Percussion players add so much!

ravenson said:
I learned a lot about do's and don'ts concerning drumkit performance as an accompaning percussionist . Most of the responsibility and heavy lifting is the drummer's job . The percussionist , if he/she has good ears , time and a creative spirit , can have a lot of fun putting a little stink on things.
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'... putting a little stink on things'!!!! That's priceless!!
 
ravenson said:
I learned a lot about do's and don'ts concerning drumkit performance as an accompaning percussionist . Most of the responsibility and heavy lifting is the drummer's job . The percussionist , if he/she has good ears , time and a creative spirit , can have a lot of fun putting a little stink on things.
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Have to say, responsibility and heavy lifting getting too much? Maybe time to become a percussionist!
Just turn up to a gig with a shaker and stink up the place.
 
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I am always in awe of Santana’s percussion section. I’ve seen them many times, bought the records, the T-shirt etc.. Just killer! The phrasing, the syncopation, the groove.. I play several Santana covers in my bands and basically try to capture the essence of the incredible percussion grooves they put out.. needless to say, they are always crowd favorites..
 
Rockdrill said:
Have to say, responsibility and heavy lifting getting too much? Maybe time to become a percussionist!
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And if you play a fuller percussion rig as I do, there can still be a lot to heft around... djembe, congas, timbales, cymbals, trap tables and stands get pretty heavy. My percussion bag of tricks is loaded just by itself... I transport it on a heavy duty luggage cart with wheels and telescoping handle.
 
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Chris Whitten said:
My particularly pet peeve is percussionists doubling cymbal crashes. WHY????? Worse is playing a crash when I've purposely left it out.
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Oh my. This long forgotten personal hell just brought back so many frustrated furrowed eyebrow memories. Obviously this ballad requires a full hand over head windup on an El Sabor hand crash every bar. Ugh.
 
Tamboreter said:
And if you play a fuller percussion rig as I do, there can still be a lot to heft around... djembe, congas, timbales, cymbals, trap tables and stands get pretty heavy. My percussion bag of tricks is loaded just by itself... I transport it on a heavy duty luggage cart with wheels and telescoping handle.
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Yeah... My percussion rig could get pretty heavy depending upon what I decided to bring. It was still a lot less stuff than the drummer's rig. My bulkiest percussion rig was still no more than 1/3 of the drummer's. At gigs, I'd basically serve as "drum roadie". Since I knew how to set up and position drums, cymbals and mics, it made it a lot easier.

As for positioning, I had a seated and a standing option. For djembe, I had to be seated. For everything else, I'd stand up. I liked to set up to the drummer's right side and just a couple feet behind him. That way I could watch what he was doing, keep the timing and react to any changes.

The greatest challenge for me was microphones. I had to always be mindful of where the mics were. Smacking a mic with a shaker or playing too far away and getting lost in the mix were two mistakes I made. It's a lot like being a vocalist. You have to learn how to manage your proximity from the mic.

When I was doing the 2-drummer thing, I likewise set up on his right side but we kept our kick drums even. When playing live, one of us would take the "lead" role, essentially carrying the song while the other followed.
 
Having a percussionist who can share the responsibility of the groove of the grid is one of the most freeing sensations!
Even just a rock-solid shaker can be a game-changer.

This Nate Smith and Sandra Crouch video comes to mind.
 
I agree but it has to be someone who is adding percussion and not another drummer who is tacit and is grabbing a toy to make noise-I had that issue playing at churches with a lineup of several drummers-those off would often grab a toy to make noise and not really add or contribute to sound. Playing in an orchestra with my wife gave me a whole new appreciation of being tacit/still and then adding percussion flavors with chimes, triangle, rain tree, tambourine (someone who can play tastefully and not just shaking it like crazy), etc. my wife can play xylophone and I envy that-wanted to since I watched Lionel Hampton as a lil kid. My hands are getting so arthritic I can't really bang on bongos congas, djembe, cajon, or anything with my hands so I've sold or given it all away. Given it all away it happens everyday.
Givin' it all away
Happens everyday
No matter what we say
We're givin' it all away
Givin' it all away
I think this could make a hit song LOL
 
Rockdrill said:
We've had a percussion player in our covers band for the last year and I think it adds so much every band should have one!
I've always felt that a tambourine, shaker, guiro, wood block etc, can drive a rhythm as much as the whole drum kit, but have only just realised how effective after our percussionist quit and now it feels like something is missing.
Initially our percussion player was doing BVs but he was reasonably incompetent (I still don't know how that situation came about!), so to stop him singing I suggested percussion. He took it seriously, worked really hard at getting it sorted and it's morphed to where I couldn't imagine not having percussion in the band and I'm definitely going to have to find a replacement/persuade our old percussionist to come back.
Anyone feel the same way about percussion working in harmony with drums?
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Some really can. Some really can’t.

Love being the one that can and working the ones that can.

Then it really eases up out lives and adds that extra spark.

One of my old rigs.

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I tend to construct/craft my parts(even when improv-ing)...and try to avoid the banality of flat 4-on-the-floor(unless i really consider it)...this requires a clear understanding of where the percussive silence will and will not be.

This becomes a problem when you work with another drummer who has a different vision/is blinded by, to me, poor compositional skills.
 
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Stickman said:
I am always in awe of Santana’s percussion section. I’ve seen them many times, bought the records, the T-shirt etc.. Just killer! The phrasing, the syncopation, the groove.. I play several Santana covers in my bands and basically try to capture the essence of the incredible percussion grooves they put out.. needless to say, they are always crowd favorites..
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Carlos Sanatana from Woodstock onward was genius at taking Latin Rock music by storm and to the forefront. As only a recreational Drummer )or should I say a Player of Drums) at home, I really enjoy playing some of Santana's music. At least the tunes that I can actually perform.
 
I grew up unaware that Santana had more than one drummer...and worked to play it by myself...feeling a bit of a failure and attributing the polyphonic drumming to over-dubbing. this got me trying to apply holding more than one stick in a hand at a time for more than just the clicking i saw Steve Gadd doing...kinda like how marimba players voice more than one wooden bar.

much to be said for the lush texture provided by a skilled percussionist.

(I feel like I was a bit stompy in my comments in the previous post...hope this portrays me a little more accurately..but maybe im just stompy)
 
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