Hi scottishhaggis
Regarding your last answer about the hats. Constantinoples are probably very great ones to play. Are you playing them only for the clinics and 05ric or have you completely switched to them? Are they any good for heavier music? It seems that this is a switch from 13 inch to 14 inch. What made you switch the size?
I don't think the Constantinoples could take the kind of volumes that I play with PT. I quite often change all my cymbals in size and type amongst the vast variety of exciting cymbals that Zildjian offer. Probably by the next PT tour they will have changed again. I've been enjoying larger cymbals in general - 21" and 22" rides 14" hi hats and so on.
Hi kalabuchnok
Sorry for talking again about your custom bell's ! I tryed to look if I can find the answer in the other pages, but with my english, it's too hard to read all the forum!!!
I must cut some broken crashes to do a litlle rack like you. I've got a 14" K thin crask, 15" A custom and a 16 A custom. My question is how to determinate witch one will be the little bell, the medium, etc. Big crash = big bell (6") and little crash = little bell (4") ? I don't want to do a mistake when I'm going to cut the cymbals... I imagine you tried different configuration before finding the sound you wanted.
Also, is it possible to find your DVD subtitled in French?
the Zildjian cymbals that have the medium bell 13" to 17" were the ones that I cut. The pitch was more determined by the thickness of the cymbal. I never made one that I didn't like. If the pitch was too close to one I had already made I just made it smaller and it went higher in pitch. Sorry but none of my DVDs have been subtitled into French. I wish they were!
Hi NerfLad
Gavin, when you played your solo on Letterman did you have a click in your ears or were you "free ballin'", so to speak? I noticed the band all came in exactly where they were supposed to without a count in, which they didn't do when Dennis Chambers soloed (and he didn't use ears).
there were a number of challenges to that Letterman performance. They asked me to play a drum solo but to also include the excellent house band. I thought long and hard about what I could do. I knew what I didn't want to do - a free form showing off solo demonstrating how fast I could go - which would almost guarantee that it would come out as a load of rubbish. I wanted it to be part of a tune - and I thought of "The Chicken" as it would be an easy tune to play and that the band would have no trouble with it. Plus it's a good tempo for soloing on.
We played the head of the tune and then in 16 bar sections I soloed and they played the riff over bar 16 so it made musical sense and kept the band involved.
For the performance to be just under 3 and a half minutes (which they were very strict about) I decided to do it with a click. That way I wouldn't start off too fast or too slow (and believe me with that amount of adrenalin I could have started off at twice that tempo) and it was a way that I could play whatever I wanted in terms of polyrhythms and odd groupings without losing the band. So that was the easiest - path of least resistance - I could think of. It meant that I could rehearse at home to that exact tempo and arrangement and be as prepared as I could.
I didn't plan every note but prepared certain ideas that would flow into each other from section to section.
Hi BabyBob
just wanna say Can't wait to see you when you come to KL in Malaysia for a Clinic!
Great - see you there.
Hi Alex Temperley
I am studying for my BA Hon in drums and part of the examination process is a study of an artist and the techniques/tools they employ. To accompany this a transcription showing their use. The artist I chose is you. Your drumming has really inspired me, particularly your ability to groove no matter how technical the parts you are playing.
I was hoping you might be able to point out specific concepts you employ, from either of your books, within your Porcupine Tree drumming and give examples.
Thanks for thinking of me. If you have my books Rhythmic Illusions, Rhythmic Perspectives and Rhythmic Designs you'll see how 'rhythmic manipulation' (through displacement and modulation) is probably the concept that I use the most. If you're familiar with my recorded work with PT and O5Ric you'll easily see how I put that into practise.
Hi Arky
Thank you so much! It was your solo on the Letterman show which made me aware of those cool chimes so I decided to make some myself. That 5-way bell holder is a cool idea, too! Thank you for the fun this journey has brought me!!
thanks for exploring the 'cymbal cutting' - and going much further than I went with it. I read your thread about it - great stuff - good work!!!
Hi euphoric_anomaly
A question about endorsements. When you are endorsed by a company (ie- Zildjian/Sonor etc) do they pay you to "advertise" their products? Do you have to pay for the equipment or do they provide it for you? Also, do you get to keep whatever you use after a certain amount of time? I was just curious as to what it means to be "endorsed".
I have never received money to play a certain product. Nearly all of the products that I endorse - I was playing and buying before hand. I would not want to endorse something that I didn't love - just because it was free. Most major companies run an endorser program - and they may offer a drummer a sliding scale of endorsement depending on your status as a player. That is to say how well known you are - NOT necessarily how GOOD you are.
My first endorsement was a kind of 'Silver endorsement' which meant that the company sold the equipment to me at a reduced price. I was delighted with that of course. They didn't put me in their adverts nor invite me to make drum clinics for them. I never thought that the endorsement would validate or elevate me as a player. I was a small gamble for them - they didn't lose any money but they invested in a young 'up and coming' player.
With the endorsements I have now - I get the equipment for free - but it doesn't belong to me - I can't sell it. It belongs to the companies (like a long term loan) - and they often upgrade my stuff with the latest versions as they come out. They give me worldwide support - so if I fly to a far off country they could supply me with the gear I need in that country. That is of GREAT value of course. I make drum clinic tours - which is usually initiated by one of the companies (and the others make a smaller financial contribution to help with the costs as well as supply their equipment to use on the clinics). I do get paid for those events - but the cost is normally split across all the companies and the shop or drum festival that is hosting it.
It's quite a complicated process in arranging, hosting and paying the expenses for a clinic. The endless comments on FaceBook "Hey Dude why don't you play a clinic in XXX my home town" ...are not really that useful. I don't get to choose or decide the exact locations of where the clinics are made.
cheers
Gavin