Drumming with Words: A Time to Pound, a Time to Pause

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Scott K Fish

Drumming With Words
by Greg J. Stone — 06/11/2015

Greg J. Stone

Greg J. Stone

I have what…Ginger Baker calls the “gift of time.” …I have always had an instinctive ability to keep a beat — at least at the level of an amateur drummer. That skill crosses over to my business in that I have found that rhythm is an integral part of any speech, story or presentation.

Though I have been a percussionist ever since I was…young.., I never learned to read drum music until recently…when I started performing with a parent-student-teacher band in [my] town…. I was hoping…to follow along with the melody, but was horrified to see…the sheet music…showed the percussion parts with no other references. [T]here are gaps, sometimes large ones, where I had to stand by and wait – counting each measure in my head. Coming in at the wrong time…could be very embarrassing.

Then I thought about the significance of this. There is a time to speak, and a time to remain silent. A time to pound and a time to pause. This has vast implications for communication.

Full Story

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Elvin Jones: The Subtleties of Timekeeping

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Herb Nolan’s 1977 Elvin Jones interview is loaded with wisdom and insight. Thank you, Down Beat, for making the entire interview available online. What Elvin says here about keeping time is among my favorites from Mr. Nolan’s piece.

ElvinJones_10-08-12_CI1064Elvin Jones: “Time doesn’t change. I mean, there is nothing new about timekeeping…., some people can keep better time than others. Some people are more sensitive to rhythmic pulses, and the more sensitive you are, the more you can utilize the subtleties of timekeeping.

“For instance, when I am playing I can use the bass drum beater at a minimum because [the bass drum’s] not necessary for me to sustain the pulse. I can get just as much of a dynamic thrust with the hi-hat or a light touch on the ride cymbal and balancing the natural pulsation of, say, 4/4 or 3/4 time throughout the different components of the drum set.

“It’s just as effective for keeping the same pulse going as…using one component—but it’s not conventional. The conventional thing is to use the hi-hat for the after beat and use the bass drum for the underlying 4/4 or 3/4 rhythm to keep the steady pulsation … I just think you have to use all of the drum set all of the time. Of course, …the character of the composition…dictates how you are going to use the set’s components.

“[W]e have become more aware of the possibilities of the drum set. When I’m playing, I feel that whatever I’m doing has a certain rightness about it, but you have to keep your mind free enough to use everything…there.”

Full Interview

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3D Printer Drumset? Cool! But, How Does It Sound?

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: The technology here is fascinating. I emailed 3DPrint.com, however, asking if online readers can have a chance to hear Mr. Szydlowski’s drums. Not sure why the film editor ends this video at the exact moment the listener expects to find out how this 3D printer drumset sounds.

3DPrint.com
Maker Creates an Awesome 3D Printed Drum Set on a ZMorph 2.0 S Personal Fabricator
BY TE EDWARDS · JUNE 10, 2015

Michal Szydlowski is a graduate student at the Wroclaw University of Technology acoustics program, and he’s also a Research and Development Engineer for Toolheads at ZMorph.

Szydlowski also has lots of experience 3D modeling and prototyping, and when he faced having to come up with a thesis project, his passion for music, 3D printing, and a tight deadline came together to inspire him to create something impressive. So Szydlowski decided he’d…build a…homemade digital drum set.

Full Story

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Sherlock Holmes: Vague Memories of Music in Our Souls

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Sherlock Holmes was a Stradivarius-playing violinist who loved opera.

holmes-violinSherlock Holmes: “Do you remember what Darwin says about music? He claims that the power of producing and appreciating it existed among the human race long before the power of speech was arrived at. Perhaps that is why we are so subtly influenced by it. There are vague memories in our souls of those misty centuries when the world was in its childhood.”

Source: Doyle, Arthur Conan; Books, Maplewood (2014-05-15). Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection.

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First Time Willie Meets Paul

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: In his new autobiography, “It’s A Long Story: My Life,” Willie Nelson tells how he and longtime drummer, Paul English, first met. Willie was in radio station KCNC with guitarist Oliver English, Paul’s brother, who was, writes Willie, “another major musical mentor.”

english_paulWillie Nelson: Great characters were popping up everywhere I looked.

I saw Oliver [English] bring his brother Paul English to the station one day.

I liked Paul from the get-go. In nothing flat, he laid out his life story. He’d been busted for some petty crimes and gone to jail in Waxahachie. He talked about how he’d been on the Fort Worth Press’s “10 Most Unwanted” list five years in a row. He was a gun-toting, fun-loving outlaw with plenty of charm and no fears. But like his brother Oliver, was he also a musician?

nelson_willie_autobio“Get that cardboard box over there,” said Oliver. “Give Paul some brushes and let him play drums.”

Paul impressed us with pretty decent time.

Some time would pass before Paul and I hooked up again, but when we did, it would be forever.

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