Gavin Harrison here!

Hi Ramtin HajatDoust

Does it have a standard contract for this work and how can I get it with details? Can I download it from websites or contact someone that he could help me?

I don't have a standard contract - and have never used one for recording sessions.

Is it usual that I want him to register my name, website, email and my equipments like brand of drum shell, heads, cymbals, microphones, etc in brochure or catalogue of his album that I used them?

Not really - when it is your solo album or your band album then I think it's a good time to thank your equipment companies and mention their names. I don't do that when I play on other peoples records.

Which wood and with what diameter (thin,medium,thick) do you advise me for recording in studio for tom toms, kick and snare? Maple, Birch or combine of them or other wood .

All of those are good. It just comes down to personal preference.

Hi Fabio

Hi Gavin, i would to know information.
In your 5 wonderful "Custom-Chimes"
i usually listen one of these play a particular sound..
I don't know explain the exact "harmony" but i love it!
-Maybe the 2nd bell to left from 8" tom-


yes that particular one is a cut down splash cymbal. All the others used to be crash cymbals before I cut them.

Hi Chief2112

I guess if I was to ask anything of you right this moment it would be what advice you would have for someone just starting to learn to play?


Just enjoy playing the drums and get yourself a good teacher.

Hi euphoric_anomaly

Are there any time signatures that are still challenging for you?

They all are. I'm still trying to find new angles in any time signature.

Also, are there any genre's of music that you would find challenging? (salsa, african jungle music, polka).

I have played a lot of different genres in my time - and to be really proficient in any of them you need to absorb a lot of stuff and listen to the genre that you're trying to play. Therefore I find rock/funk/jazz comes easier to me because I grew up listening to a lot of it.

Cheers
Gavin
 
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Hi Gavin,

In a previous post, you said that your toms was thin maple, your floor toms medium maple and bass drum thick maple. Could you tell us how many ply does this mean?
Example: toms = thin maple (6 ply)
floor toms = medium maple (8 ply)
bass drum = thick maple (10 ply)

Thanks

Take care
Will
 
Hi Gav!

Was watching the new Anesthetize DVD the other day and had a random thought/question:

What's your thoughts in regards to footwear while drumming? Do you always use a specific kind of shoe? Are you comfortable playing barefoot? Or would that be cramping Steven's style? :)

I find playing barefoot surprisingly difficult, I'm so used to utilising the weight of my shoe all the time.
 
PT on Blu Ray

Hi Gavin,

thanks to PT for going through the effort and not only putting together Anesthetize as DVD but also as Blu-Ray. I know that you guys seem to buy in to high quality media pretty much, but a Blu-Ray is nothing you see very often from bands with tight budgets.

I can only say... it was absolutely worth it. Given the difficult lighting environment, the picture quality is very good. I watched it on 2.5m screen and it was really pleasing. The high resolution material provides so many details to watch that you can hardly get in one go. Also, Blu-Ray gives you much nicer colors which captures the tasteful lightshow and the interaction between music and the projections in a nice way. I can only recommand this "enhanced" version of the concert to everyone owning a Blu-Ray Player.

Irrespective of the media, I liked the way the action on the stage was captured. Especially the various cameras that were mounted in all sorts of places brought a lot of details without having camera men running arround on the stage. It must have also been much less distracting for the audience in Tilburg. I especially liked the camera on your right side of your set - the one that you were looking into the one or the other time.

Given the very artful approach Lasse Hoile chose for Arriving Somewhere, Anesthetize seems to concentrate more on capturing the real athmosphere the band creates live. No fancy experiments with colors and optical effects. It reminded me pretty much of what I saw and felt during my first first PT show (The Incident) last year which is probably as good as it gets.

Congratulations. I can only hope that this wasn´t the last PT Blu-Ray.
 
Hey Gavin,

I really admire your approach to double bass drumming, I have never tried the double pedal simply because I never wanted to play all the cliched double patterns we've been bombarded with over the years. Your playing approach is very refreshing, I think I might have to look again at the dreaded double pedal.

Cheers,

Tom.
 
Hey Gavin,

I really admire your approach to double bass drumming, I have never tried the double pedal simply because I never wanted to play all the cliched double patterns we've been bombarded with over the years. Your playing approach is very refreshing, I think I might have to look again at the dreaded double pedal.

Cheers,

Tom.


It's very difficult to imagine drums without a double pedal anymore. You might also like to check Thomas Lang's double pedal work and books; he uses the double pedal a bit more than Gavin, but still creatively.


Fox.
 
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It's very difficult to imagine drums without a double pedal anymore. You might also like to check Thomas' Lang double pedal work and books; he uses the double pedal a bit more than Gavin, but still creatively.


Fox.

Hi Fox,

Thanks for the tip, I'll take a look at your recommendation, Thomas is a great player.
 
It's very difficult to imagine drums without a double pedal anymore. You might also like to check Thomas' Lang double pedal work and books; he uses the double pedal a bit more than Gavin, but still creatively.


Fox.
Really? You virtually hear no double pedal in the whole jazz idiom, and there's practically no use for it (or at least no necessity) in most pop music either. Never heard it in country either, and in hip-hop, R&B or gospel many guys are easily able to do their thang with one foot. The same goes for latin music. I think all I've heard there are some licks by virtuosos Horacio Hernandez and Julio Barreto.
 
Really? You virtually hear no double pedal in the whole jazz idiom, and there's practically no use for it (or at least no necessity) in most pop music either.
Perhaps you should define "jazz idiom". Are Dave Weckl with the Chick Corea Elektric Band and Mike Stern band, Paul Wertico and Antonio Sanchez with the Pat Metheny Group and Dennis Chambers with John Scofield and The Brecker Brothers part of the "jazz idiom"? If so, these guys play double pedal (well I believe Dennis does the double thing with a single pedal, still I regard double pedal as a "tool" which gives a certain sound, but I also regard double pedal not the only thing that could give that certain sound)
 
Perhaps you should define "jazz idiom". Are Dave Weckl with the Chick Corea Elektric Band and Mike Stern band, Paul Wertico and Antonio Sanchez with the Pat Metheny Group and Dennis Chambers with John Scofield and The Brecker Brothers part of the "jazz idiom"? If so, these guys play double pedal (well I believe Dennis does the double thing with a single pedal, still I regard double pedal as a "tool" which gives a certain sound, but I also regard double pedal not the only thing that could give that certain sound)
Well you're right, some drummers include double pedal drumming in many fusion type of styles. I didn't mean fusion in particular. By the way I wouldn't call Dave Weckl a double pedal player necessarily. It's certainly not very distinctive for his style. I don't think anyone would hire him because he can play double pedal licks.
 
Well you're right, some drummers include double pedal drumming in many fusion type of styles. I didn't mean fusion in particular. By the way I wouldn't call Dave Weckl a double pedal player necessarily. It's certainly not very distinctive for his style. I don't think anyone would hire him because he can play double pedal licks.

I think Gavin and Dave Weckl are where I want to be, great all round drummers with the ability to play most styles well. Wether they play double or single pedal is not really the issue, they're sound is not defined by the amount of pedals they play but how well they're overall playing fits the music. Gavin is like a camellion, he is able to change to fit the music, sign of a great all round player.
If I was in a thrash metal band and I needed a drummer for a recording, you are correct, Dave Weckl is'nt the first name that springs to mind, but if he was sitting in the corner of the studio with his kit and a few hours to spare for the recording I'm sure I wouldn't be too disappointed with the result. Although I'm not sure if he would agree to wear the slipknot mask....haha
 
Really? You virtually hear no double pedal in the whole jazz idiom, and there's practically no use for it (or at least no necessity) in most pop music either. Never heard it in country either, and in hip-hop, R&B or gospel many guys are easily able to do their thang with one foot. The same goes for latin music. I think all I've heard there are some licks by virtuosos Horacio Hernandez and Julio Barreto.


Well, I said it is difficult to imagine drums, not music. I just believe that the double pedal and double pedal playing are becoming more and more essential to a drummer's set of skills, and a paramount part of the kit for a modern drummer.


Fox.
 
Whether it's essential or not can be debated, but I definitely think learning double pedal technique is something worth the relatively short time it takes to become competent. I
 
Hello Gavin,

Is it a desperate waiting for a Turkey concert? I don't know how you qualify turkish fans but it would be great to see you with PT in turkey.. Or do i have to catch you in somewhere else ??

Congratulations for all the gorgeous works ..
 
Well you're right, some drummers include double pedal drumming in many fusion type of styles. I didn't mean fusion in particular. By the way I wouldn't call Dave Weckl a double pedal player necessarily. It's certainly not very distinctive for his style. I don't think anyone would hire him because he can play double pedal licks.

But that was not the point of my response. We were talking about the "jazz idiom" and your opinion that there is practically no use for it. I strongly disagree with that.
Sure double pedal is not the "characteristic" of the genre like it is in various types of metal. But that's the point of Jazz music, there is room for everything and the guys I already mentioned showcase that.

I strongly agree with Fox and andSometimesY.
 
But that was not the point of my response. We were talking about the "jazz idiom" and your opinion that there is practically no use for it. I strongly disagree with that.
With the correction that I didn't mean fusion, but swing-ride driven jazz like all the way from dixie to bop plus more open playing.

Of course double pedal playing seems to become "standard" in a drummer's arsenal, I don't deny that at all (and I'm playing one too) I just wanted to point out that there is actually a large amount of music where there's absolutely no need to even include a pedal in your setup.

I should stop hijacking Gavin's thread now.
 
Hey Gavin,

I wanted to start out thanking you. Your drumming really helped me think outside of the box. (your drumming blows my mind)

I was wondering what bands had a big influence on your drumming. Also what are some great bands you would suggest to practice to?

Thanks,
Nathan

(p.s.) Great magic trick at the end of your show (The Incident tour, house of blues,Orlando)
 
Hi Gavin,

Some microphone questions. I recorded a drumkit last sunday for the first time in my life. The recording came out pretty good for the gear we had available (though I still cannot believe my pre-historic macbook was actually able to multitrack record) but I'm concidering to buy some microphones.

What is your typical mic setup for live? Also, have you tried the audix d2's on your toms? Some people on gearsl*tz prefer them over the sennheisers as they sound more accurate and usually don't need to be EQ'ed. Do you have experience with those?

And last, I got a lot of spill in virtually all the mics. Used a lot of gating in the mixdown to keep the signals more clean (like filtering out the hi-hat spill on the snare track). Do you also experience a lot of spill in the mics and if so, what do you do about it (if you actually do anything at all with it)?

Thanks a lot!

Santi


(p.s.) Great magic trick at the end of your show (The Incident tour, house of blues,Orlando)
I'm getting jealous at everybody with that magic trick. Everybody mentions it but I had to leave the venue early to catch the last train home so never saw the now already famous magic trick…
 
Hi willregnier

In a previous post, you said that your toms was thin maple, your floor toms medium maple and bass drum thick maple. Could you tell us how many ply does this mean?
Example: toms = thin maple (6 ply)
floor toms = medium maple (8 ply)
bass drum = thick maple (10 ply)


Thin is 9 ply (5mm)
Medium is 9 ply (6mm)
Heavy is 12 ply (8mm)

Hi Simo

What's your thoughts in regards to footwear while drumming? Do you always use a specific kind of shoe? Are you comfortable playing barefoot?

I need a flat bottom shoe - I normally wear old style Puma trainers. I can't play barefoot - it really hurts.

Hi Erhan U.

Is it a desperate waiting for a Turkey concert? I don't know how you qualify turkish fans but it would be great to see you with PT in turkey.. Or do i have to catch you in somewhere else ??

We have been trying to organise a concert in Istanbul for a long time now - but so far no success. The logistics are quite complicated to get there.

Hi yothatswack

I was wondering what bands had a big influence on your drumming. Also what are some great bands you would suggest to practice to?

I listened to a lot of jazz when I was growing up and then a bit later I listened to more funk. I particularly liked (and still do) Earth Wind And Fire. I don't know what bands you might like playing along to - have you tried Porcupine Tree?

Hi SantiBanks

What is your typical mic setup for live? Also, have you tried the audix d2's on your toms?

# Bass Drum Shure SM91
# Bass Drum Audix D6
# Snare Top Audix i5
# Snare Bottom Audix i5
# Hi Hat and ride AKG CK391
# Toms Electro Voice N/D 408

I can't remember what the overheads are at the moment. I haven't tried the Audix tom mics.

And last, I got a lot of spill in virtually all the mics. Used a lot of gating in the mixdown to keep the signals more clean (like filtering out the hi-hat spill on the snare track). Do you also experience a lot of spill in the mics and if so, what do you do about it (if you actually do anything at all with it)?

Don't worry about spill - spill is natural - I wouldn't gate things myself. Some mixing engineers like to gently gate the floor toms if they are ringing sympathetically and getting in the way of the low end.

cheers
Gavin
 
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