John H. Beck: The Snare Auditioned 1,618 Students

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: What a great project for a videographer: Chronicling John H. Beck’s stories as he “whittles down” the memorabilia in his music studio.

Drumming up, sorting out the stuff of a lifetime
Jim Memmott 3:09 p.m. EST January 27, 2015

History is made up of stuff. Letters, books, pictures, snare drums, stuff.

“For some reason, I never threw anything away,” says John H. Beck as he looks at his history, his stuff.

It’s all there in his full-almost-to-the-brim studio in the Anderson Alley Artists building…in Rochester. It’s cataloged, counted and cared for, but, really, Beck suggests, some things have to go.

For the moment, the studio holds materials from when Beck, who is 81, started playing the drums in bar bands as a 13-year-old in Lewisburg, Pa.

In 1951, he arrived at the Eastman School, with the ultimate goal of being…a younger Gene Krupa. “Once I got to Eastman, …I got hooked on classics,” he says.

In 1959, Beck came back to Eastman [School]…as a teacher of percussion, …for 49 years. [H]e also was a percussionist and timpanist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for 44 years.

[N]o wonder that his studio is overflowing….

“Almost everything in here has a story,” Beck says….

Beck points out a snare drum. It’s a Rogers Dyna-Sonic…. …Beck used that drum to audition 1,618 students for admission to Eastman.

“They were the major drummers of their towns,” Beck says. [B]ut of those who auditioned, only 258 were accepted.

His students include Steve Gadd….

“I didn’t really teach him,” Beck says with a smile. “I just guided him.”

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Mitch Mitchell Brought Elvin Jones Style Into Hendrix

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Scott K Fish

John McLaughlin on Miles Davis, Mahavishnu and More
by Dean Budnick on January 23, 2015

mitch-mitchell-thumbIf you really listen to The Jimi Hendrix Experience, of course, Jimi is killing. He turned the guitar world on its ear. But Mitch [Mitchell], who’s really a jazz drummer, brought this Elvin Jones style into the Jimi trio. There’s some beautiful musical stuff going on in there.

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John Densmore: I Stole a Ginger Baker Beat in “Hello, I Love You”

Posted on January 26, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: I love these little factoids, these little cobblestones making up the miles of road traveling through the History of Drumming. Thank you, Jim Clash.

LIFESTYLE 1/25/2015 @ 11:27PM 8,126 views
Doors Drummer John Densmore On Oliver Stone, Cream’s Ginger Baker (Part 3)
Jim Clash Contributor

densmore_2

JC: You were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, with Cream. What do you think of Ginger Baker as a drummer?

John Densmore: Unique, really great, and really full of himself too. I did an interview with him one time and the guy asked Ginger, ‘What did you think of John’s drumming?’ And Ginger said, ‘Let me put it this way: We were The Cream.’ Well, screw you too [laughs]. But let me also say I stole a Ginger beat – just a couple of bars – in Hello I Love You. Robby [Krieger] said, ‘Why don’t you do something like Sunshine Of Your Love where Ginger turns the beat around?’ That was real cool, so I copped it!

JC: Did you say anything to Ginger at the RRHOF induction ceremony?

JD: Yeah. I said, ‘I thought you were supposed to be dead.’ And he replied, ‘I am, mate!’

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John McLaughlin: Miles Had No Paper Bags, No Chords

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Scott K Fish

John McLaughlin on Miles Davis, Mahavishnu and More
by Dean Budnick on January 23, 2015

Miles Davis & John McLaughlinJohn McLaughlin: Normally, when Miles would come into the studio, he’d be carrying a coffee in a brown paper bag and, in the taxi, he had taken the paper bag and scribbled some chords. We’d play around those chords and that’s how the session got going. Only with Jack Johnson, he didn’t even have any paper bags; he didn’t have anything.

….Miles was in the cabin with [producer] Teo Macero and after 20 minutes of sitting in the studio, I just said, “I’m gonna play; I’m bored.” So I started playing this thing that subsequently became “The Noonward Race”—that piece for the Mahavishnu Orchestra—but I played it in an R&B way. I had spent so many years playing rhythm and blues in the ‘60s.

So I just started jamming. Billy [Cobham] picked it up, Michael Henderson picked it up and we had a groove going. Then, Miles ran into the studio with the red light on and he played the most unbelievable trumpet for 15 minutes straight.

I think one of the reasons he really liked that record was because it didn’t come from his direction—it just came about.

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REMO: Using Rhythm to Make Lives Better

Posted on January 24, 2015 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: With so many drums-in-the-news stories about death, substance abuse, and loudness – this story is a nice change. Kudos to Remo, Inc for focusing their creativity on designing drums for disabled people.

NAMM 2015: Remo develops drums tuned to those with disabilities
by RANDY LEWIS

At the 2015 National Assn. Of Music Merchants show…Remo drum booth on opening day…referred to a new line of drums designed to be more user-friendly — and potentially healing — for people with autism, Alzheimer’s and other disabilities.

Remo hosted a demonstration of its new Comfort Sound Technology percussion instruments….

Remo developed a drum head and frame for various size drums that eliminate overtones common to conventional drums–sounds that can severely affect those susceptible to sensory overload.

The goal isn’t finding the next Chad Smith or Buddy Rich.

“We just want to help people to use rhythm? to make their lives better,” she said.

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