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Looper's Delight
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Sorry about the late post to this….I have been a bit busy of late scraping, patting, thunking and muting on my own! Alright, the “faux drum” thang is something I do quite a bit, yet not on an elec. Gtr but rather on an acoustic bass guitar. Some years back, when I first started doing solo bass/looping shows, I was using A LOT of processing and as many as three drum machines to supply drum/percussion parts. I found that as much as 70% of my audience would grow bored (or at least apathetic) of my show once the machines started. Looping solo bass, on the other hand, who keep their attention. I tend to think of this as a reaction to “canned tracks” and sequences being the opposite of a “live” performance. I even tried “playing” a drum machine at times (tapping in the patterns I would use in real time to give the resemblance of a real performance). And, while the reaction to this was perhaps a little warmer, there was always to “boredom factor” of having to watch someone tapping little buttons and then hearing “big” drum sounds. So, I went to playing drum parts on my bass (this was at Rick Walker’s initial suggestion…and it was a remarkable bit of advice!) I use all of the afore mentioned techniques (string mutes, playing behind the nut, strumming behind a natural harmonic, use of pinch harmonics, multi-finger pats and mutes—think paradiddles—nail scrapes, finger rubs, palm rubs and pats—which when applied at differing positions can produce an array of differing timbres—and of course the use of foreign objects to “prepare” the bass (see John Cage and prepared piano for reference…) I will at times use the Derek Bailey/Fred Frith trick of “drumming “ the strings with either metal, plastic or wood objects (each for a different “flavor”—plastic swizzle sticks and bamboo chopsticks are my favorite)….and even use my wedding ring to tap out patterns against the strings. And, I have been somewhat renown for the use of alligator clips which give me a fantastic ersatz-gamelan effect. I also tap, hit and smack the back of the neck, the headstock, the bridge and various parts of the body (a’la Hedges, Badi Assad and Preston Reed). Sometimes I use a metal slide as well… I don’t currently use any electronic effects for this—I have in the past, but now do all my sonic manipulation “manually”. But here is the big advice from what I have learned: If one is trying to create the “sounds” of drums, be that of kick snare, hi-hat etc. , then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The sounds coming off the gtr really do not sound like the real thing. What actually is emulated in these techniques is the envelope of certain drum sounds and their rhythmic placement in the music. Often times is is easier for us to “hear” drum parts when using “drum sounds”. I have found that any sound when employs a necessary percussive envelope ( ask what is the attack, decay and pitch of the sound I “hear”) will fit. I often use references to drum sounds (“gamelan” “gong”” bongo” or “snare”) to catalog the sounds and techniques I use on my bass, but I really do not try to emulate the actual drum sound (“bongo-ish” might be a better description…), and often I find myself using those sounds out of context of which would be used in a traditional drum kit i.e. often I use a “snare-ish” sound on what might usually be filled with a kick drum… The thing here is not to try to emulate/imitate drum or drum machine sounds but rather develop a vocabulary of interesting tones and timbres which employ various types of “percussive” envelopes and then develop a rhythmic sense and acuity to employ those in a unique and creative way ---vis a vis the use of loops. I have found this direction to be both more rewarding and more musical. Max