What do you do when your time sucks?

[jonthibault]

I've recently become aware of the fact that my time sucks. I've been working with a click lately, but other than that, what can a white boy do? How do I develop a mean pocket? Anybody have any suggestions?

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Jack

[Gaddabout]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jonthibault:
I've recently become aware of the fact that my time sucks. I've been working with a click lately, but other than that, what can a white boy do? How do I develop a mean pocket? Anybody have any suggestions?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Play with other musicians who have good time. There's really no substitute.

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[Steve Holmes]

How about programming the click to do 2 bars of click and 2 bars of nothing...then 4 with and 4 without. Thats good for academicly working on it but..

Also it seems that certain bad ass grooves convey a certain attitude and feeling. I find that when I want a dirty groove I literally think about being dirty while I'm playing it. I try to get in the mind-set, or try ro feel the emotion that the groove is rying to convey. Try to think past the notes and more into the realm of what is driving the notes emotionally.
next time you're REALLY pissed, play your drums, it will sound a little different than usual. Its the same principal. Once one recognizes that they can use it to their advantage. Try to feel a certain way when you play. Sometimes the music your playing can put you in that place for you...other waise you kind of have to conjur up the feelings on your own.

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webmaster,
www.houseofdrumming.com

[jonthibault]

Yeah, I did the click track thing with my Dr. 550, two measures on, two measures off (like Steve recommends in his video). It works well, but I was still a tiny bit off about half the time. I then programmed it for three on, one off, so I could really sink into the groove before losing the click, and that helped a lot. I have a tendency to really want to hear the click rather than play on top of it, and that's bad, because I'm basically "flamming" with the click so I can hear it. Baby steps, I guess...

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Jack

[beats]

hey man,check it;there are a lot of ways to improve your time.steve's suggestion of alternating bars of silencew. click will help you out.somebody posted"to play w. other people",that really is true.try to play with as many people as humanly possible.other musicians feel music differently from one another. maybe,you're top heavy(hands are dominating your feet),or opposite.try to pay attention to the strokes you are executing,are they consistent?you may already know that if you play to a click, that you will not hear it if you are "on". i used to have the same problem,so i took some lessons from my friend Ray Garroway,he has an airtight pocket.myproblem was that my right hand needed a technique adjustment.my right hand was playing into the drum\cymbal,instead of utilizing rebound of the stick.i was taught previous that the fulcrum point in my right hand originated from the point\first\index finger(which is not wrong) but you end up doing all the work yourself.ray showed me that the middle,or your !@#$-off finger is a better resting point for a better fulcrum.what resulted was a improved consistent stroke.my strokes started to lose(when playing w. both hands)that flamming effect that can fool your feel. Dom Famularo gave me a masterclass technique on hand technique,passed down from joe morello,and george stone.he has a excellent book out called"motions and emotions"that he gave me that is really helping me improve my time. dude,just practice,it can make perfect.if you have any specific questions you can e- mail me at [email protected] .......strive from beats in beautiful vancouver,canada

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