The One Drop in Reggae

**Randy walker** · November 3rd, 2003, 03:43 PM

very gated and comprssed. gated cymbals

**DrumBob** · November 4th, 2003, 01:39 AM

Also check out Watching the Detectives from Elvis Costello.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005ARFU/qid=1067911806/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-2694067-7514205"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005ARFU/qid=1067911806/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-2694067-7514205[/ame]

And Englishman in New York and History will Teach Us Nothing from Sting's Nothing Like the Sun.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002GKZ/qid=1067912387/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/103-2694067-7514205?v=glance&s=music"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002GKZ/qid=1067912387/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/103-2694067-7514205?v=glance&s=music[/ame]

[img]cool.gif[/img]

**PocketPlayer** · November 4th, 2003, 02:39 AM

Where does, "I Shot the Sheriff" & "Mother & Child Reunion" fit in?

**Randy walker** · November 4th, 2003, 02:49 AM

I shot the Sheriff was originally based on the 1 drop and Mother and Child is loosely based.

**Dazzler** · November 4th, 2003, 04:01 AM

'One Love' is a classic 1 drop beat. Carlton Barrett roooolz!!

**peter c** · November 4th, 2003, 04:22 AM

Sly and Robbie...

Now, that was cool!

[img]cool.gif[/img]

**five eight** · November 4th, 2003, 04:34 AM

You are correct, sir!

Sly, Robbie & Vinnie. The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost Note. [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]

**tombo74** · November 4th, 2003, 06:05 PM

I'll just like to share my experience with reggae.

A few years ago, a west african reggae artist named John Kwesi Selassie (he was also the bass player for Salif Keita) came to Canada with his percussionist/musical director to play the summer festivals. He hired local musicians and my brother who's a sax player was in the band. After the 1st show, John was unhappy with the drummer. This older drummer said they didn't know about reggae and that it should be played this way, with this feel at this tempo and he kept slowing down the tunes and lay back when obviously the artist wanted something else. So my brother said to John that he could call me if he wanted to try another drummer. So I got a call to audition the next day. But my only experience with reggae at this time was playing No woman, No cry in another band. So I took the few reggae tunes I had (Bob Marley's greatest hits, Love is the 7th wave by Sting with Omar and Behind the veil on Jeff Beck's Guitar shop with Bozzio [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) and listened/played along as much as I could in the little time I had.

I expected to see relaxed rastas but they were kind of sharp hyper guys. They started a tune and I realized it was not exactly what I had rehearsed. So I spontaneously came up with a faster reggaeish groove that I thought would fit. I threw some accents and fills and they had a big smile on their faces: that's what we want, you're hired!
Our music si "High life reggae". It's different from the jamaican reggae: a little faster, on top of the beat, energetic, happier lyrics reggae. (Anybody know about High Life?)
He said: Jamaicans play reggae like they're on hasch, you got to play our reggae like you're on coke!!

I was already involved with a latin pop band for the summer festivals and when he showed me the dates there was no conflict. In fact the 2 bands kind of followed themselves in the same festivals. Summer would be crazy but I said Ok.

So I played grooves based on the one drop but faster and with more stamina . What I kept was a strong beat 3 and I played nothing on 1. I could accent the "and of 4" or the "and of 1" but never the 1. This creates a nice up and down effect. And in between I played stuff that I tried to phrase in between 8th notes and triplets. Very hard, but if you listened to reggae drummers that's the feel they have.

So the shows went well and it was a very good experience. Sometimes the leader would say "Dub it". That meant that it was only me and him on drum&bass for long minutes, so I had to come up with variations to keep it interesting.

Funny anecdote: For the last show, I could only show up at the very last minute. No time for me to setup and soundcheck. There was a band playing before us so I tried to get the drummer's name to see if I could play on his kit. It happened to be the guy who did the 1st show with John Kwesi. I did'nt have any other alternative so I called him. He said something like: "So you're that little sucker who stole my gig, and you expect me to lend you my kit! Well Ok. that would be my chance to hear you screw this band...!

After the show, the guy came to me and said: "I understand why he took you: you compromised and let him mold you. Reggae should not be played like this!
I said: "I don't see it this way. I'm here to play what fits the music and satisfy the artist. I think they liked what I brought and furthermore they don't play traditional reggae, their style is High Life. You should open up!

Ooh, long post. Had some time...