Lately I've been rediscovering my love of having various percussion items to the left of my hats. Whereas I've definitely overused tambourine in my younger days, I sure do like what it adds to this song.
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"Lonely Wonderful"
I'm doing more brush work with this group than I think I ever have, total. Also coming to terms with keeping time with my left foot; something that I've always had an awkward time of. Sometimes you need to really strip down to basics before you can evolve to the next level, whatever that may be.
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"Not Yet"
Just holding down the fort and staying out of the way.
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I really liked the tightness of the drums on this one.. the cross-sticking, the tom flams and the syncopated breakdown in the middle. My splashes make a rare appearence in here as well. There is a false ending followed by an instrumental breakdown. About as classy as we got on this album.
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"Technophase"
The original demo for this was done on a drum machine. My instructions were to 'keep it the same, but make it more organic'. Well, this is what you wind up with. I remember having to concentrate on staying awake when playing this one. Just sitting in the pocket like that always make me zone out. I think you can count the total number of crashes in here on one hand ;). Oh and it fades out at the end because, well, there never was an ending. When we would rehearse it, we'd just sorta stop after a while. I do remember we played this once at an outdoor concert. I don't recall how we ended it then though.
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"Unchained"
The artist I was working for on this album had a strong dislike for ride cymbals and wanted nothing but hats on everything. We butted heads on this constantly, but in the end I'm glad I conceded. This song in particular would have been ruined if I had switched to the ride for the choruses. In the end, sticking to hats-only really helped focus the sound and I'm very happy how it turned out.
[download]
What a great tune! This one sums up my 90's era drumming in one neat package. The intro is easily one of my all time favs. I'm sure I could improve on it today, but it's not too shabby where it is. Other notable points are the hi-hat barking on the accents, the 'ands' on the ride bell and the open armed tambourine and tom fills. The back and forth half-time feel is a great device as well. I used that one to excess in an even older project called Mesa that I did with a fella named Joe Hoffman. I don't have any surviving material from that era though.
[download]
"Camping Song"
Darn it all if I can't remember the original name of this track. 'The Camping Song' will have to do for now - I've misplaced all my original notes at this point.
This was a really fun song to play, and clearly from my roto-tom, woodblock, tambourine and cowbell days - judging by the weird drum break near the end.
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"In the Last Hour"
An exercise in dynamics. We deconstructed all these tunes to play them minimalisticly in coffee shops. That usually meant me using just bass, hats and snare - with brushes or blasticks. Most of the songs didn't really translate all that well, except for this one. I always like the unplugged version better -- wish I had a recording of it :/
[download]
"Ashamed"
Back in the early 90's I was obsessed with the history of the RMS Titanic and her sister ships. The name of this group was taken from the name of the band leader on that ill-fated maiden voyage. Of course James Cameron came along a few years later and sucked all the coolness outta that name :/
I've always liked the simple, bouncy care-nothing feel of this tune, although my attempt at overdubbing some bongos really ruins it -- lesson learned.
[download]
Zendrum Trigger Template
Tony said: can you made some detailed pictures of this transdusers- i wanna made by myself, i try do it- but m...
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Zendrum Trigger Template
Darin Kadrioski said: I sent my Zendrum back to David and company for my upgrades. They only charge $30 per installed t...
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Zendrum Trigger Template
Tony Gella said: Hi! I wanna ask you about piezos in Zendrum... you add new piezos, or with David? David sell only tr...
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Even more past audio
Colleen Marshall said: Seems a bit more soulful than your other techno stuff. A little too much ebow. I liked the other st...
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Has it really been 25 years?
Colleen Marshall said: How rude.They serve beer at Chuck E Cheese? As you can see its been a while since I ve been there to...
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