Gavin Harrison here!

Hey Onyx - your question came up a while back

Gavin Harrison said:
Hi Erik,
many people have asked me about those little bell cymbals. They are in fact home made out of old broken 16" Zildjian crash cymbals that I had in my garage.
So I cut 5 of them down. The biggest one is just over 6" and the smallest is just under 5". The smallest one is actually made from a broken splash cymbal.
Then I got a friend of mine to make me a little bar to mount them on. Simple as that.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Hi, Gavin.

Aside from the rest of your playing (which is phenomenal), the thing that strikes me most is your physical accuracy with always hitting the drums (at least from what i've seen in the videos on the site) squarely in the centre of the head. On that set, it seems like you have little dark spots (much more concentrated than any i've ever seen) where you always hit, right in the centre. Is that just an effect of practicing with that exact set up over and over? I find that when playing a simple fill of four sixteenth notes around the kit (just linearly, around the kit), the faster I go, the more I tend to miss my lowest rack tom. How can I remedy this?

Thanks much,
Foog

P.S. I have Meshuggah's entire discography. I love the rhythm in Soul Burn and the "hemiola" in Vanished. I have found a few scarce tracks from the Special Defects album, and i really want it. where can I find it? Nowhere near me has it, but i'll purchase it online if need be. Morgan Agren is great too.
 
Hi Gavin,

I saw the Futile video the other day, and I first saw it and said, "This guy is a great drummer." But what I really liked was the sound of your toms. Could you possibly tell us what heads you use and how you tune them?
 
Mr Gavin :)

I'm actually thinking of picking up your book but its sounds like you should already have stuff together ( which I don't) and the book will inspire you to take things to another level...

Also have you ever played/been invited to MD festivals or Drummer Collective events cause your really good and I don't think the drumming community knows just how technically solid you are....

Looking forward to your next DVD!
 
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Hi Foog,
I don't consciously hit the drums right in the middle - it's not in my mind when I play - but I think part of being accurate and precise is hitting the drums in the same place as often as you can - especially in pop/rock music. Consistency is important not only in the sound and volume but - of course most importantly - the timing.

I have spent a long time working on accuracy and consistency of timing - so probably the accuracy of the stick hitting the drum in the centre is just a product of that kind of practise. Not to be machine like - but just to have a steady groove and sound.

I guess the only way to practise it is going slowly around your drums - making sure that the way you have your drums set-up are easy for you arms to reach. Try playing slowly with your eyes closed. You should hear when you don't hit the centre - and you can feel it too - because you get a different sensation back up your stick when you hit the edge of the drum.
Maybe you need to move some drums slightly to make a nice flow of your limbs?

Yes the "Special Defects" CD is very hard to find - but keep looking - it's well worth it.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Hi ege_the_drummer,

thanks for the compliment!!

On my toms I have Remo Coated Emperors on the top and Remo Coated Ambassadors on the bottom. Both tuned medium-loose.

Hi LinearDrummer
I've never been invited to play the MD festival or Drummers Collective - BUT I am playing at the Montreal Drum Festival 2006 on Saturday the 11th.

I'd love to play the other festivals - hope I get asked one day.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Thanks for the quick response. I hope you know how much of a buzz you've created by showing up here.

Now, back to the music- in the song "Wedding Nails" as well as in the video you put here, "Swerve", you did a similar lick comprised of rolling on the snare drum and then playing two quick bass drum beats, a tom, and then back to the roll. Any way to practice that? I have problems with going from a single stroke on a tom to rolling with the same hand on the snare drum. If you have any idea what I'm saying (this would be easier if I had the track in front of me and could cite the time in the track that it happens), I'd be much obliged. Thanks again.
 
Sorry, Gavin. I totally made that up. It's in "The Creator Had A Mastertape" and it's at 3:28. Sorry for the mix-up. That song has such energy...when the song broke down right before that fill, I was listening to it, putting together in my head what it would sound like when the song came back in...and the fill that I created in my head was exactly the fill that you played! I love it when what should be played is what's played. That fill sent chills up my spine. But I always have problems playing it. Any tips?

If not, it's fine. You're an incredible drummer.
 
Hi Foog,
<I'm just joking with you here> If you already had that fill in your head before I played it - why can't you figure it out? :))

It's a really hard fill to play at that speed - but the nuts and bolts of it goes like this...

L r r l l (on the snare) kick kick (on the double BD pedal) and then a tom with the right hand... so it's 8 notes grouped in the space of a dotted quarter note. The tempo is something like 166bpm - so that's going by quite quickly. At the start of the fill there's a bit of a snare roll/double kick and tom note leading up to the first snare accent (and that's where the pattern above begins). I think the "L" accent on the snare moves across to a tom every other time.

good luck
Gavin
 
Okay, great. Now I can practice that a lot slower. I don't have any more questions but there was one other thing that I wanted to tell you- in the DVD version of "Futile", as well as in a lot of other tracks, you do a fill that I really picked up on. In "Futile", it's in the section where you're soloing a bit.

TOM ...xx ......xx
SNA ........X .......X
BAS xx........xx



If that made any sense- in other words, you play two eighth notes on the bass drum starting on the downbeat, and then two eighth notes on a tom (or two toms), and then a quarter note on the snare drum. I've started using it all the time and it's really cool.

P.S. I got the Sol Niger Within album at long last. And Morgen &#197;gren is ACE! Love the album. Got it on your recommendation, so thanks.
 
Hey Gavin,

Thanks for describing that lick. I can now play it proficiently! I've been practicing it nonstop. Thanks again,
Foog
 
A question for Gavin.

Is there a specific way that you practice that gives you consistant and reliable progress?

In other words, what is about the practicing ... when you improve ... that causes improvement?

Any thoughts are welcome.
 
Sorry to Gavin for posting this here but, Charles is that you?!
 
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