Chitlins Con Carne - rare drum solo

Pollyanna

Pollyanna

Platinum Member
This is from last Thursday's practice while our singer was on holidays. We're been trying things to this song after the past few weeks. It's still messy but eventually it will tighten up. We're not a band in a hurry :)

In this one we follow the old jazz cliche of everyone taking a solo, which is fun because I'm far from being a soloist. In the first half of the drum solo I want to get the guys to play very rhythmically to get that drum circle effect.

While it's sloppy here and there I always liked the song and I'm happy with the general feel and vibe for late night listening / chilling out ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtsZaMWke5Q
 
Well Pol, I've heard of playing the spaces, but the last 7 minutes was a bit dull!! :)

Seriously, I was blown away with your rim click! Such a wholesome click, that click isn't a good enough description. Your solo was right on the money, in fact, the highlight feature by some margin. You stepped into the limelight, the other players needed to follow your lead IMO. Loved the timbre of each element of your kit. Very characterful & rewarding.
 
...

Masterful playing, maestro. That is dripping with groove, mojo, great taste, superb musical instinct and dare I say, technique. And you brought timbre and dynamics to the party as well.

wow.

I am a fan of your humility, as much as i am a fan of your playing.


PS- dont hate me, but I dont like your guitar player here. He didnt do justice to the wonderful swampiness you and bassman created.

...
 
aydee said:
...

Masterful playing, maestro. That is dripping with groove, mojo, great taste, superb musical instinct and dare I say, technique. And you brought timbre and dynamics to the party as well.

wow.

I am a fan of your humility, as much as i am a fan of your playing.


PS- dont hate me, but I dont like your guitar player here. He didnt do justice to the wonderful swampiness you and bassman created.

...
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Eloquent Abe, & completely agree!
 
Ta mucho, lads. If enjoyment was had, mission accomplished.

The rim click is pretty meaty, hey? It comes from a Drouyn snare with a thick wooden shell with the original heavy die cast hoop that's probably older than I am. Now imagine the sound if I used the butt end of the sticks ... and those sticks weren't the lightest 7As around ... you wouldn't hear the band over it!

Abe, timbre is my favourite thing in playing and that's always my challenge with the RT - and playing at this unnaturally low volume :) A bit concerned about the accusation that I have technique lol

Our guitarist is a riddle. He's great when it comes to learning new songs - he handles any odd chord structure you can throw at him but IMO he lacks confidence when it comes to, as Andy put it, stepping up to the plate. I think what you're hearing is that doubt. When it comes to humility he makes me look like Mohammed Ali :)
 
Very smooth Pol, a sweet listen. Really nice feel and mood you and the bassist are doing. Nice cymbal stuff, and like Andy said, a very unique and identifiable rim click. Nice tempo and tempo control too. You pulled some very satisfying tones from those little RT's! You sounded very comfortable, did it feel like that while recording? Was that the 1st take? Your solo fit very well, and did what a solo is supposed to do, while avoiding the things that should be avoided lol.

And on the OTHER side of the coin (you didn't think you were going to get away with all sunshine and candy canes, right?)

Seriously, you don't have to touch a thing, it sounds awesome.

But ....I was hoping to hear..

On at least some of the stops, I wanted to hear a single snare hit right on the dot, not too loud though, don't want to ruin the mood. Even 2 little ghost notes preceding it sounds nice too. (a ruff, I think)

2. While I liked your cymbal work a lot, it really sets the mood of the piece, towards the end, I wanted to hear you change it up just slightly with the addition of some bell, nothing major, again, not too loud. There are enough repetitions of the chord progression to warrant a little wandering towards the end I think. I liked when you went to the hi hat.

3. The ending...I'd like to hear a different ending.

I really liked this. (maybe because Glenn isn't singing? lol)
 
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Ta much, Numberless and Larry.

Numberless, as I said on your thread, we've being adjusting to the shift between high and low volume music. Challenging but enjoyable.

Larry, yeah, I was in a good frame of mind at the time, not thinking too much or trying to do anything but keeping it right with the music. We played it twice last Thurs and this is the second version.

We've been chipping away at the song for a few weeks. Last week I tried doing a fancy solo with fills and stuff and it was a train wreck (I'll post it for a laugh if you like - I totally choked and it's embarrassing) .... after hearing the playback I had a major rethink about what the song needed and my massive limitations at low volume and came up with a beat-based thing, which feels better all round.

Really looking forward to getting the guys to play da rhythms with me in the first half of the solo - I love rhythm raves.

1. Good point. I should play the snare on the 4 at least once or twice. It will settle the groove from the get go after the stops.

2. Yeah, I only go to the bell in the guitar solo. It makes sense to reprise it late in the song. I think I've been influenced by the Kenny Burrell drummer, who lays this smooth pavement across the tune (and with that weird but awesome bounce).

3. Any ideas for a different ending?

Poor old Glenn! Yes, it's good to have some variation in the set so it's not all about him. It's something he actively and repeatedly encourages ... until he has a mike in front of him and then you can't shut him up lol
 
keep it simple said:
Listening again, I'd lean towards a quick succession 3 time repeat of the end guitar melody, then 1 bar repeat of your snare/tom figure from your solo (band stopped at this point), then the end bar as is + finish on the 1.
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So, basically the same except others drop out at the 1 of the final bar, then I play a little fill with a final unison chord on the 1? I feel the effect would be pretty similar to what we played in that version but, as with your Purple Rain cover, it may just be a matter of playing the existing line with more certainty.

BTW, I didn't know what you meant in your first post about the last 7 minutes being dull ... just listened to the recording on da Tube ... MovieMaker strikes again! I thought I had the prob resolved by saving at 320 kbps but apparently not *sigh*
 
Pollyanna said:
So, basically the same except others drop out at the 1 of the final bar, then I play a little fill with a final unison chord on the 1? I feel the effect would be pretty similar to what we played in that version but, as with your Purple Rain cover, it may just be a matter of playing the existing line with more certainty.

BTW, I didn't know what you meant in your first post about the last 7 minutes being dull ... just listened to the recording on da Tube ... MovieMaker strikes again! I thought I had the prob resolved by saving at 320 kbps but apparently not *sigh*
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Hmm, not quite the same, but difficult to explain. I could hum it to you!

As for the dull bit, oh crap, you didn't temporarily think that was an observation on your music did you? You got it now anyhow, it was the long silence.
 
keep it simple said:
Hmm, not quite the same, but difficult to explain. I could hum it to you!
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Okay, we could start with how many bars of drum fill before the final one?


keep it simple said:
As for the dull bit, oh crap, you didn't temporarily think that was an observation on your music did you? You got it now anyhow, it was the long silence.
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Naw, I knew you were kidding but there's some Secret Men's Business that goes on at the forum that I miss, so I guess it got filed under that :)

Funny, one of the reasons I posted this was because people were saying it was scary to post their playing here. This thread is basically saying, "If a limited, imprecise, untrained player like me can do it without serious injury, then anyone can!" ... and then you start off by saying:

Well Pol, I've heard of playing the spaces, but the last 7 minutes was a bit dull!!
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Perfect way to start! LOL
 
although not something i would listen to, or even play along to, i love it. very good groove. very well done
 
Pollyanna said:
Okay, we could start with how many bars of drum fill before the final one?
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Aw crap, I don't understand the question. I was thinking of using a signature part of your solo as a 1 bar fill in the ending sequence, being 3 times round on the 8th note ascending scale of the guitar melody (- - - - - - - - - -), 1 bar fill, then the resolve of the melody across 1 bar, then end on the 1. Crap, with I had dots writing ability on this thing!


Pollyanna said:
Naw, I knew you were kidding but there's some Secret Men's Business that goes on at the forum that I miss, so I guess it got filed under that :)

Funny, one of the reasons I posted this was because people were saying it was scary to post their playing here. This thread is basically saying, "If a limited, imprecise, untrained player like me can do it without serious injury, then anyone can!" ... and then you start off by saying:

Perfect way to start! LOL
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Ha, yes, if I were serious (or just Fox), that would have been a bummer. That said, I posted my even more WIP practice recording at the same time, so asking for it I be (sorry, slipping into Yodaism mode).
 
keep it simple said:
Aw crap, I don't understand the question. I was thinking of using a signature part of your solo as a 1 bar fill in the ending sequence, being 3 times round on the 8th note ascending scale of the guitar melody (- - - - - - - - - -), 1 bar fill, then the resolve of the melody across 1 bar, then end on the 1. Crap, with I had dots writing ability on this thing!
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lol - okay, will the song be the same length? I think we're saying the same thing. I'd write it out but my scanner's not working.


keep it simple said:
Ha, yes, if I were serious (or just Fox), that would have been a bummer. That said, I posted my even more WIP practice recording at the same time, so asking for it I be (sorry, slipping into Yodaism mode).
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Dammit, haven't seen the ole Fox around here since he got smacked around last time. People he criticises don't know how lucky they are ... I don't even seem to be considered worthy of comment by him :)
 
Pollyanna said:
Dammit, haven't seen the ole Fox around here since he got smacked around last time. People he criticises don't know how lucky they are ... I don't even seem to be considered worthy of comment by him :)
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I'm sure he'll be around here soon, & actually, contrary to general opinion of Fox, I think he'll quite like the drum & bass parts.
 
keep it simple said:
I'm sure he'll be around here soon, & actually, contrary to general opinion of Fox, I think he'll quite like the drum & bass parts.
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My guess is he'd point out some of the sloppy parts. There's a shocker at the start. It takes me a while to warm up. Since I get to play once a week, the sound of the kit is usually a bit of surprise to me until I warm up.
 
I admire your restraint, Polly. Obviously that's something I could take a cue from. But your timing is as perfect and comfortable as it always is. I heard some cool fills, but was there a full-on solo on there that I kept missing after a half-dozen listens? ;-)
 
I also thought this was very good. You have a nice way of staying raw and clean at the same time. That's a cool skill and probably very hard to pull off.

You know Grea, it's well documented that you and I didn't get along when you first arrived. But nowadays I'm happy to say all that was entirely my bad. You have a lot of game in any number of departments and I apologize for not seeing that as clearly back then as I do now.
 
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