Gavin Harrison here!

Gavin Harrison

Gavin Harrison

DRUMMERWORLD PRO DRUMMER
Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes !!

Hi Adam

I just wanted to ask you another couple of questions about your recording/process. Quite a while ago you posted a link in this forum to the click sounds you use (a woodblock, cabasa and tambourine sound) and some info on how you use them with regards to the tempo or feel of whatever it is you're playing or recording to. I just wanted to ask how would you use them when recording odd time signatures, and how would you approach that if you had a situation where you had to play in 17/16 or 19/16 for example?
Would you have the sounds alternating and accenting the typical phrasing of patterns like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in 7's and the 1 2 3 4 5 in 5's? Or would even that heavily depend on the part and phrase you have in mind?

It depends on how the odd time signature flows and the overall tempo. For instance 17/16 could be a thing like 3/4 + 5/16 so maybe I'd program the click like this. (@ = woodblock type sound) (* = cabasa type sound)

17/16
@***@***@***@*@**

19/16 (4/4 + 3/16)
@***@***@***@***@**

or depending on the riff - 19/16 might be phrased as a 7 + 7 + 5
@*@*@**@*@*@**@*@**

of course there are many ways to subdivide these larger numbers - I'd always let the music dictate which way to feel the sub groupings. As a starting point (and without any musical reference) you can always head off in 4/4 until the point that you need to shorten or extend with a group of 3 or 5

sometimes when I'm playing a piece that has multiple time signature changes (if they are all based on the 8ths like 7/8 9/8 5/8 11/8 etc) I'll just have a steady 8th note click on a single sound with no accents. That way I can navigate the whole piece without having to program lots of different click patterns. I never want an accent on the 'one'.

cheers
Gavin
 
Adam Sayers

Adam Sayers

Member
Gavin Harrison said:
Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes !!

Hi Adam

I just wanted to ask you another couple of questions about your recording/process. Quite a while ago you posted a link in this forum to the click sounds you use (a woodblock, cabasa and tambourine sound) and some info on how you use them with regards to the tempo or feel of whatever it is you're playing or recording to. I just wanted to ask how would you use them when recording odd time signatures, and how would you approach that if you had a situation where you had to play in 17/16 or 19/16 for example?
Would you have the sounds alternating and accenting the typical phrasing of patterns like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in 7's and the 1 2 3 4 5 in 5's? Or would even that heavily depend on the part and phrase you have in mind?

It depends on how the odd time signature flows and the overall tempo. For instance 17/16 could be a thing like 3/4 + 5/16 so maybe I'd program the click like this. (@ = woodblock type sound) (* = cabasa type sound)

17/16
@***@***@***@*@**

19/16 (4/4 + 3/16)
@***@***@***@***@**

or depending on the riff - 19/16 might be phrased as a 7 + 7 + 5
@*@*@**@*@*@**@*@**

of course there are many ways to subdivide these larger numbers - I'd always let the music dictate which way to feel the sub groupings. As a starting point (and without any musical reference) you can always head off in 4/4 until the point that you need to shorten or extend with a group of 3 or 5

sometimes when I'm playing a piece that has multiple time signature changes (if they are all based on the 8ths like 7/8 9/8 5/8 11/8 etc) I'll just have a steady 8th note click on a single sound with no accents. That way I can navigate the whole piece without having to program lots of different click patterns. I never want an accent on the 'one'.

cheers
Gavin
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight Gavin! (and the quick response!)
 
Doraemon

Doraemon

Well-known member
Hi Gavin!

Great live discussion with John! Probably fewer people saw it, because the live has never started on its Event page, I only found it on his Facebook. I'm glad to see now it's up on youtube!

About the King Crimson tour: are you always (will you be) on the left side of the stage (from the band's perspective)? Thanks,

Dora
 
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F

Froz

New member
Hi Gavin.
A loyal and long time fan here. I absolutely love your playing and sound.
I was watching your Vic Firth: Stories Behind The Sleeves yesterday. Truly enjoyed it. Great content and very informative .
I wished it lasted 3 hours to be honest .

On the topic of the Mixing. Which plugins were you using on your kick drum tracks when showcasing the mix ? EQ and compression or was it raw pre processed through Hardware before hitting the DAW?
If so , i would appreciate if you could share the settings you used.

Thanks a million.
Frederic
 
Mastiff

Mastiff

Senior Member
Hi Gavin. I just finished watching your new Vic Firth video, which was very informative. Regarding your recording process, I wonder if you ever utilize triggers, or if you did at all back in the Porcupine Tree days? I apologize if you answered this already, I haven't read all 350 pages in this thread.

I look forward to seeing you perform with King Crimson in Scottsdale.
 
sahilsarin

sahilsarin

Member
Hi Gavin! Thank you very much for your insight and for showing us around your studio in Vic Firth: Stories Behind the Sleeves video. It's a great reference for someone serious about developing their own sound. Very grateful! :)

​

 
Warrenoids

Warrenoids

Active member
Hello Gavin!

Several months ago, I asked about the Shure Beta 98AMP microphone and why you don't use it on the 12" tom. Does the Earthworks suffer from the same problem?

Thank you very much!
 
Gavin Harrison

Gavin Harrison

DRUMMERWORLD PRO DRUMMER
Hi Froz

On the topic of the Mixing. Which plugins were you using on your kick drum tracks when showcasing the mix ? EQ and compression or was it raw pre processed through Hardware before hitting the DAW? If so , i would appreciate if you could share the settings you used.

None of the drums are eq'd or processed on the way into the computer. Hopefully the drums sound good - and the mics are the right ones - and they are in a good position - that way I don't really need to do much to them when mixing. Inside Logic I use a little bit of eq on the two bass dum mics. On the AKG D12vr there is a graphic eq with a small lift at 50hz, then on the Beta 91a there is a small lift on a graphic eq at 80hz. That might change depending on what else is playing in the lower frequencies.

Hi Mastiff

Regarding your recording process, I wonder if you ever utilize triggers, or if you did at all back in the Porcupine Tree days? I apologize if you answered this already, I haven't read all 350 pages in this thread.

I haven't used 'live triggers' since the 90's (and nor would I ever do it again - it was a nightmare). I do sometimes use 'post-production' triggering on the bass drum if I think it needs it - especially in heavy guitar music - and when there's some double kick action. The best plug in I found was the Steven Slate "Trigger".

Hi Warrenoids

Several months ago, I asked about the Shure Beta 98AMP microphone and why you don't use it on the 12" tom. Does the Earthworks suffer from the same problem?

No, the Earthworks doesn't distort on the 12" tom when I hit the ride really hard.

cheers
Gavin
 
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Liam

Liam

Active member
Hi Gavin,

I know you are a Sonor endorser but do you ever set up and play your old drumsets (Pearl, Yamaha, etc) for fun, also how many drum kits do you own?

Thanks,
Liam
 
T

TheWolfGuy

New member
I believe you mentioned him as an influence but if you haven't done so give Jeff Porcaro's "Its AboutTime" bio by Robyn Flans a read.
 
Gavin Harrison

Gavin Harrison

DRUMMERWORLD PRO DRUMMER
Hi Liam

I know you are a Sonor endorser but do you ever set up and play your old drumsets (Pearl, Yamaha, etc) for fun, also how many drum kits do you own?

I only 'own' two sets. A really old Pearl MLX set from 1990 (which is on permanent loan to a friend of mine for the last 20 years) and my old 1983 Yamaha 9000 set. Occasionally I set up the Yamaha and play it for half an hour (a trip down memory lane) - but it's nowhere near as consistent as the modern Sonors. I don't actually 'own' the Sonor sets. As an endorser - it's considered a long term loan. Same with the cymbals and any other hardware.

Hi TheWolfGuy

I believe you mentioned him as an influence but if you haven't done so give Jeff Porcaro's "Its AboutTime" bio by Robyn Flans a read.

yes it's great - I've read it.

cheers
Gavin
 
B

BrianBjur

Junior Member
Hello Gavin,

On the same topic as the previous question, you’ve mentioned recording guides to yourself for live playing in order to free your mind a little bit. I was wondering if you’d ever be willing to share one of these recordings. Do you write yourself a script, or do you listen along and improvise telling yourself what to do? Regardless it’s an ingenious and fantastic approach to improving one’s surety in their playing and musical ideas.

Thank you,

Brian
 
Gavin Harrison

Gavin Harrison

DRUMMERWORLD PRO DRUMMER
Hi Andrea

I found this article ( https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/creating-click-tracks-drummers ) where you explain how you create your click track. At the end there's a link with the sample and MIDI files of your click's sound , but unfortunately it doesn't work on my computer (it says: "page not found"). Could you send the file here, please?

yes that was an article from 18 years ago. I don't know exactly where those samples are now. You might find them earlier on in this thread as I know this question has come up before.

Hi Brian

On the same topic as the previous question, you’ve mentioned recording guides to yourself for live playing in order to free your mind a little bit. I was wondering if you’d ever be willing to share one of these recordings. Do you write yourself a script, or do you listen along and improvise telling yourself what to do? Regardless it’s an ingenious and fantastic approach to improving one’s surety in their playing and musical ideas.

Really not worth hearing. There's no script - I don't bother announcing every event "Verse" "Bridge" "Chorus" (unless there's something unusual to note about them) - I just know where a 'cue' would be helpful for me (and or the band) inside the arrangement. Maybe there's a long section that none of us really want to count the bars - so a cue would really help - or a section in an odd time that would benefit from an announcement.

cheers
Gavin
 
Doraemon

Doraemon

Well-known member
Andrea Reffo said:
Hi Gavin,
I found this article ( https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/creating-click-tracks-drummers ) where you explain how you create your click track. At the end there's a link with the sample and MIDI files of your click's sound , but unfortunately it doesn't work on my computer (it says: "page not found"). Could you send the file here, please?

Thank you very much.
Andrea
Click to expand...
Have you seen this Drumeo course? There is download of a song with clicks in various rhythms that might be useful.
 
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