The One Drop in Reggae

Woman Don't Cry by Bob Marley. Difference between Ska and reggae? Ska is faster, think 80's band Madness or early Police. Both very heavy Ska influence.
Calypso is another derivative of carribean rythyms. KAYA by Marley is another 1 drop example Exodus and Jamming too.
Calypso is more of a 16th flowing pattern, with a dotted 8th 16th note played on the kic and open hat on the AND.Reggatta De Blanc by the Police is more of a Ska beat.


<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 02, 2003 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Randy Walker ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 02, 2003 01:22 PM: Message edited by: Randy Walker ]</font>

Mento came first
then Ska sped it up....
Then Reggae dropped the tempo to where we know it best.....Out of Reggae came all the different styles (Steppes,One Drop,Rock Steady,Harmony,etc etc)......
Then Sly and Robbie threw some more delay and reverb on the tracks and boom Dub is born...
Then there is Dance Hall ....The gangster rap of Jamaica.....

Calypso was born in Trinidad......


<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 02, 2003 01:18 PM: Message edited by: ptrack ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 02, 2003 01:19 PM: Message edited by: ptrack ]</font>

Thanks, Randy. Is the one there, but unemphasized?

Does Copeland play a one drop beat on any Police songs? My live Wailers album has No Woman No Cry, but not Woman Don't Cry; is that the tune you meant? Thanks again.

same tune.

Sly made reggae more funky. Shadows in the Rain by the Police is fairly close to the band doing a 1 drop.
What Sly did to reggae was to give it a STEPPING feel. 16ths on the hat and 1and 2and 3and 4and played on the kic. Examples would be Peter Tosh- Equal Rights and Get up Stand Up and Mama Africa.

May Black Uhuru bequeath you a golden spliff, mon! [img]cool.gif[/img]

glad to help. There is a slew of kelw reggae type stuff out there. Knee Deep in Heaters with Simon backing L Shankar.
Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth (featured on the wedding singer soundtrack)
Paul Simon Mother and Child Reunion
Zappa Sy Borg and Lucille has Messed Up My mind
Stevie Wonder Master Blaster

another great example.......From Mick Jaggers first solo cd She's The Boss, "Turn the Girl Loose" featuring Sly and Robbie.
Love is The Seventh Wave from Sting's first disc Dream of The Blue Turtles.

Omar plays good reggae. Sting hired Vinnie over Terri Lynn Carrington because Sting didn't think her reggae chops were that strong.

Sly and Robbie, now that's a rhythm section! [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]

[LIST] [img]graemlins/girl_hug.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/girl.gif[/img] Reagge rules! Anyone out there play?

Outside of knowing that the reggae downbeat is on three I don't know much about it. Would someone explain the one drop? Is there a tune on Bob Marley & the Wailers Live that employs the one drop?

Also how does reggae differ from ska? From dub? Does calypso figure into any of this?

Cool subject, I know a bit about it since I used to play in a reggae/ska band...

Ska also differs from reggae in the the way you play the hihat. Most ska drummers play the hihat on the 1, the & of 1, and the & of two (repeating this pattern for beats three and four)like so: HHPH HHPH (P stands for pause) while closing the hihat on 2 and opening it again on the & of two,
like this:
OOCO OOCO (O equals open, C equals... well you get the idea, no use being redundant)

This is just the basic pattern, most drummers improvise on this, a really common lick to play over the ska beat is this:

16th notes (H equals hihat):

HPHH PHHP HPHH PHHP

Then the snare plays side stick on 2 and 4, the bass drum usually also plays on 2 and 4, but is usually somewhat improvised and/or follows the bass line...

Some great drummers to hear playing in this style are Lloyd Knibb of The Skatalites and more recently, Allen Teboul of The Slackers

A related style is the burru, where you play usually play the bass drum on 2 and the & of two (repeating this for beat four) like this:

PPBB PPBB

the snare kind of improvises over this in a ska type fashion... it's also common to splash the hihat on two and four.... some songs go back and forth between the two, so knowing the burru can come in handy...

If you need some more listening examples or info please let me know...

Good luck,

Way cool, burz. Those patterns fly in the face of all the muscle memory I've developed in drumming, i.e. playing the bass on two and four and those offbeat rests on the hi-hat. Guess that's why 'dem riddems' always sound loose and fresh.

I haven't had a chance to sit down with any recordings yet (has there ever been a record released that you DON'T have, Randy [img]wink.gif[/img] ) so I'm still unsure about the one drop; assuming it's all 4/4, is the snare on three, or two and four? Is one going to be a rest for the snare and bass? [img]confused.gif[/img]

I ain't ashamed to ask. [img]redface.gif[/img]

LOL............Hmm, well I do have a many cd that's for sure and the wife hates it! I hired a guy to build custom cd cabinets along my studio walls, top to ceiling.

As to the 1, depends on the tune, sometimes it's played on 3 and others depending on how you count it are on 2 and 4.
The kic can be played on all 4 or just the drop, but if you do that the groove soley depends on the hihat and the accents to make it flow especially if the tune is really fast. ANOTHER example would be Omar on David Bowies Tonight cd, the tune is Don't Look Down, great 1 drop on this tune, kic played on the 3 with the cross stic. Here is a snipped from amazon to listen to
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B00001OH80001002/0/102-9863742-0100966"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B00001OH80001002/0/102-9863742-0100966[/ame]

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ November 03, 2003 09:33 AM: Message edited by: Randy Walker ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 09:52 AM: Message edited by: Randy Walker ]</font>

I love reggae and started to write a book and never finished it.
Another kewl example is Tommy Aldridge on the Pat Travers cd Crash and Burn.Title track, Tommy plays the 1 drop on the snare instead of cross stic. 1 of the few Travers cds available on cd at the moment.
audio example here
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000001FB4001001/0/102-9863742-0100966"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000001FB4001001/0/102-9863742-0100966[/ame]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 03, 2003 09:56 AM: Message edited by: Randy Walker ]</font>

Is that the Travers record with Boom Boom Out Go The Lights? That's the only one I have (somewhere.) I'll buy the first copy of your reggae drumming book so you can inform any prospective publisher there are ALKREADY people asking for it, no, no, clamoring for it. Better action verb! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

I'm gonna sit down with No Woman No Cry after work tonight. It's either that or practice my Phil Rudd licks. [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] Just kidding, Mr. Rudd, I think you and Tony Thompson play behind the beat better than anyone except Bonzo.

Crash and Burn came out after boom Boom.
FTR, I think Phil is WAY better than Tony. I think Tony rushes at times and plays way too many fills. There was an interview with Robert Palmer about Tony and his drumming a few years back talking about this very thing.

I agree Phil is better. But the first Power Station record got Thompson the gig with Zep (for five minutes.). I also dug his white Yamahas with the black heads and those cymbals mounted at Stewart Copeland height.

I really dug the Power Station disc when it came out and when Palmer died I went to listen to it again and Palmer's Riptide disc and could not get into it.

Yeah, lots of effects (backwards echo and gates?) but I still groove along with that Sister Sledge album. Back then Thompson was the MASTER of the short fill, often just one note. That moves me more than an eight bar Peart roll and almost as much as an eight bar Bozzio roll (back when Terry played with a band) although I have more fun playing like Bozzio than, say, Davey Tough. [img]graemlins/party.gif[/img]

very gated and comprssed. gated cymbals

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]

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

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

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

Sly and Robbie...

Now, that was cool!

[img]cool.gif[/img]

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]

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...

Hey 5/8!

Check this web page:
web page

Good explanations on the 1 drop and lots of written examples.

T

Sweet!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] Thanks, Tombo, you da mon, er, man. [img]graemlins/star.gif[/img]

Quote:

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Originally posted by Randy Walker:
Another kewl example is Tommy Aldridge on the Pat Travers cd Crash and Burn.Title track, Tommy plays the 1 drop on the snare instead of cross stic.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I love that groove - that was one of my favorite PT songs to play. Travers told me that Tommy had a hard time learning that groove. Pat can play a little drums himself, and when he went on his Bob Marley kick he tried to teach Tommy to play that reggae beat, and it took a while!

On the record Tommy does a good job with it, but you'll notice he keeps his part simpler than on most of his other recordings. But still, it's a classic. That record and the live one (Go for what you know) are my favorite PT albums with Tommy - he kills on those!

Mr. A.

About 25 years ago here in Canada there was a poppy reggae band called the Satellites.Based out of Toronto,they were the premiere(next to Messanjah)reggae band of Canada.

After thier major label debut had run its course,a few of the guys ran a school that taught reggae/carribean music.

An old punk rock friend of mine,a fine musician named Jon Teskey went to this school.

In 83-89,the punk rock scenes worldwide had a serious affinity for reggae.Jon out grew most punk and was regarded in my home town(Regina Saskatchewan,Canada)as a 'white dread'.He could play authentic reggae bass.He knew all the ins and outs.

My parents took me to see Peter Tosh when i was 9.All my('cept the first one) Clash vinyl featured reggae/dub.I loved the Police.In fact the Police opened up for Peter Tosh when i saw them.

Suffice to say i loved the music and spent a good year playing reggae VERY BADLY!!!!

That is until Jon came back from TO and knew i loved the music,but didnt have the right amount of info and knowledge.

Reggae is very much like jazz in that it is a total attitude.

Like my friend Jon, i get very cranky hearing reggae(whether its roots/dub/dancehall..etc....)played badly.

One drop is 2+4.Rim-shot+kick played together. It depends on how u count it.

Lotsa different cats feel reggae differently.

Whats considered one drop,was invented by Lee Scratch Perry(my fave little freak of nature).In fact the 'modern' Marley/Wailers albums are rhythms and concepts invented by Perry. He changed them from a very sloppy poor boy Ska band into the music force they are today.

Lee Scratch Perry is a great start on researching beats.

Theres a guy who i love that mixes Jazz with Reggae feels,cant remember the drummers name,but the artist is 'Linton Kwesei Johnson'. He is a genius.'Da eagle and da Bear' must be owned(u wont be dissapointed).

Ska is older than modern reggae.

Reggae birthed modern hip hop turntable attitudes

Reggae bass is the foundation for drum'n bass.

RIDDUM !!!!!,ill post more....beats.

1 more fine example. Jeff Porcaro on the tune Somewhere Tonight from the Farenheit cd. 4 on the floor kic 1 drop on the 3 with cross stic later by snare.

Word up Randy,that is a wonderful Porcaro take on the reggae feel.(Man music needs Jeff and Tony back-lol)

Vinnie plays magnificent authentic one drop-reggae style.

Last night i witnessed my good friend/mentor Ray Garroway just killin some serious Reggae grooves.We talked about this thread for awhile.

Reggae=panty remover......................beats

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 07, 2003 04:13 PM: Message edited by: beats ]</font>

Quote:

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Originally posted by Burzmali:
Cool subject, I know a bit about it since I used to play in a reggae/ska band...

Ska also differs from reggae in the the way you play the hihat. Most ska drummers play the hihat on the 1, the & of 1, and the & of two (repeating this pattern for beats three and four)like so: HHPH HHPH (P stands for pause) while closing the hihat on 2 and opening it again on the & of two,
like this:
OOCO OOCO (O equals open, C equals... well you get the idea, no use being redundant)

This is just the basic pattern, most drummers improvise on this, a really common lick to play over the ska beat is this:

16th notes (H equals hihat):

HPHH PHHP HPHH PHHP

Then the snare plays side stick on 2 and 4, the bass drum usually also plays on 2 and 4, but is usually somewhat improvised and/or follows the bass line...

Some great drummers to hear playing in this style are Lloyd Knibb of The Skatalites and more recently, Allen Teboul of The Slackers

A related style is the burru, where you play usually play the bass drum on 2 and the & of two (repeating this for beat four) like this:

PPBB PPBB

the snare kind of improvises over this in a ska type fashion... it's also common to splash the hihat on two and four.... some songs go back and forth between the two, so knowing the burru can come in handy...

If you need some more listening examples or info please let me know...

Good luck,

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hey man,

Thank you very much for the compliment. If it wasn't for Lloyd Knibbs I would have never learned as much as I have. He was the first person to introduce me to the buru rhythm. It is heart-warming to know that at least all the hard work or rehearsing, touring and recording does not go unrecognized. It really makes one feel a nice sense of self-worth.
I am currently looking for players for a traditional grass-roots ska band here in NYC. Any takers.