What makes a song/groove cook?

jcdrum14

Member
What makes a groove cook? Even something extremely simple in the hands of the right drummer will shake the room, is it something they have naturally, or maybe theyre connecting on an emotional level to their instrument or something else? What do you guys think makes a groove really groove?
 
Gas mark 3 does the trick, I find. :p But seriously, it's probably either something natural or lots of practice.
 
I think its the same reason why no one can ever sound similar to the man in your avatar. It's just something only they have that makes them so unique sounding and what makes them groove sooooo hard.
 
I'd go for it being something natural. Well, music is all about communication, and people communicate themselves through their playing. Boring people tend to sound boring, too!
 
Technically, I see groove as coming from total limb control - there should be dynamic balance between all the limbs and each limb should be totally consistent stroke to stroke. There should be perfect alignment - no unintentional flamming. No tempo fluctuations obviously. Get all these things down and even the simplest beat will cook.
 
i agree with you PQ, when you watch professional musicians they are having a conversation with each other, each answering back and thats what makes it so much fun to watch.

jonescrusher- thats definitely important, i hear david garibaldi talk a lot about inter-limb dynamics, thats something in itself to master..
 
i think all the above is important. but i think trying to get the same tone out of any hit, cymbal or drum, is important. a 'groove' is hard to explain but its the repetition that makes it good, no fancy fills, it almost becomes hypnotic and that's why we like it.

if each snare hit sounds different from the last youll never get that repetition.

gosh, thats deep.
 
It's the way that one note leads to another, and the way that they're related to the underlying pulse and the overall dynamic. That's how I look at it.

When I play a drum beat "solo" in my practice space, I'm trying to find that groove with my own instrument, so my beats get a bit busier. When I'm playing with other musicians, there are other rhythmic and dynamic voices to play with/against/in conversation with, so the beats can easily be simpler and still groove hard. Learning to play with dynamics between the limbs, and even play with different feels between the limbs helps out tremendously when "arranging" a tune's parts in the moment.
 
Why can two violinists hit the same note and evoke two different emotions? It depends on what you put into the playing (the time and rhythm) and how you hear the music (even when playing solo, drummers like Gadd and Purdie still play music beyond rhythm and time).


i think all the above is important. but i think trying to get the same tone out of any hit, cymbal or drum, is important. a 'groove' is hard to explain but its the repetition that makes it good, no fancy fills, it almost becomes hypnotic and that's why we like it.

if each snare hit sounds different from the last youll never get that repetition.

gosh, thats deep.

Plenty of drummers groove without repetition, most jazz even has little to no repetition and I doubt that anyone would argue that artists like Max Roach don't groove.
 
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