I just pop in the BRII tape and look at ol' Buddy in those clips from the 60's.
What more needs to be done?
Just play your drums!
In terms of the drumming, I think it's pretty obvious the direction that forward playing drummers are headed.
I just pop in the BRII tape and look at ol' Buddy in those clips from the 60's.
What more needs to be done?
Just play your drums!
You can't look at the future of the drumset without looking at the past. The drum is the oldest musical instrument. Long before flutes and lutes and pianos and guitars and horns somebody somewhere was tapping a stick or tree limb against something.
Drumming's so elemental and primal too. Most kids less than a year old will cry if you play your drums ever so lightly. My neighbor's wife brought her little boy and a girl she was babysitting (both under ten months old) to my house while I was practicing once. Instead of the noises frightening them they stood there, all smiles, and they bounced up and down in time too. I'm not a guy who uses the word cute very much but those two angels were cute.
Primal, old as man himself. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Maybe instead of drums changing, maybe the approach will change. I've often thought of integrating a loop pedal to my percussion setup so I could layer beats. Maybe someone will invent foot pedals with all 12 notes (like organ, but just the foot pedals) so that the drummer can play bass with his left foot and do everything else..hah!!
You can probably say that the future of the drums is where the future of music will be since it is a supportive instrument in most styles of music. The music always tells us what to play, how to orchestrate it and how to make it feel. Maybe in the future it will be the other way around.
IMO, most composers, songwriters, and musicians haven't fully explored the possibilities of rhythm in conjunction with what they are doing with harmony, melody, structure etc. South Indian classical music or Frank Zappa's orchestral and chamber music is a great example of what can be done if one has an ear for things more rhythmically interesting. If one were to combine those rhythmic concepts with a modern approach to harmony, melody, structure but in a contemporary setting with a drummer then I think that's probably where the future of the drums will be. I mean how many more decades, centuries, or whatever are we going to still be listening to the same old stuff. Jazz, rock, hip-hop, fusion, country, etc., it's been done. Hopefully people will want to hear something unpredictable and original.
I agree no bells. What has bothered me in my 50 years on the planet is that the general buying public is so ruled by the likes and dislikes of record company and radio execs; the almighty bottom line. The real inovators are ignored and shunned as being either "inaccessible" to the general public or too esoteric to sell. The rest pretty much, in an effort to conform, just continue to follow the trends and write and perform "music" that they think they will be able to make a living at. If you want to hear something different you have to go to the college and public stations and shop in the bargain bins.
There really aren't that many people taking advantage of the resources commonly available today to search out music that might just touch them in a way that nothing else can. They are content to allow their peers, the media and those who run it to dictate to them what is "good." To really believe that things will change drastically in the future is naive. Those with the dollars have ways of manipulating the masses to their point of view. Thus, when people are continually fed the "fact" that Ashlee Simpson is one talented singer, the masses believe it and continue to support that "fact" by buying her cd's, buying her concert tickets, buying her t-shirts, buying magazines with her pictures in them. Even when she is exposed as a fraud the money people step in and provide an aliby that the general public is satisfied with and the amount of press the controversy generates further fuels the revenue fires. What I'm getting at with all of this is that the true artist out there doesn't stand a chance. Unless the dollars are out there to promote something truly different only a select few will hear it and the world will continue to revolve around the disco beat.
IMO 50 years from now we'll still be hearing cheap Bonzo immitators blasting away that demon rock and roll beat on the 5th reissue of the Ludwig Vistalite kit.. [img]eek.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I find this kind of ridiculous, as it discredits music where people may play jazz standards or play major works in a symphony orchestra. Its all about expression and being content with yourself, you work, and making others happy, not pushing boundaries. Because something isn't completely different or profound doesn't make it less of an art.Originally posted by Rhythmatist:
I agree no bells. What has bothered me in my 50 years on the planet is that the general buying public is so ruled by the likes and dislikes of record company and radio execs; the almighty bottom line. The real inovators are ignored and shunned as being either "inaccessible" to the general public or too esoteric to sell. The rest pretty much, in an effort to conform, just continue to follow the trends and write and perform "music" that they think they will be able to make a living at. If you want to hear something different you have to go to the college and public stations and shop in the bargain bins.
There really aren't that many people taking advantage of the resources commonly available today to search out music that might just touch them in a way that nothing else can. They are content to allow their peers, the media and those who run it to dictate to them what is "good." To really believe that things will change drastically in the future is naive. Those with the dollars have ways of manipulating the masses to their point of view. Thus, when people are continually fed the "fact" that Ashlee Simpson is one talented singer, the masses believe it and continue to support that "fact" by buying her cd's, buying her concert tickets, buying her t-shirts, buying magazines with her pictures in them. Even when she is exposed as a fraud the money people step in and provide an aliby that the general public is satisfied with and the amount of press the controversy generates further fuels the revenue fires. What I'm getting at with all of this is that the true artist out there doesn't stand a chance. Unless the dollars are out there to promote something truly different only a select few will hear it and the world will continue to revolve around the disco beat.
IMO 50 years from now we'll still be hearing cheap Bonzo immitators blasting away that demon rock and roll beat on the 5th reissue of the Ludwig Vistalite kit.. [img]eek.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">However, i would be happy if i never have to hear another jazz standard again in my life... with the exception of Wayne Shorter maybe... most of the standards that i have to sit and play, they just make me think of the fact that maybe some 'new standards' may be in order. For jazz to move foward, i think you have to start playing standards that are younger than 50 years old. I think that jazz has branched itself off too far from what else is going on out there. Yeah, Bill Evans standards are pretty and all but i would sure love to see more 'newer' standards... things that draw off of what is relevant today and utilize that. Sure, when you take someone like Joshua Redman, they can take an old standard and just make it sound like it came from Mars... make is sound totally fresh (and maybe that is the point i am missing). However, i go to a friend's casual gig and i wanna pull my hair out for the majority of the set... sorry, play some new sh*t!!! [img]tongue.gif[/img]as it discredits music where people may play jazz standards
Just my opinion.
I remember Miles Davis being told how people like Bill Cosby and others who loved his old style were looking forward to his comeback and him replying, they probably won't like it. It won't be guys playing a pretty tune and everyone taking their turn. His words; "That's some tired shit, man."
I'm not talking about different to be different. I'm talking true innovation and how it is eclipsed by the status quo. I believe even the development of Western Classical music was hindered by this. Look at some of the fluff works some of the major composers had to write because they couldn't pass up the commission. So they would put out something "pleasant" for the masses to enjoy. To their credit, they persisted in their art even at the risk of ruffling the feathers of the critics of the time. Many of the worlds greatest compositions were not recognized as being great until sometime after the composers death.
In our own recent history, even those as brilliant as Frank Zappa and Chick Corea had to create their own labels just to get their music out to those who would listen.
And I agree with Matricks. If I have to play one more lame version of "All the Things You Are" with some egomaniacal horn player who doesn't want to interact, only wants to hear "spang-a-lang" and "doom, doom, doom" so he can wank away mindlessly.... SPARE ME!!! [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]mad.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img]
Thank You [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]
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