Re: Static Loops, Quantized Sequences and Music that Breathes

[midifriedchicken@comcast.net]

I just use Stylus with chaos.

 

> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> From: "RICK WALKER" <looppool@cruzio.com> 
>
> > -- 
> > D. wrote: 
> > " the drummer doesn't like clicks or 
> > flashing lights & in any case, we all think that for the music to be 
> > able to "breathe", we don't want quartz-locked BPM. 
> > 
> > Having been a live and studio drummer professionally for 30 years I feel 
> > compelled to 
> > chime in here. All music, including quartz-locked BPM loops or sequenced 
> > music 
> > has the ability to 'breathe". It just takes a more sophisticated 
> > drummer (and other 
> > musicians) to make it appear to breathe. 
> > 
> > In the case of playing to quantized sequences or static loops, it is 
> > efficacious to 
> > practice playing anywhere from way behind the beat (in a musical fashion 
> > that does 
> > no
> t 'lose' the connection to the quantized part) to way, way up on top of 
> > the beat. 
> > 
> > Early on in studio playing (and before the advent of computerized recording 
> > that allows 
> > people to edit so effortlessly with digital crossfading like anyone can do 
> > on a home 
> > computer these days) we learned that we could make recordings much faster 
> > (and 
> > hence, way less costly) by using click tracks that kept the musicians more 
> > honest in 
> > terms of overall tempo (there's breathing in this case and there's just 
> > plain old shitty 
> > timekeeping, if you know what I mean). 
> > 
> > At the same time, rigidity is the first inherent problem of trying to learn 
> > how to play to 
> > clicks. 
> > 
> > We were forced , back in the day (early 80's when I did the bulk of my 
> > professional 
> > studio work) to try and figure out how to make the music feel organic even > if we were 
> > playing to a quantized click track. 
> > 
> > During that process, we learned that if we were to get off of the click 
> > that we needed to 
> > drift back to it instead of trying to jump immediately to the proper tempo 
> > (in the former, 
> > you never hear the mistake in the recording; in the latter, you hear the 
> > 'bump' in the 
> > time immediately). 
> > 
> > Learning how to do this...............to play at a different place in the 
> > beat, that still is 
> > musical then helped prepare us when we encountered people from other 
> > cultures who 
> > 'felt' the beat differently (Southern soul musicians who play very, very 
> > laid back and 
> > behind the beat, West coast funkateers who are way up on top of things, 
> > Brazilians 
> > who have great time but don't play to a 16th note evenly spaced grid in 
> > their playing, 
> > etc.) 
> > 
> > I have to
>  say when I hear of a drummer who says, "I hate click tracks or 
> > blinking lights 
> > or playing to static loops" I think, here is a drummer whose overall 
> > understanding of 
> > the concept of keeping time is not real sophisticated. 
> > 
> > The drummer, probably more than anyone, is capable of imparting great 
> > difference in 
> > the way a piece of music if felt, vis a viz time. The drummer can make 
> > really 
> > locked quantized parts feel very organic and can make completely 
> > unsynchronized 
> > musicians feel very rigid and static depending on how he or she plays. 
> > 
> > Time is a deep world. It's a fascinating world. Like all things, it's 
> > really good for 
> > one's musicianship to stay flexible when it comes to playing in any musical 
> > setting. 
> > 
> > A mentor of mine (a guitarist who had backed Aretha Franklin for several 
> > years) once 
> > said, "Every song
>  can groove at any tempo...........it's your job to 
> > figure out how to 
> > make a song groove" (and breathe) if it is played at an uncomfortable 
> > tempo or if it is 
> > locked to a quartz-locked BPM. If someone calls 'Sunshine of your Love" at 
> > a 
> > ludicrously slow tempo, you can make it groove like hell if you play way 
> > behind the 
> > beat and in a very heavy manner. The same is true if it is called too 
> > fast. 
> > This musician taught me that any audience can hear if you change tempo in a 
> > song 
> > (especially if you are compensating at the start of a song because it 
> > 'doesn't feel right.' 
> > He said, "The audience never knows if you are doing a rendition of a tune 
> > or trying to 
> > play it authentically..........they only know if your time is strong or not. 
> > 
> > He would drill our band at the time by purposefully call different (and 
> > unconventional) 
> &
> gt; tempos for different tunes in our repertoire...............if we complained 
> > that such a song 
> > was at the wrong speed, he would yell at us, "Find the groove, find the 
> > groove". 
> > 
> > It was one of the best disciplines I ever learned as a professional touring 
> > and studio 
> > drummer and, to this day, it feels unprofessional when someone tries to get 
> > me to speed up or slow down because a song feels wrong................lol, 
> > it's just not 
> > always appropriate for me to yell, "Find the groove, find the groove you 
> > guys!!!!" 
> > 
> > Rick Walker 
> > 
> > ps Earlier on this list, I believe that I posted a series of exercises 
> > that I have been 
> > using with great success with beginning beginner drummers and bassists so 
> > that they 
> > can learn how to 'breathe' and play with different relaxed feels to a click 
> > track. 
> > Check it out if you feel li
> ke you don't know how to do this yourself. It 
> > only takes a 
> > couple of hours of work to learn how to do this and your whole musical world 
> > will 
> > change if you learn the concept. There's only one little 
> > warning.......once you learn 
> > how to play effortlessly and with a natural 'breathing quality' to a click 
> > track you will 
> > begin to notice how many musicians out there don't know how to do it and are 
> > xenophobic when it comes to the concept. 
> > If you can't find the exercises, I'll repost them. Just let me know if 
> > you are interested 
> >