This is a groove that pops up on a weekly basis in the studio realm. It’s also a groove that you might think, “oh that one’s easy!” Well maybe on the surface, but it’s one that if it’s not pulled off in the correct way, you’ll hear it and you’ll hear it from the engineer. They will be the ones that will have to move the kick or the snare to get the ‘flams’ out. And with today’s digital audiophile cleanness in the sound, you hear everything. Drums are more out front now than ever, so the flams will stick out like a sore thumb.
Tunes to check out with this groove are ones such as “Who wouldn’t wanna be me” by Keith Urban. Chris McHugh pulls this off beautifully. His 4 on the floor groove is a textbook in how to play it. Another really cool tune to check out is “Eye in the Sky” by Alan Parsons project, drums by Stuart Elliot. Another favorite Ricky Skaggs tune that is a great 4 on the floor to practice to is “You’ve got a Lover” drums by the great Jerry Kroon. Recently, “I need you Now” by Lady Antebellum was a huge hit, Chad Cromwell played an amazing track on this one.
This pocket is really fun, but it’s more challenging than you think. Don’t take it for granted. What are some of your fav 4 on the floor tunes?
Ok, right now I’m ready to spit nails. Sorry to vent, but I waited til the last minute to do this vid, and now I’m gonna pay for it! It’s 12:30 am, and it’s still streamclipping, which is what you have to do to the video files to make them edit correctly. And tomorrow I have a triple. 12 straight hours of playing drums, with a click!! So let’s talk about it!!
The little trick of turning the click around is not really earth shattering, but it’s a great exercise in hearing the click differently, thus learning how to play with it better. I’m finding lately that I’m liking different permutations of click, really dependent on emotion. Friday I did a Daryl Worley record, and I was wanting fewer subdivisions, not really sure why, just did. I’m also trying to get away from anything in the click that sounds like a hi hat. If you can use something that cuts through, but doesn’t sound like a hat, it’s a good thing. If you have something that mimicks the hat, there is a chance that the players will listen to it instead of the hat, and if you drift, they won’t drift with you. Alot of guys use a sidestick and a really dull shaker.
I really like the idea of programming a click with 1 bar of click and 1 bar of blank. Then just repeat that and practice. Then, make it 2 bars, and 3, and see how high you can get!! That’ll kick your butt.
One quick story about time. When I was touring with Ricky Skaggs in the 90′s, I was the only one in the band that heard the click. We had 10 guys on stage, and I had to drive the band and stay with the click, while no one else heard it. One day we were getting ready to soundcheck, we were waiting on something, and Ricky started playing “Angel on my Mind, by himself on the guitar.” I dialed up the tempo for that song, and turned the click on with him. He did’nt hear the click, I was the only one who did….long story short, he stayed dead on the click for about 25 bars. It was amazing! I want that kind of time!! That’s an internal clock!! That’s what we strive for!!
aaah, the click! In the studio it’s known by many names, the opponent, the enemy, the ignored suggestion. My click in my MPC 2000 is a cowbell and a shaker. I’m getting ready to change the sound though, the reason for which I’ll tell you later.
But first I gotta tell you about this weekend. Friday I did a double session at Oceanway in Nashville, which is one of my fav rooms in town. This was a demo session for a bunch of Universal writers, specifically for a writers camp they had to write with the contestants of “The Voice.” There I met several writer/producers from Holland, Australia, LA, and the UK. Basically I ended up getting a bunch of drum track work at the house this weekend, apparently they had a rush for these tracks (Still listening to Rush btw, can’t stop). So Saturday I spent the day in studio doing tracks for these guys, and for another buddy in town who needed percussion on a record he’s producing. Basically I was up til 3am. Sunday morning, I had 1 more drum track to do and then get ready for a showcase rehearsal at 2. Finished the last drum track at 12:45, and dove into the charts for the showcase. There are normally 6 songs on a label showcase, turns out there were 12 for this one, ouch! Just barely finished in time to grab something out of the fridge and a coffee, and dash to rehearsal.
Back home at 6:00pm, still had to do more perc overdubs and fix one of the drum trax. Well basically, to make a long story longer, it’s midnight and I just finished editing this. Now uploading which takes forever!!
Ok back to the click. When I was in Ricky Skaggs band in the 90′s, I drove the band with the click, and I was the only one that heard it! Can you imagine? So if there was a night that everyone felt it faster or slower, u just prayed. Actually it was pretty cool.
Think of a click as a handrail walking down a long flight of stairs. You are doing the walking, the rail just guides you. Like I said in the video, if you drift, don’t slam back to the rail, drift back, like flying an airplane, slow, gentle movements, not fast. Slowly work your way back to the click, so you don’t leave everyone else in the dust.
The next two weeks is crazy!! 12 sessions this week, 4 days of Reba rehearsals starting on Saturday, then off to Oklahoma to do some shows. I’m going to be doing more video blogging as well. Got some really exciting stuff in the works that I can’t talk about yet, so stay tuned. t
Oh, man, what a video to not have footage from the third camera! I really needed it on this one, but we were in a hurry to finish, because my wife and daughter (who owns the camera) had to fly to Denver. So alas, when I discovered that the files were missing, it was too late, oh well. Thank goodness for the flip video.
One of the frequent complaints from engineers is “he plays the snare hard and the sidestick too soft!” This is something I learned early on, so I pound the sidestick when I play it, mostly out of habit, but I do get compliments from engineers. “I never have to ride the faders on your sidestick, it makes my job easier.” This problem is exacerbated in live situations. A live drummer needs to totally be aware of this problem. Many times I hear a live drummer play and they go to the sidestick, and it just disappears. Not good.
Currently in country music, the sidestick is a little out of ‘vogue.’ You don’t hear it as much, although, all it will take is one Taylor Swift hit with a sidestick, and it will be popular again. It was all over 90′s country music. Examples are Martina McBride ‘Independence Day,” the great Lonnie Wilson used quarter note sidesticks on the verses. One of my favorites is “Lovin’ only Me” by Ricky Skaggs. The sidestick sound that Eddie Bayers got was amazing.
Back in the 90′s, a lot of the sidestick sounds that you hear on records were samples. We would take these racks of electronics to sessions, and trigger the sidestick sound, with an Akai sampler and a pad. Everyone had a bunch of samples and the engineers would take a line for the sidestick. It was easier to mix, and it was also before protools.
Now, we are in an uber organic mode. Everyone wants natural sidestick. A great sidestick with a big, fat, meaty tone is amazing.
Another thing that really affects the sidestick sound is the snare drum. I’ve got a 15″ John Robinson snare with wood hoops, the sidestick sound is great on that one. Also, die cast hoops will give a stronger sidestick sound than flange hoops. But the biggest sound for me is when I use non dense sticks, or lighter sticks. The density of the sticks for sidestick is paramount.
One of my pet peeves is the sidestick block. You know, it’s that block that looks like a cowbell. Hate..sorry, no I’m not sorry, when I hear one of those things live, my first thought is, hmmm, lazy drummer?? please don’t use those stupid things, again, just one man’s opinion. Play the dang thing live.
I’ve been in a crazy Rush mood lately. I can’t stop listening to them. What’s wrong with me?
Obviously, the train beat is what is sounds like. Originally meant to mimick the sound of a train. It’s very fun to play! Start with a simple 2 and 4 on the snare with the with the “train” 8th’s and play 1 and 3 on the kick. Add different kick patterns in. Have fun with it!
Some of my favorite train beat songs are Ricky Skaggs ‘Life’s too Long” (Larry Londin-drums), Vince Gill “Liza Jane” (Eddie Bayers-drums, this one is amazing!!) Ricky Skaggs “Hummingbird” (Eddie Bayers-drums, on this youtube video it’s Harry Stinson), Ricky Skaggs “Country Boy” (Martin Parker-drums) Ricky Skaggs “Highway 40 Blues“, Brad Paisley, “A little mud on the tires“ (Ben Sesar-drums), Sting “Love is stronger than Justice” (Vinnie Calaiuta-drums, it goes to train in the chorus).
Please watch these linked videos, and if you don’t see any of them, PLEEEEEEZE watch “Counry Boy.” When I first saw this video, I couldn’t believe what I was watching. This is some seriously amazing stuff. Enjoy it!!
When you check all this stuff out, pleeeeeeeeeze leave a comment. Tell me where you are from, what are your thoughts, what do you want to talk about. Don’t visit this site and not leave a comment!!! blessings!! th
