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Thread: Simple looking, but NOT!

  1. #1

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    Default Simple looking, but NOT!

    Why is it that something so simple looking is turning out to be so hard to keep locked into time? I have been working on a part in an ensemble piece that is simply the :

    Code:
    1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a
    OO  OO  OO  OO
    There is a bell piece answering this which is playing the and-ahs
    Code:
    1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a
      XX  XX  XX  XX
    Trying to keep locked into with the bell player while I do the drum and keeping it on time is proving to be quite a challenge. Especially when the other 3 parts are playing at the same time and they are entirely different! Besides practice, working with a metronome, and counting, does anyone have any suggestions for making this seemily simple pattern to be simple in actuality?

    I guess this is kind of like splits in a drumline, so maybe I should ask them how they handle that...
    ---- If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum. - chinese proverb

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    Question #1 - Is your bell player learning this song to a metronome also?

    Question #2 - Can you and the bell player practice the song by yourselves using the same metronome?

    I had an issue like this with a very simple song. No matter what, it seemed like myself and the other drummer were always "off". We finally figured out the problem when I set my digital metronome next to his old wooden one and found out that mine was running faster than his even though they were set at the same BPM. Just something you might consider...
    Da' Bum
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  3. #3

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    I used to have a similar probelm when dealing with a multiple bass drum line with one of the high school drumlines I had instructed years ago. I didn't always have a metronome with me and really didn't want to have to depend on it anyway. Two bass would play the 1e's and the othe two would play the &a's. As you might guess...never together or in "Time." A simple change corrected it: I had the bass drums add one more 16th note to the parts. Now, two basses played 1e& while the other two played &a2 etc. I called this an overlap as all of them played on the 1, &, 2 & etc. By doing this, they were able to feel the rhythm within the Timing and eventually had no problem eliminating the overlapped note. What we actually did was to play the overlap with a "Phantom" sticking and that added to the General Effect.

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    Great idea Frank. I learned something today. Thanks!

  5. #5

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    Cool Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    Quote Originally Posted by 1DrumBum View Post
    Question #1 - Is your bell player learning this song to a metronome also?

    Question #2 - Can you and the bell player practice the song by yourselves using the same metronome?

    I had an issue like this with a very simple song. No matter what, it seemed like myself and the other drummer were always "off". We finally figured out the problem when I set my digital metronome next to his old wooden one and found out that mine was running faster than his even though they were set at the same BPM. Just something you might consider...
    "your actual BPM may vary..." sounds like you'd do better with your digital than your buddy's old one...this is one case where old-school isn't necessarily better...
    keep the beat goin' ... Don't keep it to yourself!

    Charlie

    "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau, "Walden," 1854

    "There's a lot to be said for Time Honored tradition and value." --In memory of Frank "fiacovaz" Iacovazzi

    "Maybe your drums can be beat, but you can't."--Jack Keck

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    props to ya fiacovaz - the phantom stroke of a musical genius..
    are you still taking on students? LOL

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    Glad to pass on any ideas that I can. I wish I had your talent to write/compose music. I write lyrics but not the music...

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Simple looking, but NOT!

    Thank you all for your hints...The overlay/ghost note idea is pretty cool sounding which I will definitely have to try out! Another thing I have found helpful is vocalizing a couple of different patterns instead of the standard 1e+a counting. I have been going: Nu KaGa Nu KaGA .... where the nu is an 8th rest note and the KaGa is the 2 16ths I am playing. I took this approach from some Ghanian drum patterns on the Kagan. Another idea I stole from ta-ke-ti-na, is to vocalize it as "Ta Ke Ti Na". (on a side note, the TaKeTiNa friends I have also vocalize things like 1e+a2e+a as "GaMaLaGaMaLaTaKe" which kind of give it a 12312312 kind of feel)

    Again, thanks for all your help!
    ---- If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum. - chinese proverb

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