Gavin Harrison here!

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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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
 
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.
 
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?
 
Gavin Harrison said:
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
Click to expand...

thanks a bunch
will definitely do that
 
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...
 
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.
 
mabhz said:
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.
Click to expand...

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


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.
 
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
 
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 :)
 
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