Ash Soan

NouveauCliche

NouveauCliche

Senior Member
Ash plays like I want to play when I grow up.

Tasty - clean - perfect for the song....his Zildjian live is an absolute masterclass in how to play for the song:


Enjoy!

Go to about 4:22 ish for what I refer in the title of the post. Amazing example of being tasty and not shoving every chop you have into a measure or two just because you can - especially in such a drum-centric video series.

No wonder he's one of the most on call drummers out there!!

(@Bernhard - he would be excellent for the site with touring and records credits all over modern radio - too many to list here)
 
What's stands out most to me about the stylish sparsity of his playing is that the open space he embraces demonstrates masterful timing much more explicitly than would a note-rich, chock-full-of-chops exhibition. Drummers with nothing to prove are comfortable with restraint. They understand that caesuras can be more powerful than ostentatious fills. They also accept that music is about a lot more than drumming.
 
I do like that "fill" which isn't really very full.

I am a huge fan of using space and I find it can be particularly impact-ful if it happens in a way the listener doesn't expect. Where most drummers would put a specific note or run around the kit, leaving out that note or fill can be just as cool. Sometimes when I'm asked to "solo" in a live setting I'll do things like play a beat and then omit notes the listener is expecting without losing time. Gets good reactions.
 
I thought I was the only one noticing the "no fill, fill". Then that big guy came up and mentioned it. Than another. Then I read C.M. Jones, and now I gotta say, he said more with that hesitation break then 99.9% of us say with the showing off of our "skills". What a great lesson. Thanks for sharing the video.
 
To fill, or, not to fill
That is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous thirty-seconds, or to take silence against a sea of fast expressions, and by opposing, not play them?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution, we play more, more, more
 
"Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears when it is done to see."

Interpret that passage as you wish in relation to drumming. It's a pivotal moment in Macbeth, my favorite Shakespearean tragedy. Hamlet is too Oedipal for my sensibilities.
 
C.M. Jones said:
"Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be which the eye fears when it is done to see."

Interpret that passage as you wish in relation to drumming. It's a pivotal moment in Macbeth, my favorite Shakespearean tragedy. Hamlet is too Oedipal for my sensibilities.
Click to expand...

No, call it the Scottish Play! Lol
 
CM getting DEEP here lol; always love your posts fella...

Ash is just so musical, incredible groove and touch; he’s been a YouTube addiction of mine for the last few months. Does so much with minimal equipment; note choices and sense of space... can’t get enough of his playing. Thanks for sharing yet another clip for me to watch and dissect a few dozen times.
 
Love the minimalist kit too. Fits in perfectly with his aesthetic. He made those new beats sing. I thought for sure they were some newfangled contraptions but nope the plainest hi-hats you can get lol.
 
Hewitt2 said:
Love the minimalist kit too. Fits in perfectly with his aesthetic. He made those new beats sing. I thought for sure they were some newfangled contraptions but nope the plainest hi-hats you can get lol.
Click to expand...

One reason I switched to a one-up, one-down configuration in the late '90s was to promote contained and meaningful fills. My style became simpler in turn -- not stripped down to the point of blandness but deliberate and modest. With a larger setup, I sometimes felt obligated to make use of drums I didn't need. The change proved to be a form of addition by subtraction.
 
Andy said:
I've met Ash & seen him play quite a few times. Lovely guy - masterfully musical player.

Ash is already listed in the top 500 drummers on the site :)
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Ahhhhh - how could he not be? Fantastic!!


I actually hadn't watched the video past his performance...I love - LOVE it when Stanton Moore comes up and is just drum GEEKING out on that section.

"That's SUCH a statement" - awesome seeing guys that are contemporaries career wise interacting in such a fun way.

Just a great vid.
 
C.M. Jones said:
One reason I switched to a one-up, one-down configuration in the late '90s was to promote contained and meaningful fills. My style became simpler in turn -- not stripped down to the point of blandness but deliberate and modest. With a larger setup, I sometimes felt obligated to make use of drums I didn't need. The change proved to be a form of addition by subtraction.
Click to expand...


I follow Ash on IG - that's where I first became aware of his existence - and he posts on there a LOT and he's very Gadd-ian with his abilities:

He can do more with a bass/kick/hat than most of us can do with even a 1 up 1 down. A true musician that just happens to play the drums - inspirational for sure.
 
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