on a Bob Seger record is no different for me than playing on a Kenny Chesney record—the same energy is required, and it doesn’t take anything more or less to play the music. To me, those categories are there for corporate reasons, not musical ones."

He often enhances his sound with programmed percussion. “These days,” he notes, “90% of records are played to a click. I find that those sequenced parts round out the feel between takes.

Bayers says he re-tunes for every track. “Because I always play an open snare, I try to find a pitch that correlates to the key of the song. You can’t always tune to the tonic, but I often go to the fourth, fifth, or even sixth of the key. I like some ring in my snare, as long as it’s something relative to the key. Maybe one in six engineers don’t like any snare ring, but the engineers I respect most like the drums to ring as long as the day. Those guys rely on the ambient ring of the drums to control their echoes and reverbs.”

[JFunky]

...good stuff.  It's just more comformation of what has been stated on the pages of M.D. and LGM.

[fretai03]

Thanks Sabe!

Mental note to self: More persistence required.

[tko05]

Great stuff Sabe!!!

[lockslie1]

Awesome....It's cool to see that is just like the Word of God....You should never get to the point where you think you know it all, because that's when you will fall. There is always something new or different to learn...Thanks for all of this important info... This post has done more for ME than any clip that I've seen posted so far.

[BEATBOXERZ]

Great Lesson! Thanks once again SK.

[juSe]

This should NEVER leave the front page of the forum.  EVER!! 

I vote that this and the drummers checklist stay as numbers 1 and 2 on the board!