Nicko McBrain

I know how Nicko plays that riff. I can play it myself to a certain degree. The pattern on dream of mirrors is an old riff I first heard it on Caught somewhere in time and Evil that men do. He simply speeded it up abit you can also here it in the Trooper recently in the Guitar solo section. It is an old Bonham trick where on a rock beat you play double kick in between the Hihat or ride and the snare. When you do it fast with it sounds like the Bass drum is playing with the ride as well and doing a triplet but it isn't.

Hope this helps you.

Yes, a good example of the technique your talking about would be Bonham on Achillies Last Stand. Only not as fast as on the Maiden tunes.
 
Nicko is the werid thing in drumming ever,
Whether it is the strange noise he makes when he gets tired, or his crazy patterns with just one foot! or the fact he is in 2008 but his haircut is lost back in the 80's, he is still one of those drummers who recreated the meaning of metal drummer.

Rock on Nicko
 
WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT''S NOT A GONG.

PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO EMAIL PAISTE AND TELL THEM THAT

I think that might be possibly my favourite post I've ever seen on this forum.

Edit: I completely forgot why I came on this thread in the first place, I wanted to ask what people thought about Nicko's unusual counting-in. It seems like he always counts in at a different tempo to the song he's about to play, which to me seems very strange, but it seems to work. See 'Ghost of the Navigator' or 'The Clansman' on Rock In Rio for evidence of this.
 
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I always tought Nicko's playing like a big band drummer in a rock context in the way he's doing his fills and the the way he set up the figure. There's a lot of Bonham bet there's a lot of Buddy too, I love his fills.
 
Hi Guys

I consider my self to be one of nicko's number 1 fans.

I have met him on numerous ocasions.

He has been my inspiration for drumming, and have based my own kit and playing around his style, im currently found the secret of nicko fast triplets when I spoke to him recently. And am making great progress with my dw5000 Nicko's main work horse.

My dream came true when I was able to play the grey sonor hitec kit from Somewhere in time tour (wasted years video, and more recently from here to eternity, and be quick or be dead video) ever since that day I wanted that kit.

Since last year I have been colecting through the internet and various other sources drums and cymbals, and am well on target for next year to have a full size Sonor Nicko kit of my very own.

Paul (Nicko Fan)

I loved that grey kit!....looked great.
 
Hi Guys

I consider my self to be one of nicko's number 1 fans.

I have met him on numerous ocasions.

He has been my inspiration for drumming, and have based my own kit and playing around his style, im currently found the secret of nicko fast triplets when I spoke to him recently. And am making great progress with my dw5000 Nicko's main work horse.

My dream came true when I was able to play the grey sonor hitec kit from Somewhere in time tour (wasted years video, and more recently from here to eternity, and be quick or be dead video) ever since that day I wanted that kit.

Since last year I have been colecting through the internet and various other sources drums and cymbals, and am well on target for next year to have a full size Sonor Nicko kit of my very own.

Paul (Nicko Fan)
I loved that grey kit!....looked great.
 
Nicko is a legend!! i cant imagine Iron Maiden without him!

I had the pleasure of meeting the band while on tour here in Feb, however Nicko was sick so he never left the hotel and i missed out on meeting him!

His kit on this current tour is absolutely GORGEOUS!!
 
I just love his way of playing, he has such nice flow to his beats.
I think he is one of the pioners in metaldrumming.
He is the reason why i started to play drums in the first place and he has really shaped my way of drumming.
Just love everytihng about him, his way of playing and offcourse his drumsets.
 
i always thought it would be cool to have a set up like Nicko's. its so uniqueand it looks so fun to play. I just want to be able to play 5 minutes so i can play with all of his toms! :)
 
Nicko is a legend!! i cant imagine Iron Maiden without him!

I had the pleasure of meeting the band while on tour here in Feb, however Nicko was sick so he never left the hotel and i missed out on meeting him!

His kit on this current tour is absolutely GORGEOUS!!

I agree on Nicko's comment, nevertheless, Clive Burr deserves credit for it's great job with The Irons.
 
I always tought Nicko's playing like a big band drummer in a rock context in the way he's doing his fills and the the way he set up the figure. There's a lot of Bonham bet there's a lot of Buddy too, I love his fills.

In addition, Nicko has a bit of Ian Paice, Neil Peart, Ringo Starr and Charlie Watts...believe it or not! He has mentioned before.
 
Happy B-Day to Nicko today. I believe he is 55 today. And still kicking ass.
Three great drummers b-days this month;
6-5; Nicko---55
6-7; Me---40...........great?....................decent?...........well ok!!!
6-9;(my favorite) Gregg Bissonette---50
Happy B-Day to us!! ; ^ )
 
I watched Flight 666 last night and I was amazed at nickos foot speed they showed a shot of his foot during one of the songs and it was nothing but a blur. Inspiring to say the least.
 
Yes Nicko's foot is something ....I think the tune you may be talking about is "The Wickerman"....16ths strong and steady.....decent bpm clip too!

Also since it's Maiden related.....I loved Clive as well, I always thought Clive had more memorable hooks and intros: Gangland, Run to the Hills intro and repeating run of the oddly placed 10" tom into the racks ...haha, The Prisoner, Ghengis Kahn, also the snare roll (singles) into the opening verse of Murders in the Rue Morgue to name a few....
Also many people think he played Wrathchild with two hands on the hats (16th notes) ...but was all right hand...needless to say the guys forearm had to be like Popeye's :)
I was surprised when I saw a video of them doing Wrathchild live at a wicked "brisk" tempo and there was Clive righthand only on the hats.

BUT I KNOW...Sorry ...I'm not hijacking the thread away from Nicko haha

Just ,making a point that while Clive had all those memorable hooky intros fills (and a bionic right arm)....Nicko will always have "Where eagles dare"...perhaps the most technical Maiden drum tune there is....well...I would say it's in my op easily the most difficult maiden tune. And Maiden like most bands play the songs a lot faster live (the ole' adrenaline) and the fact Nicko pulls off that crazy stuff on the bass drum is all the more impressive. I read somewhere that Live on Where eagles, Steve Harris wanted him to reinforce the bassline on some spots and asked him to consider adding a dbl pedal or another bassdrum. But Nicko said he wouldn't hear of it...so he shed and shed on the 3 and 4 stroke figures til he had them at his disposal....and ALMOST effortless.But the poor guy had to pull off a full triplet (the 3 strokes) over and over and in a few spots I recall 4 strokes ! starting on the "a" of 4....so (a 1 + a ) ....consistantly. And let's not forget the Intro and the syncopated broken triplet ride pattern...... And if all that wasn't enuff....THEY OPENED with that tune.... :)


Great under-rated drummer.
sorry make that DRUMMERS !
 
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25 years ago when I first saw Maiden at Hammersmith Odeon (as it was then) Nicko inspired me to take up drumming. I got a Pearl Export kit and off I went. But, alas, along came the wife and kids and the kit went to pay for a new bathroom!

Twenty years later and I've seen Maiden more times than I care to remember. Went to Nicko's drum evening in London last November and I was right at the front of the stage. I positioned myself so I could see what his right foot was upto and it was immense. The final few moments of 2 Minutes To Midnight was incredible, as was his abridged version of Where Eagles Dare.

Now I have more time and money, he has inspired me and made me fall in love with drums all over again. Looking into a new Pearl VB kit.

One thing that left me agog was that he demo'd a new snare. I don't know if drums in the rock world have been made this way before but the shell had been taken from the centre of a log. It wasn't ply, it was solid timber. He said that Premier were looking at making a complete custom kit for him in this way. Imagine the wastage of timber and cost of such a kit.

As a carpenter and cabinet maker I can't help but wonder how a piece of hollowed out timber in the round, not matter how well seasoned, is going to cope with the changes in humdity and temperature as it goes from aircraft hangar to the humid Indian sub continent, the dry arid shores of Australia and then the freezing climes of Northern Europe.

Here's a picture of him from the drum show last November.

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Nicko is the man & I adore his drumming but he has to have the fattest,flattest nose in drumming..not hating just a joke..lol he does have mad skills.

plus I would love to have pint or two with him he seems like a down to earth guy.

Bonzolead
 
Just a reminder: Iron Maiden tickets go on sale to the general public for their North American tour this Saturday morning: 3/3/2012 - 10 AM PST. Presale for fanclub started yesterday at 10 AM. Scored mine for the WA gig!

This tour is touted as covering material from the 7th Son of a 7th Son period (1988).

http://www.ironmaiden.com/tourdates.php
 
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