JULY 2008 THE BLACK PAGE

THE BLACK PAGE
JULY 2008
THE BLACK PAGE
WORKING DRUMMER’S
BOOTCAMP
Rich Redmond:
Page 3
Tone, Touch & Feel:
Page 13
by Jayson Brinkworth
Paradiddle Grooves
Hand/Foot Combinations Part One:
Page 17
by Ryan Carver
The Final Word:
Page 18
The Black Page is distributed via PDF to
email inboxes on a global scale.
For subscriptions go to:
www.theblackpage.net
To send us your feedback email us:
[email protected]
Sean Mitchell
Publisher
Jill Schettler
Editor In Chief
Jayson Brinkworth Writer
Ryan Carver
Writer
photo: www.myspace.com/meladeesheaphotography
Featuring
chris sutherland
Kim Mitchell, Squeek, Deric Ruttan,
Saga, Doc Walker, Amanda Falk
Designed to get every drummer
in shape to face any freelancing
challenge. The Bootcamp is a
complete run through of almost
anything you might encounter in
the music business. Live skills,
studio skills, networking skills
and getting every possible aspect
of your drumming ready for anything. It’s a tough business, learn
how a pro stays impossibly busy.
Click on the image above
to visit chris on the web
Rich
Redmond
Not since Johnny Cash or Waylon
Jennings has Nashville witnessed the
emergence of a more colorful character. Connecticut born Rich Redmond
has entered the city limits of Music City
USA much like a Brama bull might enter a china shop.
Flailing arms, phat groove, twirling
sticks, and a twenty-six inch...errr...kick
drum, Rich is among the select few
who will go down in music history as a
drummer who has broken new ground
in country music. His power, groove
and inspiration keep him at the top of
his game as one of Nashville’s busiest
sidemen and studio players.
Redmond is no one-trick pony. When
you listen to Rich’s tracks, you become
painfully aware of how much more work
you need to do. His freakish ability and
understanding of playing styles is second to none. The precision and level at
which Rich plays are shared by only a
very few players on this planet. Add to
this entire mix a guy who is so humble
and passionate about drumming that
he does all his own tech work.
I have always encouraged people to
seek enlightenment. As you read this
interview, you will enter Rich’s world
embraced by passion, energy, rows of
semi’s, sound gear, and a tackle box full
of spare drum parts. There you will find
a person (never mind player) we should
all aspire to be.
Photos courtesy of Fotos By Folletts
Rich, how is the tour going
and what are the highlights so
far?
Sean, everything is fantastic! We
have been touring non-stop since
early 2005. We spent the first year
playing every club, college, and
honky-tonk in the United States.
The second year, we branched
out to large theatres and outdoor
amphitheatres, and began our
two-year run as an opening act
with Rascal Flatts. It was a real
thrill to play for fifteen to twentyfive thousand people a night. In
January of this year we began
Jason’s first headlining tour, playing larger theatres and civic centers. It’s been amazing to see the
response from the fans who pay
their hard, earned money to purchase a hard ticket to our shows.
Most of the venues are one-thousand to twelve-hundred seaters,
and they are sold out every night.
I am also very proud to announce
that we will be the opening act on
Tim McGraw’s summer tour. We
will play thirty-two amphitheatres
between May 9th and July 6th.
How did you get hooked up
with Jason Aldean?
I met Jason Aldean in 2000
through my good friend Tully
Kennedy. I met Tully through our
good friend Kurt Allison. Kurt recommended me to Tully for one
of Jason’s showcases. This began Jason’s five-year “overnight”
success story. Between 2000
and 2005, we showcased for ev-
ery major label in Nashville four
times, literally. We jumped into
minivans, took it to the people,
and started to develop a “band
sound.”
You are one of Nashville’s
busiest session players. What
does it take to be an in demand
session cat like yourself?
I play everything with a tremendous amount of passion and attitude. I think that helps. I treat
myself like a character actor and
approach each song as a role I
have to play. Whatever style the
song is in, I want it to sound like
that is the only style of music I
play. I’m there to light a fire under
the band, serve the music, and
make the artists so happy that
they continue to call me time and
time again. People skills are 99%
of the gig. Obviously, you have to
be a solid player, but you have to
be pleasant to be around. I also
know that positive energy makes
it to tape, so I am always positive.
It takes twice as much energy to
create a negative thought as it
does a positive thought, so why
not be positive all of the time?
Who do you have left to add to
the “bands I want to play with”
list?
I’m what you’d call a ‘blue-collar
drummer’, a journeyman, a hired
gun. I enjoy every situation I perform in, whether it be live or in the
studio. To me, there are only two
kinds of music, good and bad,
VISIT RICH ONLINE
WWW.RICHREDMOND.COM
and I like both. The craftsman in me realizes that
even if the music is bad, I still get to play drums.
Ha! Drums and percussion are the instruments to
make or break a live band or the quality of a recording. A great drummer can make a mediocre band
sound amazing. It’s a fact. I think we all have fantasies about playing music with our heroes and people we admire. My list includes: John Mellencamp,
Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Sheryl Crow, Pink,
Aimee Mann, Radney Foster, Rodney Crowell, Rod
Stewart, Kelly Willis, Cindy Lauper, Joan Jett, Ronnie James Dio, John Eddie, John Fogerty, Kathleen
Edwards and Keith Richards, among many others.
with my own style, feel, and showmanship. I am
very fortunate. Many events over the years come to
mind. When I was at The University of North Texas,
The One O’ Clock Lab Band did a performance in
Portugal that featured jazz music from 1917-1994. I
was responsible for recreating the sound, feel, and
musical concepts of nearly a century of big band
music. That felt good. Another moment that comes
to mind was when my last band, Rushlow, performed
for the world’s greatest fighter pilots on the deck of
the U.S.S. Kennedy. Of course, hearing the roaring
approval of 20,000 fans for Jason Aldean and our
band during the Flatts tour didn’t feel bad either. It’s
That’s a pretty eclectic list. The beautiful thing is that
many of these artists are Nashville based or come
through Nashville to write or record. A relationship
with these artists is a handshake away. I also have
friends that currently perform with these artists, so
I’m “on the list” if they ever decide to leave. A recent
thrill for me was being one of ten drummers from
across the country to be asked to audition for Peter
Frampton, and yet another very connected friend
recommended me for the drum chair with Matchbox
20.
a testament to the hard work we have put into this
thing for years. This is a business that requires a
massive amount of determination and persistence.
I’m proud that I have always surrounded myself with
positive people that shared a common vision for
their futures. Just recently, I played on some demos
for the boys from the band Lit. It was an amazing
time. I was always a big fan of that band and to finally make music with the Popoff (Jeremy and AJ)
brothers was a thrill. That was the ‘law of attraction’
in action!
Thus far, what has been your biggest moment
on stage?
What does a typical day entail for you?
Every night is an absolute thrill for me whether I am
playing an arena or a small club, with a major artist
or a nervous upstart. I revel in my support role as
the musical drummer, the cheerleader. Most of the
people I play with allow me to step out on a ledge
When I am on the road, I like to get up as early as
I can so I can be productive. It really depends on
what I did the night before. I have to make sure I am
well rested. I usually get up, eat a healthy breakfast,
watch a little news, gossip with my band mates, and
drink some coffee while I check emails. Our road
manager lines up a gym for us,
and I try to knock that out early.
I’m usually good for ninety minutes of weights and cardio. On
our headline shows, our sound
check is from 2-4 pm everyday.
On big tours like The Flatts or
Tim McGraw, our sound check
will be scheduled for later in the
day. I also try to setup private
lessons or master classes at the
local drum shop with the help of
my publicist, Ashley. I can usually
fit up to four one-hour lessons
in before show time. If I have no
students in a particular market, I
will use the time to do “business”
(make phone calls, return emails,
book sessions, advance cartage
details, learn songs for upcoming
showcases, etc.). I may even jump
in on a dressing room songwriting
session with my band mates.
On top of all this, I have no
drum tech on the road, so I do
all my own setups, tear downs,
head changes and maintenance.
The local crew is always fantastic
about getting my gear to and from
the stage. I have my setups down
to roughly an hour. This includes
head changes, cleaning and tuning. Of course, my teardowns
go much faster because I have
hands to shake and things to
do. You have to understand that
country artists have a tendency
to travel only four days a week.
We get on the bus on Wednesday
at midnight and we come back to
Nashville on Sunday morning.
This leaves Monday to Wednesday to do recording sessions,
industry showcases, production
projects, and select local gigs. I
love the balance of live and session playing. My studio precision
helps my live playing, and my live
energy and attitude seeps into
my session work. My schedule
in Nashville is more pampered.
Drum Paradise (famed cartage
and rental company) does all of
my session setups, head changes and maintenance on my Nashville kits. They have everything
marked and can get me in and
out of a session or showcases in
no time flat. My in-town schedule
is a mixed bag of stuff. Sessions
in Nashville are divided into threehour blocks of time scheduled at
10 am, 2 pm and 6 pm. I try to
book myself as much as possible,
so a typical day could be a 10 am
publishing demo session, an afternoon showcase rehearsal, a
6 pm industry showcase with an
up-and-coming artist, and then
a 10 pm gig with me backing up
several songwriters on percussion. An artist may book me for
an entire day to work on their record and then I may be off on the
following day. Those are the days
that I knock out “business” stuff,
practice, or just smell the roses.
I’d like everyone to know that I do
teach in Nashville at my favorite
drum shop, Fork’s Drum Closet.
I also make “house calls” for lessons. I prefer teaching intermediate to professional players who
want to sharpen their skills.
What led you to Nashville?
I attended the University of North
Texas from ’92-’95. After I graduated, I moved into the Dallas Metroplex and began freelancing
and teaching. I was playing in
one of Dallas’ most popular Top
40/party bands called Random
Axis. We were playing five nights
a week. Around that, I played with
the area big bands and jazz/fuzak bands, taught privately, and
did lots of custom recordings and
jingles.
My graduating class included
amazing players like Keith Carlock (Sting, Blues Brothers), Blair
Sinta (Alanis Morissette), Craig
Pilo (Franki Valli) and Adam Gust
(LA Studio). All these guys were
making their moves to the coasts,
and I knew I had to make mine. A
friend of mine, Dan Nelson, came
to see me play one night and told
me that a gal named Trisha Yearwood (top Nashville recording artist) was looking for a new drummer. I had my sights set on LA,
but I sent a cassette tape (yes…
this was 1997) demo to Trisha’s
bandleader, and he told me to get
on a plane to Nashville and have
a go at the cattle call. There were
fifteen very established cats auditioning and one unknown, me. I
went in very prepared and had a
great time playing with the band,
but the gig went to another cat
named Shawn Ficter. A couple of
cats in the band were impressed
enough with me to recommend
me for an audition with Barbara
Mandrell. Barbara’s gig was more
like a Vegas revue and had lots
of cues for lighting and costume
changes. They wanted all the
drummers to play verbatim what
the previous drummer (Shawn
Ficter) played. So I transcribed
his playing from the board tape
and got busy memorizing it. I had
a blast at that one, but another
cat (Mark Nemer) got the gig.
Again, one of the musicians from
Barbara’s band recommended
me for an audition with Deanna
Carter. Deanna was exploding on
the scene with her song “Strawberry Wine.” My audition was
even included as part of an episode of “Access Hollywood!” The
bandleader had to make a decision between me and another
cat named Angello Collura, who
already lived in Nashville. I still had my life in Dallas
and the tour was starting the very next week. Angello
got the gig. All of these auditions happened within a
three-week period, so I was flying back and forth between Dallas and Nashville. There is a moral to the
story. The bandleaders all told me that I was playing
at a high level that equaled many established cats,
but I needed to live in Nashville. I was not discouraged but rather inspired and excited about pursuing
my new leads. I gave two weeks notice to my band
in Dallas, packed up my drums and my cat, and was
living in Nashville one month later. Sometimes you
just have to make a leap of faith. On a funny note,
eight years after Deanna’s massive success, I ended up doing a string of dates with her right before
Jason started taking off. Needless to say, I keep in
touch with all of the musicians that helped me along
the way, and we recommend each other for gigs to
this day. Time sure does fly because I have been in
Nashville for eleven years.
I recently read that years ago drummers were
forbidden on the Grand Ole Opry. Is this true?
And is it true they used dark plexi-glass for a
while?
Yeah, crazy! I believe Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were the first group to “sneak” drums onto the
stage through the back door of the Ryman Auditorium. When I moved to Nashville in ’97, they were
still using a drum screen that was heavily tinted. Ridiculous! Things have really changed on the Opry.
Carrie Underwood is a huge pop crossover artist,
and they just announced that she will be inducted.
The Opry is scrambling to bump up their “hip factor”
so the institution can survive. The first time I saw the
Opry, I fell asleep, literally. Four years after that, I
was a mainstay on the Opry with Pam Tillis and even
played on the show when she was inducted as an
official member.
Historically, the country drummer is a “boom
chick” kind of player. Why has the industry
gravitated towards a groovier, rock influenced
sound?
Sounds and styles can be deceiving. Traditional
country music has its own distinctive feel and pocket. Getting a great two-beat feel, a grooving “train
beat,” or a soulful shuffle separates the men from the
Petty said that the music coming out of Nashville
now is like “really bad 70’s rock with a fiddle.” There
is some truth to that. Thank God I work with producers like Justin Niebank and Michael Knox. Jason’s
records are pretty stripped down and raw. We add
fiddle and steel to “countrify” the sound for radio, but
we are a strict guitar, bass and drum band on the
road. Less instruments equals more space in the
mix, which results in a bigger, clearer sound. Justin
makes very organic-sounding records with a classic
sound. The new Doc Walker record that I played on
called Beautiful Life is very classic sounding. It hit
stores April 29th in Canada and the new single is the
fastest rising single on Canadian radio right now.
If someone wanted to know how I approach traditional country, alt. country, pop country and country rock, I would point them towards that record. I’m
very proud of it.
I also lead a production company with Kurt Allison
and Tully Kennedy called Three Kings Entertainment. We will be working towards achieving the next
phase of fresh new sounds coming out of Nashville.
We have a killer pop artist named David Fanning,
and a country guy named Brandon LePere. We are
very excited about this.
boys. These are styles that I wasn’t completely familiar with when I moved to Nashville. I was trained
in rock, pop, jazz, fusion, and classical. I went to
a used record store called The Great Escape in
Nashville and bought all of the legendary performers greatest hits on cassette, and I went to work
absorbing the styles. I think a great drummer can
play any style with conviction and authority. Every
style is a dialect that has to be learned. You have
to learn the vocabulary. You have to learn the rules
before you can break them.
Artists have been combining country and rock
sounds since the 60’s and 70’s. Every ten years or
so, the sound shifts in Nashville. When I first got to
Nashville in ‘97, we were playing shuffles and train
beats with a beefed-up rock drum sound. Slowly
but surely, the drums were getting hotter and hotter
in the mix. Now we play straight up 70’s and 80’s
style rock grooves. Cymbals shimmer, hi-hats bark,
rim shots crank and bass drums shake like Godzilla
trampling Tokyo. Things have really changed. I have
to admit that some of it is really bad. I think Tom
Rich say the first thing that comes to mind when
I mention the following drummers:
DJ Fontana:
Elvis’ original drummer. He was able to bridge the
gap between swung eights and the new “rock and
roll” feel. I appreciate his tenacity and love for the
instrument. He is still recording and touring. I want
to die playing the drums.
Ronnie Tutt:
He took Fontana’s lead and added a more muscular
edge to the music with his multi-tom setups, deep
groove, and arena-friendly style. Anyone that can
keep up with Elvis’ energy has my vote. I think he
actually studied martial arts to enhance his ability to anticipate Elvis’ moves. I met Ronnie at an
RMA (Recording Musicians Association) meeting in
Nashville. He is a gentleman.
Larrie Londin:
Chet Atkins called him “the greatest drummer in the
world.” He could play any style with conviction and
taste. He died after giving a clinic at The University
of North Texas. This was right before I started my
Master’s program there. I know my pal Jim Riley
(Rascal Flatts/Nashville Sessions) was so inspired
by his performance that he moved to Nashville soon
after. From Journey to Diana Ross to Vince Gill,
what a resume. I aspire to that level of greatness.
Eddie Bayers:
Wow! Eddie won The Academy of Country Music’s
“Drummer of the Year” Award thirteen times in row.
The Academy ended up changing the rules so that
no one drummer could win it more than two times
in a row. That says so much. His musicianship
speaks for itself. The average lifespan of a session
drummer is five years. Eddie has been on top of
the heap for twenty-five. Amazing! You can tell after two bars that it is an Eddie Bayers track. His
feel, the sound of his kit, and his signature “Bayers”
drum fills, the guy knows how to play and shape a
song perfectly. When I auditioned for Trisha, I had
to study all of his parts. I had to learn five of Trisha’s
songs but ended up buying five of her albums and
transcribed every song. I learned so much from doing that. I see Eddie’s drums parked next to mine at
the Drum Paradise warehouse, and it reminds me
what I have to aspire to. Eddie was also very helpful
and encouraging to me when I moved to Nashville.
Eddie listened to my demo, welcomed me to town,
encouraged me to dive head first into the scene,
and to keep in touch. Lonnie Wilson was also very
helpful. Lonnie has a style similar to Eddie’s but is
a little busier with more flamboyance (lots of cymbal crashes, china cymbals, cracking snare drums).
He hooked me up with some showcase work and a
road gig. Time, patience, determination, and a focused mind will always lead to success. Thank you,
Eddie and Lonnie, for believing in me early on.
Buddy Harmon:
He played with Patsy Cline, the first “suicide girl” of
country music. He claims to have played on eighteen-thousand sessions, and I believe it. It makes
me want to backtrack and start counting the number I have done (Again something to really aspire
to). His daughter, Summer, used to work at Jason’s
record label, Broken Bow. Nashville is a very small
town. I see him from time to time at The Opry and
at The Musician’s Union Hall.
Mark Herndon:
The longtime drummer for Alabama. His band sold
seventy-three million records. They set the benchmark for combining countrified harmonies and songwriting with arena-sized showmanship. I can relate
to Mark because he’s a Yankee (like me). Jason is
a huge Alabama fan, and we do a cool medley of
their tunes for our encore. Jason’s fans dig it, and
we are helping to bring Alabama’s music to a new
generation of music lovers. I just did a showcase
for a cat named Brad Long, who is being produced
by Alabama’s Teddy Gentry. Once again, the world
continues to get smaller, so I will probably meet
Mark in the near future.
I am influenced by everyone in the Nashville scene,
and I would encourage other drummers to check
out Greg Morrow, Shannon Forrest, Chad Cromwell, Chris McHugh, Eric Darken, Steve Brewster,
Jerry Kroon, Tommy Wells, and others. Read those
liner notes and do your homework.
What are Nashville producers looking for in a
drummer?
I think producers from all musical genres are looking for roughly the same thing. I think people want
to be surrounded by creative souls with big hearts
that can get the job done quickly and efficiently. You
have to have amazing people skills and be able
to take and give direction. You have to speak the
language of music and all of its dialects. I encourage everyone to have a broad palette of musical
influences and knowledge to pull from. You have to
have amazing sounding gear. Give people options.
I bring my wonderful Sonor drums to every session with a large selection of snare drums, cymbals,
percussion, and electronics. It’s all there to choose
from. Producers are creatures of habit. If they experience a string of success using one group of guys,
they will continue to use those guys. “Don’t fix it, if
it isn’t broken” has never had more relevance than
in the Nashville studio scene. You have to get on
as many call lists as possible as a player. The call
for a session may come from artists, songwriters,
session leaders, players on the session, engineers,
or studio owners. You really have to have a large
group of people championing you to work on a regular basis.
What’s the secret to your success in the studio?
?
I never take any of it for granted. Even though I have
laid a tremendous amount of groundwork and have
many people requesting me for my services, it can
all go away. It’s a very fickle business. That’s why
someone like Eddie Bayers is the exception to the
rule. I also don’t limit myself. I know that my live
work creates studio work for myself and vice versa.
If I enjoy working with an artist, I want to be working
with them in all capacities. I loved playing on the
new Doc Walker record. They have some showcases coming up that I can’t make due to scheduling
conflicts. I’m actually upset that I won’t be able to
perform those songs live in front of an audience.
I try to always be creative. I am positive all of the
time. I try to inspire the musicians to play their best.
I can provide options. If an artist isn’t digging the
direction the drum track or the entire band’s performance is heading, I can make suggestions to take
it where it needs to be. You have to be able to play
a musical and groovy drum track with or without a
click. You have to be able to play or program loops
and then play on top of it very precisely. I can also
play my own percussion tracks right on the spot.
Other cats can get lazy about this. My philosophy
is that my tracks aren’t finished until there is some
nice subdivision “icing” layered on the cake (shakers, tambourines, hand drums). I maintain my own
high standards for quality control. If someone asks,
“Who played on that track?” and my names comes
up, it has to be happening. I always tell guys just
getting into the recording environment to play at
the top of their game at all times. You can never
just go through the motion and “mail it in.” Jason’s
top-five single “Johnny Cash” was actually recorded
as a publishing demo in 2002. I got it in a take or
two. The label remixed it, put it on Jason’s second
record and released it as a single. The next thing
you know, I was in the desert outside of Las Vegas
shooting the video, and we were playing it on all
sorts of award shows.
Doing the percussion thing well has lead to other
work avenues. Guys like Eddie (Bayers), Lonnie
(Wilson), and Greg (Morrow) are so busy running
from one tracking session to the next that I am called
in to layer percussion on top of their drum tracks. I
love it! I get to hear their approaches to music, and
how they play with and around the click.
You have been touted as having the ability to
learn tunes, record, and overdub in record time.
How are you able to accomplish this without
sacrificing the quality of your work?
I think lots of the cats in Nashville have this ability. It’s survival. Having these skills is required to be
welcomed into “The Club.” When I was in college,
I probably read three thousand drum charts, literally. There are only so many ways to write the same
rhythms over and over, so you get good at sight
reading. This is a skill that is way more important
in NYC and LA where Broadway shows and movie
soundtracks are recorded everyday. When I was at
UNT, we read big band charts that were ten pages
long and draped over three music stands. You had
to practice turning the pages while playing at warp
speeds. Ha! (I usually just asked the percussionist
to flip the page for me). All of that training led to me
developing my own way of creating “cheat charts”
for recording sessions, showcases, and gigs. I have
been doing this since ‘93. My first call in Nashville
involved learning sixty songs for a Top 40 circuit
band in two days. I scribbled out some charts on 4
x 6 index cards, notated the beats per minute, and
put them in alphabetical order. This is a surefire way
of impressing bandleaders and getting more work.
In my journey, I have become comfortable reading
chord charts and number charts.
The quality of the work can’t suffer. A demo session in Nashville is a three- hour block of time where
the writer/artist tries to get five songs recorded.
That leaves exactly thirty-two minutes per song.
The writer will play the song on the guitar or will
play a recording (usually cut on Garage Band) off
of their laptop or on a CD player. The bandleader
prepares Number Charts ahead of time, and I get
the bpm (beats per minute) by tapping the tempo
on my Tama Rhythm Watch. I read the chart down
and make “drumistic” markings (signature beats,
phrase markings, scribble out figures, circle repeat
signs, etc.). Then we are off to the races. I program
the tempo into my drum machine or laptop. I may
choose a loop from Stylus RMX or Reason to play
over. It has been very common these days to have
the engineer generate one of the stock click sounds
from Pro Tools. I always prefer to run it myself if
the session doesn’t have to be on the grid, which
is another pet peeve of mine but helps with digital
editing later. I then choose the appropriate snare
drum for the song (deep dish, muffled, open, piccolo) and then maybe change out a ride cymbal (dry,
wet, rivets, etc.). The first run through is to determine if the tempo feels the best and if the general
arrangement is working. We all make suggestions
together with the bandleader and the writer, and we
will maybe rehearse those spots in question. The
next run through should be my “keeper” drum track.
After that, the individual band members ask to do
any fixes or punches which is very easy to do now
with Pro Tools. Then the guitarists will do additional
“color” of “fattening” passes. During those passes, I
will knock out a tambourine or shaker part. I usually
determine which one is more important. If I think it
needs both, I will stay after the session to make sure
it makes it to tape. This process is a tried and true
working method in Nashville. Of course, on Master
Sessions—which are the records you can buy in
Wal-Mart or Target—you get to take your time. It
is not uncommon to record one song every three
hours on this type of session. What a luxury!
What do you have coming up in 2008?
I am so excited about continuing to help Jason Aldean’s star rise and working like a beast to have my
name move up the Nashville recording scene ladder. I am also very interested in adding clinics and
master classes into the equation. I have the support
of all my sponsors. I want to
share my knowledge of the
music business and the skills
necessary to succeed in this
crazy industry.
I will strive to have my clinics be educational, motivational, and highly entertaining. The subject matter can
be custom tailored to each
student or group. My clinics
usually have a theme, such
as “Chart Reading,” “Music
Business Survival Skills,”
“Playing in a Band,” “Rudiments and Reading,” “The
Nashville Number System,”
“Studio Drumming,” “Incorporating Percussion into the
Drum set,” etc. I will usually
hit on many of these subjects and will let each group
of students dictate where we
go. I will pay along to tracks
I have recorded and discuss
how I came up with my parts.
I have lots of stories to tell,
and I think students will get a
kick out of it and learn a lot.
I have a new production company (Three Kings Entertainment) with my bandmates
Kurt Allison and Tully Kennedy called “The DT” (Dream
Team). Our first client is a
very talented and marketable
pop/rock artist named David
Fanning (myspace.com/davidfanning). Our goal is to finish a record on him and get
him signed. We also have a
country artist we are working
with and the goal is the same.
Our goal is to be ‘’the guys”
in Nashville to produce fresh
up-and-coming music. l
Rich Redmond Select Discography
Jason Aldean
“Jason Aldean” (Broken Bow) 2005 Drums/
Perc.
Jason Aldean
“Relentless” (Broken Bow) 2007 Drums/
Perc.
Doc Walker
“Beautiful Life” (RGK) 2007 Drums/Perc.
Rushlow
“Right Now” (Lyric Street) 2003 Drums/Perc.
The Roadhammers
“Blood, Sweat and Steel” (Montage) 2007
Drums/Perc.
Steve Azar
“Steve Azar” (Ride)) 2008 Drums/Perc.
Bluefield
“Bluefield” (Country Thunder) 2008 Drums/
Perc.
Scott Getlin
“Just The Right Amount of Wrong” 2006
Perc.
Pam Tillis
“Rhinestoned” (Stellar Cat ) 2007 Perc.
Pam Tillis
“It’s All Relative” (Lucky Dog) 2002 Perc.
Jedd Hughes
“Transcontinental” (MCA) 2004 Perc.
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
“Country Music” (Columbia) 2004 Perc.
Lila McCann
(Featuring Jim Brickman)
SINGLE-“I’m
Amazed” (Broken Bow) 2005 Drums/Perc.
Jon Roniger
“Charmed Life” (Roniger Music) 2007 Drums/
Perc.
Jenna Von Oy
“Breathing Room” (Little Ladybug) 2007
Drums/Perc.
Front Row For The Meltdown
“All The Wrong Things” (Five Finger) 2004
Drums/Perc.
Jon Christopher Davis
“Lone Star Attitude” (Jon Davis Music) 2003
Drums/Perc.
Tone,
Touch
and Feel
The Musicality of Drumming
“I would venture to say that almost any drummer could become
the hottest player on the planet if he got into his tone enough.
Because when you get there it
leads to being more musical, and
being more musical leads to more
people enjoying playing with you,
and that leads to more and more
gigs.”
~Billy Ward
This quote from my friend Billy Ward totally floored me when
I first read it years ago. It makes so much sense and made me
feel better about my obsessive-compulsive behavior of tuning
and kit setup.
For years I have been asked over and over about tuning
drums. I have had students bring their full kit into a lesson to
get them tuned up. I will try and put together an upcoming article on this very personal subject. But for now, I want to share
with you my thoughts on being the most musical drummer we
can be.
TONE
Have you ever really thought about how the sound of a drum
is produced? Why can one person play a drum and have it
sound a certain way, and another play the exact same drum
and it sound totally different? There are many factors involved
in this: where the drum was hit, if we played into or off of the
drum, how loose or tight we are holding the stick, or the type
of stick and tip. This goes on and on, but I have found that a lot
of drummers aren’t even aware of, or couldn’t be bothered to
understand, what happens when they play a drum.
Once we strike a drum, we move air and cause sound waves
to vibrate. These sound waves travel back and forth between
the shell and the batter which resonate heads on the drum.
Depending how these heads are tuned, the pitch or note that is
produced can differentiate. This is our tone. But how does one
get the most musical tone from their drums? Is it technique? Is
it the type of drum we are playing? Is it luck?
A certain amount of technique definitely helps us pull a musical tone out of the drum. The type of drum (shell material,
etc.) affects this as well. My thoughts are that we should sound
like ourselves on any drum. It should all be in our hands. I have
heard drummers that don’t have great tone all of the time; there
might be a little luck involved here. Maybe they
were more relaxed on a certain gig. Maybe
their setup is more comfortable one way than
another. However, there should be no luck involved in this, and consistency is the key.
I feel that we need to take this subject very
seriously, for the reasons that Billy Ward mentioned above. I am going to discuss my approach to developing a good tone on the drums,
but this is a very personal subject. You can find
many ways to make your drums sing, and it is
up to you to put the time and effort into it.
GET A GRIP
The way we hold the sticks and how tightly
we squeeze them is a big factor in the tone of
our drums. Whether we play matched or traditional grip, we need to be as loose as possible
to have everything resonate together. Here is an
easy way to find out if we squeeze our stick too
tightly: hold both sticks as you normally would,
now play your right stick onto your left, clicking them together. Does it sound choked? Can
you hear a pitch from the wood? You should be
able to hear both sticks resonate and almost
produce a note.
As far as grip goes, this is a whole other
article in itself. We need to have the fulcrum
relaxed (the grip between the thumb and the
index finger for matched grip). Think of what
would happen if the middle joint on a teetertotter was too tight. Not a very fun ride. Also,
our back fingers need to be in contact with the
stick. Don’t let that pinky slide out! Having this
contact allows us to switch gears and pull the
tone out of the larger drums.
I use Power Grip sticks made by Trueline.
These sticks are fantastic,! They have a hump
on the back side of the stick, right where your
fingers are. What this does is allow us to be
very relaxed and not have the stick fly out of
our hands. I can honestly say that my own personal tone improved after I started using these
sticks five years ago.
Do some research on grip and watch videos
of players like Billy who are very relaxed in their
technique and grip, thus having great tone on
the drums.
Click here to order your copy
If you have your drums set up in
front of your TV in the living room
you might be a drumgeek
back into our hand. If so, the stick will react in that
same way, and we need to change this as it is not a
comfortable or relaxed way to play.
When we throw the ball down, just like we throw
the stick down, we should be holding it loosely.
Hold the ball again just like you are going to throw it
down. How is your hand shaped? Are you gripping
right around the ball or is your hand loose and your
fingers fanned back? Our fingers should be fanned
back, and we should be holding the ball very loose.
Keep your hand in said position, then take the ball
out and replace it with your stick. This is your grip!
When we throw that stick down, let it come back
just like the ball and keep your fingers and wrist relaxed.
From here we can go into the Moeller method,
finger exercises, the free stroke, and other technical
stuff. The bottom line is that we throw the stick into
the drum, let it react just like a ball, and let the drumhead, sticks and our hand resonate all together. We
can bounce the tennis ball off of our toms as well.
Really listen to the sound of the drums, and pay attention to the detail of how our hand feels in this
process.
TOUCH
HAVE A BALL
Okay, here I go with another one of my whacky
ideas, but this one works!
Take a tennis ball and hold it in your right or left
hand. Sit at your drums as you would to play and
bounce the ball off of your snare drum. There are
a few things we need to observe here: did the ball
bounce back to us? How tightly were we holding
the ball before we threw it down to the drum? What
sound did the drum make when the ball hit?
Of course the ball will bounce back, but was our
drum at such an extreme angle that it didn’t bounce
Our ability to develop touch takes years of practice and playing. Listen to players like Steve Gadd,
Steve Jordan, Roy Haynes, Joe Morello, Levon
Helm and many other experienced players. They
have spent countless hours on the kit, and their
touch keeps getting better and better.
The idea of touch is how we go about drawing
the tone out of the drum. One thing that I always
mention to students is that we want to play off of
the drum and not into the drum, again letting everything resonate. One of my first memories of this
goes back to seeing Jeff Porcaro play and wondering how he pulled a huge sound out of his drums
when he barely moved. He would set his stick down
on the snare, and it would rip your head off. This is
what got me started thinking about tone and how I
touched the kit to make it sound good.
As I said, this is a technique that takes years of
experience to develop. The first step is becoming
aware and working towards what sound you want to
produce on the drums.
Here are a few examples of drum tracks with incredible touch and tone:
Steve Gadd: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover –
Paul Simon
Manu Katché: Somewhere Down The Crazy
River – Robbie Robertson
Steve Jordan: Belief – John Mayer (the whole
album is touch and tone)
Billy Ward: Out The Door – Billy Ward Trio
Bernard Purdie: Babylon Sisters – Steely Dan
Joe Morello: Take Five – Dave Brubeck
Jeff Porcaro: I’ll Be Over You – Toto
FEEL
This is another very personal subject, and it can
be hard to write about. Our feel is developed through
the music we listen to, the music we practice along
with, and many other factors. I believe in exposing
my students to many different styles of music, as
this opens their minds to different styles and feels.
Our feel goes hand-in-hand with the tone we produce and our touch on the drums. When we play
music, the bottom line is we need it to feel relaxed,
comfortable, and very groovy. Even if it is not technically perfect, it can feel fantastic. Listen to Ringo
Starr, Levon Helm, Charlie Watts, and others for an
example of feel outweighing technical prowess. Music will always be this way, and playing with great
feel should be our mission.
Don’t get me wrong, we need a certain amount
of technique to be expressive on the drums. What
we don’t want is to have technique rule our playing
(there is no scoreboard on a gig or session).
Our feel is also affected by our setup. If we don’t
feel comfortable playing our drums, how can we
make the music feel comfortable for others to listen or move to? We need to be aware of the angle
of our toms and snare, the height and angle of our
cymbals, and our seat height. Again these are subjects that can be written about all on their own, but
we need to discover what feels comfortable when
we play. Don’t be afraid to experiment with setup
options other than the ones offered by your favorite
players or in magazine ads.
Billy Ward’s DVD Big Time is a wonderful resource on this exact subject. His explanation is so
logical and practical that our minds will be open to
new options.
BEING
MUSICAL
As I have stated in past articles, my personal objective in playing is to be the most musical drummer
I can be.
When I am asked by students or fellow musicians
what I have been practicing, sometimes I find it hard
to answer. I do practice technical exercises, but I
am mostly practicing being as aware and musical
as possible in any music setting.
In my pursuit for this goal, these are areas that I
work on:
1. Consistency in everything
(groove, tone, ideas)
2. Being aware of song form and
arrangement
3. Understanding what the other
instruments are playing
4. Saying more with less notes
5. Being very aware of dynamics
Tone, touch, and feel will always be at the top
of this list as these are the elements of music that
make great songs, whether we know it or not.
Next time you sit down to practice, think about
playing music. Play through a song that you know,
without even having the actual song on. Do you
know the form? Are you playing dynamically? Does
it sound like you are playing a song on the drums?
This might seem odd at first, but you will be a better musician for this type of practice, I promise.
Jayson Brinkworth is an
accomplished drummer,
percussionist,
vocalist, educator and writer.
Click on his image to
link to his website.
PARADIDDLE GROOVES HAND/FOOT
COMBINATIONS PART ONE
by Ryan Carver
In the following exercises the paradiddle will be played as 16th notes between
the bass drum and the floor tom, starting with the bass drum. The remaining
hand plays various hi-hat patterns with a 2&4 backbeat on the snare drum. Remember to start slow, count 16th notes, & practice each groove until it flows.
Ryan Carver is a member of the Academy of Drums faculty, the Vic Firth education
team and the Percussive Arts Society. Click either link below to visit him on the web.
www.carverdrums.com
www.myspace.com/ryancarver
THE FINAL WORD
“I’ve never done
anything in my life to make
money. I just always ask,
‘Is it going to be fun?’”
Richard Branson