Funny post...
Yrs ago, on certain extended outdoor gigs, ESP during winter-time &/or in NV or MT, where I would be playing anywhere from 7-21 days straight, 3-4 sets a day, I used to get papercut/cracks on my index & othere fingers... I like keeping my hands clean in the normal way [dirt, sweat, after eating certain foods, etc], as you dont want sticks slipping out of your hand because you had a peice of pizza on your hour or 2 break between sets [grease]...so i'd wash my hands a lot...I'd keep a plastic bottle of vitamin E w aloe lotion [non-greasy] handy for these instances...but sometimes i would be in a position where i didnt have it on me, & splits in my fingers would result...[& i am not a heavy hitter unless it is called for in a passage]...& it is da** near impossible to relax & keep your mind on your playing when you have these annoying & irritating little cuts [even just 1 or 2]. So, I'd use adhesive bandage tape [or electrical tape if that wasnt avail.!] to wrap the area[s]. In a pinch, certainly better than those dumb rock drumming "racing" or "batters'" gloves. [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]
Good post, dawg.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I never thought of Stew's playg as having imperfections so much as the word itself implies, but rather, "idiosynchrocies" pertaining to Stew's playg itself/himself. Which made it hip & way cool for the time, style, & genre. [img]wink.gif[/img] I know you prob meant it in this way anyway. Either way, I gotcha, broski. ;c) [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]Not every engine runs perfect, it's the imperfections that makes them unique classics, and worth remembering...
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 11, 2004 05:47 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>
i have to sandpaper away the lacquer of the sticks first, otherwise i get skin inflammation on the fingers.
My comment on the heavy halffluent hitters like Copeland and others: many of us know that with a liquid SPEED/BALANCE/IMPACT a louder sound can be produced then with nonliquid motion. However, many hard hitting drummers speak a not so liquid drumlanguage which is very attractive also to me. This not so liquid styles produces other messages.
Angelo, when you speak of liquid and drumming, I think of that time when Keith Moon turned his floor toms into fish tanks. I also think of those cheesy 80's videos where the band is playing outside in the rain and everytime there is a backbeat or fill, water leaps off of the drum heads. Hehehehe. But really, what do you mean with liquid and non-liquid drumming?
P.S. Hydration is very important, yes.
P.P.S. I agree with being anti-laquer on sticks, however the regal tip sticks always had nice laquer, try those!
CLW - I think Angelo is referring to motion & in particular how fluid the movement of the arm/wrist is prior to impact.
If a jerky movement is used as opposed to a smooth 'lift off & release' a different sound is achieved.
Much better to be consistent in the hitting sense so that the full sound is acheived from the instrument. Also, if your'e hitting the drum in the centre of the head, this is going to project a proper tone.
Liquid:
i mean by liquid the state of matter in which a substance (in this case the music) exhibits a characteristic readiness to flow. I also refer to the human body how efficient, ergonomically he moves all body parts in flowing quality without harshness or without friction. This produces a very liquid or rhythmic music (rhythmic stand here for the greek work rhythmos=flowing river).
This quality produces a certain musical language.
I call that also Speed/Balance/Impact, producing the highest result with no energy wasted.
Non liquid:
There are musicians which have the roots in another cultures. Which sometime have an almost total absence of this flowing quality. Let's say it more drastically, they are severe or radical in nature, making effects violently , hit with brutal force. Or make movement for show purpose playing in huge hall with large audiences.
This approach produces another musical language, this technique or playing is also a carrier of another musical message.
Compare for example India Tabla Playing (i.e. AHMED JAN THIRAKWA (1892-1976)and a Punkdrummer. Indian classical music present musical information more in a horizontal flow.
Or listen to Ralph Humphrey playing oddmeter with Don Ellis Big Band in comparison to Phil Collins playing oddmeter with Genesis. I do not say that there is no rock music which have the liquid quality, but rock has tendencies to be more vertical then horizontal.
I listen to both languages, but are a little in favor of the flowing one when playing myself.
Understood [img]smile.gif[/img]
But when you speak of liquid movements, those are also associated with circular movement, not just horizontal or verticle as you said.
Circular movement not only facilitates angular striking but it generates more power than a straightforward charge. Kung Fu.
But fun by the side, by horizontal and vertical here i refer to musical language not to the body movement of a instrumentalist.
Form examples for "horizontal":
For example a construct of a rhytmic form which is divided into Two's and Three's and may consists of complex arrangements of this 2s/3s over a long or short form, this produces a horizontal flow. Also Gadd makes extensive use of combining Two's and Three's in his drums compositions.
Opposed to a beat which repeats the same short pattern e.g. the drums of a Beatles tune .
A form which is hundreds of years old called TIHAI from India:
playing three time the same phrase with two short pauses in between the three phrases and the last hit of the third phrase has to be on one of the 1st measure of the form.
see a notation here:
http://www.sambatoronto.ca/docs/tihai.pdf
The capital letter DHIN strokes are the last hits of all three phrases.
Another ancient longer form from Asia:
is called FOUR DOOR. One variation would be playing four time exactly the same phrase in four different speeds (i.e. in triplets/16ths/quintuples/sextuples), you have to start on measure 1 of the form and end on one of the 17th measure with the last stroke of the fourth phrase.
Another style from Africa is called GNAWA, very repetitive but very liquid, river flowing.
here a nice example on CDA:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000GAI/002-8859135-5846446?v=glance"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000GAI/002-8859135-5846446?v=glance[/ame]
I never heard non-liquid music in Africa
The Gnawa musicians are master musicians who believe that everyone has a color and a note to which he or she vibrates. Each individual responds to his or her chosen color and note as the healer musicians play the hag'houge (guinbre), in particular. The karkaba's or qraqeb, which resemble castanets, are used to heighten the effect of the hag'houge (guinbre) although the latter instrument is often used alone, if necessary. In public, the drum, called the T'bel or T'bola, a large round instrument, is added for effect. The ultimate goal of a Gnawa M'Alem or master is perfection in playing lest he play a wrong note and destroy the healing power of the music for those who are listening. This music is also used to extol God and the spirits of the saints.
The Gnawa are noted for their healing ceremonies, called the Leila.
text passges from here:
http://home.wanadoo.nl/dargnawa/SplendidMasters.htm
But do not start practicing such ideas, it's of not much use in contemporary western music.
Sorry HOUSEOFDRUMMING to waste so much HHD space on your server.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 12, 2004 11:05 PM: Message edited by: AngeloClematide ]</font>
Whoa! Thanks for the lesson in foreign music history, Angelo - that was great! [img]smile.gif[/img]
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