Hey 19

[Lee Collins]

Does anyone here understand all steely dan lyrics? They're pretty obscure huh? Love em tho! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[FuseU1]

Great story, PE. Thank you. [img]cool.gif[/img]

(more likely) Donald could tell by singing the lyrics ... one thing I've learned is that, with singers, if the tempo is just the slightest bit "off" from what they're comfortable with, they notice it right away. Fagen probably felt a bit rushed in getting the words out, ergo, "it felt kind of fast" ... but I also do not doubt that Donald and Walter are both very keen when it comes to tempo!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That's it. It's a "feel thing" ;c) , & good singers can usually detect it because of their phrasing[s]. Altho at this point, it's pretty much evident that WB & DF are quite adept at where the time is - esp NTM the fact of playg w all those great drummers & other musicians all these yrs. [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

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THX, Klemme. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

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Oh yeah - somebody please put out a "contract" on Roger Nichols and the computers / WENDL...118.5 whacks on the drum seat with 2 pairs of 2Bs [Cob-technq-style [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] J/K :cD

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 12, 2004 02:21 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

[Groovemeister]

Peter,
I remember you telling that story about three or four years ago in a clinic in England at Orchard Percussion studios way out in the sticks...

I remember it took me 8 hours to get there and 14 to get home (I missed my last train and had to sleep on a bench at the station [img]confused.gif[/img] ), but it was worth it one-hundred times over...

The description of spaces between notes and that particular story about the Steely Dan boys were two things I'll never forget about that whole experience...

MP

[MethodAir]

"If it feels good ... do it." (or, like we used to say in the 70s: "If it feels good ... overdo it." Unfortunately ... a lot of us did).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">LMAO, [img]wink.gif[/img]

[peter c]

Pete,

When you have the charge, do
you use a device to refresh
your memory of the tempo?

Thanks.

[img]cool.gif[/img]

[mja61]

Thanks for the story, Erskoman!

I did not know that F & B had the tempos down to that much of a science for that tour. It's interesting to hear some tunes actually sound slower on "Alive in America" than on the studio albums (e.g. "Babylon Sisters"). It seems there's an unwritten rule that the tune always has to be played faster live.

"Glamour Profession" is one of my favorite tunes. Even though Gadd was playing over a drum machine, his brilliance still shines through....those velvety six-stroke rolls didn't come outta no drum machine!! [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img]

Yeah, I've never been able to figure out the meaning of the lyrics to any Steely Dan tunes either ("Is there gas in the car? Yes there's gas in the caa-aa-eee-aaaar". Sometimes, I can't even understand the words he's singing!!slower

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 12, 2004 04:05 PM: Message edited by: mja61 ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 12, 2004 04:06 PM: Message edited by: mja61 ]</font>

[erskoman]

Pete C,

Thanks for your messages; much appreciated.

re: "When you have the charge, do
you use a device to refresh
your memory of the tempo?"

I'm sorry ... I don't quite understand the question.

All the best,
Peter

P.S. Thanks EVERYONE for your nice comments.

[FuseU1]

I think he means, as the drummer, given charge of which tempo to be played for each specific tune; do you use something like say the Tama Rhythm Watch [something that has each tune's tempo documented [pre-programmed], where you can bring it up on the bandstand before each tune, either as a count-off or lighted display].

A device designating the set list tempos [of each song], in other words. Sorry if that seemed presumptuous, but it's a good question, anyway. [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 12, 2004 06:26 PM: Message edited by: fuseU1 ]</font>

[erskoman]

Oh ... okay; thanks.
IF tempo is crucial, then I use the Yamaha Click Station. It's not only programmable (you can define a set's worth of tune tempos, for example), but it also has a pulse button that will give you the tempo/click when you press on it with your finger ... allowing one to view the singer or bandleader or conductor, etc., while getting the exact tempo, and not having to eyeball a flashing light or get the click by way of an earphone or something.

I also will bring a metronome to record dates, so I can note and recall a tempo that seems to be the "right" one for a particular song during rehearsal or recording ... (I did use the Tama device during the Steely Dan tour, but the Yamaha Click Station is really great, in my opinion).

Sometimes, though, you have to rely on your own tempo clock. Some "acts" like it that way (Diana Krall, for example ... when I brought the metronome out during one rehearsal she told me to put it away, as she didn't want the tune to be locked into an exact tempo ... in other words, with some vocalists, for example, the "right" tempo may vary a bit from night to night ...

Bottom line: I think it a good idea for any working drummer to carry a metronome with them. There are even some applications for Palm devices that work as metronomes ... having said that, Yamaha also makes a cassette-sized metronome that's pretty handy.

Gotta get back to my hotel room movie ("Troy"); looks like Brian Cox is about to kick some serious butt before he gets his comeuppance (Brad Pitt plays Achilles ... we all know how that ends ...!)

Greetings from Copenhagen. Oh, by the way ... replying to an earlier question: the trumpet player in question (sitting in with Mike Stern, et al) was Lew Soloff.

PE

[peter c]

Pete,

Sorry for the way I worded that.

Thanks, Fuse, for the help! As usual,
you were right on!

That was EXACTLY what I was talking
about Pete! Thanks, so much! What can
I say except that I have got to be the
luckiest guy in the world to be able
to chat with someone like you!!

I think I am going to start bringing
these to rehearsals etc.

Thanks, again, Fuse and that goes for
HOD too! Somebody! Pinch me!!

[img]smile.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]