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scottp118 uploaded a new video
(5 months ago)
(**By request, I redid this video so that it includes both methods of transcribing the verse part.**)
This groove is just required. A true classic. ...
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(**By request, I redid this video so that it includes both methods of transcribing the verse part.**)
This groove is just required. A true classic. I wanted to do this vid a little differently than you usually see, however, by showing both verse and chorus, then back, because you don't often see that done with the drum part alone. And I think it's important to hear the changes in technique, feel, and attitude that take place in the song sections. I don't even claim to do it so well, but still, I offer this up as a sort of sacrifice that might help push others towards doing more than just imitating the verse groove and then thinking they've got the song down.... which is what I did for a long time, until I recorded myself playing it. So everything is always a work in progress, I suppose....
A few random thoughts on what Gadd plays:
-- the roll leading into the verse pattern, which is also the end of the 2nd repeating measure, is much more of a closed roll than the 32nd notes found in the 1st measure. Even if note values are the same. I think of the last part of measure 2 as more of a closed 5-stroke roll, with the 5th stroke on the bass drum, than as the 32nd notes you inevitably see in transcriptions. (I *almost* wrote it as a roll, a specified 5-stroke tied to the BD downbeat... but that'd be a little odd.)
-- it's okay to keep the transition fills into the chorus very simple. And the chorus part, which I've also not attempted to really duplicate, per se, will sound good as long as you capture the gist of the changes: volume up, leave strict 16ths behind, make it almost swing a little, and accent those off-beat hi-hat eighth notes.
-- to me, the main thing that makes the classic, often-imitated verse groove so great is contrast... specifically, how it contrasts with the more traditional drum part we hear in the chorus. Gadd moves effortlessly from that softer, strict 16th-note, rudimental-flavored verse, into the more intense, upbeat (yet somehow still loose and relaxed), and amazing-feeling chorus.... a chorus which really does swing more than you'd expect. And then Gadd's back to the verse again, no sweat. Fluidly! And it's a difficult contrast to pull off. I don't particularly think I do, but even for the many who can do it well, it is one thing to imitate it, and quite another to have invented it. (And probably nailed it on the first take, knowing Gadd.) All part of why Gadd is so great.
The transcriptions... if ever a drum groove existed whose essence was immune to transcribing, it is this one. What Gadd does with the verse's main groove is much more than notes on a page can portray. (A cliche', but so true with this drum part.) But we've gotta try. And there are two primary ways the verse part can be written. One way, the way it is usually seen, is with all notes, hands and feet, stemming up. That is now seen in the second part of the video, starting at 0:48 . That method has the advantage of revealing the flow and quasi-linear nature of the drum part. The *other* way to write it, as I have it in the beginning of the vid (starting at 0:07) makes what the hands are doing vs. what the feet are doing much more obvious. And I think it might be easier for some to *learn* the groove that way, limb by limb.
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scottp118 uploaded a new video
(5 months ago)
I've always loved the drum part to this song. Such attitude and ferocity!
This is the first video in this little series in which I've made any real...
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I've always loved the drum part to this song. Such attitude and ferocity!
This is the first video in this little series in which I've made any really significant equipment or processing changes. I did three things here:
1) Changed hi-hats. From thin and mellow Paiste Giant Beats to a heavier, crunchy pair of modern Zildjian New Beats.
2) Changed snare drums. From my dried out, deep maple snare, to a wide open brass one. Zero muffling.
3) Added some reverb to the audio. (Oh, you noticed?! But the "dry" audio can be heard at the end, for comparison. It just sounds very thin without the reverb, even when playing the part correctly. That room sound is such a central part of the song's vibe.)
As to this groove, it's a little deceptive. Playing a little heavier on the hi-hat than usual is probably a good idea. And do not ignore any of those 16th-notes on the hi-hat; he adds just a tiny bit of spunk to some of the odd ones (some upbeat or off-beat 16ths), which really fills the drum part out nicely.
As to Larry Mullen, Jr., in general.... I've always liked his style. (Independently of my ever-shifting attitudes towards the band's music, Bono's ego, etc.) Because Mullen is rock solid behind the kit, and he comes up with unique and appropriate drum parts. No, he's not a "chops" drummer, but who cares? He's one of those rare few who are identifiable after just a few measures. I first got into him when I was around 13. He and Neil Peart (total musical opposites) were my two drum heroes then. I loved Peart's technical side, but then Mullen's simple uniqueness hooked me after only a single listen. Literally, one listen. Because the first thing I ever heard by U2 was a song where he was playing strong and steady 16th-notes on a thuddy floor tom, accenting in some weird places on a timbale(!) and piccolo snare... and it worked beautifully. It was "A Sort of Homecoming." Loved it. That was 1984, three years before U2 would become superstars. They just sounded so... unconventional. Another example of that comes from that same album: Mullen's measure-long, machine gun snare fill in "Pride." It's still one of the most identifiable fills in rock history. It's simple, but it works; it's catchy, creates a hook, and the dynamics within make it musical.
So yes, I love Gadd, Elvin, Tony and Vinnie... but I like guys like Mullen, too -- the under-rated ones who've perfected a kind of sturdy and uniquely tasteful simplicity. (Mick Fleetwood... Martin Chambers of The Pretenders... they're in this category too.) These guys remind me that it doesn't take lots of notes or chops to convey a musical message. And I think Mullen does an *excellent* job of conveying the band's message in this song.
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as a bassist i wish i could groove with you
from texas
keep groovin