How Do Bands Stay Together?

Today's entry is very short ... Check out this link for really good, sound advice from experience on why some bands are so good, and how they stay together at all!

Tick! Tock! Is That The Ticking Of A Clock?

No! It's the sound of a metronome or click.

The very name metronome or click strikes fear into the heart of many musicians. Their reasons are many ...

"It steals my creativity"

"I can't get into the groove"

"It's too rigid"

"It takes all the feel out of a song"

"It makes us sound like robots playing along to a computer"

Most of these comments come from having heard bad reports from other musicians, from a position of ignorance or day I say it, in some cases from a position of arrogance ("I don't need a click track").

I'm not going to talk about the finer details of playing with a click as that's covered on the main website, drummers see here and percussionists see here, but I would like to share a couple of things that have really helped me.

1. Playing against a click track takes familiarity and experience i.e., practice. It is very rarely that drummers instantly take to playing with a click ... and the same is true for many other musicians, although those playing melodic instruments may be more used to it having practiced against a metronome or recorded against one in their home studio. The more you play with a click the better your 'internal clock' becomes, so that even if you're playing without a click, your timing becomes much better.
   


2. Sometimes playing against a single click (crotchet click) can be quite difficult, particularly at slower tempos or in a different style such as swing. In these cases I try a couple of alternatives; a) I set the metronome at double speed so that you get quaver clicks. This is very helpful at much slower tempos as it gives a better point of reference for where you are, and b) I have a cheap (ca. £15) metronome/click that has different styles of click as well as different time signatures. So you can set the click to play in triplets, quavers, dotted quavers etc which I find really helpful with feel.

I have always found it helpful to have the click playing through headphones (preferably semi-open or open back) as it is more immediate in your hearing. The downside is that people often have the volume at rhino-stun level which can seriously damage their hearing very rapidly.

As you practice you will find playing in time with the click easier. I would advise not setting the volume too high for two reasons: i) Your hearing, and ii) you become less dependent on the click and more able to listen to your playing so as to maintain feel. You may find that you start with the click a little louder and then decrease the volume as you become more experienced and used to it.

A good tempo to start with is between 100 and 120bpm and then reduce this by 10bpm each time. Play against each tempo until you are comfortable with it and able to stay in time. Try a range of tempos right down to 40bpm. try also increasing the tempo up to your maximum capability. Drop back 5bpm, play until comfortable (e.g., 10 minutes) and then increase the click back to your maximum and try again. By using this method of pushing your tempo a little you will find that over time your speed and accuracy improves. You will also feel more comfortable across tempos.

Be aware that there will be some tempos you find really hard to play at a constant speed ... these will be different for each of us, but these are the ones that need most practice. Persevere and don't give in ... you will get there eventually.

Good luck!

Creativity With Our Wallets?

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Today is Christmas Day, a time when most of us look forward to celebrations with friends and family.

However, some people are not so lucky and it was great to receive the e-mail below from Zoro, one of greatest groove drummers of our day, with some information on the work he is doing with children in extreme poverty and need.

I have posted the complete e-mail so that you can hear in Zoro's own words what his position as an International Spokesperson for Compassion International means to him and the people he helps ... bringing a bit of the Christmas spirit to people all-year-round.

I guess that's why I called this entry 'Creativity with our wallets'

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Me with my Compassion Children Justin and Cindy in Guatemala

Dear Friends,

I am writing to encourage you to do something meaningful and powerful this Christmas – sponsoring a child in need through Compassion International. Sponsoring Justin and Cindy has been an incredible blessing to myself and my family. They are living examples of the heart of Christ at work, teaching us what it really means to put our faith into action, one child at a time.

Please take a moment and view my video testament for Compassion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auf9oJ_Q6_c, then click the link below to get started making a difference for a child in need. I know you will be richly blessed by this experience. It is the work God calls us to do, and if we take the step in faith, he will give us the resources to see it through.

Yes – I want to join Zoro and sponsor a Compassion child today http://www.compassion.com/Sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=Zoro_66561

When you choose to sponsor a child in need, you are linked with one particular child who will know your name, write to you, and treasure the thought that you care.

Share prayer requests Exchange letters and photos. Make an eternal difference in the life of a child!

Change a child's world.Your tax-deductible contribution of just $32 a month connects your child with a loving, church-based child sponsorship program that provides:

- Educational opportunities Health care and supplemental nutrition
- Opportunities for safe recreation Opportunities to learn about important life skills
- Most important of all, sponsoring a child will allow your child to hear about Jesus and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.

Compassion is highly rated: Charity Navigator, an independent charity review group, has given Compassion their best rating five years in a row. That places Compassion among the top 1 percent of the thousands of non-profit charitable organizations they review. Compassion is also a good-standing member of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.

Thanks so much for your time and allowing me the privilege of sharing my hearts desire with you.

God bless you and your family this Christmas.

Zoro

Here is a link to my web site
http://www.zorothedrummer.com/
Here is a link to the Christian Ministry portion of my web site
http://www.zorothedrummer.com/christianprograms

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Happy Christmas - Why Not Take a Rest?

Today is Christmas Eve ...

I love this time of year because I try to take time to rest, relax and recharge. It's very easy to get caught up in the hype, the adverts which tell us that in order to be happy we must buy this or that product ... until we feel that we're on a carousel we can't jump off.

So, why not find somewhere quiet and amongst the gigs, concerts, joy, partying and celebrating take some well-earned rest and recovery!

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas & Peaceful New Year.

... and if you like poetry, here's something I wrote about the first Christmas ...


THORNS AND STRAW

A back street stable in a crowded town.
Anguished screams; an occasional moan
Go unheard in the noise of a night
Of hustle and bustle, and rooms packed tight
With people, so busy and unaware
That a virgin's sweat means God is here.

No warm, cosy glow; only candle-lit straw.
A manger and oxen and filth on the floor.
No sweet smelling incense or soft comfy chair,
But cold stone walls; acrid smells in the air;
And the breath of animals to supply the heat,
In this hole in the rock on an unnamed street.

But God's not ignored the place that He's chosen
To visit as a baby, when the night air's frozen.
He treats some shepherds, the lowest of the low,
To front seat tickets at the greatest light show;
And singing and music like they've never heard before,
Which leaves them face down, shaking on the floor.

"Get up! Rejoice! For your king is here!
Run to the town and worship Him there.
Not in the palace so lofty and tall,
But lying in a stable, accessible to all.
So go! Take gifts and sing and feast,
For the mightiest God, has come down for the least."

And in palaces and castles hundreds of miles away,
A country's elite, at the end of the day
Study changes in the stars and heavens which bring
News, that on earth is born a king.
A king so great that creation bows down,
And brings its own offering, unseen in the town.

Their journey is long and filled with pain,
Across scorching deserts and rugged terrain.
As days turn to months and months to years;
Following the bright star whenever it appears.
Then rejoicing and thanks when at last they find
A small boy, just walking; the Lord of mankind.

With regal bows and language unknown,
They offer their gifts to Mary's son.
Gold, incense and myrrh; "What can I believe?"
His mother wonders as the visitors leave
To journey back east, their hearts on fire.
They've seen and worshipped the true Messiah.

And as years roll on by and the crowd's anger grows,
In reaction to this radical who constantly shows
That God has no favourites; our rules don't apply
To the values of heaven. "Crucify!" they now cry,
So He's crowned and beaten and then nailed to a tree;
This King, Priest and Sacrifice; thorns and straw set us free.

Dynamic Playing?

Running a drummer & percussionist's information web site I get asked many questions, particularly about equipment, maintenance and how to choose the right gear. One question I was asked recently was "How can I make my drumming more interesting?" Well, there are many ways we can be inventive on the kit, cymbals and percussion (see my website for more details relating to drums & percussion).

However, I'd like to take just a few lines to talk about creating interest through dynamics, or differences in volume of different strokes. Many of us are familiar with the term accent, where a note is played louder than surrounding notes to make it stand out .. we play different notes loud and soft in a group of notes to create a pattern, and we may link a number of these patterns together to form a variation on a beat. Playing with dynamics is an art that in many areas is disappearing or is pretty much extinct! The music starts, we plough into the song at a volume of 10 and keep playing until the music finishes. We're totally knackered at the end and the audience are going wild as the adrenaline flows. BUT if we keep playing at one volume for more than one song, or for a whole gig the audience's ears (and ours) can become tired ... or deaf!

Introducing dynamics to our playing adds interest and life to the music and opens up increased opportunities for expression e.g., building up the volume towards a solo or chorus, reducing in volume for a section to create a more intimate feel to the song. It allows the music and our playing to breathe. Even introducing accents into our breaks can change the feel of our playing and add interest. Great examples of playing with dynamics can be heard by Jeff Porcaro on Toto albums (check out Hold The Line & Rosanna) and on just about every track that Steve Gadd and Vinnie Colaiuta play. In fact most of the top session players are booked because of the feel and life they bring to the music, much of which includes their use of dynamics. And it isn't just restricted to acoustic music: dynamics can be applied to just about any genre of music and produce a benficial outcome.

It's a huge subject and no doubt many of you will have very useful hints to add ... but the next time you're thinking "How can I improve my playing?" think about, and try to apply that little word dynamics. It will make all the difference to you, the band and your audience. Good luck!

Drummers are a pain!

So started a conversation with a musician friend of mine.

As I probed a little and asked what they might mean by such a comment, the answer was (in their eyes) simple ... 'Drummers spend too much time endlessly banging around the kit.'

When I asked what they meant, I received two answers:

a. 'Drummers set-up and then run through their latest round of 'new beats' or breaks when the rest of the band are talking.'

b. 'Drummers seem to endlessly tap all their drums making micro-adjustments here and there which 'make no difference to their sound'


I asked my friend a couple of simple questions:

i. 'As a guitarist don't you ever widdle around (warm-up) 'to make sure your gear is working'?

ii. 'More importantly, don't you ever tune your guitar?'


They were quiet for a moment ... you'd think I'd dropped a bomb!

'Oh! Is that what they're doing?'

'Yes' I said, 'Have you never asked?'

'He's never told me!'

And there we have the crux of the matter ... lack of communication.

Too often we rely on assumption, thinking that what we're doing or have said is as obvious to others as it is to ourselves. The result is often a complete lack of understanding or, worse still, wrong impressions/breakdown of respect.

I wonder how many bands would function better, and dare I say, stay together longer if the various members talked and listened to each other more. Just a thought ...

Education: Help or hinderence?

How many of us have been in situations where we just don't fit?

That's okay if it's a one-off, you know, party, event, visit to friends. But what if the time we don't fit in is in our education: at school, college, university or job? Then, it's no longer an inconvenience ... it's a life changing, life hindering, often traumatic, shattering experience. Perhaps maths seems alien and illogical. Perhaps we would understand our English or language lessons more if they were in Greek!

Sadly, this is the tail for too many people with artistic abilities in today's education system, a system which praises those who can do the logical, academic tasks and pass written exams (though we'll come back to this in a minute) and punishes, degrades or worse still, forgets those who struggle or simply can't relate.

We have confused intelligence (the ability to use our brains creatively) with academia (the ability to achieve high marks in tests and exams which are designed around logical or deductive processes). We are told that science, mathematics, languages are 'important' and that art, music, drama, dance are not.

So, what if you are naturally musical or artistic? You quickly pick up the message that you are either not intelligent or worse still, not important ... and these messages stick, and then stay with us through life: stunting our growth, shouting at us that our views don't count ... lying to us.

And the result? Loss of confidence, withdrawal from friends or society, loss of direction and motivation, rebellion against the life we should be enjoying, never reaching our true potential, always thinking others are better than ourselves. And this goes with us into our jobs, into our family life ... and screws it up!

Some of my best friends and most intelligent people I know never got a qualification at school, college or university ... but they did realise afterwards that they had so much more to give than they'd been led to believe.

What are your experiences of education? Good or bad? If you need to, get those frustrations and lies about yourself off your chest. Go for it!!

How about some creativity?

The most significant inventions, advances and breakthroughs throughout history were made by people who were not afraid to make mistakes and try something new. Many of these earth shattering discoveries were so simple that they had been missed before. It just took someone a bit of time to sit down and think around the problem to see the way forward i.e., to use some creative thinking.

So why do we as musicians, in particular as drummers, so often fear creativity in our playing! Notice I say 'creativity' not necessarily 'complexity'. Steve Gadd amongst others revolutionised drumming in the 70's and 80's in particular not by his technique in playing the beat (though that is awesome) but by playing the song. He was not afraid to bring himself to the music and make a difference.

We want to be noticed yet we're afraid be different! Does this sound familiar? How have you been creative in your playing? ... share it here with others so that we can all enrich the music that we play. Why not check-out the rest of our site www.waywood.com and if you're interested in a few ideas for creative playing, why not visit www.waywood.com/somdifd.htm (for drums) and www.waywood.com/somdifp.htm (for percussionists).

Look forward to hearing from you!