Some More Music

[brittc89]

These are some rough recordings of a trio I play with a lot at school. The first tunes the saxaphone players and then I wrote the second. Hope you enjoy!
Britt

[brittc89]

Nothin? What if I brought all of your attention to the fact that I feel like my playing on these is what I feel Buddy Rich wouldve been able to accomplish had he used matched grip??? hahaha, I had to say it.

[The Colonel]

Whoa - well now yer talkin'!

Actually - I've been listening to these the past few days, and am going to do my usual write-up. These slouches who just come in and say "nice!" and "love that ride!" have no excuse...

I've come to learn that no one here really likes talking about music. Keep it up, gang!

[FunkyJazzer]

RIDICULOUS

202020202020

[con struct]

Hey, very well done! I really liked that. Very interesting stuff, you're definitely bringing it. Good interaction, good playing. Please pass on my compliments to your band.

[brittc89]

Hey thanks a lot you guys. I really enjoy playing in this trio and Ive only recently found the joy in composing and hearing my own compositions. Thanks a lot again.
Colonel- I eagerly await youre rundown...

[PQleyR]

I don't know what to say now that the Colonel's passed judgement on us all!

Well, I'm no jazz expert...and it does seem that one needs to be one in order to say anything about it...so...er...love that ride! Nice.

Oh, and I approve wholeheartedly of the titles. More of that please.

[The Colonel]

Hey Britt -

I can't put off the review any more...Just gonna have to be honest with you...You suck.

And now for the REAL review!

First off - where was the mic? The snare is about 8% too loud - and it's either mic placement or your internal set-dynamics. The snare stands out the most - along with the crashing of cymbals, so just be aware of that (or remind yourself of that) and maybe try getting used to playing the same way with just a *tad* less snare. (at first it's just a thing you have to think: toms cymbal toms toms toms cymbal *play snare quieter!* toms toms *slightly less on the snare!* cymbal toms etc)

Or move the frickin' mic a few feet.

(and the bass would need to be more upfront in an ideal recording situation, but obviously that's not the case so screw it)

I think the sax player has a wonderful[ly developing] melodic sense - He reminds me of my friend James Tweedie - which - holy crap! I need to get you guys playing together - he moved to Brooklyn almost a year ago - he's really great - and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet...Why didn't I think of this before?!?! Anyway - yeah - really like the sax player's melodic stuff - if his technical side can catch up a little bit, look out. (not that a musician - or sax player, in this case - ha ha! - needs to be a technical monster - but I feel like his solos have all needed a little extra push to take them to that "other" place - besides just different notes/melodic-stuff...make sense?)

Listening to "Very Small People With Very Long Legs", I really like the relationship you and the bassist seem to be developing - if this guy is someone you get along with I hope you keep playing with him - every time I hear something new, it sounds like you guys seem to gel a little more - a little more cohesion each time. Keep playing together (and it's so hard to find a good upright player - seriously - even the guys who you think might be good at first - nope - they won't have that ability to get away from the strict time - while staying in time - or their soloing or idea of how to bring up a song's intensity won't be what you're looking for....It takes FOREVER to find a good one - there's so much junk out there...)

Nice 12/8 feel - I like the repetitive tom roll theme you've got going with/as the time-keeping theme of the sax's solo. Starting around the 1:26 mark, you start following the horn really nicely - that's starting to get into the ballpark of what I keep ramming down your throat about taking chances/following-leading the soloist/etc. When you start pulling back around 1:32-1:33 I thought YES!!! and now like Bill Simmons of ESPN.com I shall give a diary account of the next minute:

1:44 - this is where you need to enhance by taking over - you've followed the horn for a good 20+ seconds - and when you revert back to that beat and a half of "time" - you start to lose the moment...which isn't fair, really - I'm *really* nitpicking here - because when you went back to the "time" feel for that beat+ - it really worked - what I'm saying is that mentally, I don't think you knew what to really do to shape the solo after you went back to the friendly comforts of the time feel because the next section takes a dip back, IMO, in terms of the solo's development -

1:50 - I think the sax player is doing a good job of following where you start taking it, rhythmically (what a weird looking word...did I just spell it wrong? ever look at a word until you start thinking "there's no way that's correct" - even though you know it is?) -

1:56-2:02 - trying to find your feet here - and land alright - but around 2:05 and past that - it seems like the solo is losing its momentum, and the bassist tries pushing it a bit with his dotted 8ths and when no one comes with him - he goes back to fitting in with you two

2:02+ I'd actually say the whole 2 minute mark till your solo - this is where I want more direction from you - this is where you need to take some risks and push the others in the group - not because it's leading towards the end of the solo, but because this is where the sax player [especially] needs to be pushed because I think he's starting to run out of ideas, and needs some more inspiration. Give the guy some more inspiration. I find that most musicians have a pretty solid idea, no matter what they might tell you, about what they want to play in the beginning of their solo.

At a jam session - after some guy finishes playing some crazy pyrotechnics - the next guy might be thinking "I'm gonna start really sparse, and build to that" or "I'm gonna keep that up and [if I'm better] take it beyond that [or if I'm not as good] slowly build it down"

From the 2:40 mark on till your solo section, I'm tuned out till that riff happens.

Riff - awesome. Reminds me of some Thomas Chapin Trio stuff. I've told you to check that stuff out, yeah?

Drum solo - this is the best playing I've heard from you - the all-drum beginning till you bring in the cymbals (4:20 slightly - then 4:24) had some nice ideas rhythmically and texturally (the pressure you use on the snare rolls - I never like when drummers just always try for a super boring/clean snare all the time - give me some textures in there)

4:35 - solo starts really taking some shape - love when you pull back the rhythms and give a slightly funky feel to what you're doing

4:43-5:00 - this is *the best stuff I've heard from you* - YES! You're playing definitively - there's great touch - and that little flurry starting at 4:53 - WHEW!!! I know you're "soloing" there - but that's the kind of playing you don't just hold onto for the solos - that's the kind of stuff you can use (tastefully) behind others - that's where you take the idea of "what sounds good when I'm soloing?" to "what sounds good [to the audience] while we're all playing?" Right now, the other guys are playing a looped vamp - but that's the kind of playing you should be delivering to bring the guys up in other parts of the songs as well - which isn't to say "just play pyrotechnics" to get there - which is why I said "tastefully" - but I hope you are getting what I'm saying (you're a bright kid, you know what I'm saying - or I will fly Jet Blue there and slap you upside the head till you get it)

5:00-all the way to 5:43 - I take it back - that's your best playing I've heard so far - Seriously only 6 comments in here so far? These people aren't drummers - how dare they...

5:49 - nice tom lick there.

Like the outro a lot - more than the intro. - nice ending.

Yay!



"This Red Devil Has Blue Eyes"

love the brushwork here in the intro - would love to hear some different sound sources maybe, a la Jim Black/Michael Sarin.

Love the switch to sticks at 1:17 - a smooth transition from one to the other is so great when it's pulled off well.

With the bassist really driving that 3/4 pulse, it seems easier for you to go into some extended ideas

3:20-3:23 - ah, I've found out your "lick of choice" - from the other song as well - it's a great lick - sounds great - It's one of those things I could hear in a blindfold test and go "Ah it's Britt!"

The rest of the playing behind the sax player has a lot of nice stuff - the only thing I'd say is that it might be nice to try to (as John Coltrane told the quartet before the studio take of Welcome) keep a thing goin'/happenin' - with a morph in the "overall-time/feel-behind-the-soloist" - which you sorta do I think.

Not sure if this makes sense or not - just thoughts based on my listenings - thinking "oh, this is where I'd go with it" - which isn't to say I want you to play like me (wouldn't wish that on you!) but more "where I'd like it to go if this were a[n] album-I-purchased/show-I-went-to. I used to go to shows all the time in NYC with older dudes with beards who'd been listening to this music for 40 years, and we'd talk about the highs and lows that we liked, and sometimes we'd love parts others hated and vice versa - so who knows? I just think that certain things like Internal Kit Dynamics and Different Ways of Supporting Time/Soloists are really big things to think about - and I hope you think about them more, along with what you're actually playing at the time.

The greats had a great on-the-spot ability to "produce" what they were playing - from the straight-ahead guys to the "free" guys - and/but sometimes it's great to let the feeling/emotion overtake the sensible/producing side of the playing - as long as it's sincere - you can spot a BS-er a mile away - which is why I find it funny when someone says they're playing "jazz" or "free" and you think "my gawd..."


And now I'm approaching a tangent of mine, which I will spare everyone, and get back to the issue at hand:

Britt - your playing gets better each passing week - seems to me that you're in a really good situation with playing with the same players and getting to really experiment and find what you're capable of right now - Great place to be in. Hope you keep it up - and again - not to inflate you, but I don't mind saying to the rest of our wonderful forum partakers: "Have you people not listened to this stuff the whole way through? Where are the comments?" I am more than slightly annoyed by the lack of participants in the thread... Boo, people...

Great stuff, Britt.

[The Colonel]

Next time you post some music, seriously consider calling the thread "Eat your heart out, Dead Tony Williams" to get people participating.

[aydee]

Next time you post some music, seriously consider calling the thread "Eat your heart out, Dead Tony Williams" to get people participating.

E,You mean eat your dead heart out, Tony Williams. 'Dead Tony' WAS a mobster from Staten Island.( btw, where's my Billie jean ? )

Britt, The Colonel has left no stone unturned. I honestly look forward to all your playing posts ups, which then stick onto my itunes, and I enjoy repeated listens.

Very very nice.

[The Colonel]

Actually - taking away your posts, and my "I'll get to it when I get to it" douchebag post, there were only 3 posts in here, until Aydee crashed the party...More upset..



Hi Aydee. Billie Jean will be one of the first things I do when I buy the new iPhone with video (yay!) and hook it up to my PA's etc - or get a camera- Pretty busy here with the art gallery along with dealing with literally about 100 bands and some CD/video-game release parties (yeah! Really famous games that are coming out too! I'm excited!) The last thing on my mind has been "gotta record a video of me to prove to the forum that I can play the drums" - not that that's your reason for desiring Billie Jean (it's a great song, that's why!)

[brittc89]

Colonel!
Thank you for the dissection, Im gonna spend a couple days really reading it thoroughly. Again man, thanks for the detail, I love it. Its great to get really specific critiques and hear what someone really thinks of whats going on. Im really gonna lay into this and give it a thorough reading. Again man thanks!

[brittc89]

E,You mean eat your dead heart out, Tony Williams. 'Dead Tony' WAS a mobster from Staten Island.( btw, where's my Billie jean ? )

Britt, The Colonel has left no stone unturned. I honestly look forward to all your playing posts ups, which then stick onto my itunes, and I enjoy repeated listens.

Very very nice.

Thank you Aydee! Im glad you enjoyed it, man!

[brittc89]

Hey colonel,
I completely agree with your critque, a lot of the things you were mentioning were things I had already thought about while listening, its nice to have some re-enforcement that Im hearing the stuff I need to work on. I love playing in this trio and me and the bass player alllllll the time, definitely my go to guy if Im doing anything. I know what you mean about the dynamics within the drumset and Im definitely trying to get my balance issues all straightened out, its tough though cuz it can be a tough thing to hear sometimes and recognize. Again, thanks for the comments, seriously grateful for the criticism.
Britt

[The Colonel]

No prob Britt. Hey, PM me your cell # - I'm gonna try and get you hooked up with Tweedie and Travis.

[jer]

I listen to both tunes throughout and have the following comments:

Double kick work: need to improve, it sounds like your left foot maybe isn't as strong and the hits aren't coming through clearly.

Overall balance, similar to the weak left foot, it seems as though some of you hits are louder and some are softer, maybe work on producing solid hits each time so you get a consistant sound.

I understand you are going for something different here, but the lack of a backbeat throughout each song kinda makes them boring.

Need to bring up the guitar in the mix and back off on that squeaky thing.




In all seriousness,

Small People:

The breath at 4:23...
The way you re-introduce the groove after 6:00

Red Devils:

The overall pulse...

Great trio, I enjoyed very much and look forward to sharing with friends (if you don't mind).

[brittc89]

I listen to both tunes throughout and have the following comments:

Double kick work: need to improve, it sounds like your left foot maybe isn't as strong and the hits aren't coming through clearly.

Overall balance, similar to the weak left foot, it seems as though some of you hits are louder and some are softer, maybe work on producing solid hits each time so you get a consistant sound.

I understand you are going for something different here, but the lack of a backbeat throughout each song kinda makes them boring.

Need to bring up the guitar in the mix and back off on that squeaky thing.




In all seriousness,

Small People:

The breath at 4:23...
The way you re-introduce the groove after 6:00

Red Devils:

The overall pulse...

Great trio, I enjoyed very much and look forward to sharing with friends (if you don't mind).

Hahaha, thanks for the input. Im glad you enjoyed it! Please share with your friends, no problem there at all. Thanks again man!