The Re-Invention of Dave Weckl (and you)

[five eight]

How do you re-invent yourself on the drums? You’ve hit a brick wall and you’re mired in a drumming cul-de-sac. How to thresh free of the quicksand of familiarity? You play the same licks over and over, they’re sounding especially tired to you. Bear in mind they may sound fresh to your audience who is not as close to them. Reassuring; yet still you ask yourself: What else have I got?

Weckl re-invented himself with Gruber and again with new creative partners. Then again by incorporating conga and percussion into his playing. Peart went the Gruber route too and wondered if the re-invented new man would be superior to the just-fine previous man. A weighty point on the fulcrum of logic. Fair enough, maybe you don’t want to rearrange all the building blocks of your present concept and rebuild yourself from the feet up, maybe you’re just ready to take another stride forward. Personally I prefer Weckl pre-Gruber and perhaps just re-invigorating oneself rather than re-invention is in order.

Technique is one way. Get a new gameplan, it doesn’t have to be this year’s model, just new to you. If your reggae isn’t where you want it dig into Sly Dunbar for a while. Eddie Bayers cheerfully demonstrates what modern country drumming is all about. Don’t know how to read? Now may be the time to learn! Have you done your 100,000 Swiss triplets at 228 bpm today? Shuffles used to not be my strong suit but for six months I hunkered down on the Purdie shuffle (or my bastardization of it) and discovered Brufordesque ways of redistributing it around the kit. A minor re-invention for yours truly and, an added plus, one of the pivot points of a complicated Vinnie lick I later heard on a clinic tape. Sweet! Thanks, Bernard. Did I master the Purdie shuffle or Colaiuta’s complexity? Hell no, but I brought away something of my own because of the experience. Any little piece of turf on the crowded drumming landscape you can call your own is prime real estate as far as I’m concerned. If it’s good poachers will soon arrive in your neighborhood to flatter you.

Soaking up different styles of music is an obvious way to bust out of the doldrums. If rock is your main thing then perhaps making the acquaintance of some jazzers would dispel the stale air from the practice room. And I ain’t talkin’ Tony, Elvin and Marvin Smitty Smith either. How about Art Blakey, Eric Gravitt or Sonny Murray? If that’s too old school then maybe investigating some of the voodoo mojo of Jane’s phenomenally original Stephen Perkins would be worthwhile. Star trek it, boldly go where no man has gone.

Rearranging the drums of your kit is a quick-fix on a fresh perspective. Or better yet, if you can afford it, buy a new set. I switched Ludwig classics for DW coffee cans and found with the shorter decay of the little drums I sounded faster. This encouraged me to develop a speed I never had on the lugubrious tubs. Radically different sized drums dictated a change in my overall approach, a change I was not only happy to embrace, I was freakin’ delighted! Gladly I threw heavy rock sludge over for snap crackle pop. It was like upgrading from a farm tractor to a Miata (insert Tim Allen grunt here). New drums are expensive, but a second snare and/or another floor tom on your hi-hat side might not break the bank. A double pedal’s cheaper than a second bass drum. Old cymbals in new places will force/inspire you to play differently as well.

All of that helped me fall back in love with (my) drumming again. I’m sure The House think tank has even more ideas. I hope.

[Vdrummer]

Interesting post. I agree that Weckl was better pre-Gruber though I suspect we're in the minority here.

I think pursuing any area of drumming you're weak at will help you to reinvent your playing. I look at drumming as a collection of skills so anything that increases that will help you develop into a better player. Snare technique is one area most drummers are weak at and often seperates the pro from the semi and amateur player. Another area most players are weak at are reading skills. If you can't read well there aren't a lot of ways to get new ideas and concepts happening. Odd time and polyrhythmic concepts are another area that can yield huge benefits to your drumming. Unfortunately, all the things I mention have to be earned through lots and lots of work and won't come in a month or two.

[ashio nz]

I wish I'd learned another instrument too, say piano, which after all is related to percussion.
That would surely open up a drummers ears to more creativity and ideas for any muscial situation.

Reinventing yourself is an interesting topic and I guess may come naturally after one has been playing a number of years. By immersing yourself in other musical styles/genres will also open up your mind.

Good point about the snare drum technique. Buddy Rich once said - 'The snare drum IS the instrument - anyone can hit a tom tom.'

[Derek DeFields]

You want a minority opinion. How about this?

Weckl's playing is the same before and after. He has his drums setup differently, but IMO his ideas and sound are essentially the same. As a matter of fact, a friend loaned me tape 2 of his recent 3 set vid and I was checking out the extended straight ahead section on the hipgig. He's right back to playing at the butt ends like the old days.

NONE of this is a criticism BTW. Weckl is the man in my book and I have nothing but positive things to say about his playing, pre AND post Gruber.

For the record, my favorite Dave "period" was when he first started touring with Stern, before he got into Freddy. that was his best playing to me. I think that Stern honestly changed him more than Freddy did! :-P

[five eight]

Agreed! I like him comping behind Stern much more than Dennis. The real deal goes down with Michel Camilo's Rendezvous and the Jay Oliver material too.

[helpmate]

Dave's style was and is so advanced that I can't comment on whether before/after is better. But I can say that his footwork is MUCH more advanced now.

--Dan