Gavin Harrison here! [Archive] - Page 10 - DRUMMERWORLD OFFICIAL DISCUSSION FORUM

Gavin Harrison

04-23-2008, 12:13 AM

Hi Citizen Insane,

I noticed you seem to really like those puresound 8 strands on your snares. How do you think they improve the sound and sensitivity? How do they compare to the standard 20/16 strands.

I love them. I guess you'd have to try it to see what they're really like. I've always wanted articulation from a snare - there's little point playing intricate detail if the snare is 'baggy' and it comes out like a blur of white noise - plus I like a certain 'fatness' to my snare sound. After many years of experimenting I started to cut off the outside snares until I hit the 8 strand thing. It doesn't work on every single drum I've got - but 85% of them improved with those modified 8 strand snares. I've got to say that most of my drums sounded better anyway with Puresound snares (even before I cut them) - basically because they are such high quality.

Hi Kalma,

Do you think it's advisable for everyone (maybe me)? I don't really like long sustain, too.
Does a thicker shell also make the sound lower?

There are many factors involved and Angelo's post is very informative. It really comes down to you in the end and the sound that you want to make. Sonor offer 4 shell thicknesses and I felt like I wanted to try to use 3 of them in my newest kit. So far I'm very happy with it.

Hi DTrocks,

I heard that you were going to play with king crimson...Have you recorded something yet? I'm looking forward to hear the result!

Yes - we've finished the first rehearsal period which went very well. The rehearsals were recorded but I don't know if they'll ever be released. The concerts are in August. Check dgmlive.com for date announcements.

Cheers
Gavin

gibeachhead

04-23-2008, 05:37 AM

I don't believe this was posted, but if you guys/gals are curious to hear what the double drummer line up might sound like. They put up a sample of Gavin and Pat playing at the rehearsals:

http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm?artist=16&show=1314

Fantastic stuff! Great job Gavin and Pat!

jez-

04-23-2008, 12:43 PM

Hi Gavin! I must say I truly admire your work and I have a simple question.

About this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VoG7p1ona6Y

Could you explain how and what you do in the fill at 0:35?

Thanks a lot in advance!

NeuroAxis

04-23-2008, 03:41 PM

Terry B.

04-23-2008, 06:41 PM

K.Howden

04-23-2008, 09:56 PM

Hey jez,

Here's the fill you requested.

Have fun!

Terry

Hi Terry, how are you?

I have a question about a fill in the same Vid, the fills happen between 2:47 and 2:48 coming off the Toms onto the Snare, could you shed some light on whats happening here please?

Hope you're well,

Kev

Terry B.

04-24-2008, 03:32 AM

Hi Terry, how are you?

I have a question about a fill in the same Vid, the fills happen between 2:47 and 2:48 coming off the Toms onto the Snare, could you shed some light on whats happening here please?

Hope you're well,

Kev

Hey Kev,

Here's an attempt at that fill. The toms are a slight bit unclear, but this is how I heard it.

Terry

Joe P

04-24-2008, 04:51 AM

Hey Gavin!

I've been listening to some of Porcupine Tree's older stuff lately, and I've been thinking... When you have to play a song live that was from before "In Absentia", do you have your own way of playing them or do you mimic the records? Or even if Porcupine Tree doesn't play pre-2002 music anymore live (do yall?), would you come up with your part or follow the recording?

Thanks!
~Joe

Gavin Harrison

04-25-2008, 12:52 AM

Hi Joe P,
regarding the older PT pieces. I did learn quite a few - and paid attention to the parts that the previous drummer composed. I based my part on his but didn't copy it exactly, plus the more we played those tunes live the more my parts mutated into other things...but that's also true of the parts that I originally recorded on the newer PT albums. They kind of evolve of time.

Thanks once again to Terry B for some great transcription work.

cheers
Gavin

Ayl20

04-25-2008, 09:20 AM

Hi Gavin,

Just letting you know that i'm looking foward to seeing you tomorrow night at the Enmore.
You came at pretty much the worst time ever though.... there's been light showers for 8 days straight... that's a record that hasn't been broken here in about 15 years. Hope you have fun, i know i will. Can't wait!!!!

cantstandyourfunk

04-25-2008, 12:01 PM

Hi cantstandyourfunk
Gavin used this pedal:

Angelo, thanx a tonne. It's difficult to get a pair of Lonfboards in this part of the world, but luckily enough, I have a student who's been gifted one recently. Will try. I'm torn between Elims, ICs and now, the Longboards, really.

the baz

04-25-2008, 07:00 PM

Hi Gavin,
Just got home after seeing PT at the Melbourne show. It would have to be one of the best gigs I have ever seen. For a band that has such a history of great albums it is amazing to see that the band live takes everything to a higher level. Your drum sound was outstanding and probably one of the best around that I have heard. It was great to see J. W. with the band in Australia. He seems to be an important part of the band now. Is he a permanent member now? Thanks for all the interest you take in the drumming community. It is rare to see someone with such talent share their knowledge so willingly with the less informed. (speaking for myself).
Looking forward to the next PT tour of OZ.
Regards

Baz

MBruyere

04-25-2008, 09:33 PM

Hi Gavin,

I've been listening to you for a long time now since before you joined PT. I've always been a rudimental percussionist mostly focusing on latin percussion. I've recently started playing drumset and I just love your style and always have. I was wondering if there is anywhere that the studio version on youtube of futile is notated. That is the most incredible writing I've seen for a song and I'd love to learn every little bit. I've got all of your books and dvd's and study them daily but I'm interested in learning some of the more complex fills that you don't really go over in your stuff. Also, I was wondering if PT is going to be coming to Denver again this summer? Thanks Gavin!! Keep up the great playing and teaching!

Marc

angelo

04-25-2008, 11:41 PM

Angelo, thanx a tonne. It's difficult to get a pair of Lonfboards in this part of the world, but luckily enough, I have a student who's been gifted one recently. Will try. I'm torn between Elims, ICs and now, the Longboards, really.

Hi cantstandyourfunk
thanks a lot
Yes it's difficult to get a pair of Axis Longboards in Italy don't be exist. But,it is a eccellent pedal, for me is best drum pedal. Longboards is vary fast pedal increases leverage and power by allowing the entire leg (calf and knee) to be powerfully expressed with the utilization of heel-toe strokes.
http://www.axispercussion.com/images/A-L2_600.jpg
http://www.axispercussion.com/images/v_drive_600.jpg
Regards
Angelo

junglelord

04-26-2008, 12:16 AM

Hi Gaven, I just wanted to relate that a good member on the Sonor Forum made an SQ2 opposite to yours, with thicker toms and thinner floor toms, I believe influenced by Danny Carey. I have a Sonor Signature Bubinga Heavy 12mm Beech kit with a final floor tom is a 15" Signature. I ended up getting a 16" Phonics Plus 9mm Beech for the last floor tom as I waited over 2 years for the last Signature and it never showed up so I took a hint from the forum member and went thinner. I found that the thinner floor tom was a good way to go as opposed to thicker especially as I finished my kit for $150, then a 16 Signature did show up and went for $800, so I was glad I got the Phonic. I had the red wrap taken off and Bubinga veneer put in and out and I was very happy.

I got a Designer Five Star Ebony after hearing you play at the Montreal Drum Festivale two years back now. I wonder how much companies realize how many drums they sell when they are on stage at a Drum Festivale and comparisons can be made by all? I bought that kit because of hearing yours that day. I remember the Pearl Drummers Forum talk post show and everyone agreed hands down that your kit and in particular your floor toms were the best drums of the day, which was the last position, after Todd Sucherman and his sweet Pearl Kit. That was a big notch in the Sonor belt on the Pearl Forum. I see your point about floor toms and PA, You ovbiously know what your talking about because your floor toms were just sick that day. I had a thick kit but I wanted a thin shell after listening to yours.

My Ebony kit was played by Steve Smith and Thomas Lang before I got it. It came with Attack 2ply clear heads and they are the most incredible heads on Designers. I have pinstripes on the Signatures and look forward to putting Attack 2ply clear on them. Since I told the Sonor forum members that, several have gone that route on SQ2 and others kits like S Classix, etc and everyone just loves them. Have you ever tried these heads on your Sonors?

I will always remember that day, meeting you and your Sonors. Your a wonderful musician for Sonor to have and they are indeed the most incredible drums,Thick (12mm Beech) or Thin (Designers 6.2mm, Delites 4.5mm). I really enjoyed your first DVD and have used those principles effectively since. Thanks.

DTrocks

04-26-2008, 11:25 AM

What kind of cymbal is this? ( The one i've marked with a red colour)

Gavin Harrison

04-26-2008, 12:02 PM

Hi MBruyere,

I was wondering if PT is going to be coming to Denver again this summer?

No plans to - sorry.

Hi junglelord,

Have you ever tried these (Attack 2ply clear) heads on your Sonors?

No I haven't. I'm happy with the Remo Coated Emperors at the moment.

Hi DTrocks,
that cymbal was a Zildjian 12" EFX Piggyback china. I don't think they make it anymore.

cheers
Gavin

Kalma

04-26-2008, 10:31 PM

Hi Gavin,

a friend of mine wondered, if your designer set with Earth Finish was high gloss painted..
(The one you used in the dvd(s?))

Kalma

04-27-2008, 10:56 AM

Hi again,

sorry for the double-post.

@Gavin: Why don't you start a "wallpaper-section" on your site?
I just created one wallpaper and had the idea...

What do you think?
Here's my Wallpaper:
http://vs165143.vserver.de/stixcontrol/files/images/gavin_harrison.jpg

It's for a screen with 1280*800

lorneyc

04-28-2008, 08:23 AM

G'day Gavin. I just wanted to say that the PT show in Melbourne last Friday night was mind blowing. Absolutely incredible musicianship displayed by all of you, it was even better than I expeceted it to be, and I had very high expectations! I couldn't believe the progression you have all made since the arriving somewhere DVD, and you especially. Your recorded work is all incredible but the live show was so amazing, without a doubt the best experience of my life. If I can ever put a show together that's half as good as what I saw you do I will die happy and totally fulfilled.

Ok, I've finished the gushing fanboy thing now. Only negative thing I have to say is that the security were even worse than security guys usually are, absolute dicks. I would suggest that you try and specify a different company next time you play here (which I hope will be soon). You guys met a mate of mine, Will, who couldn't get in round the front. He ended up happy though, since he got in back stage. But I did see a few people get chucked out for no reason. They threw out a girl because she was apparently hanging around in the wrong spot, she was in tears out the front trying to convince them to let her back in.

Amazing show though. Keep up the excellent work.

PS. Tell Colin he's incredibly groovy for me.

drumbumhamza

04-28-2008, 06:19 PM

hello gavin

im sure youv been asked this question a lotta times before.....but what pedals are you currently using

iv been using mapex janus and now its time for an upgrade so im confused between
1) iron cobras
2) pearl eliminators
3) dw 9000
4) sonor giant step (wayyyyy outa budget :( )

any recommendations ?

also my jaw fell to the floor after i watched arriving somewhere (including the cymbal song)....you guys take improvisation to the next level

FOAB and nil recurring have been on my playlist for ages now
i can play only parts of those songs haha you seemed too have pushed the limits of technical drumming to a place outa bounds for me :P

finally id like to know if tool, meshuggah and king crimson (minus the solo) influenced PTs song writing style in the last 4 albums

cheers
hamza (BIGGGG fan from india :) )

drumbumhamza

04-28-2008, 06:28 PM

oh and one more thing
iv considered telling you this for ages but somehow never got down to doing it

in dec 06 i met Virgil Donati after his gig here in Mumbai
we ended up having a little chat and somewhere during the course of that i mentioned your name and he seemed reaaaallly impressed with your playing
he said he loved your technique and style and that your one of the most promising drummers around :)
i coudlnt have agreed more
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/1443/atgaaadoolgxyqnn0innnogyj3.jpg

Alexdrum75

04-28-2008, 07:43 PM

Hey jez,

Here's the fill you requested.

Have fun!

Terry

It's not correct to me.
The flams are on the toms with the right hand.
It's basically a 5 stroke roll with the last (or first) note playes as a flam between the snare and the toms.

L(f)*R* LLRR cycling...

baniels

04-28-2008, 08:52 PM

cygnify

04-28-2008, 08:53 PM

Gavin -

I recently saw the announcement from Porcupine Tree that you will be recording a new DVD during a short European tour this October. Looking forward to that! The announcement also stated, "this will be the final time that the Fear of a Blank Planet tour repertoire will be performed"

Does this mean that you won't be performing the "Fear of" songs ever again or just not all those songs in that combination?

drumbumhamza

04-29-2008, 03:17 AM

I believe Gavin is still using the Axis Longboards.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=365993&highlight=axis#post365993

oh :( i dont like the feel of those....too light
between the given options, which ones would you suggest ?

baniels

04-29-2008, 05:15 AM

baniels

04-29-2008, 04:48 PM

Hi Gavin,

Since we're on the topic of BD pedals and such, I had a question about your choice of beaters. You had mention before that you use Pearl BD beaters (the one that you sometimes break while performing). Is it the 4-sided, the 2-sided, or some other Pearl model?

What qualities of your chosen beater outweigh the hazards of possible in-show breakage?

By the way, high five to you and the rest of PT for releasing your work on DVD-A. Far too few musical acts take advantage of the benefits of advanced resolution audio. I am glad that you guys are among the minority.

Thanks,

Ben

drumbumhamza

04-29-2008, 05:29 PM

I don't think this is a decision that can easily be made by anyone other than yourself. If you have access to a music store that caries this variety of pedals, I would say give them all a fair try and go with whatever best suits your feet and your wallet. Personal preference, as well as to what one has grown accustomed, is worth more than the testimony of others.

aaah now there in lies the problem my friend
haha out here in india we dont have the concept of trying a pedal out
sigh
the only pedal that can be tried out is probably a mapex pedal
hopefully theyr gona launch pearl here in june so.....
dw is never gona come to india for reasons unknown to me
so im left with asking people :( and gettin used to what i get
hehe

baniels

04-29-2008, 05:35 PM

I guess I assumed that if you had the chance to conclude that the Axis pedals were too light that maybe you had the chance to try out some other pedals.

What do you find lacking in the Janus pedals you have now?

aaah now there in lies the problem my friend
haha out here in india we dont have the concept of trying a pedal out
sigh
the only pedal that can be tried out is probably a mapex pedal
hopefully theyr gona launch pearl here in june so.....
dw is never gona come to india for reasons unknown to me
so im left with asking people :( and gettin used to what i get
hehe

cantstandyourfunk

04-29-2008, 09:43 PM

that's my friend hamza right there. and "promising" isn't really a word that i'd use for Gavin, lol. wizard, more likely.

Joe P

04-30-2008, 01:24 AM

Hey Gavin! I see that you like the Pearl ICON racks. Do you have a preference as far as the curved/straight option goes? If so, why?

drumbumhamza

04-30-2008, 10:55 AM

that's my friend hamza right there. and "promising" isn't really a word that i'd use for Gavin, lol. wizard, more likely.
hahah i dint say that i just qouted/misqouted virgil :P
what i meant was that gavin doesnt just have fans like us....but also those in the big league :)
and i found it fascinating to discuss one of my fav drummers with another of my favs :) kinda weird hehe

@ baniels : a couple of my friends bought the longboards....(imported from USA) tried them out there
somehow i couldn feel the punch.....also i couldnt manage to set the pedal so as to get the beaters to vibrate in unison

i LOOOVEEEE my janus right pedal
but the slave mechanism is kinda sloppy
besides the hardware is more or less rusted or worn out 3.5 yrs :)
so ya
if i only i could try the giant steps man
im sure that would convince me to shell out that kinda money

Ayl20

05-01-2008, 03:41 AM

Shauno

05-02-2008, 07:46 AM

You guys were awesome in Sydney the other night (you were obviously amazing too). I was so glad that you played that hatesong breakdown part with the drums at the forefront.... it was perfect.
Best show i've been to. Keep it up and thanks for coming and touring here.... i thought it'd never happen.

I can't agree with Ayl20 more! The Enmore, Sydney concert was spectacular Gavin! It was like a drum clinic and unbelievable concert all in one. I drove 10hrs to come see you guys and I'd do it again anytime without hesitation! : )

I have one question to ask you: If it is at all possible, could you put up the set list/song order from the Sydney show? I recall a few of the songs but got so caught up in all the excitement I couldn't remember in which order they went? Thinking back from memory I have something along the lines of -
F.O.A.B.P, What Happens Now?, Anesthetize, Lazarus, The Sound Of Muzak, Blackest Eyes, Way Outta Here, Open Car, Shallow, Sleep Together, Hatesong, Start Of Something Beautiful, Trains and Halo to finish up in spectacular form! Please correct this if any are wrong here or if I missed out on a few.

Any help would be very much appreciated!
Thanks kindly for your time and an unreal night, you made this Porcupine Tree follower very happy!
Cheers,
Shauno

Drizzle

05-02-2008, 09:44 AM

Hi Shauno,

http://www.last.fm/user/HDcomics/journal/2008/04/27/710754/

Dre

sneakydutch

05-03-2008, 01:14 AM

I know that there is a transcription for the groove at 5:13 in "What Happens Now?" and I've used the thread search and looked all over the thread, but I can find it. Can someone help me out?

Terry B.

05-03-2008, 01:46 AM

I know that there is a transcription for the groove at 5:13 in "What Happens Now?" and I've used the thread search and looked all over the thread, but I can find it. Can someone help me out?

Here you go:

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698&page=54

#1872 down the page.

Shauno

05-03-2008, 06:30 AM

Hi Shauno,

http://www.last.fm/user/HDcomics/journal/2008/04/27/710754/

Dre

Cheers Drizzle,
It's just what I was looking for! : )
Dark Matter was the tune I didn't recognize at the concert? I guess I'll have to update my P-Tree collection asap!

Thanks again,
Shauno

euphoric_anomaly

05-03-2008, 05:30 PM

Gavin,

I was listening to "Where are you Going?" the other day and was trying to figure out how many time signature changes occurred in the song. It's also a style of playing that I'm not accustomed to figuring out. Lots of jazz, blue influences. Jazz for me is quite difficult to comprehend because I find it hard to figure out who the drummer is following. It seems like he plays along with the bass guitar and adds accents with the piano player. It's just more than I'm used to I guess.

Eric

Gavin Harrison

05-03-2008, 10:49 PM

Hi Kalma,

a friend of mine wondered, if your designer set with Earth Finish was high gloss painted..

Yes it is.

What do you think? Here's my Wallpaper: http://vs165143.vserver.de/stixcontr...n_harrison.jpg

Very nice job.

Hi lorneyc,

Glad to hear you enjoyed the show.

But I did see a few people get chucked out for no reason. They threw out a girl because she was apparently hanging around in the wrong spot, she was in tears out the front trying to convince them to let her back in.

Sorry to hear it. As you might imagine we had no idea that kind of thing was going on. We don't get to choose the security - or if the venue will allow all ages. We always find out after the event.

Hi drumbumhamza,

id like to know if tool, meshuggah and king crimson (minus the solo) influenced PTs song writing style in the last 4 albums

Although we like those bands - I don't think they had any direct influence on PT's last albums other than what might have seeped through our collective subconsciousness.

Hi cygnify,

The announcement also stated, "this will be the final time that the Fear of a Blank Planet tour repertoire will be performed". Does this mean that you won't be performing the "Fear of" songs ever again or just not all those songs in that combination?

It means that we probably won't play all the FOABP songs again in one concert.

Hi baniels,

You had mention before that you use Pearl BD beaters (the one that you sometimes break while performing). Is it the 4-sided, the 2-sided, or some other Pearl model?

I use the 2 sided model.

What qualities of your chosen beater outweigh the hazards of possible in-show breakage?

I just like the weight of it and the sound it produces. I do from time to time bend the shafts slightly.

Hi Joe P,

I see that you like the Pearl ICON racks. Do you have a preference as far as the curved/straight option goes? If so, why?

I have a straight bar at my left side and at the front - and a curved bar on my right side - just because it's longer and I wanted it to reach past my second floor tom.

Hi euphoric_anomaly,

I was listening to "Where are you Going?" the other day and was trying to figure out how many time signature changes occurred in the song.

It's in 3/4 until the 2:00 mark when it switches to 5/8. It goes a bit wild at 3:40 in the time signature department - then 4:04 until the end is all 3/4 again.

cheers
Gavin

SantiBanks

05-03-2008, 11:05 PM

Hi Gavin,

Hope you guys play again in Holland at the end of the year with the small tour. Really looking forward to see you all again! Still have a lot of good memories from the last show.

Though a more advanced question. You worked a lot with clicktracks as a sessiondrummer and performer.
Now we have lots of problems with backingtracks. The problem lies with the syncing of the drummer and the tracks.
We had one gig last year but on stage the problem already occured. Monitor signals are setup lousy and the drummer loses his feed or isn't able to hear it so he gets out of sync. We have those problems a lot in the rehearsalrooms too so I'm not fond of doing backingtracks but the music relies on it (we are a genesis coverband and genesis worked a lot with drummachines which are important for the song and sound of the song).

I noticed that Marillion (you might know them and or even like them) uses a different aproach to backingtracks and giving a signal to their drummer. They have a device that gives light signals. The original site went down, only the myspace of the company that made it still excists.
http://www.myspace.com/midimetronome

My question: do you think this unit will actually help more? Or do you have other advice maybe? I'm really desperate now with the issue so any advice is welcome!

Thanks for your time :)

Santi

DTrocks

05-03-2008, 11:28 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoG7p1ona6Y

I really love your sound in this video! I recognise your white designer snare, but are you using your SQ2 kit on this video? If so, is this the right configuration?

8x7" Rack Tom
10x8" Rack Tom
12x10" Rack Tom
14x12" Floor Tom
16x14" Floor Tom
22x17" Bass Drum

Rack toms are: thin maple
Floor toms are: medium maple
Bass drum are: Heavy maple

Is this right?

As I said, I absolutley love your playing and sound! Rock on!

cheers!

Gavin Harrison

05-03-2008, 11:42 PM

Hi SantiBanks,

The problem lies with the syncing of the drummer and the tracks.
We had one gig last year but on stage the problem already occured. Monitor signals are setup lousy and the drummer loses his feed or isn't able to hear it so he gets out of sync.

The drummer absolutely must have a direct feed from the backing machine directly to his headphone amp. Monitor engineers and desks can and will go wrong. I always have a direct line going to me - and a volume control that I can turn up if I'm struggling to hear it for whatever reason. We played in New York once and the monitor engineer had gone for dinner and didn't show up until 10 minutes after we started. He left the monitor desk off - so we played the first 2 or 3 songs with no monitors. I still had the click and the backing stuff in my headphones.
I know the midi metronome thing - we used it alongside a regular click in Level 42. Personally I couldn't have played tight with it.

Hi DTrocks,

That kit is my Designer set with the "Earth" finish. The spec is correct except it's an 8x8 tom.Also it's a 12x9 not 12x10 tom. That Designer is all 'Thin" shells. (Not vintage like DeLight - so there's no support rings inside the drums).

cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

05-04-2008, 08:10 AM

hey Gavin thanks for the reply :) (all my fav bands so...)

im still not sure about what pedals you use
what pedals would you recommend if i want a heavy punchy sound and recoil action and yet play comfortably at say around 200 bpm 16ths

also one of my bands is tracking drums now and the engineer insists that we copy paste repeated parts
he assured me that its cool and even big bands like meshuggah and tool do it
we had sort of tiff over that and i said that theres no way that theyd do such a thing
he pointed out that they have pasted stuff on (BLEED-MESHUGGAH)
they play it perfectly live but to save recording time or something they use this technique

so i was wondering if you do that as well
or do you just take the song from start to finish several times and pick out the best outa those ?

Gavin Harrison

05-04-2008, 08:39 AM

Hi drumbumhamza,

The pedals I use are Axis A Longboards. Personally I do not use copy and paste on my drum tracks. I don't know if these other bands do or not. I do several takes of the same song and pick the best performance.

cheers
Gavin

Drizzle

05-04-2008, 12:27 PM

Hi Gavin,

Hope you guys play again in Holland at the end of the year with the small tour....

In case you didn't know, they play the Pinkpop festival on Friday the 30th of May.

Chris Edwards

05-04-2008, 04:53 PM

I know the midi metronome thing - we used it alongside a regular click in Level 42. Personally I couldn't have played tight with it.

Agree. Extra hard to play accurately with a light. I guess it's the difficulty in comparing something you see with something you hear. With an audio click you effectively hear a flam if you're slightly out, but there's nothing so helpful with a light.

Still, all those coloured lights should look nice'n'pretty ;-))

drumbumhamza

05-04-2008, 05:56 PM

thanks Gavin :D:D:D
haha i knew it :) just needed some reassurance

a few more questions if you dont mind (when i begin to get annoying just let me know and il stop hehe)

while watching a drum video of yours, i noticed that your overhead mics are rather close to each other, that is in comparison to what i normally see at local gigs
the distance between the two is about 2 feet whereas the distance between your mics seemed hardly more than 6 inches
is there any specific reason for this placement ?

also, i watched the Blackfield DVD wherein Steven sings "thank you India" in one of the songs.....i was wondering if you guys will ever come down to India :( ?

Kalma

05-04-2008, 10:22 PM

Hi Gavin,

i already presented it a few posts ago, but i think you didn't notice it.
Well, here's a wallpaper I created:
http://vs165143.vserver.de/stixcontrol/files/images/gavin_harrison.jpg

How do you like it?
Others and me could design more and you could put them onto your site!

jez-

05-05-2008, 12:42 AM

SantiBanks

05-05-2008, 12:54 AM

Hi SantiBanks,

The drummer absolutely must have a direct feed from the backing machine directly to his headphone amp. Monitor engineers and desks can and will go wrong. I always have a direct line going to me - and a volume control that I can turn up if I'm struggling to hear it for whatever reason. We played in New York once and the monitor engineer had gone for dinner and didn't show up until 10 minutes after we started. He left the monitor desk off - so we played the first 2 or 3 songs with no monitors. I still had the click and the backing stuff in my headphones.
I know the midi metronome thing - we used it alongside a regular click in Level 42. Personally I couldn't have played tight with it.

cheers
Gavin

Hi Gavin,

Thanks a lot for your good advice! I appreciate it! That NYC scenario is indeed worse and it seems like a real nightmare if you didn't had your separate feed! I'll try making a separate clicktrack (like in your SOS article) for the drummer that I'll send to his monitor and have the backingtrack and myself as feeds for him to mix to his own taste and needs (it seems he prefers keyboards in his mix). I know he has a small amp of his own and a cheap mixer so it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks again for the advice and also thanks for sharing your thoughts on the midi metronome device.

Cheers,
Santi

In case you didn't know, they play the Pinkpop festival on Friday the 30th of May.
Yeah I knew about that and its great to see PT at a festival like Pinkpop. Though I'm personally not fond of festivals. So I'll skip that one. But as with any PT gig in the future, I'll be front row :)

stasha

05-05-2008, 06:51 AM

Hi Gavin,
actually this is my first time here.I really love your playing, your playing have change my approach to drumming.

A few Q's :
1) Because i didn't take any music course in my country, i found difficulties to play smooth, i mean i am basically rock player and im trying to play rock with your approach which i think more to the jazz approach to rock music, which complete the music itself. How to incorporate those 2 elements?
2) What is the song that you played in Musikmesse Frankfurt 2007. I have the 3 videos from drummerworld, but i wonder what's the name of the funk song that you played. Is it your original work? is it possible to get the mp3?
3) Does PT has any intentions to go to Indonesia(My country)?

Thanks and sorry for my bad english ..

Goodluck for you!! You're my drum hero!

Kalma

05-05-2008, 07:17 AM

Yeah, he already commented on that picture a couple of posts below.

Really?
I can't find the post :-O

lorneyc

05-05-2008, 07:43 AM

Hi lorneyc,

Glad to hear you enjoyed the show.

But I did see a few people get chucked out for no reason. They threw out a girl because she was apparently hanging around in the wrong spot, she was in tears out the front trying to convince them to let her back in.

Sorry to hear it. As you might imagine we had no idea that kind of thing was going on. We don't get to choose the security - or if the venue will allow all ages. We always find out after the event.
Gavin

I figured that would be the case, just thought I'd mention it in case it turned out you had any control over it, they really were pricks. But anyway, the show was amazing and well worth dealing briefly with a couple of arseholes to get into :D Excellent stuff! My faith in music can always be renewed by bands like PT when I'm feeling a little down about the industry.

Also, I heard a rumour that you'll be doing some kind of clinic tour in Australia. Any details/dates on that?

Gavin Harrison

05-05-2008, 10:46 AM

Hi drumbumhamza,

the distance between the two is about 2 feet whereas the distance between your mics seemed hardly more than 6 inches is there any specific reason for this placement ?

My overheads at the moment are right above my head about 6-7 inches apart facing outwards like a pair of ears. I wanted to try and capture the sound that I hear sitting at the drums.

also, i watched the Blackfield DVD wherein Steven sings "thank you India" in one of the songs.....i was wondering if you guys will ever come down to India :( ?

That must have been his cover of Alanis Morissette's "Thank You". We have no plans to come to India at the moment.

Hi stasha,

1) Because i didn't take any music course in my country, i found difficulties to play smooth, i mean i am basically rock player and im trying to play rock with your approach which i think more to the jazz approach to rock music, which complete the music itself. How to incorporate those 2 elements?

If you can already play rock - study some jazz.

2) What is the song that you played in Musikmesse Frankfurt 2007. I have the 3 videos from drummerworld, but i wonder what's the name of the funk song that you played. Is it your original work? is it possible to get the mp3?

Are you referring to the 3rd video from Frankfurt? If so - it's called "Quite Firm" by Laurence Cottle and it's on my DVD "Rhythmic Visions".

3) Does PT has any intentions to go to Indonesia(My country)?

We have no plans to come to Indonesia at the moment.

Hi lorneyc,

Also, I heard a rumour that you'll be doing some kind of clinic tour in Australia. Any details/dates on that?

Seems like you heard that rumour too late - I've already done them. Geelong Drum Festival 29th of April and Canberra on the 30th of April.

cheers
Gavin

Dr_Funky

05-05-2008, 10:56 AM

G'day from down under Gavin, I can really dig some of the stuff you've done in both of your DVDs.

Thanks for drumming and sharing some of your really good groove around.

Dr_Funky

DTrocks

05-05-2008, 06:59 PM

This is kind of a stupid question, but do you have a drumtech? I asume you do have one, but i've never really heard any talk about your drumtech so...

Are you guys planing to go to Norway any time soon? If so will you play in Oslo Spectrum?

angelo

05-06-2008, 09:39 AM

Hi Gavin

I look this photo. In your sonor 12" snare you have a gum strips.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/834/gavin16wd3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/834/gavin16wd3.76910b6271.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=137&i=gavin16wd3.jpg)

What is this?
thanks a lot
Angelo

ZDrums24

05-06-2008, 02:05 PM

I can't see them well (imageshack won't let me see it outside this forum...), but they make some great products out there like what you are describing, the most well known of them being moongel.

Basically, when you buy moongel, you get this little plastic container with 4 or 5 strips of a tacky, gel-like solid (sorta like those kids toys that stretch and stick when you fling them around). In terms of muffling, these are about as good as it gets. They stick to the head, so they don't go any where and where you place them on the head and in what orientation determines which overtones get muffled. I keep some in my kit stick bag for when I do freelance drumming for musicals and such around here. Get some thin heads and tune them up: jazz kit. Same heads tuned down with moongel: rock/funk kit. Its also good for keeping floor toms under control in small or sensitive environments as they can stick to the bottom head as well as the top and carry enough weight to muffle a big drum. They are even washable (just run a little water over them and let them dry). I highly recommend them.

angelo

05-06-2008, 11:23 PM

jiltednut

05-07-2008, 12:18 PM

Hey Gavin,
firstly I'd like to say that your playing in Porcupine Tree is simply amazing and has been a real inspiration to me, and has given me so many more things to think about over the last few months.

I've got two questions that I'd really appreciate your thoughts on:

When you listen to a piece of music that you've never heard before, what do you tend to listen to the most in the song, and how does that change as you listen to it more and more??

And when you are composing or writing drum parts, and you are having trouble coming up with a pattern or piece that you think is appropriate, how do you arrive at the point where you say "this is what I should play here!!" ??

Thanks in advance,
Liam.

lorneyc

05-07-2008, 02:55 PM

Hi lorneyc,

Also, I heard a rumour that you'll be doing some kind of clinic tour in Australia. Any details/dates on that?

Seems like you heard that rumour too late - I've already done them. Geelong Drum Festival 29th of April and Canberra on the 30th of April.

cheers
Gavin

Yeah, someone just filled me in on that yesterday. Unfortunate, but hopefully you'll do some clinics next time you tour in Australia. I didn't even think of looking to see if you were doing clinics when I heard PT were coming here, I won't make that mistake again! See you next time, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Gavin Harrison

05-08-2008, 07:29 PM

Hi DTrocks,

This is kind of a stupid question, but do you have a drumtech? I asume you do have one, but i've never really heard any talk about your drumtech so...

Yes his name is Jason Birnie and works for us in the Porcupine Tree crew.

Are you guys planing to go to Norway any time soon? If so will you play in Oslo Spectrum?

We have no plans to play Norway at the moment.

Hi angelo,

I look this photo. In your sonor 12" snare you have a gum strips. What is this?

Actually it's just a piece of gaffa tape folded back into a small roll.

Hi jiltednut,

When you listen to a piece of music that you've never heard before, what do you tend to listen to the most in the song, and how does that change as you listen to it more and more??

I try to hear the song as a whole and get an idea of what the composition is trying to convey. Some details might jump out at me that my ear naturally picks up on. Could be a lyric, could be a rhythm, could be a sound, could be the overall groove.

And when you are composing or writing drum parts, and you are having trouble coming up with a pattern or piece that you think is appropriate, how do you arrive at the point where you say "this is what I should play here!!" ??

That is the mystical magical thing where inspiration (hopefully) kicks in. It's a very hard thing to describe or even answer. I search for a balance in what I'm going to play - it's like musical architecture. When something feels right to me on a gut instinctive level that's when I think to myself "this is the right drum part". It's a lot do with my individual taste and personality. The drum part that I might think is perfect - might not perfect for someone else - and vice versa.

Cheers
Gavin

Joe P

05-08-2008, 11:00 PM

Hey Gavin,
I've been enchanted by "Mother and Child Divided" on Arriving Somewhere as of late. Particularly, I love the version from the end credits. Anyway, I was wondering, how do you count it when you play it? As 5+5+6? Or as a collective 4? Please explain this to me! I'd also love to get a transcription of the intro fill from the credits abridged version (Terry Branam, maybe?). Thanks so much!

Gavin Harrison

05-08-2008, 11:52 PM

Hi Joe P,

it is all in 4/4 - the verse pattern spreads across two bars. Inside that pattern I think of it as three groups of 10/16 and then 2/16ths on the end to round it off.

cheers
Gavin

Anesth

05-09-2008, 01:18 AM

Hi Gavin,

I was watching your Rhythmic Horizons DVD and i noticed in one of the examples of Overriding the bassline your playing is the 17/8 middle section from Halo.

I was just wondering if you wrote the bassline, since you play it in the DVD.
That bass sounded pretty cool being played with a stick.

Thanks, Anesth

drumbumhamza

05-09-2008, 06:15 AM

hello again

i was watching your rhythmic visions dvd and i was amazed by the song "footprints"
is the main groove a polyrhythm of 3/16 on the hats (or is it a normal shuffle in 4/4) and 6/8 with the snare and bass ?

also how do you count the polys you play....or do you just go with the feel ?

this is how i do it... please correct me if my technique is wrong

suppose i wana try and play 3/8 with my feet (bass chik chik bass chik chik), 4/8 with my left hand (snare on 3) and 5/16 with my right hand ( played on the ride as 1_34_1_34_1_34_ .......rests on 2 and 5)

so what i do is
play the 3/8 groove until i dont need to count anymore
then to this i add the 4/8 groove.....counting initially then feeling it
and finally adding the 5/16 groove

is this your approach as well or do you do it differently ?

Gavin Harrison

05-09-2008, 11:09 AM

Hi Anesth,

I was watching your Rhythmic Horizons DVD and i noticed in one of the examples of Overriding the bassline your playing is the 17/8 middle section from Halo. I was just wondering if you wrote the bassline, since you play it in the DVD.

Yes I did. In fact I had just recorded that section of my DVD when the band came round for a writing session and so I played it to them - and that's where Halo was born from that strange middle section.

Hi drumbumhamza,

i was watching your rhythmic visions dvd and i was amazed by the song "footprints"
is the main groove a polyrhythm of 3/16 on the hats (or is it a normal shuffle in 4/4) and 6/8 with the snare and bass ?

Here is the groove I played on Footprints
18568

also how do you count the polys you play....or do you just go with the feel ?

I've been doing those kind of things for so long now - I just feel them.

so what i do is play the 3/8 groove until i dont need to count anymore then to this i add the 4/8 groove.....counting initially then feeling it and finally adding the 5/16 groove. is this your approach as well or do you do it differently ?

That's pretty much how I do it. There generally has to be something you play that you need to do without much attention (such as the pattern of your feet - in your example) and then you can focus on the harder stuff above. There's a chapter in my second book "Rhythmic Perspectives" all about the focus of attention whilst playing polyrhythmic stuff.

cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

05-09-2008, 07:38 PM

sadly neither your books, dvds nor PT albums are available here
il probably ask my cousin to get it down for the states :(

thanks for scanning the notation :)
greatly appreciated

Trains'

05-09-2008, 07:45 PM

Hey Gavin,

i have a question about your snare wires ,

where do you cut it down?

i have a 16 - Wire Puresound.. do you think it makes sense to cut it to 8 Wires ?

Thank you for your Time !

ZDrums24

05-09-2008, 09:17 PM

Hey Gavin,

i have a question about your snare wires ,

where do you cut it down?

i have a 16 - Wire Puresound.. do you think it makes sense to cut it to 8 Wires ?

Thank you for your Time !

I asked this question a while back. He cuts off the 2 outside wires on either side of the unit.
A 16 set is pretty wide compared to an 8. It would make more sense to cut down a set of 12, but I can't imagine it'll make much of a difference in sound whether you use a set of 16 or a set of 12 once they are cut down to 8.

Trains'

05-09-2008, 10:48 PM

I asked this question a while back. He cuts off the 2 outside wires on either side of the unit.
A 16 set is pretty wide compared to an 8. It would make more sense to cut down a set of 12, but I can't imagine it'll make much of a difference in sound whether you use a set of 16 or a set of 12 once they are cut down to 8.

I know he cuts the outside wires .. but where exactly , i'm a bit fussy about cutting something " expensive " like that down. Stundents and the money ;). And the difference between a cut down 12 or 16 wire .. there is more damping when it was a 16 wire .. again , im probly. too fussy :P . But Gavin knows all of that ( if you believe in a german drum magazine ;) ) , so got to ask him .. ;)

Gavin Harrison

05-09-2008, 10:59 PM

Hi Trains,

I actually use pliers to pull them right off the plate where they are soldered - then I file it down so there's no rough edges to cut into the snare head. Of course the plate that holds 16 strands will be wider than a 12 plate. I've never tried it with a 16 strand so I don't know what the difference would be.

cheers
Gavin

Tom Sawyer

05-10-2008, 01:22 AM

Gavin, I read on a Portuguese site that there were rumors that you guys would be playing here in Portugal this fall, can you confirm this?

Gus

05-10-2008, 12:50 PM

Hi Gavin

At last good news!. PT are going to play in Spain in october. I´ve just ordered the tickets for both me and my wife, and we´ll see the band in Madrid 10/10/08. Can´t wait! ;-).

Will be some of your stuff -cds or books- on sale in the concert?. Would be nice.

See you
Gustavo.

Sol Good

05-10-2008, 07:20 PM

Gavin, I read on a Portuguese site that there were rumors that you guys would be playing here in Portugal this fall, can you confirm this?

Check the PT site - it indicates Portuguese dates are to be confirmed shortly.

Tauwolf

05-12-2008, 08:01 AM

Hi Gavin, I just wanted to say that I'm a new recreational drummer and an even newer PT fan. My local drum shop guy introduced me to you guys. I was pretty much instantly a fan of PT and I think your drumming is inspirational and incredibly impressive. And the fact that you are so interactive with your fans -- wow! : )

I checked the PT website and was crushed to see no USA tour dates for this year. : (

Just one question for you: Do you or PT have any plans to film any performances in high def for release on Blu Ray?

Anyways, keep up the amazing work and thank you.

PS. Drop is freaking awesome.

Gavin Harrison

05-12-2008, 12:39 PM

Hi Tom Sawyer,

Gavin, I read on a Portuguese site that there were rumors that you guys would be playing here in Portugal this fall, can you confirm this?

We are trying to come to Portugal - but things aren't confirmed yet.

Hi Tauwolf,

I checked the PT website and was crushed to see no USA tour dates for this year. : (

That's correct - no plans to come there this year - but I'll be playing with King Crimson in August. Nashville - Chicago - Philadelphia - NYC (multiple nights in each town).

Just one question for you: Do you or PT have any plans to film any performances in high def for release on Blu Ray?

We will shoot the next DVD in High Definition (as the last one was too) - I don't know if it'll make to a Blu Ray release.

cheers
Gavin

DTrocks

05-12-2008, 12:47 PM

When will you release your next dvd? (with PT) Next year? Looking forward to it!

NeuroAxis

05-12-2008, 06:26 PM

I know this kind of thing isn't up to you personally, but any chance of a wider King Crimson tour? There are lots of us Crim-heads who don't have the advantage of living in or near a major city.

Gavin Harrison

05-12-2008, 08:06 PM

Hi DTrocks,

When will you release your next dvd? (with PT) Next year?

We're going to film it this October - so I would imagine it would be released sometime near the middle of next year.

Hi NeuroAxis,

I know this kind of thing isn't up to you personally, but any chance of a wider King Crimson tour?

I can assure you that I have no influence on where KC might tour in the future. If you really want to see it - I guess you're going to have to travel.

cheers
Gavin

DTrocks

05-13-2008, 02:37 PM

This isn't a very drum related question but what is the song "Trains" really about? Steven writes a lot about trains, for example in Hatesong, Trains, at the end of Lazarus(train-sounds) and in some song on Foabp. Do steven have a special interest on trains? Haha..looking forward to hear your answer on this one.

Cheers!

Trains'

05-13-2008, 07:06 PM

This isn't a very drum related question but what is the song "Trains" really about?

Me? ;) ,

Gavin .. do you already know which Concert you will be filming?

Citizen Insane

05-14-2008, 12:01 AM

I have two questions Mr.Harrison.

1, I know that you can read notes, how important would you say it is for drummers to read notes? Would you say it is of equal importance compared to a violin or piano?

2, I understand that you have a 14x7 Recording Custom snare in your collection. I have a similiar snare (14x7 birch custom absolute) and I was wondering what head combo, and snare wires you use for your RC snare? I'm aiming for a similiar snare sound as yours. I think that you have one of the best all around snare drum sound in the business.

Greatly appreciated,

Ronan

ZDrums24

05-14-2008, 12:25 AM

I have two questions Mr.Harrison.

1, I know that you can read notes, how important would you say it is for drummers to read notes? Would you say it is of equal importance compared to a violin or piano?

I'm not Gavin, but as a drummer who gigs quite a bit (and as a music education major), I have a hopefully viable opinion on this topic. Basically, reading notes is like reading any written language. No, you don't need to read to get through life as a gigging drummer (we play timbre oriented instruments as opposed to melodic), but it cuts you off from so many resources. Also, not being able to read music limits the number of gigs you can get into. I do a musical or two in the area every year. These gigs pay great (upwards of $200) and take up very little time (usually 2 shows and 2-3 reheasals max), but the trade off is that if you can't read the book, it becomes much harder to hit the ground running and put on a successful show (especially since most performance cds bare little resemblance to the books provided). Reading is a skill that just widens your options by giving you access to a form of communication that happens to be a lot easier and more practical to use than recordings or learning by ear. I also find the visual representation of a drum set pattern can often make it easier to grasp some more complicated concepts.

just thought I'd throw my two cents in.

NeuroAxis

05-14-2008, 01:14 AM

I also find the visual representation of a drum set pattern can often make it easier to grasp some more complicated concepts.

Agreed. I learned to read music when I took piano lessons as a boy, then completely forgot how to do it when I gave up the piano. A few years later I started to get serious about drumming and now I am trying to reteach myself how to read. I found when learning the overriding exercises on Rhythmic Horizons that after learning the beats by feel or by programming them into a drum machine and slowing the tempo way down, playing them while watching the notation on a music stand beside my set made the pattern make a whole lot more sense.

I still have a long way to go before I can sight read again, but I think it is a really important skill to have as a working drummer.

drumbumhamza

05-14-2008, 06:14 AM

I'm not Gavin, but as a drummer who gigs quite a bit (and as a music education major), I have a hopefully viable opinion on this topic. Basically, reading notes is like reading any written language. No, you don't need to read to get through life as a gigging drummer (we play timbre oriented instruments as opposed to melodic), but it cuts you off from so many resources. Also, not being able to read music limits the number of gigs you can get into. I do a musical or two in the area every year. These gigs pay great (upwards of $200) and take up very little time (usually 2 shows and 2-3 reheasals max), but the trade off is that if you can't read the book, it becomes much harder to hit the ground running and put on a successful show (especially since most performance cds bare little resemblance to the books provided). Reading is a skill that just widens your options by giving you access to a form of communication that happens to be a lot easier and more practical to use than recordings or learning by ear. I also find the visual representation of a drum set pattern can often make it easier to grasp some more complicated concepts.

just thought I'd throw my two cents in.
Well said :)
the thing is.....if you want to go deeper into the technical aspect of drumming you need to know how to read
odd time signatures and polyrhythms can be easily understood if you have them written out on paper
there is an easier option though...."tabs"
it gets the work done
but youl be lost on dynamics and might come across problems where triplets are concerned :)
well this is what i think....i could be terribly wrong :)

Gavin Harrison

05-15-2008, 11:50 AM

Hi DTrocks,

This isn't a very drum related question but what is the song "Trains" really about?

You'd need to ask Steven about that - and his interest in trains in general.

Hi Citizen Insane,

I know that you can read notes, how important would you say it is for drummers to read notes? Would you say it is of equal importance compared to a violin or piano?

I think it's important - I use that skill all the time - whether it's working out complex rhythms or quickly writing out charts that I can read for a gig or session. My sight reading is probably not as good as it once was - I tend not to find myself in situations that require it anymore - but years ago I did a lot of it and it saved me from going hungry. I certainly couldn't have developed my Rhythmic Illusion ideas without it.

I understand that you have a 14x7 Recording Custom snare in your collection. I have a similiar snare (14x7 birch custom absolute) and I was wondering what head combo, and snare wires you use for your RC snare? I'm aiming for a similiar snare sound as yours. I think that you have one of the best all around snare drum sound in the business.

I cut mine down to 5.5 inches - for some reason I just can't seem to find 'my sound' in drums that are more than that depth. 5 inches depth is my favorite. As I've said before - I use Puresound snare wires cut down to 8 strands (I take off the outside ones and leave 8 in the middle). Head combo is usually a Remo coated CS on the top (sometimes a coated Pinstripe) and an Ambassador snare side. I normally use an 'O' ring for muffling and an "S-Hoop" on the top side of the drum.

cheers
Gavin

Gus

05-15-2008, 07:51 PM

Hi Gavin

Any plans for clinics in Spain during concerts with PT in october??.

Thanks
Gustavo

AndresPT

05-16-2008, 04:06 AM

Sorry for the question ..
but when Porcupine Tree will come to South America (chile) ...
(there are many fans here)

:p

Bernhard

05-16-2008, 07:53 AM

Hi Gavin

I congratulate you for the big gig - Modern Drummer Festival Weekend.

Great to see and makes me feel good that ALL appearing drummers are personal friends of Drummerworld:

Gavin, Simon, Billy, Todd, Thomas, Dafnis, Derek, Ndugu.....so great!!

Bernhard

Kalma

05-16-2008, 01:29 PM

Hey Gavin,

when and how did you get an sonor-endorser?

Gavin Harrison

05-16-2008, 02:24 PM

Hi Gus,

Any plans for clinics in Spain during concerts with PT in october??.

Sorry but I won't have time.

Hi AndresPT,

when Porcupine Tree will come to South America (chile) ...

We have no plans to come to South America at the moment. Any announcements about concerts anywhere in the world will be at www.porcupinetree.com first.

Hi Bernhard,

I congratulate you for the big gig - Modern Drummer Festival Weekend.

Yes - nobody could be happier about it than me. Will we see you there?

Hi Kalma,

when and how did you get an sonor-endorser?

I was playing in Italy in 2000 when I met Tony Italia (the Sonor distributor for Australia). He really wanted me to play Sonor drums and told all the Sonor management about me. When I got home (late 2000) I got a call from Ian Croft (the artists relations manager) and he lent me a Sonor Designer kit. I really liked it so I switched to playing Sonor around the start of 2001 and I've been happily playing them ever since.

Cheers
Gavin

Kalma

05-16-2008, 11:41 PM

Hi again,

Gavin: What do you think of the Sonor Artist Snare 14*05 Scandinavian Birch (Vintage Maple)?
Did you ever test it? What heads would you suggest to use?
I think about buying it.

Gavin Harrison

05-17-2008, 06:19 PM

Hi Kalma,

I haven't actually tried that particular snare. I've never played a Sonor snare I didn't like and it looks very nice. Be careful that it's a vintage rim - so if you're going play rock on it - I'd opt for a regular rim - otherwise it will eat up your sticks and you might damage the vintage rim or clamps.

cheers
Gavin

Joe P

05-17-2008, 11:05 PM

Hey Gavin! Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard you use S-hoops on your snare drums. Do you think they affect the sound of your snare [probably the rimshots more than anything else], and does it really keep sticks from getting all chewed up from rim shots?

Matt Grondin

05-17-2008, 11:57 PM

Hi Gavin, apparently (looking at the multitude of pages here) you are a very patient guy who is willing to share. It's much appreciated. This is my first post, although I frequent this site... I'm a lowly guitar player, but I also produce records for my band and others and have a great interest in killer drum sounds.

Your snare sound, not to mention the rest of the kit, sounds absolutely amazing and the drum sounds on "In Absentia" have actually prompted me to contact Tim Palmer about mixing our next record. It sounds THAT good. That said, and please forgive me if these have already been addressed, could you share some light on a few things if you don't mind:

1. If you remember what snare was on that record, I'd love to know.

2. What current production snares, or vintage even, could get me in that ballpark that you might recommend? I've got some extra money and don't care how much it takes... I want a GREAT snare sound... my DW Edge is really nice, but it doesn't have the crack, depth, and sensitivity that you seem to get, and I work with some really great drummers and have excellent signal chains.

3. Were the drum sounds pretty much that sweet at the time of tracking, or did Tim just take it to a whole other level?

Thanks man, I appreciate your time. If you're curious about our music, it can be heard at sonicbids.com/incamaya. There's some decent drum sounds, but you guys set the bar pretty high with that record. Later.

Gavin Harrison

05-18-2008, 12:01 AM

Kalma

05-18-2008, 12:33 AM

Hi Joe P,
Yes I've been using S-Hoops for about a year now and I really like them.
They do subtly change the sound of the snare and help with heavy back beats... and make nice loud sounding rim clicks. I think they're kinder to the sticks too. They're stiffer than a normal triple flange so it helps with consistency in tuning.
If you're someone (like me) who uses "O" rings to dampen the snare then it's great because they never fly out. In fact you can hold the drum upside down and the ring still doesn't fall out.

Cheers
Gavin

Gavin! Do you know if there are S-Hoops that would fit with the Snare I want to buy? (Golden)
Is there a special brand you get your O-Rings from?
I use rings, too but they would fall out if i would hold my snare upside down the ring would fall out :-O

When you said, I could damage the Vintage rim when i'm going to play rock on the Snare, do you mean the Hoop or the Ring in the Snare?

Thank you very much
David

drumbumhamza

05-19-2008, 07:10 AM

Hello again Sir,

this time i have a rather stupid question for you
many a times whilst writing songs, theres a lot of confusion while counting bars because... guitarist refer to a "bar" as a complete cycle of chord progressions
as in if a drummer was to count bars of 5/4 time sig....hed count 5 quarter notes as one bar
but what a guitarist wouldv done is counted 4 bars of 5/4 as ONE bar, if there were 4 chord changes in that part of the song
so i was wondering if you guys go through that problem as well or do our guitarist out here have a wrong counting technique ?

also if you were to play say a polyrhythm of 17.5/4 on the hats, 5/8 on the snare and 7/8 on the bass (the coinciding point coming after every 35 1/8th notes) where would you put that in say a typical Porcupine Tree song from FOABP or Nil Recurring

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 1 - 2
H x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x o
S x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
B x x x x x x x x x x

i hope you understand :( i dont have a scanner to scan staff notations
the last note in the top line is a hi-hat open (and its a 1/8th as opposed to the other 1/4th hi-hat notes)

the tempo is about 150 bpm
so if you were to try and incorporate this into a metal sorta song....where would you use it....like in an interlude after a nice double bass groovy chorus or as an outro....or a bridge ?
(i hope you get what im trying to say....i want to use this in a metal song but dont know how to incorporate it)

thanks for your time :)

Gavin Harrison

05-19-2008, 01:45 PM

Hi Kalma,

Gavin! Do you know if there are S-Hoops that would fit with the Snare I want to buy? (Golden)

I don't know if they make a golden one - you'd better ask them.

Is there a special brand you get your O-Rings from?

No I just make them myself from old heads.

When you said, I could damage the Vintage rim when i'm going to play rock on the Snare, do you mean the Hoop or the Ring in the Snare?

The hoop and the clamps that go onto the hoop.

Hi drumbumhamza,

i was wondering if you guys go through that problem as well or do our guitarist out here have a wrong counting technique ?

Not really - sometimes guitarist count chord or riff cycles rather than bars - and a cycle could be any amount of their bars.

also if you were to play say a polyrhythm of 17.5/4 on the hats, 5/8 on the snare and 7/8 on the bass (the coinciding point coming after every 35 1/8th notes) where would you put that in say a typical Porcupine Tree song from FOABP or Nil Recurring

I wouldn't - unless there was some musical reason to - or it was part of the composition. King Crimson do that cycle of 5's and 7's in a tune called "Thrak"

Sorry but I can't understand your notation - and as I said it would only be worth doing if it was part of the composition.

cheers
Gavin

Kalma

05-19-2008, 01:51 PM

Hi again,

Do you have the Link or an Email Adress for contacting S-Hoops?
The Website www.safehoop.com doesn't work.

Gavin Harrison

05-19-2008, 04:45 PM

Hi Kalma,
I don't actually know how to get hold of them. The guy who ran the company Rick Barrickman died a couple of years ago and since then I've lost touch. I know in the UK at least - they were handled by "Big Bang Distribution".

Cheers
Gavin

Drizzle

05-19-2008, 06:26 PM

Hi Kalma,

I've ordered my S-Hoops from this site http://www.drummershop.nl/.

It's in dutch so you probably can't read it but you could send them an e-mail at info@drummershop.nl. In your own language or English.

Hope this helps.

Matt Grondin

05-19-2008, 10:52 PM

sneakydutch

05-20-2008, 03:57 AM

Hey anyone who knows:

What is this song and who is it by and off what album? It has the funkiest bass line ever.

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/gavinharrison3.html

Thanks,

- Austin

Gavin Harrison

05-20-2008, 11:34 AM

Hi Matt Grondin,

Sorry I missed your post - as you will see from the timing - you posted it as I was answering the previous questions - so that's why I didn't see it.

1. If you remember what snare was on that record (in Absentia), I'd love to know.

It's my 1982 Yamaha RC 14x5.

2. What current production snares, or vintage even, could get me in that ballpark that you might recommend? I've got some extra money and don't care how much it takes... I want a GREAT snare sound... my DW Edge is really nice, but it doesn't have the crack, depth, and sensitivity that you seem to get, and I work with some really great drummers and have excellent signal chains.

There's hell of a lot of factors that make up a great snare sound. First is touch - no two drummers hit the drum in exactly the same way (grip and stick choice will also effect the sound). Secondly is the drum itself - wood type/shell dimensions/wood thickness/bearing edge/head choice/tuning/snare wires/snare tension/dampening. Third - the mic choice (in this case Shure SM57 top and bottom) - their proximity and angle. Fourth - the room. Fifth - the desk and eq. Sixth - plugins compressors/reverbs further eq'ing and the way it sits in the mix etc...and Seventh - a whole load of experience at getting 'that snare sound' that I've been working on for 30 odd years.

I still use that drum on a lot recordings now. It's a snare sound that I've had in head for many decades - but I have a lot of other snares that I can get a similar vibe from. I did a session recently where the producer wanted to try different snares - and so I played a few for him and he said that they all sounded similar...and I guess that's because there's a certain tone that I'm attracted to that I really need to hear for it to sound like me.

3. Were the drum sounds pretty much that sweet at the time of tracking, or did Tim just take it to a whole other level?

There were that good at the time of tracking.

Hi sneakydutch,

What is this song and who is it by and off what album? It has the funkiest bass line ever.

The tune is called "Quite Firm" by Laurence Cottle (the bass player on the track) and it's from my first DVD "Rhythmic Visions".

cheers
Gavin

T-1000

05-20-2008, 06:20 PM

Hi Gavin,

Do you mind telling me how you tuned your snare in terms of the tension of the top and bottom heads in relation to each other and the tension and the type of snare wires in this clip;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s604Pa-waH0&feature=related

(your Rhythmic Horizons Vic Firth artist spotlight video)

I'm not sure how to describe it - just a killer sound - it has a really deep body to it and the snares sound 'dark' somehow, I think...

Do you think a rough approximation of this sound is possible with a copper Roy Haynes signature snare drum(!?)

Your playing is utterly inspirational and thanks for interacting so closely with your fans!

Matt Grondin

05-20-2008, 06:33 PM

Hmmm, 82 is my birthyear... no wonder it's a good sounding snare :) No seriously, thanks for going back and answering my question. I realize there is a lot of factors involved in getting a great snare sound. I just get a little overwhelmed sometimes because there are SOOO many options out there as far as snares go. I just would like to find one snare that sounds great over a wide spectrum of genres that has the aforementioned qualities of depth, crack, and sensitivity. Take care.

drumbumhamza

05-20-2008, 08:06 PM

I wouldn't - unless there was some musical reason to - or it was part of the composition. King Crimson do that cycle of 5's and 7's in a tune called "Thrak"

Sorry but I can't understand your notation - and as I said it would only be worth doing if it was part of the composition.

cheers
Gavin

as far as KC goes....they are the ones who've inspired me to get into this polyrhythm business and i definitely cant WAIT to see what element you add to them
two of my greatest inspiration on the same piece of art.....i hope you guys record a DVD like Vroom :(

i get what you've said about the musical bit....but suppose you were to play this groove as an exercise for independence what changes would you have made to it

haha there was something majorly wrong with the server.....thats not what i typed
this is what the groove is supposed to look like

http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/9577/scan0001tf3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
thanks again for your patience

fearofflying

05-21-2008, 01:14 AM

Hello.............Gavin,
i got my new Sq2's and they are amazing.
thanks for signing the head for me.

Can you tell me where this video was taken?
Is this DVD available for sale??
Thanks
Tom

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VoG7p1ona6Y

Sardaukar

05-21-2008, 12:54 PM

Someone could say that if you play too accurately in time you lose the groove, but Gavin has them both. Especially I like the most even doublestrokes i've ever heard. I've also read the book "rythmic illusions" and I got a lot new stuff to my playing from there. Thank you a lot, Gavin.

Gavin Harrison

05-21-2008, 09:25 PM

Hi T-1000,

Do you mind telling me how you tuned your snare in terms of the tension of the top and bottom heads in relation to each other and the tension and the type of snare wires in this clip;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s604P...eature=related

I can't tell you the exact pitch. I guess you can hear the pitch quite clearly in moments when I'm playing with the snares off. Unusually - it's the only snare I have that has the original 24 strand snare wires on the bottom.

Do you think a rough approximation of this sound is possible with a copper Roy Haynes signature snare drum(!?)

I wouldn't think so - and for the reasons I explained a few posts back - it probably wouldn't sound the same even if I lent you the drum itself.

Hi drumbumhamza,

an interesting rhythmic idea - but please make it 35/8 - I really can't cope with 17.5/4 !!! LOL.

Hi fearofflying,

Can you tell me where this video was taken?
Is this DVD available for sale??

No, this was one of three lessons that I made for a cover mount CD for "Rhythm Magazine UK".

Hi Sardaukar,

Someone could say that if you play too accurately in time you lose the groove

I don't believe that. Usually the people who say that can't play in time. People shouldn't get confused between accuracy and stiffness. Thanks for the kind comments though!!!

Cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

05-22-2008, 03:36 PM

Hi drumbumhamza,

an interesting rhythmic idea - but please make it 35/8 - I really can't cope with 17.5/4 !!! LOL.

Gavin

hahah im pretty positive there is NOTHING that you cant cope with, im guessing youd round it off to 35/8 if you were to play it :)
thanks a lot for the review im glad you found it interesting (you have no idea what it means to get a rhythm reviewed by Gavin Harrison :P )

also if you have some more grooves like this that i could practice, id really appreciate that :)

thanks a ton

NeuroAxis

05-22-2008, 05:47 PM

Gavin -

I wanted to share with you a track that I recorded this past weekend in which I utilize some of your overriding concepts from the Rhythmic Horizons DVD, not to fish for compliments but to show how I have applied those ideas to a different style of music.

The first section is mainly where I use a lot of overrides, so I've just cut that section out and attached it. The whole first section is in 6/8, but when the composer gave me the backing tracks he used a quarter note click, which immediately gave me some interesting ideas for overrides. So essentially the whole first section is in 6/8 with the kick and snare accenting the guitar parts, but with quarter note overrides that move back and forth from the downbeat to the backbeat.

Any and all feedback/criticism from you or any of the other forum members is greatly appreciated!

And btw, if you recognize the china it's an 18" Z Custom, which you are one of the only pros I know of that uses one despite the fact that it's the Best China Ever!

Joe P

05-22-2008, 08:29 PM

Hey Gavin,

I have 2 questions... Firstly, why do you use the Sonor Bass Resonant Head? I ask this because many pro drummers like to replace the bass reso head. Is it because Sonor has good stock bass heads?

Also, how do you tune your bass drum? Tension-wise and in comparison to the batter and resonant heads [do you tune one higher than the other?]

Thanks so much for all your help!
Joe

dairyairman

05-22-2008, 10:30 PM

i just got my latest issue of modern drummer and saw that you were voted #1 progressive drummer in their 2008 reader's poll. i would have to agree with that. congratulations!

Prozakc

05-23-2008, 12:09 PM

Hi ! Mr. Harrison, for me it´s such an honour to be able to communicate with you, your playing is pure inspiration !, Thankz for sharing your gift!

I have 2 questions that i would love you to answer:

1.- I`m a Drumtech crazy, and I think that your sound is one of the more of the "cleanest" sounds on the entire drumset ... I understand too, that you record your drum tracks at your own studio ...

So, what advice would you give me, at "tuning time" ... and what are the "secrets" of your sound, meaning techniques for licking ( I saw you using bass drum "tunnels" on a couple of videos), miking techniques in general, Muffling secrets, and editing/post-production tips and everything about your sound and the techniques you use for it, at studio and gigs.

2.- I´m a Huge fan of KC ... and i saw a post referred to KC gig ...

My english is not the best, so i didn´t understood too well ...

Is there any chance for us to be seeing you touring South america with KC, or it´s absolutely out of the question ? ...

As I said, i´m a big fan and i would like to know if there is that chance, or i would have to sell my drumset for buying the airplane tickets ... xD haha ...

Thank You alot Mr. Harrison, it´s always a great pleasure reading you, and i appreciate your great and good will for teaching and helping us.

PD: I´m sorry if my english is bad, but is not my native language ( I hope i didn´t mess it)

Gavin Harrison

05-23-2008, 03:19 PM

Hi NeuroAxis,

And btw, if you recognize the china it's an 18" Z Custom, which you are one of the only pros I know of that uses one despite the fact that it's the Best China Ever!

Good use of an override in 6/8 - one I've used myself many times....and the china sounds just right to me.

Hi Joe P,

I have 2 questions... Firstly, why do you use the Sonor Bass Resonant Head? I ask this because many pro drummers like to replace the bass reso head. Is it because Sonor has good stock bass heads?

It's a good Remo head.

Also, how do you tune your bass drum? Tension-wise and in comparison to the batter and resonant heads [do you tune one higher than the other?]

I would say they are about the same tension - but there's a heavy pillow in there so it's not easy to hear any difference in tuning.

Hi dairyairman,

saw that you were voted #1 progressive drummer in their 2008 reader's poll

Thanks - it got mentioned here a few months back when some folks in the industry already knew about it (including myself). I'm of course very happy - and suprised that I got it again!!

Hi Prozakc,

So, what advice would you give me, at "tuning time" ... and what are the "secrets" of your sound, meaning techniques for licking ( I saw you using bass drum "tunnels" on a couple of videos), miking techniques in general, Muffling secrets, and editing/post-production tips and everything about your sound and the techniques you use for it, at studio and gigs.

Do you mean techniques for miking? Also I don't remember using bass drum "tunnels" on any videos - which videos are you referring to?. If you make a search on this thread you will find a lot of information how I tune, mic the drums, head choice and mufffle etc.

Is there any chance for us to be seeing you touring South America with KC, or it´s absolutely out of the question ? ..

At the moment there are no plans for KC to tour South America...and I'm not the person who would decide where we tour either. KC information usually comes from www.dgmlive.com

Cheers
Gavin

Prozakc

05-23-2008, 07:24 PM

Do you mean techniques for miking? Also I don't remember using bass drum "tunnels" on any videos - which videos are you referring to?.

Cheers
Gavin

Yes, I mean Techniques for Miking ( like, in what direction do you point every mik ?).

There is this one video of "Making of Deadwing "
I thought seeing a "Bass Drum Tunnel" ...
But you`re right, is not a tunnel, it´s just the "acoustic wall" that you have on your recording room ( what are they made of ?).

Thank You so much for the answers again !!! ...

Love your playing !!.

tolgapala

05-23-2008, 09:22 PM

Dear Mr. Harrison,

I just would like to express my great admiration for being such a massive influence. I realize you probably get my sort of words a lot but still I would like to get it out of my chest now that I have the opportunity to do so.

You sure have redefined the rules for a superb musical and percussive approach to the art of drumming. Your creativity, precision and control over the drums on the other hand is simply mind boggling. For me you are at the top of a very short list of living drum gods&legends.

Thank you again for being a massive influence.

Gavin Harrison

05-24-2008, 12:27 AM

Hi Prozakc,

Yes, I mean Techniques for Miking ( like, in what direction do you point every mik ?).

If you watch this video you will see how each mic is angled at the drums.

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/gavinharrisonfutile.html

But you`re right, is not a tunnel, it´s just the "acoustic wall" that you have on your recording room ( what are they made of ?).

They are sound baffles that are very common in many recording studios.

cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

05-24-2008, 10:22 AM

Hello Sir,

like they say....desperate times call for desperate measures
i know porcupine tree is never going to come to India for a show so i have convinced my family into going on a vacation to Scotland and England
hopefully i will be able to catch your gig on the 19th of october :), if things go as planned

what i would like to know is
is the show confirmed ?
what are the chances of cancellations (i wouldnt want to go alllllll the way for a no show)
and how do i go about buying tickets for the show (porcupinetree.com ???)

answers would be greatly appreciated as a lot of the trip planning is based on the above questions

cheers
(hope this works out)

Gavin Harrison

05-25-2008, 05:05 AM

Hi drumbumhamza,

hopefully i will be able to catch your gig on the 19th of october :), if things go as planned, what i would like to know is - is the show confirmed ?

Yes it is and a lot of tickets have already been sold.

what are the chances of cancellations (i wouldnt want to go alllllll the way for a no show)
and how do i go about buying tickets for the show (porcupinetree.com ???)

Unless something happens that we can't predict - I would say that the show will go ahead. I don't believe PT.com are selling the tickets. I don't actually know where to get the tickets. Have you searched the venue (O2/Indigo) website? Good luck.

cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

05-25-2008, 06:36 AM

Hello again,

think i found it
you have to book through ticketmaster
somehow the VIP kings row tickets arent available
im guessing those arent valid for this show ?
thanks for the info :)

(question to anyone who has been to the Indigo2 venue in London)
standing front row is as close as one gets to the stage right ?
i really cant make out from those charts

anyway way i hope to see you at the gig :)

Drummerrobin

05-25-2008, 01:34 PM

Hi Gavin,
first of all I would like to say that I'm a HUGE fan of both your drumming and PT's music. I discovered you guys about a year ago through the Arriving Somewhere DVD and have been hooked ever since.

Just one question - do you know if there are plans for any more UK dates this Autumn?
If not I guess I'll see you at the London show. Kinda lucky as the age limit for the venue is 16 and I turn 16 just 2 days before. Yay!

Gavin Harrison

05-25-2008, 11:48 PM

Hi Drummerrobin,

Just one question - do you know if there are plans for any more UK dates this Autumn?

No, it will just be the one in London on the 19th of October.

Cheers
Gavin

Mercier

05-26-2008, 05:28 AM

Really good stuff Gavin,
I have discover you with PT and I have hear here and there of your books Rhythmic Perspectives and Rhythmic Illusions.

Do you think that there is some exercises / concepts that can eventually be interesting for a 2 years old drummer or it's for advanced ones only ?

Thanks !
Hope seeing PT live in Canada one day.

Gavin Harrison

05-27-2008, 05:06 PM

Hi Mercier,

I think my books would suit a player who has already been playing for a few years and wants to expand their horizons a bit. They're not really beginners concepts.

cheers
Gavin

Mercier

05-28-2008, 03:47 AM

Thanks for your answer Gavin !

Kalma

05-28-2008, 11:58 AM

hi gavin,

i'm playing for almost 10 years now but I'm not so good in reading notes.
should i try to use your book?=

mabhz

05-28-2008, 04:50 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gavin!!!

According to Wikipedia, todays your birthday, so please accept our congratulations!

May God bless you with a long healthy full of music life!

Be sure that you´re an inspiration to many people, not just drummers, and your music touches the life of us all in a positive way.

I have a 6 year-old son learning drums and I constantly play him your music and your videos. (Your constant use of those bell-like cymbals is very appealing to these young kids - talking about the 05Ric project)

Thanks a lot for the great music you´re blessed us so far, thanks specially for the books, videos and for the time you put into this forum. We all know you have a very busy schedulle and so we are very grateful for your effort to help us improve our love for the instrument.

Hope you have a nice musical day!!

mabhz

Johnny

05-28-2008, 04:57 PM

Yeah, happy birthday, Gavin! Thank you so much for all that you do.

Heitor

05-28-2008, 06:06 PM

Happy Birthday, Gavin!

Congratulations on another year full of music and inspiration and a wish of many more to come!

God bless ya, take care!

Kalma

05-28-2008, 06:09 PM

BIG GREETS FROM GERMANY AND ALL MY FRIENDS (fans of you, too)!!!!!!!

Fabio

05-28-2008, 06:40 PM

Hi master Gavin!!

A big big big Happy Birthday!! from Rome, from my heart and my great estimate for you!!

Best wishes teacher!! :)

I really hope see you in italy.. for any occasion :)

Good music and good work!!

>.<

Fabio.

drumbumhamza

05-28-2008, 09:10 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
rlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrlrl (drum roll)

sorry im a bit late....lets blame it on the time zone difference :P

05Ric

05-29-2008, 12:38 AM

Happy birthday Gav!!!!!

Liquid_Drummer

05-29-2008, 03:55 PM

Back in Nashville Gav ? Happy b-day !! How are the Crim rehearsals going ? Enjoying yourself ?

Ailmour

05-29-2008, 04:42 PM

I'm late but happy birthday!

daniele

05-29-2008, 05:02 PM

Happy birthday Gavin!!! I follow you since 1997..Thanks from my heart for all that you have given me in these years.. Daniele, A fan.

Pywacket

05-30-2008, 12:46 AM

Hi Gavin
When you are playing live (in particular) and you improvise, modulate or displace are you ALWAYS aware of the basic time signature(s) of the song you are playing or are you able to just FEEL where you are and jump in and out wherever and whenever you like? Is it all mathematics or intuition or a mixture of both?
Thanks.

SantiBanks

05-31-2008, 10:54 PM

Hi Gavin, a bit late I know but still congrats with your birthday! Hope you had a great day and I wish you all the best.

Hope you enjoyed pinkpop!

Santi

drumbumhamza

06-01-2008, 08:20 AM

Hello again,
I just watched a live video of Halo....brilliant new intro there :)
and i was wondering if you count the bridge section as 6/8+3/8+6/8+2/8 (snare bass) and hats playing accented quarters ?

Also
On the 6th of this month il be conducting a polyrhythm workshop for Mapex (at the same event that Greg Bisonnette did, last year) and id really appreciate it if youd give me a few of your favorites poly lessons
then i can boast that those lessons were given to me by my mentor :)
but on a serious note id really love to showcase how you go about practicing polyrhythms (not the EXTREMELY technical ones though hehe)
so if its not too much of a hassle for you il be waiting for them :)

thanks a ton

Gavin Harrison

06-01-2008, 05:48 PM

Thanks guys for the many birthday wishes.

Hi Kalma

i'm playing for almost 10 years now but I'm not so good in reading notes.
should i try to use your book?=

There are audio CD's with both books where I demonstrate many of the exercises...but it would help if you can read.

Hi Pywacket

When you are playing live (in particular) and you improvise, modulate or displace are you ALWAYS aware of the basic time signature(s) of the song you are playing or are you able to just FEEL where you are and jump in and out wherever and whenever you like? Is it all mathematics or intuition or a mixture of both?

Yes I always know where I am in the basic time signature. Never lose the 'one'. I don't really think mathematically when I play - but of course all rhythms can be worked out that way if you want.

Hi drumbumhamza,

I just watched a live video of Halo....brilliant new intro there :)
and i was wondering if you count the bridge section as 6/8+3/8+6/8+2/8 (snare bass) and hats playing accented quarters ?

No it's divided into 5 + 5 + 7 (plus there's the quarter notes on the hi hat). There's a long section about it on my DVD Rhythmic Horizons. You'll probably find a transcription of it somewhere in this thread. It might be an interesting thing to show your students.

cheers
Gavin

rev222

06-02-2008, 02:13 AM

Hi Gavin,

I was wondering how you are finding the sound and feel of the toms and floor toms of your SQ2 kit compared to your designer kit with respect to shell thickness. Also will the SQ2 eventually become your studio kit or will you continue to record with the designer series?

Thank you.

Joe P

06-02-2008, 03:14 AM

Hey Gavin! I've been watching your DVD's over and over again, they're AMAZING. The whole time I was watching them, I kept thinking, "Man, Gavin is a GENIUS!"

This isn't a question about drums... but could you tell me about your innovative bass [guitar] technique? In the Halo (5-5-7) groove, were you mostly hitting the first note then hammering on the second note... or how were you doing it? Also, did you write the bass groove or did Colin or Steven write it?

Butch Axsmith

06-02-2008, 04:30 AM

Gavin ' you are one very ' very ' good player ////
I enjoy your playing ////
Butch Axsmith

drumbumhamza

06-02-2008, 07:31 AM

Hi drumbumhamza,

I just watched a live video of Halo....brilliant new intro there :)
and i was wondering if you count the bridge section as 6/8+3/8+6/8+2/8 (snare bass) and hats playing accented quarters ?

No it's divided into 5 + 5 + 7 (plus there's the quarter notes on the hi hat). There's a long section about it on my DVD Rhythmic Horizons. You'll probably find a transcription of it somewhere in this thread. It might be an interesting thing to show your students.

cheers
Gavin

thanks a bunch
will definitely do that

daniele

06-02-2008, 07:47 PM

Hi Gavin!I have a question for you: I love the birch sound,for the cut and immediate attack. I love the Sonor S-Classic sound for example. The more famous recording drum is the Yamaha recording custom. I know besides your preferite snare is a Yamaha recording custom.. But almost all drummer use a maple.. Why you use a maple drum? I am undecided...

mabhz

06-02-2008, 10:45 PM

xopethx

06-03-2008, 08:43 AM

Gary, hi again.

I´ll be shopping for my first pack of cymbals soon, and i´d like to focus on purchasing small sound (splashes) instead of big ones (crashes) this time (i play in an apartment).

If you havent already answered this question before, I´d like to know what cymbals did you use for that "bell like" sound that appears from time to time on the Drop project with 05Ric? They sound almost like a guitar harmonic (im a guitar player). You can hear one of them as the very first note on the intro to "Life", at exactly 0:11.

Im a total noob to drums and cymbals, and thats the reason of this stupid lame question.

Are these sounds produced from those 5 small cut-down cymbals you have near to your hi-hat?

If so, and sorry again for the stupid noob question, what type of cymbals i have to purchase to get that sound?? A 6" splash would be close?? As far as I tested, splashes dont sound like that!! They produced a "waaash" instead of the sweet "plim" I hear throughout Drop.

I just loved that sound! It colors an accent pretty perfectly, its short, and sounds beautiful, and they would fit perfectly in a more intimate set.

Thanks for any explanation, and sorry again for the totally basic/noob question.

hey man! i've actually made 3 of my own so far, so perhaps i can be of some help :)

With these "Gavin" chimes, the reason you get the nice "pingy" sound is because all that remains of the cymbal after it's cut down is the actual bell. The more flat area you include when you cut it, the more of a conventional splash sound you'll perceive. If you begin encroaching more into the bell's surface area, you'll probably hear a truer tone with a real note value (depending on the cymbal). I believe also, that Gavin cut one even FURTHER than the others, and it has it's own drastically different sound! More of a trashy high-end clang than the others.

A traditional splash cymbal will always sound as it does, because of the bell size. I doubt even cutting one down would yield the same results as trimming a decent-size crash (between 15 and 18 inches)
Hope that helps!

Gavin Harrison

06-03-2008, 12:07 PM

Hi rev222,

I was wondering how you are finding the sound and feel of the toms and floor toms of your SQ2 kit compared to your designer kit with respect to shell thickness. Also will the SQ2 eventually become your studio kit or will you continue to record with the designer series?

I really like the SQ2 kit. The difference in shell thickness is only the floor toms and the bass drum (my Designer has the same thickness rack toms). It's pretty subtle - but PT's live sound engineer slightly prefers the SQ2 through a PA. I have already used the SQ2 for recording my record with 05Ric. At the moment my Designer is my 'studio' kit as the SQ2 is always out on the road somewhere.

Hi Joe P,

This isn't a question about drums... but could you tell me about your innovative bass [guitar] technique? In the Halo (5-5-7) groove, were you mostly hitting the first note then hammering on the second note... or how were you doing it? Also, did you write the bass groove or did Colin or Steven write it?

Yes - it's a 'hammer on' and I've been playing the bass with a stick for about 25 years - mainly because it saves my fingers getting chewed up. Yes I wrote that bass line - but I believe Steve changed one note of it.

Hi daniele,

Why you use a maple drum?

I like Maple and Birch. I had a Yamaha RC for many years and wanted to switch to a maple set for a change.

Hi mabhz,

If you havent already answered this question before, I´d like to know what cymbals did you use for that "bell like" sound that appears from time to time on the Drop project with 05Ric?

This question has come up many times - have a look at this:
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=246160&postcount=507

cheers
Gavin

baniels

06-03-2008, 04:15 PM

Hi Gavin,

I had the grand opportunity to see RUSH in Moline, IL a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised to hear PT's Anesthetize as the intermission music.

The End.

-Ben

Brodel

06-03-2008, 04:25 PM

Hi Gavin,

I was just curious about any live material coming out soon. I saw PT last October in Atlanta and I remember Steven mentioning that many of the songs that night would be included on a live CD and I saw on later interviews that it may be on a DVD...Are there any plans to release any material from that tour on CD or DVD, or is the plan to possibly film material from later on this year, as I read in a previous post? Thanks for being such an inspiring drummer!

mabhz

06-03-2008, 04:27 PM

This question has come up many times - have a look at this:
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=246160&postcount=507

Thanks for answering this question for the 134558th time, Gavin.
But my main question was "do you know if i can i find those sounds on any cymbals comercially avaliable today"?

I think I can assume your answer to that question is NO, right??

In that case, do you think a 6" splash would be the closer one could get in terms of sound without going into a "cymbal mutilation process"??

thanks again, sir.

Gavin Harrison

06-03-2008, 11:19 PM

Hi Brodel,

I was just curious about any live material coming out soon. I saw PT last October in Atlanta and I remember Steven mentioning that many of the songs that night would be included on a live CD

We recorded several shows from that tour - and probably there will be a "Live CD" but I can't say when exactly. We will also film a couple of shows this autumn for a DVD release next year.

Hi mabhz,

Thanks for answering this question for the 134558th time, Gavin.
But my main question was "do you know if i can i find those sounds on any cymbals comercially avaliable today"?

Not as far as I know.

In that case, do you think a 6" splash would be the closer one could get in terms of sound without going into a "cymbal mutilation process"??

No it won't have that bell sound - they need to be cut from larger cymbals - with medium cup size.

cheers
Gavin

drumbumhamza

06-04-2008, 05:21 AM

Hello,
i managed to find the Halo tabs
haha and you were so right about that groove
its not as easy as it sounds
managed to get it though but the snare strokes in the third (main groove) cycle are not as crisp (il blame that on the accented quarters hehe)

i was wondering did u ever think of accenting every 3rd note or 5th note on the hats
and do you experiment with things like that before you finalize such a groove
playing accented 3rd or 5th notes will actually make the basic cycle longer (17 or 34 are not multiples of 3 or 5) - so if you were to still play something like that would you cut off the accents abruptly when say 3-4 bars of the main groove were complete ?

aslo did you consider opening the hihats instead of accenting alternate notes
and how would this change the sound/feel of the groove according to you

finally this groove utilizes the same concept as that of Sound of Muzak right ?

cheers :)

ProgFron

06-04-2008, 07:38 PM

Hi Gavin,

Saw you and the guys again at Pinkpop.
What a great show it was, and great to see the crowd was really into it!
What did the band think about that show?

Another question about Mother and Child Divided for Gavin or anyone who might know this.
The fill that you do coming out of that ambient middle part.
Where exactly in the bar does it start?

See you in 013 later this year!

Cheers,

Francis

Kalma

06-05-2008, 07:24 AM

Hey Gavin,

I have questions about your fills, too..
How do you develope them? Do you just think about what to play in livesituations just 2 minutes before it starts?

I changed the wood for my "dream-sq2" into beech.
What wood do you use? I think beech would make a more warm and sensible sound, right?

Gavin Harrison

06-05-2008, 11:27 AM

Hi drumbumhamza,

i managed to find the Halo tabs haha and you were so right about that groove - i was wondering did u ever think of accenting every 3rd note or 5th note on the hats
- so if you were to still play something like that would you cut off the accents abruptly when say 3-4 bars of the main groove were complete ?

On my DVD Rhythmic Horizons - I play this groove with quarter notes and 3/16ths on the hi hat. I would play it as long as I needed it and then just cut it off to go into the next section.

finally this groove utilizes the same concept as that of Sound of Muzak right ?

yes it's a technique I call 'overriding'.

Hi ProgFron,

Saw you and the guys again at Pinkpop.What did the band think about that show?

we enjoyed it - I was still a bit jet lagged from coming back from Nashville the day before.

Another question about Mother and Child Divided for Gavin or anyone who might know this. The fill that you do coming out of that ambient middle part.Where exactly in the bar does it start?

I don't have a copy of it to hand - but my memory of it is that the fill starts on "1 &".

Hi Kalma,

I have questions about your fills, too..How do you develope them? Do you just think about what to play in livesituations just 2 minutes before it starts?

No, I try not to think about them at all. Some fills I feel are part of the composition and play them pretty much the same - all the others I try to improvise on the spot.

I changed the wood for my "dream-sq2" into beech.
What wood do you use? I think beech would make a more warm and sensible sound, right?

My Sonor sets are Maple - but I'm sure Beech will sound good too.

cheers
Gavin

jez-

06-05-2008, 12:22 PM

Hi Gavin

Your first DVD Rhythmic Visions has been out of stock in Burningshed.com for quite a long time. Do you know when the DVD will be available again? I own your second DVD and would like to get the first one too.

Gavin Harrison

06-05-2008, 05:49 PM

Hi jez-,

I don't have any more stock of that DVD - but it has been released by Hudson Music now - so you should be able to find it if you do a search on Amazon or ebay.

cheers
Gavin

jez-

06-05-2008, 07:17 PM

Hi jez-,

I don't have any more stock of that DVD - but it has been released by Hudson Music now - so you should be able to find it if you do a search on Amazon or ebay.

cheers
Gavin

Great, thanks for the tip! Bought one from eBay 5 minutes ago. Looking forward to seeing you guys at the Ruisrock festival in July!

- Jez

Trains'

06-05-2008, 10:54 PM

Hey Gavin,

Simon Philips said he did change from rack to stands again , because there was too much resonance in the rack of mounted toms etc. . Do you have discovered similiar problem with your rack? Even a change of sound ?

Great thanks

Joe P

06-06-2008, 12:50 AM

Hi jez-,

I don't have any more stock of that DVD - but it has been released by Hudson Music now - so you should be able to find it if you do a search on Amazon or ebay.

cheers
Gavin

There's a good stock of a DVD pack of both Visions and Horizons on Musiciansfriend.com.
I know, I got one :)

Johnny Resin

06-06-2008, 08:14 AM

i know that some of the splashes/bells on his kit are ones he cut himself out of old cymbals...

NeuroAxis

06-06-2008, 06:43 PM

Another question about Mother and Child Divided for Gavin or anyone who might know this.
The fill that you do coming out of that ambient middle part.
Where exactly in the bar does it start?

When I play along with it I count 85 1/2 beats from the tom/kick fill when the guitar feedback cuts out. I'm sure it's broken down into regular bars but I've just never sat down and tried to figure it out. I just count to 85 and then start the fill on the 'and.'

rev222

06-07-2008, 04:26 AM

Hello Gavin,

I compose music for film and television and like your self I play and record the drum tracks in my home project studio rather than using loops. My experience has been limited to close miking of the individual toms, but recently I have become intrigued with the idea of an open miking technique consisting of a close mic for the bass drum, two over heads, and another two sensitive condenser microphones such AKG 414s to capture the entire room. The idea is obviously borrowed from the older techniques when multi-track recoding was more limited. Have you ever tried a similar method? The reason I ask is that I am planning to buy a Sonor SQ2 kit soon in a similar configuration to your own, particularly shell thickness and I wanted to ask you if you find that your kit projects well when not miced, specifically if the rack toms produce enough volume to cut through the cymbals, kick, and snare. Do you think that a drum kit like yours would be welled suited to this open miking? I know thicker shells would be louder however this is not something I have tried yet and therefore would not want to buy a kit designed specifically for this recording technique. Any advice you can offer would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you.

jiltednut

06-08-2008, 01:58 AM

Edit : Post Removed.

Gavin Harrison

06-08-2008, 10:18 PM

Trains'

Simon Philips said he did change from rack to stands again , because there was too much resonance in the rack of mounted toms etc. . Do you have discovered similiar problem with your rack? Even a change of sound ?

I think I prefer the sound of my toms on the rack.

Hi NeuroAxis,

When I play along with it I count 85 1/2 beats from the tom/kick fill when the guitar feedback cuts out. I'm sure it's broken down into regular bars but I've just never sat down and tried to figure it out. I just count to 85 and then start the fill on the 'and.'

WOW I can't imagine counting up to 85 whilst I'm playing. I try to never count when I play if I can possibly avoid it.

Hi rev222,

I have become intrigued with the idea of an open miking technique consisting of a close mic for the bass drum, two over heads, and another two sensitive condenser microphones such AKG 414s to capture the entire room. Have you ever tried a similar method?

Yes I sometimes start like that with a mix of the drums - but I feel I still need to add a bit of the close mic sound for the depth and low end of the toms.

The reason I ask is that I am planning to buy a Sonor SQ2 kit soon in a similar configuration to your own, particularly shell thickness and I wanted to ask you if you find that your kit projects well when not miced, specifically if the rack toms produce enough volume to cut through the cymbals, kick, and snare. Do you think that a drum kit like yours would be welled suited to this open miking?

I don't really know because I never get chance to hear my kit un-miked from a distance to judge what the 'projected' sound is like. I always hear my drums through the mics. When I just play them in my studio without headphones on - I balance them naturally by the way I play them. I guess when I listen to the overhead mics the relative volumes sound as they do naturally. I'm so used to the sound I get via the mics - it's a hard thing for me to comment on.

cheers
Gavin

NeuroAxis

06-09-2008, 03:01 AM

WOW I can't imagine counting up to 85 whilst I'm playing. I try to never count when I play if I can possibly avoid it.

I wouldn't want to rely on the counting if I was actually playing it live. But just for the purposes of playing along to PT CDs it's more fun to know when you come in with the fill and play along with it (not to sound all fanboy, but it's true).

But I had an unrelated question about grip. From watching your videos you seem to use a combination of French and German grips, and I'm trying to develop a style that changes back and forth between these two depending on the application. Do you work on grip a lot or is it more something that just comes naturally? Are there certain situations where you know that one style will sound better than the other?

Basically the approach I'm taking is one I got from one of my favorite drummers: to use French for speed and German for power. Just wanted to get your take on it...

trysthedrummer

06-10-2008, 10:44 PM

Are you looking forward to Drummer Live this year Gavin? I will be there!.. but unfortuantely I cannot make it on the Sunday too see you play. Are you hanging around on the Saturday?

Will you be doing any signings on that day? I thought I read somewhere that you were, along with Chad Smith.

Cheers!

Joe P

06-11-2008, 04:22 AM

Hey Gavin. I wanted to ask, what is that tune that you play on the intro to the A-side of Rhythmic Horizons?

ZDrums24

06-11-2008, 05:13 AM

But I had an unrelated question about grip. From watching your videos you seem to use a combination of French and German grips, and I'm trying to develop a style that changes back and forth between these two depending on the application. Do you work on grip a lot or is it more something that just comes naturally? Are there certain situations where you know that one style will sound better than the other?

Basically the approach I'm taking is one I got from one of my favorite drummers: to use French for speed and German for power. Just wanted to get your take on it...

sorry, butting in again.

french for speed? i have never really thought french was particularly good for any technical advantage (though there are as many ways to play as there are drummers). I really use french alot in jazz drumming because less of your hand is on top of the stick, allowing it to rebound quickly for a light touch and i use a slightly turned in (not quite enough to call fully oblique) on timpani (french gives you the light touch for resonance, but i turn over for a little more control and power). i find german great for speed and power because the fingers can generate more power from this position, plus the fulcrum is much stronger this way.

it really comes down to the way your fingers and fulcrum relate to the stick. in german, the fulcrum is well developed, the force from the stick goes into parts of your hands that can take it easily, and your fingers are wrapped well around the stick with a large amount of control and contact. in french, the fulcrum is naturally weaker because it is more open and the majority of the force from the stick is going into you thumb (which can cause problems in heavy hitters over time). your fingers dont control the stick in quite the same way. they are more open which allows the stick to rebound more naturally. i find this harder to control at high speeds for more than just a few bounces. personally, i use german or oblique about 75%-90% of the time (keep in mind, i play a lot of high energy rock). french just gives me a tool for either efficient moving (if you turn your hand from german to french while moving away from your center, you dont have to move as much of your body) or a comfort thing, like if one hand is spending a lot of time away from my center while the other is still in or on the other side of center or if i just need a real effortless rebound off my ride or something. german supplies the power and speed. in jazz, i use french a lot more.

in the end, it really needs to be a subconscious, effortless and natural feeling switch to be effective.

also, ive found over the years ive spent learning in the drum corps and concert percussion fashions after spending almost all my time playing drum set for years, ive found that there are so many little things in a grip that need to be played with to really see what it can do for you personally. how you move on the x and y planes plays very much into what grip you will use, for example. what kind of strokes you tend to use. how tightly do you hold the stick? there are so many details to look at, but over thinking it all will kill the point of switching, which is an ease thing more than anything.

hope it helped.

hauk

06-11-2008, 09:29 AM

Hi again Gavin, a few questions:

When Steven writes a song, how does the recording process go? I assume he sends you a scratch track with him playing guitar and bass and singing, maybe with a drum machine playing the basic part he has in his head? Then you record your part as do Colin and Richard and Steve gets them all, records his final cuts, and mixes it? Or am I way off?

Do you happen to have the main marimba pattern in 19 Days written out anywhere? I'd love to learn that.

I'm mad for Formula 1...but I don't get to drive too much these days - let alone race. I hardly go anywhere in my car.
I have to ask, who's your driver? I've been pulling for Kimi for the last several years. Too bad what happened at Montreal.

How did you decide to put that complex polyrhythm into What Happens Now? It fits perfectly, but I can't imagine what led you to try it as part of the composition. The same goes for other examples; are there any specific things you tend to pick up on that spark an idea for a polyrhythm in the song?

Finally, this probably sounds like quite an odd question, but would you ever consider writing an ensemble for concert percussionists? I know it's out of the norm for you but I think with your rhythmic ideas you could compose something really fun. Knowing how to play marimba and some hand percussion helps your case as well.

Thanks for your time, it means a lot to us here.

JamStew

06-11-2008, 10:31 PM

Hi Gavin!

I just started to work with quintuplet-, septuplet and nonupletparadiddles. Well, I began with figuring out some quintupletparadiddles theoretically on a sheet of paper and came up with this:

4/4 |: RLRLR RLRLR LRLRL LRLRL :|

This is my idea of a form of an 'arranged' simple double paradiddle to fit in a four quarter bar of quintuplets. With septuplet- and nonupletparadiddles I proceeded similarly. Do you think it is helpful to play these figures like this or is it better to practise them in their 'unchanged' form like this:

4/4 |: RLRLR RLRLR LLRLR LRRLR :|

?

Already thanks for your response!

Best wishes from Germany,

JamStew (Kilian)

jdzzz

06-12-2008, 11:51 AM

Hey Gavin,
I'd like to know whether counting really is that important.
I try to replicate the feel of the song rather than count.
The other day i was trying out sound of muzak.
rather than counting i tried to go along with the feel of the song and could play it.
Its been a year since i have started drumming so i'd like to know whether my approach is correct or not.

Gavin Harrison

06-12-2008, 12:40 PM

Hi NeuroAxis,

From watching your videos you seem to use a combination of French and German grips, and I'm trying to develop a style that changes back and forth between these two depending on the application. Do you work on grip a lot or is it more something that just comes naturally? Are there certain situations where you know that one style will sound better than the other?

Any grip changing I do is purely instinctive - I know I do move from one to the other and there's probably a lot of in between too. I just do what feels right for the touch/volume I need at that point.

Hi trysthedrummer

Are you looking forward to Drummer Live this year Gavin?Will you be doing any signings?

I think it should be good fun. I'm only going to be there on Sunday as I'm just about to leave for Austria and do a PT festival. I believe I will be do a signing session with Jojo at the Sonor stand around 12:30?

Hi Joe P

Hey Gavin. I wanted to ask, what is that tune that you play on the intro to the A-side of Rhythmic Horizons?

It's just a little riff I wrote for that into.

Hi hauk,

When Steven writes a song, how does the recording process go? I assume he sends you a scratch track with him playing guitar and bass and singing, maybe with a drum machine playing the basic part he has in his head? Then you record your part as do Colin and Richard and Steve gets them all, records his final cuts, and mixes it? Or am I way off?

That's how some of the compositions go.

Do you happen to have the main marimba pattern in 19 Days written out anywhere? I'd love to learn that.

19130

How did you decide to put that complex polyrhythm into What Happens Now? It fits perfectly, but I can't imagine what led you to try it as part of the composition. The same goes for other examples; are there any specific things you tend to pick up on that spark an idea for a polyrhythm in the song?

Whilst in a writing session we got to the point in "What Happens Now" where we felt it needed to take off in a different direction - so I suggested that polyrhythm and the way the others should play to it. On other occasions polyrhythmic ideas come to me based on a rhythm I can hear in someone else's part.

Finally, this probably sounds like quite an odd question, but would you ever consider writing an ensemble for concert percussionists?

It's an interesting idea but I don't think I'd have the time to do it.

Hi JamStew,

Do you think it is helpful to play these figures like this or is it better to practise them in their 'unchanged' form

I think any sticking is helpful - especially in odd groups such as these.

Hi jdzzz,

I'd like to know whether counting really is that important.

I think it is when you're practicing - but I try not to do it when I perform.

Cheers
Gavin

e7z

06-12-2008, 08:53 PM

Hello Gavin!

I have ticket to TP's Moscow gig. I will see your drumming live. It's great! Do you plan some clinic or workshop in Moscow?

NeuroAxis

06-12-2008, 11:07 PM

Thanks to Gavin and ZDrums24 for the advice on grip. I also used both more or less without thinking about it or really knowing what I was doing; I would just go by what felt best.

But I definitely feel the difference in switching to French during a cascading drumroll or when the right hand is playing the ride. It's much more relaxed in this position.

raguer

06-15-2008, 03:47 AM

HI Gav how are u?

everytime i hear u comes to my mind your uncommon way to fill the spaces in the music,
where do learn that or how it born inside you, its maybe about your musical influences can u tell me about this; who is your favorite drummer?

Lord bless u man
cheers

Raul Guereca

Kalma

06-15-2008, 09:05 PM

Hey Gavin :)
what's up?

i wanted to know which in-ear-system you use.

Gavin Harrison

06-16-2008, 03:10 PM

Hi e7z

I have ticket to TP's Moscow gig. I will see your drumming live. It's great! Do you plan some clinic or workshop in Moscow?,

I have no plans for a drum clinic in Moscow.

Hi raguer,

everytime i hear u comes to my mind your uncommon way to fill the spaces in the music,
where do learn that or how it born inside you, its maybe about your musical influences can u tell me about this; who is your favorite drummer?

I try to play less 'common' drum fills if I can. It takes a lot of effort and it's something I've been working on for many years. It's not really about influences so much as finding ideas within yourself. I like many drummers - have a search back through this thread.

Hi Kalma,

i wanted to know which in-ear-system you use.

I use very simple Sennheiser MX400 (or MX300) inside a custom mold of my ear. I also have a pair of Ultimate Ear UE10's but I don't enjoy playing with them as much as the Sennheiser's.

cheers
Gavin

RED-DIAMOND

06-16-2008, 09:20 PM

Hey Gavin

I wonder what is the name of the song you play here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X81qq6Fi3G4&eurl=http://www.musictalk.co.il/forum/forum7/thread49085.html

And one more thing, when would Porcupine tree will preform in Israel(as porcupine - not blackfield)?

thanks, Etan.

daniele

06-16-2008, 11:25 PM

Hi Gavin. In the 1993 you have play one song (cannibali) in the homonym Raf's album (a very good job!). Why they have call you for play only one song? Thanks!

jdzzz

06-17-2008, 08:48 AM

hey Gavin,
A bit lenghty question here...
When one starts of with drums,there is an aspiration and the fire to play in a band and be a good drummer or to some it can be to play like their favourite drummer.
now at this given moment i aspire to reach the level of playing you are at.so there is this constant push from the inside.am not talking about replicatin your style but the level of playing.
what drives you?you have reached a certain benchmark,what do you see next for yourself.
what is it that makes you push that extra hard?What motivates you at your level.

Kalma

06-17-2008, 02:28 PM

Hi Kalma,

i wanted to know which in-ear-system you use.

I use very simple Sennheiser MX400 (or MX300) inside a custom mold of my ear. I also have a pair of Ultimate Ear UE10's but I don't enjoy playing with them as much as the Sennheiser's.

cheers
Gavin

Ah, ok.
But how does the Sennheisers look? Did you "tune" them or are they available with an attachment for custom molds??

hauk

06-17-2008, 07:42 PM

Gavin,
Thanks for your replies

Joe P

06-17-2008, 07:49 PM

RED-DIAMOND

06-17-2008, 08:28 PM

It's called "Quite Firm" by Laurence Cottle...

I don't find the song or the author... do you know maybe the name of the CD?

and again, if you didn't notice Gavin, when will Porcupine tree have a performance in Israel?

thanks again, Etan.

Joe P

06-18-2008, 12:59 AM

I don't find the song or the author... do you know maybe the name of the CD?

and again, if you didn't notice Gavin, when will Porcupine tree have a performance in Israel?

thanks again, Etan.

I'm pretty sure that Laurence made that mix especially for Gavin, but I could be wrong...

sneakydutch

06-18-2008, 02:53 AM

I'm pretty sure that Laurence made that mix especially for Gavin, but I could be wrong...

I couldn't find that version but I did find an awesome live version on Laurence's website.

Gavin Harrison

06-18-2008, 11:26 AM

Hi RED-DIAMOND,

when would Porcupine tree will preform in Israel(as porcupine - not blackfield)?

We have no plans to come to Israel at the moment.

Hi daniele

In the 1993 you have play one song (cannibali) in the homonym Raf's album (a very good job!). Why they have call you for play only one song?

The rest of that record was already finished - they just asked me to play that one song - I don't know why. Some producers like to use different drummers for different songs.

Hi jdzzz,

what drives you?you have reached a certain benchmark,what do you see next for yourself.
what is it that makes you push that extra hard?What motivates you at your level.

I love playing drums - but it's the music that really drives me. I'm in competition with myself to play the best I can and to keep progressing forwards. I feel disappointed if I just keep playing the same stuff/same licks and fills - I know when I do something new (for me) and that makes me want to strive for it.

Hi Kalma,

But how does the Sennheisers look? Did you "tune" them or are they available with an attachment for custom molds??

I don't know what you mean by 'tuning' but this is what they look like when they are inside some molds:
19229

Regarding the track "Quite Firm" by Laurence Cottle. I made a session for Laurence around 2001 and recorded that track. I was in the middle of making my first DVD Rhythmic Visions and I asked him if I could use that track on my DVD. That version of it is only on that DVD.

cheers
Gavin

xopethx

06-18-2008, 09:34 PM

Hello Gavin!

I have a question about your mic setup - do you ever find it necessary to mic your cup-chimes more closely? I know you're using some pretty high-end overheads, but i've tried some similar patterns to yours, and i'm having a hard time getting them to come through clearly, at a good volume. Of course, it could also be the characteristics of each particular chime. I'm using Rode NT-5s at the moment, about 8 inches above my my head, at almost 45-degree angles pointing toward the kit, and away from each other. I'm using another NT-5 just for the hi-hats, and there's a very small amount of spill from the chimes (not enough to be considered useful)

Thanks for any suggestions :)

facu

06-18-2008, 10:42 PM

Hi Gavin!

My name is Facundo, and I'm from Spain. I'm 15 years old and I have a question for you.

I want to come to your concert in october in the Sala Apolo (Barcelona), but in october I will haven't the age to enter in this place, (the minimum is 16 years old). What can I do? Can you or someone help me?

Thanks!!!!!!

daniele

06-19-2008, 02:14 AM

Hi Gavin,
do you like more sm 57 or Audix i5 for snare's studio recording? whats differents have you found? I should buy one of this but i'm undecided. Thank you

reg

06-19-2008, 04:41 AM

Good day Gavin

I am working with my son on proper drum technique grip and hitting the drums in the center of the skin, I did work with him on the coin taped to the center of the skin, now it is mostly grip that I am working with him on, keeping the thumb up and sitting up straight (posture), do you have any suggestions on this topic that may help me out? Technique is so important and he is at an early age so it better to get him on the right path now then later.

Reg

crdirtRider856

06-19-2008, 05:47 AM

Dear Mr Garrison, this may be a little off topic but i am a drummer of 22 years and love playing but i also have the unfortunate affliction of being diagnosed with deppresion,addiction problems,a failed marriage, banktrupsy,losing my house,suicidal attempts,loss of interest in normal activities, insomnia, carpal tunnels,etc.......but when i listen to you play, all my problems are forgotten. As for Steven Wilson- i sometimes feel that he has been through similar experiences and somehow turned them into some sort of savior- like there is someone else who has experienced these things and turned them into music of inspiration. i guess i just wanted to thank you and Steven for this. FOABP basically saved my life....please continue to do what you do as i am grateful to be a fan of P. Tree.i m not looking for sympathy or a "things will be okay" response, but i would like to know if you ever have similar feelings and what you could suggest to reverse these unwanted drawbacks. i will continue to play even if i have to force myself(get this:force myself to do something i love...wtf?) please tell your band -THANK YOU, from a fan that s more than just a fan. ROCK ON AND LIVE TO PLAY BUT ALSO PLAY TO LIVE!. thanks for your time- ian

Gavin Harrison

06-19-2008, 02:15 PM

Hi xopethx

I have a question about your mic setup - do you ever find it necessary to mic your cup-chimes more closely? I know you're using some pretty high-end overheads, but i've tried some similar patterns to yours, and i'm having a hard time getting them to come through clearly, at a good volume.

I don't close mic the bells or have a problem with them in a mix. They tend to appear in the hi hat mic quite well as well as the overheads. I have discussed the idea of a close
mic with PT's sound engineer because they can struggle to come across in a live situation.

Hi facu

I want to come to your concert in october in the Sala Apolo (Barcelona), but in october I will haven't the age to enter in this place, (the minimum is 16 years old). What can I do?

I'm sorry but the venue are responsible for setting the minimum age - usually this is to do with selling alcohol and the laws surrounding it. Quite often the age limit is much higher (18 or 21) but we have no control over this matter.

Hi daniele

do you like more sm 57 or Audix i5 for snare's studio recording? whats differents have you found?

sonically I can't hear any difference. The only problem with the SM57 is that the top is loose and can sometimes rattle.

Hi reg

I am working with my son on proper drum technique grip and hitting the drums in the center of the skin, I did work with him on the coin taped to the center of the skin, now it is mostly grip that I am working with him on, keeping the thumb up and sitting up straight (posture), do you have any suggestions on this topic that may help me out?

All the things you are doing sound good - but sooner or later you need to find him a good drum teacher.

Hi crdirtdider856

i also have the unfortunate affliction of being diagnosed with deppresion,addiction problems,a failed marriage, banktrupsy,losing my house,suicidal attempts,loss of interest in normal activities, insomnia, carpal tunnels,etc.......but when i listen to you play, all my problems are forgotten. As for Steven Wilson- i sometimes feel that he has been through similar experiences and somehow turned them into some sort of savior- like there is someone else who has experienced these things and turned them into music of inspiration.

Sorry to hear of your problems - I know that neither myself or Steven have been through these things. Glad the music helps a bit.

Cheers
Gavin

PTEmil

06-19-2008, 05:27 PM

Hello Gavin!

Have you ever heard the band Tool, and if so, what are your thoughts about them, especially about Danny Carey's playing?

I found this youtube version of you playing Swerve (don't worry, I got the DVD's aswell) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DNViiEpx8Y&feature=related, and I wonder if you can atleast try to explain how you do the "fill" from 1:26 till 1:30. It's so amazing, but I can't figure it out.

Thanks in advance! / Emil

Korompay

06-19-2008, 06:26 PM

A couple of nice fills from the great Gavin Harrison.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoG7p1ona6Y
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o284/Korompay/GHarrisoneng.jpg

NeuroAxis

06-19-2008, 08:04 PM

Gavin -

Nice work on the Ed Poole CD. Very funky stuff that sounds like it's a lot of fun to play. I especially like all the modulations you do in 'Smoulder.'

Gavin Harrison

06-19-2008, 09:58 PM

Hi PTEmil

Have you ever heard the band Tool, and if so, what are your thoughts about them, especially about Danny Carey's playing?

Yes I know Tool and I've met Danny a few times. I love them - great band and Danny is amazing. I really like the song "Schism" from Lateralus.

I found this youtube version of you playing Swerve (don't worry, I got the DVD's aswell) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DNVi...eature=related, and I wonder if you can atleast try to explain how you do the "fill" from 1:26 till 1:30. It's so amazing, but I can't figure it out.

This has come up before - Terry Branam has already worked on this fill - check this out:

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showpost.php?p=406549&postcount=1972

Hi Korompay,
thanks for the transcription. It was one of 4 lessons that were filmed for Rhythm magazine cover CD. I didn't prepare anything as I thought we were going to film me playing 3 pieces of my record with 05Ric (which we did) but they never got released. Instead Rhythm wanted me to just make some lessons up on the spot...and that's why I appear to be stumbling through it.

Hi NeuroAxis,
yes I had a lot of fun working with Ed on that record. He's a real old friend of mine....and one hell of a great bass player.

cheers
Gavin

xopethx

06-19-2008, 10:43 PM

It was one of 4 lessons that were filmed for Rhythm magazine cover CD. I didn't prepare anything as I thought we were going to film me playing 3 pieces of my record with 05Ric (which we did) but they never got released. Instead Rhythm wanted me to just make some lessons up on the spot...and that's why I appear to be stumbling through it.

I've seen the YouTube lesson (from which those fills are transcribed, i believe), and i'm wondering if there's any possibility of getting ahold of those other lessons! I've checked Rhythm's website, as well as Youtube, but haven't seen anything. Love your playing, Gavin!
take care

*edit* - i'm listening to the Ed Poole samples right now...man..that's some GROOVE! Was that session stressful at all? I could see it being incredibly fun and easy...did you also record it at your home? From what i'm hearing, the drum mix sounds good (as good as Myspace can convey, at least), and I assume you did all the mixing as well? Do you have any intentions or varying ideas for a mix when you're beginning a project like this, or does it all kind fall into place towards the end of the session?

DTrocks

06-20-2008, 12:06 PM

I really digg the drumming on the ed poole cd! FUNKY!

By the way, have you heard of Opeth? and what are your thoughts on them?

Cheers!

Kalma

06-21-2008, 01:50 PM

Hey Gavin,

How do you do the fast rimclick in this video
http://drummerworld.com/Videos/gavinharrisonporcupine.html
Did you use the Tom or just the one side of the snare?

RED-DIAMOND

06-21-2008, 09:36 PM

Hey Gavin,

How do you do the fast rimclick in this video
http://drummerworld.com/Videos/gavinharrisonporcupine.html
Did you use the Tom or just the one side of the snare?

Hi Kalma.
He did use the Tom when he did the fast rimclick, and it's amazing! Gavin can you tell as how can we parctice on this kind of rimclick?

thanks, Etan.

Kalma

06-21-2008, 10:08 PM

If he uses the Tom I think it's not as difficult.
You just have to setup the Tomshell nearly the snare.
I tried it that way and it went well :)

RED-DIAMOND

06-21-2008, 10:30 PM

If he uses the Tom I think it's not as difficult.
You just have to setup the Tomshell nearly the snare.
I tried it that way and it went well :)

Yes, but when i do this it's going very slowly, and if i speed it up the tempo is gone.
So how do you suggest me to practice on this one?

Thanks, Etan.

Kalma

06-21-2008, 10:42 PM

Practise it like every other stuff.
Start slow and push up the tempo SLOWLY!!!!

PTEmil

06-22-2008, 12:26 AM

Hey Gavin!

You said: Yes I know Tool and I've met Danny a few times. I love them - great band and Danny is amazing. I really like the song "Schism" from Lateralus.

Schism is truly amazing indeed, but I think I like Lateralus (the song) more, and The Grudge. By the way, have you ever heard of Morgan Ågren? A great drummer from my hometown.

Thanks for the transcription, although I can't read drum notes, I will try to figure it out..

Many thanks!! / Emil

RED-DIAMOND

06-22-2008, 03:20 AM

Practise it like every other stuff.
Start slow and push up the tempo SLOWLY!!!!

Yes man this is clear, what I mean is if there is any technique for this exercise?

thanks, Etan.

Gavin Harrison

06-23-2008, 12:08 PM

Hi xopethx,

i'm listening to the Ed Poole samples right now...man..that's some GROOVE! Was that session stressful at all? I could see it being incredibly fun and easy...did you also record it at your home? From what i'm hearing, the drum mix sounds good (as good as Myspace can convey, at least), and I assume you did all the mixing as well? Do you have any intentions or varying ideas for a mix when you're beginning a project like this, or does it all kind fall into place towards the end of the session?,

There was no stress on that session - only fun. I recorded (and mixed) the drums at my home studio. Ed took a stereo mix of my drums on the day - and ended up using that mix on the finished record.

Hi DTrocks

By the way, have you heard of Opeth? and what are your thoughts on them?

I know Opeth - PT did a tour with them a few years back. Great guys and a great band.

Hi Kalma

How do you do the fast rimclick in this video
http://drummerworld.com/Videos/gavin...porcupine.html Did you use the Tom or just the one side of the snare?

I'm just rattling the stick between the snare and tom like a free roll - there's no tempo in it.

RED-DIAMOND - there's no technique for it - I just go as fast as I can to try to create a continuous roll.

Hi PTEmil,

By the way, have you ever heard of Morgan Ågren? A great drummer from my hometown.

Yes I'm friends with Morgan - I love his drumming.

cheers
Gavin

dwsabianguy

06-24-2008, 05:35 AM

Hello, and at this point, good late evening from the east coast of the USA. I'm new here.

I'm lazy and really don't feel like reading all 71 pages (much respect for answering all 71 pages of questions, by the way) and I have a couple questions regarding drum sound:

1) What is the little white Sonor snare that I've seen you use in the Musikmesse videos as well as several of the samples of your DVDs? It appears to be a 5x12" with triple-flanged hoops, and I would really like to know what the wood is and shell construction as well as head selection and tuning. SM57s on top and bottom? It's just a fantastic sound.

2) Kick drum sound - your kick sound has been progressively punchier since In Absentia (sounded fantastic when I saw you guys in Raleigh, NC - thank you very much for coming, by the way) and I'm curious as to which mic(s) and any effects (sounds very uneffected) you used on Fear of a Blank Planet... I read on your site that you have a D6...

3) How do you like the EV mics on your toms compared to, say, Sennheiser MD421 IIs, any Shures or anything else you've tried?

Thank you very much for your time.

jdzzz

06-24-2008, 08:53 AM

Hi Gavin,
What has been your to-date,the best moment on stage.
I know you have been asked this question many times,but please,can u squeeze in some time and make a trip to India,for a drum clinic,and some spicy indian food..hehe....

Gavin Harrison

06-24-2008, 11:07 AM

Hi dwsabianguy

1) What is the little white Sonor snare that I've seen you use in the Musikmesse videos - and I would really like to know what the wood is and shell construction as well as head selection and tuning. SM57s on top and bottom? It's just a fantastic sound.

It's a Sonor Designer 12x5 built in the 90's. 6 ply maple no internal support rings - so it's what they would now call "thin" shell (not vintage). It has a Remo Ambassador on the top and bottom and tends to sound good at any reasonable tuning. I have recorded it with Shure SM57's but more recently I'm using an Audix i5 on the top.

2) Kick drum sound - your kick sound has been progressively punchier since In Absentia and I'm curious as to which mic(s) and any effects (sounds very uneffected) you used on Fear of a Blank Planet... I read on your site that you have a D6...

I use an Audix D6 at the hole and a Shure SM91 inside resting on the pillow. There are no effects on it.

3) How do you like the EV mics on your toms compared to, say, Sennheiser MD421 IIs, any Shures or anything else you've tried?

The EV's are great and I still use them live. In the studio I found that the 421's were better on the lower 3 toms and about the same on the top two. I also like the Beyer Opus 88 in a live situation too.

Hi jdzzz

What has been your to-date,the best moment on stage.
I know you have been asked this question many times,but please,can u squeeze in some time and make a trip to India,for a drum clinic,and some spicy indian food

Probably the first show I did with Lewis Taylor. I guess he was the first artist that I worked with that I was a real fan of - before I got to play live with him. I had an extremely big smile on my face that night. I have no plans to come to India at the moment - but I do LOVE the food.

cheers
Gavin

cantstandyourfunk

06-24-2008, 11:13 AM

I second the India tour request :)

jdzzz

06-24-2008, 11:39 AM

ahhh....
so why not experience the "real thing"
and yeah while you are enjoying your food,you can just play around the drums.
wat say..hehehe....
come on Gavin,
just for a day or two.
it will be a dream come true for many drummers here.
i still have to get over the fact that i am actually talking to you.
anyway,i wont persist much,but,in any case,just try to keep it there in your mind...
cheers.....
just one question..which band would you really like to play with for a day?
(apart from you own bands!!)

ZDrums24

06-24-2008, 03:33 PM

crdirtRider856

06-25-2008, 10:26 AM

Hello Gavin,
1st of all , you are a credit to all pro-drummers out there.You are actually in touch with your fan base. I ve been spreading the joy since '02 , but no other drummer is quite as "accessible" as you... and you are quite the excellent player. With that being said- What challenges you these days?You have heard of the band Tool and have met Danny Carey and I am very glad that you can respect a band such as this but do you still get inspired by new acts? Who are your favorite band/players out today?And who inspires you? This has most likely been asked so to my next question...when you figure out your double bass patterns for any song.... how do you go about keeping it tasteful yet not going "overboard"? because you have a way of making it very "technical" yet very"tastefull" as I cannot get enough of it.Last of all- are there any plans of of you coming through America soon? With any band?

angelo

06-25-2008, 12:29 PM

Hi Gavin
You remember how many holes venting has your snare sonor 8x4 and what kind of snare wire for this? have you a photo?
thank you very much I have realized this but has a vibration annoying that I can not eliminate
thank you very much
Angelo

Massimo98

06-26-2008, 12:36 PM

Hi Gavin.

This is Massimo from Australia. I met you with my dad at the drum fest in Geelong. That was great. I am also happy about the autographed drum head. I wanted to know what kind of drums you had when you were a kid or how many drums or cymbals did it have ?. I have a Mapex m birch kit. It has 3 toms and 1 floor tom oh and a snare drum of course. I use zildjian 14 inch mastersound high hats, 16 inch zildjian avedis fast crash, wuhan 10 splash, stagg 10 china, zildjian zxt medium ride 20 inch and a 18 inch zildjian zht china.

regards Massimo

Kalma

06-26-2008, 01:35 PM

Hi Gavin,

what heads would you use for an 14*5 Maple Vintage Snare (Sonor) for top and bottom?

DTrocks

06-26-2008, 10:01 PM

Gavin Harrison

06-26-2008, 11:57 PM

Hi jdzzz

just one question..which band would you really like to play with for a day?

Steely Dan, Earth Wind and Fire ...anything with a deep sense of groove.

Hi crdirtdider856

With that being said- What challenges you these days?

Not repeating myself.

when you figure out your double bass patterns for any song.... how do you go about keeping it tasteful yet not going "overboard"?

As I've said many times I don't think of myself as a double bass drum player - and so I don't see a distinction between the bass drum or any other part of my set when it comes to setting the 'taste barrier'. I try to do things that I think are tasteful and 'hip' and try to avoid (what I consider to be) cliches. When I listen to a recording I've just made I'm always consulting my 'inner taste barrier' - and wondering if it's all a bit over the top.

Last of all- are there any plans of of you coming through America soon? With any band?

Yes I'll be playing in the US in August with King Crimson. See www.dgmlive.com for dates.

Hi angelo,

You remember how many holes venting has your snare sonor 8x4 and what kind of snare wire for this?

There is one hole in that drum and I have a custom Puresound snare on it.

Hi Massimo98,

I wanted to know what kind of drums you had when you were a kid or how many drums or cymbals did it have ?

My first set was an Ajax 24" 13" 16" with a Trixon snare drum. I think I had about 3 cymbals. It sounds like you have a really good set there.

Hi Kalma

what heads would you use for an 14*5 Maple Vintage Snare (Sonor) for top and bottom?,

Depends what kind of sound and style of music you're going for. I'd probably put a Remo CS on the top and leave the bottom as a 'Sonor medium' which is the same as a Remo Ambassador (snare side).

Hi DTrocks

I found this video of you at drummerlive 2008 today (amongst others):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OrtsYkTScg
My question is, do you know of any videos from that performance with a better sound (and picture) quality?

No I don't. I didn't even know that existed.

Cheers
Gavin

Joe P

06-27-2008, 12:48 AM

I found this video of you at drummerlive 2008 today (amongst others):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OrtsYkTScg

My question is, do you know of any videos from that performance with a better sound (and picture) quality?

Your playing sounds great, as always! But I can't enjoy it properly without better quality!

Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OrtsYkTScg&fmt=18

Add &fmt=18 to the end of any video, and it'll show you the video at the uploaded quality.

shawnelsbernd

06-27-2008, 02:13 AM

Hello, Gavin. Can you describe your in-ear mix? What are the levels of the parts of the kit? What are the levels of the parts of the band. And then, any click or loop levels. I'm with a nine piece group. I'm getting my loops on top of two other guys loops on top of sequences, horns, guitars and keys. Oh, and my drums. I'm have trouble putting everything in a good place. I find myself pulling people way down in my mix because it's obvious that they aren't listening to the loops and they're pushing and pulling me around.

Watching the live Porcupine Tree DVD, I was amazed by your playing and your sound but, more so by how relaxed you looked even on the heavier or busier tunes. Thanks for being amazing.

outu

06-27-2008, 05:16 PM

heeelloo gavin!

i like to ask this question in last time so i want to ask you,
what question has never been asked and you really like to talk about, anything that comes in your mind can that be.

it would be interesting to know that.
thanks and have a goood day!
:-)

stefan!

Gus

06-27-2008, 10:23 PM

Hi Gavin

Back in DROP, i´m trying to learn the parts on LIFE, to me a song with a giant feel, and want to ask you about the part in 1:46, after the first chorus; i think you´re playing 5/8 really nice, but the hi-hat pattern (with many rolls in) confuse me. After a few bars you get back again to the 5/8 part, but now playing the ride cymbal with a more straight feel. Can´t reach it... any clue?

Many thanks as always.

"i´m not standing still
i´m moving"

Gus

Sol Good

06-28-2008, 06:46 PM

I found this video of you at drummerlive 2008 today (amongst others):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OrtsYkTScg

My question is, do you know of any videos from that performance with a better sound (and picture) quality?

Try this:

http://www.vicfirth.com/features/drummerlive08/video/drummerlive08_harrison1HQ.html

Gavin Harrison

06-28-2008, 08:39 PM

Hi shawnelsbernd

Hello, Gavin. Can you describe your in-ear mix? What are the levels of the parts of the kit? What are the levels of the parts of the band.I find myself pulling people way down in my mix because it's obvious that they aren't listening to the loops and they're pushing and pulling me around.

The mix I have going on in my ears are - all the drums (balanced as I feel I play them) plus a very clicky bass drum sound so I can hear the attack. I have reverb going on the snare and toms. Then behind me is a sub speaker that just has the low end of the bass drum in it. As for the rest of the band I have all of them in my mix too. On top of that sometimes there's a click playing that is louder than the mix of the band - but not deafening. There are moments when I can't hear the click just for a second or so because of all the noise that I'm making.

Yes I agree - if there are people in your band pulling your timing around - then turn them down in your mix.

Hi Gus

Back in DROP, i´m trying to learn the parts on LIFE, to me a song with a giant feel, and want to ask you about the part in 1:46, after the first chorus; i think you´re playing 5/8 really nice, but the hi-hat pattern (with many rolls in) confuse me. After a few bars you get back again to the 5/8 part, but now playing the ride cymbal with a more straight feel. Can´t reach it... any clue?

1:46 to 2:09 is the same as the verse 9/16

19422

- (but maybe with a few more open hi hats and accents) then there's a 3/8 bar rest followed by four bars of 15/16. Make sense?

Cheers
Gavin

MBruyere

06-28-2008, 09:14 PM

Hi Gavin!

I've been really enjoying the album version of Futile lately and I was wondering if you could explain the intro, mainly from :20-:33. I feel I have very solid timing, from marching 4 years of drum corp, and there's not much I can't figure out, but that section is ridiculous! You're the man! Any plans on putting some PT transcriptions together in a book?

Marc

jasonrhcp

06-28-2008, 10:27 PM

Gavin

Love your playing, and although I have your Books, they are difficult , but I am working thru them. Thanks for the inspiration.

J

heaven'stef

06-29-2008, 01:33 AM

Hey Gavin,
happy birthday (altho I'm too late...), and thank for your great insperational work with PT. Absolutely love your stuff, keep up the good work.

Been reading this tread for a while, but wondered who your greatest influences were when you were a younger drummer, and who do you look up to nowadays? Also, as one of my all-time favourite drummers is Ian Mosley (Marillion), wondered what do you think of his work?

Sorry if any of these questions had come up before, I certainly didn't see them...

Cheers.

Kind regards

Stefan

_______________________________________
BIGDOG Germany MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/bigdogdrums)
MY MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/tetishirt)

NeuroAxis

06-29-2008, 06:01 AM

Gavin -

I had a question about pedal selection. I know you use Axis pedals for most/all of your PT stuff, and I think I've heard that you switch out the beaters for heavier ones. I've considered using Axis before, as I am in a few metal bands that use lots of double bass and Axis are much better for that type of application, but the thing I didn't like about them is that when playing single bass groove I couldn't get a good thump no matter how much I layed into the pedal, it was just that same light, efficient touch that's good for playing double bass. Do you have this problem, or do you solve it by setting the beaters farther from the head or some other trick?

Just curious because I am thinking about saving my ankles some strain and switching over to Axis.

And thanks for taking your time to answer these questions for us.

Gavin Harrison

06-29-2008, 12:19 PM

Hi MBruyere

I've been really enjoying the album version of Futile lately and I was wondering if you could explain the intro, mainly from :20-:33.

It's all in good old 4/4

19432

Any plans on putting some PT transcriptions together in a book?

Not at the moment - but I'd love to with the help of a good transcriber (Terry Branam for instance).

Hi heaven'stef,

Been reading this tread for a while, but wondered who your greatest influences were when you were a younger drummer, and who do you look up to nowadays? Also, as one of my all-time favourite drummers is Ian Mosley (Marillion), wondered what do you think of his work?

When I was young I listened to a lot of Steve Gadd and Jeff Porcaro. Also Stewart Copland, Billy Cobham, Simon Phillips, Steve Schaffer and quite a few others spring to mind. I'm not familiar with Marillions albums - but I worked on a record in the early 80's that Ian Mosley had played half of - and I was very impressed.

Hi NeuroAxis

I had a question about pedal selection. I know you use Axis pedals for most/all of your PT stuff, and I think I've heard that you switch out the beaters for heavier ones. I've considered using Axis before, as I am in a few metal bands that use lots of double bass and Axis are much better for that type of application, but the thing I didn't like about them is that when playing single bass groove I couldn't get a good thump no matter how much I layed into the pedal, it was just that same light, efficient touch that's good for playing double bass. Do you have this problem, or do you solve it by setting the beaters farther from the head or some other trick?

I set the beaters way back from the factory settings (and have the springs on reasonably tight) - for the same reason. I like to have good leverage and hit the bass drum hard. If it's set up for fast close playing - I don't enjoy playing simple kind of "1&3" on it (which is a vast majority of the time). It means that I have to work much harder when playing fast double pedal stuff. The old drummer from Opeth sat on my kit to try my pedals - and commented that he would die within a minute if he had to play fast 16ths on them. It all goes along with fact that I'm not really a double bass drummer - I just occasionally dabble with it.

cheers
Gavin

daniele

06-29-2008, 06:59 PM

Hi Gavin,
I would like create a home studio in a little room in my house (16,5x8,7x8h foot). In your opinion, can i get to a good recording sound in a room like this,after acustic treatment? Thank you!

Midnite Mike

06-29-2008, 08:35 PM

Hey Gavin,
Congratulations on your readers poll from modern drummer. Wow, second year in a row for best progressive drummer, you must be doing something right :-) Keep up the exciting work. Take care and God bless.

MM

p.s. Nil Recurring blew me away!

drumbumhamza

06-29-2008, 09:43 PM

I have no plans to come to India at the moment - but I do LOVE the food.

cheers
Gavin

oh oh oh may be i can bring you some when i come for the 19th october gig :D

really stupid question
but if there was one place in a porcupine tree song wherein you could incorporate blast beats...where would it be ?

kheddar

06-30-2008, 11:39 PM

Sup Gavin.

A couple of questions:

1. Your dynamic range and precision are amazing... those are things a lot of people don't always appreciate. Are there any specific exercises you would recommend that would help develop those skills?

2. Porcupine Tree's music has got increasingly rhythmically focused; how much of this is your influence, seeing as you're quite the polyrhythm/syncopation nut?

Gavin Harrison

07-01-2008, 02:17 PM

Hi daniele

I would like create a home studio in a little room in my house (16,5x8,7x8h foot). In your opinion, can i get to a good recording sound in a room like this,after acustic treatment? Thank you!

Yes of course you can. I don't think you're going to get a big ambient sound (with a room that size) - but with the careful use of digital reverbs it could sound really good.

Hi kheddar

1. Your dynamic range and precision are amazing... those are things a lot of people don't always appreciate. Are there any specific exercises you would recommend that would help develop those skills?

It's a hard question - just being very observant about your details certainly helps. Being in very anal studio conditions - and listening carefully makes you aware of a lot of your errors.

2. Porcupine Tree's music has got increasingly rhythmically focused; how much of this is your influence, seeing as you're quite the polyrhythm/syncopation nut?

I try to bring new rhythmic ideas to each album - some complex and some just unusual. If I can - I strive to play unique drum parts - and see if there are opportunities to experiment with rhythmic structure. I can certainly here my influence in some of the songs.

cheers
Gavin

mstjean

07-04-2008, 01:24 AM

Is Drop available in any retail stores in Canada? I'm struggling from wanting to hear it now and wanting to have the liner notes.
...perhaps I will buy the download and the real deal and waaait for the shipment. :D

jez-

07-04-2008, 08:22 AM

Try this:

http://www.vicfirth.com/features/drummerlive08/video/drummerlive08_harrison1HQ.html

Wow! My jaw just dropped to the floor. That was an amazing video.

raguer

07-05-2008, 06:08 PM

HI Gav how are you man¡¡

i need to learn about the polyrythms can you think the books from peter magadinis can help me? or i could move me direct to your books, i know just the basics but i want to study your books in a very deep perspective without so much problems in the way and maybe i need to lear somethings more before jump to this or what do you think?

and another one, can you tell me about the basic structure and the metric of your song
¡unsettled from album drop,

god bless u man

cheers
Raul Guereca,

Gavin Harrison

07-06-2008, 03:56 PM

Hi mstjean

Is Drop available in any retail stores in Canada? I'm struggling from wanting to hear it now and wanting to have the liner notes.

As far as I'm aware - Drop is only available frrom www.burningshed.com (for CD and download).

Hi raguer

i need to learn about the polyrythms can you think the books from peter magadinis can help me?

I have one of Peter's books and I thought it was very good.

can you tell me about the basic structure and the metric of your song
¡unsettled from album drop,

If you look back through this thread or use the search function you will find a transcription of the start of "Unsettled". The song goes through a number of time signatures - but basically the beginning is 4/4 then it goes into 3/4 (or 7/16 & 5/16) then an implied 6/8.

Cheers
Gavin

XboxIsAGodToMe

07-06-2008, 09:13 PM

Hey Gavin! Just a quick question...I recently picked up an S-Hoop for my snare, and it is amazing. So comfortable when doing rimshots, and I'm actually liking the sound I get with it as well. My question though, is do you have them on both the top and bottom of your toms and snare? I like the idea of having them on the top to protect the edges, and also if a muffling ring is needed, but I'm not sure if they're necessary for the bottom, except for looks. Thanks for the help!
Josh

kheddar

07-07-2008, 12:41 AM

Thanks so much for playing Mother and Child Divided at Ruisrock!

I actually had quite a few people ask me whether I knew what the song was called because they hadn't heard it before and absolutely loved it. PT goes Meshuggah.

yamaman

07-07-2008, 04:42 AM

Cheers and thanks for all the advice, entertainment and I know I speak for many, frustration!

I think I have downloaded or purchased just about everything you have done with PT, 05 Ric, etc.

My messages to you are;

Why no US tour? Especially to Boston (so you can visit the Zildjian plant, about 15 miles from me), I'll buy lunch!

And a note for your input about maturity and playing. I just read your quote on being disappointed if you are out to be the best drummer in the world, and thought that it was great advice. I was young a million years ago (I'm 43) and wish I had someone say that to me before I stopped playing for 20 years. Now that I have been playing again for about 9 months I feel that maturity has a big part in learning and paying attention to rudiments etc. I think I try harder to meet my goals and do it in a different approach to playing than I did years ago. Especially trying to play along the lines of your material. Your thoughts and more advice for the younger players out here.

Thanks for your artistry, you are by far the most creative musician my ears have had the pleasure of hearing!

Best-Jeff