New Cat In Town :-)

Greetings drummers!!

I have seriously been putting this off for some time.
I visited this AMAZING drum forum twice before due to a recommendation by some friends from Da Groove House, which is my humble little forum.

At this exact moment, I'm in the lounge of studio A at Sony Studios in NYC finishing off a Pepsi Cola jingle. Thanks to a pro tools glitch, I'm now using their WIFI, and took this opportunity to join. I was truly inspired by the big band thread. I'm impressed with the depth and level of musical knowledge in this forum. You cats know what's going on in the field! You're passionate about it. The same passion my friends and I had at Berklee. I love it! I'm always looking for ways to achieve that feeling in music.

Then I noticed Gary Husband's presence, and Peter Erskine's presence. Peter's post in the BB thread is as eloquant as his touch and feel on the drums. I just had to stop in and say hey. Also, congratulations to Steve Holmes for creating such a great place for drummers to rap and even throw things at each other :-).
It's such a coincidence to see Peter in here. I was just out in Europe with Alan Pasqua and Darek Oles in the Janis Siegel Group. We would begin every set with one or two of Alan's tunes. Peter is on the recording, which by the way, is A MUST HAVE. He sounds wonderful. His drumming inspired my drumming, night after night for two weeks.

We're a different breed cats. You rarely see other musicians bonding like drummers. We stick together. Pun intended.
Enough of my thread here. It's time to suit up and head back into the drum room. They're calling me. I'm honored to see my name mentioned in here, and can't wait to be a part of this great drum forum.
Good on you guys!!!
Peace and Love,
Steve Hass

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 31, 2005 08:15 PM: Message edited by: STEVE HASS ]</font>

Let me be the first to welcome you here Steve!
Enjoy your stay here. Like you already mentioned, this place is pretty darn cool. It is here that I was made aware of your amazing talent. I really enjoy your drumming.

Be sure to hook with some other Berklee graduates that are also members here!

I'm fairly new here myself. I have been really examining your beautiful playing. You're the ultimate professional playing for the song in every situation. Your polyrhythmic ability is always present, yet it's musical and subtle.
It's quite a treat to be surrounded by all these top notch players.
Welcome Mr. Hass.

Welcome Steve!

I was introduced to your playing by a few dudes in here, and I really enjoy your drumming and music. The Vibes stuff is great, plus the clips on your site....love the Dana Mase and the Ravi tunes. Haven't checked your board out yet, I'll need to do that.

I was wondering, have you ever played with my bassist friend Pat Glynn up there? He just opened Chitty chitty Bang Bang on Broadway but I know he also gigs around town...

Cheers!

Roy

Welcome aboard Steve!

...really enjoy your playing!

hi Steve,
i saw you one night at the bitter end on a jam night a couple of years ago.Didn't know who you were at that time but dug your playing.
thanks to Hod i got to you know your name and talent better.
You(ll love it here.It's like a second home for us all.
Do you still go play at "the bitter end" or in the village area?I have a couple of friends there.
One of which is an amazing female singer,her name"s Tanya Michelle,and she'll be playing this thursday at the"Red lion" which you probably know.
If you're available that night,go check it out.She's an amazing artist and person.Tell her i say hi if you do. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Steve! You dawg! I am so glad to see
you here! What an honor and thrill!

I miss you and promise to stop by soon!

[img]cool.gif[/img]

Welcome aboard. I love your groove, man.

I had a feeling that Mr. Hass was a diplomatic kinda guy!!

Cool to have you here man. I laughed at your comment about having a place to throw things at each other. That comment could be taken theoretically or literally!! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Yeah... sometimes we get into it on occasion, but it's all good. Totally right about the drumming family comment though. At NAMM you could see the posers at the guitar section that thought they were too cool for school, but once you got a gang of drummers together at a drumming stand, it was all broski-hand shakes and hugs [img]graemlins/boy_hug.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/girl_hug.gif[/img]

Loved your playing and your vid clips on your website. Pretty cool stuff.

Enjoy your time here at HOD. Check out the post history or use the search engine if you're looking for something specific. Alot of good lads here worldwide that put alot of heart, soul, time, and effort in their posts simple to share the love and passion of drumming. Lots of good topics from the past. Check out the main page also.......

http://www.houseofdrumming.com/index2.htm

Its got a lot of great Vinnie and Weckl stuff to download that you can't find in most places.

Anyhoo.... nice 1st post. Hope to see you hear often. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Steve, I was wondering when you'd sign up! I'm new to your drumming, but really dig what I've seen and heard so far. There's been a lot of talk about you in here - mostly good stuff and infact this is the very place that I found out about you. Anyhow, keep in touch and have fun here at HOD [img]wink.gif[/img]

Welcome aboard Steve !
What an honor ! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Peace,

Christian

Man! Welcome Steve Hass!

Can't wait to see you live with Manhattan Transfer in Denmark this fall! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Woot.

HASSMAN! Welcome buddy.
I'm so glad you've joined us here, and Peter C and I tokd you about this great forum months ago!
A Pepsi jingle? Can you elaborate? I was going to ask you if you can maybe describe a typical jingle session for us.
I also was blown away by your playing on Ravi Coltrane's website. 26-2 in 9. Is this the proper cycle?

4+5(3+2) , 5+4(2+3)

See ya when you come to Seattle!

Whaddup, SHa-man!

Awesome man.

Like I said about the other recent 'noobee' [MOMKs], it's incredible when we get more other serious pro's in here. Wonderful testament to the coolness of this type of tool [forum].

I actually learned of you through this board...a few select individuals [img]wink.gif[/img]

...& it's all very good!

[With this should put an end to any 'skirmishes' [img]tongue.gif[/img] ...now that it's been 'hasshed' out!...awright, enough of that already. /;c) j/k

Thanks for a very cool awa polite first post. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img]

WELCOME!

BTW - Since you're here ;cp...I think some guys were curious as to what you were doing btwn hats, sn & BD in that 1 of 4 clips at your site w the Vibes...I viewed it once, but only remember that it was some polyrhythmic groove over 4, if i rem correctly...let me go back & check it to clarify which...unless someone beats me to it. ;c) Let me get back on that, unless one of you can help me out on this one first!...

Sorry for the question right off the bat...not really. [img]wink.gif[/img] [Hope you don't mind - when & if you can find the time!] [img]cool.gif[/img]

"...Peace, love, an' good happiness stuff." [child on Vai's Passion & Warfare disc]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 01, 2005 04:27 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>

See ya tonight at the Garage!

Welcome Steve......If you ever get close to Oregon, let me know. In Portland and not getting to NY real soon. Enjoy the place.

Awesome! I love that we get to interact with players that are "doing it" and making it happen. Steve Hass, your successes as a professional musician are inspiring to many players here working to do the same.

Thanks for posting.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 01, 2005 08:33 PM: Message edited by: Zak Morton ]</font>

Wow cats!

I'm thrilled and touched by this response. You guys are amazingly sweet.

I'm short on time right now. I should be learning music for my gigs with Organic coming up. I have a 2 hour window before a little Vibes hit in Manhattan tonight. Don, I was JUST IN Oregon. Too bad, I love hooking up with cats when I'm out. The minute I start talking drums with the other musicians in the band, they look at me wierd. I can talk up harmonic displacement, and reharm all day. But I can't talk about my flam exercises in 13.
I'm always looking for that drum hang. I miss it on the road. Please check the dates on my site in the future. I'd love to get you and friends into a concert and do some hanging out.

Zak, I saw your post on Steve Michaud's thread. I corrected the problem, visit my forum under HOD. I hope that will help.

Pete...U BIGGER DAWG! I dubbed Pete the DRUM GURU on my board. He knows more about gear than I do!

GotAMatchGrip..I have to laugh at the name. I remember learning that tune in 10th grade for the all county jazz ensemble. Mike Pope has some great Weck stories. Weck...phew.
Drop me a line through my site, or go to my board and I'll take more time to answer questions about grooves and whatever. For right now, I really have run. I'm always running late.

Thanks again for being so welcoming!

Peace,

HASS:-)

Hey Steve,

We are still waiting for you in Bordeaux Man !!! :-)
Until then have fun and take care Bro'
All right.

Rodge.

Welcome Hass! What's up with those Manhattan Vibes videos? Would love to check that gig out. Was that on a PBS station or what?

Any video stuff with you floating around yet?

Thanks for coming over, great addition.

welcome, welcome...love your playing steve!!!

Derek, I think those clips [at least the ones I mentioned] actually looked like 'home' video...but of course i could be wrong[?].

...Hassman; now all we need is for you to pls see if you can get DiCenso to drop by sometime... [img]wink.gif[/img]

Or Casey... [img]biggrin.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Steve,

Welcome! Great to have you here!

I discovered you through this forum as well.

Please check in often and share with us when you can!

the pleasure is all ours! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Welcome Steve! It's good having you here on HOD.

Wow! Hey Steve!
Welcome to HOD, the board that I completely dissed when I freaked out. Little did I know that this was a Vinnie/Dave forum.
I had no idea until I clicked on Mechanics link.

What inspires me about you the most, is that you're really the only drummer in the last 20 years who had held down gigs in every idiom with the purists of Rock, Jazz,Fusion, Latin, Pop. Your resume reads like a who's who of music. I really respect that, and If I could do it all over again, I'd be more versatile.

It's great to have you here!

Steve,

Thanks very much for your gracious comments. Mr. Pasqua speaks glowingly of you, and it sounds like you all had a great time touring together in Europe.

And, CONGRATULATIONS on the hook-up with John Scofield! John always finds the best drummers for his bands. I can't wait to hear you with him.

Welcome to the HOD, and all the best!

Peter Erskine

Hello Steve,

Thanks for chiming in on my HoD thread recently and for giving me that great compliment! We'll definitely have to connect when you are in the Boston area. It's great to have you here! Your drumming expertise will be highly valued on this board, as well as hearing updates on your great drumming!


Steve Michaud

Michaud....

WORD!!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Steve, thanks for joining HOD! Awesome to have you here and I hope you enjoy the board! Its great that us lesser beings can mix with such drumming greats here on this board!

Hass! I know this question is better asked on your forum, but I think we can benefit.
You said you were at a jingle. What are those like today? Can you give us a clue. I'm sure most members have never had the experience.

Hey Cats!!

I'm sitting at a Starbucks here at DFW airport in Dallas waiting to catch my flight back to NYC. I thought this would be a great opportunity to answer a few questions. I should be learning music for a rehearsal today. Fortunately, my reading skills are OK so I can read my way through rehearsal. :-)

Drumaddix, of course I know Tanya Michelle. She's a beautiful vocalist coming out of the Chaka school. She's also a very animated performer and a sweet person. I do play the Sunday night jam at the Bitter End every now and again if my schedule permits. Although recently, I have been far to busy.

SDK, that cycle on for 26-2 is correct in the B section. Good work!

Gotta a match, to answer your question about the vibes vids on my site, I really love playing phrases in 5,7 and 9, using even and odd rates. A rate is what I call a group of notes. An even rate is a bar of 16th notes. An odd rate is a bar of triplets, quintuplets and so on. 5,7,9 is a great starting point, from there you can get into more complex groupings and apply those groupings to different rates. In other parts of the world playing rhythm this way is very common. I like to apply this to my solos in jazz, and other creative styles. Obviously I don't have the chance to use it very often at the moment. Even in John Scofield's band, the concept is OLD SKOOL pocket. Which I also love. As far as the video. It's not a home video although I can see how you would think that. It was taped by a Greek TV network, and then purchased by some other cable channels. Cliff Almond told me he saw it on TV late one evening. To be honest I have no idea what they're using it for.

NYC Jingle Sessions. These vary. Let me take you through a very common experience.
Jingles are all about getting the best feeling track, in the least amount of time.
I walk into the studio, greet the folks who hired me, and immediately head into the drum room. There's a kit set up, usually a beginner line like Pearl Export with pinstripes(YUCK!), or maybe an older maple kit like Premier, Tama, or Gretsch. I make a few adjustments IF I have time. They explain the track to me, maybe give me a chart if it's involved, but it usually is quite simple. We'll sound check to the track, then many times they'll say "OK we got it THANKS!" I'm like, HUH?? "Yeah we got it, you nailed it on the sound check and it went to tape. I'm thinking to myself, I didn't nail it!! That's a typical session for a commercial or T.V track here in NYC. If it's a more challenging track we might do 3 takes. I've never gone in for a jingle and stayed for more than 40mins unless there are multiple spots involved or problems with recording.
This Pepsi jingle had a full orchestra, we did 4 different spots, and the pro-tools system was down, so that took a while. But in my case, a session like that is rare. It's normally an "in and out" situation. I've never used my own drums for a jingle.
So Cats!! That's it for now. I have to run. I'll try to check in whenever I can to see what's up in here.
Keep Swingin'!!!
HASSY:-)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 12, 2005 10:59 AM: Message edited by: STEVE HASS ]</font>

Thanks Steve for sharing your experience with us.
I played a Gig with Tanya yesterday in Paris.No need to tell you that she brought the house down man!
She's now living in Paris and having a great time.I feel blessed being able to play with such a great performer.I feel it makes me play better but at the same time when i'm backing her,i don't feel like i'm plaing drums anymore.I'm just doing music you know!?
Anyway,let us know when you come to PAris and we'll have a drink together and i can show you around if you like.
Once again,it's great to have you on the board dude! [img]wink.gif[/img]

Thanks for the reply Steve. It's great to get an insight to your daily work. Always learning more! Doing jingles sounds rougher than I thought. I don't mean to discredit your work, but it seems like a shame that you don't get a chance to put your heart and soul into that work. The way you described it, ther's little "emotional input" from the drummer, huh? Certainly not everyone's cup of tea...Anyway, good to see that you balance this out by playing in groups/other live acts! [img]cool.gif[/img]

Suspiria, I have done a few little jingles in my time. I think that when you are professional musician and you can be paid several hundred dollars for an hours work, it can be beneficial. I also believe that it's more difficult to be creative under such restriction.
It seperates the men from the boys. If you can go in and give them a great feeling track under those conditions I know there are other players in here that have done that kind of work.
Steve, are you teaching in LA while you're out there? My wife and I are going to Santa Monica for a few days. I saw that you have a room at The Drum Connection.
I also ran into John Benitez, and he said besides JSco, that you two are doing a latin recording with some latin jazz veterans like Edsel Gomez and Luisito Quintero. I can't wait to hear it!
Again, thanks for the play by play on the jingle! I hope it airs soon.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by drumaddix:
Thanks Steve for sharing your experience with us.
I played a Gig with Tanya yesterday in Paris.No need to tell you that she brought the house down man!
She's now living in Paris and having a great time.I feel blessed being able to play with such a great performer.I feel it makes me play better but at the same time when i'm backing her,i don't feel like i'm plaing drums anymore.I'm just doing music you know!?
Anyway,let us know when you come to PAris and we'll have a drink together and i can show you around if you like.
Once again,it's great to have you on the board dude! [img]wink.gif[/img]

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tanya Maria? [img]eek.gif[/img]

Hey Henry,

Tania is supposed hire some french musicians, do I know you ?

I know that she can hires Jean-Philippe Fanfan, Thierry Arpino, Luiz Augusto and maybe Fabien Haimovici too so...
Her bass player is still the great Marc Bertaux ?

Congratulations for the gig anyway.

All right.

Again another example of people not reading the posts. If you're going to post, READ!
They were talking about Tanya Michelle, I don't know who that is, but I read all the posts.

Oops, sorry Henry.

Thanks for your great advice Flarobstix...