Cover Photo by Ebet Roberts

FEATURES

18 CHRIS FRANTZ
During his time off from Talking Heads, Chris Frantz
likes to keep busy with his own band, Tom Tom Club,
who have recently released a new record and toured to
promote it. Chris discusses his drumming in both groups,
and talks about his role as Ziggy Marley's producer.
by Robert Santelli

SCOTT
24 ROCKENFIELD
As the drummer for Queensryche, Scott Rockenfield
Photo by Ebet Roberts is expected to play in the typical metal style. In this
conversation, he explains how he is able to remain
true to that genre and yet expand on it through different
colors and dynamics.
by Teri Saccone

28 SOL GUBIN
First in New York and then in L.A., Sol Gubin has main-
tained a 30-plus-year career as an in-demand studio
player, working in situations ranging from Count Basie to
Photo by Rick Gould

live TV to movie soundtracks. He reminisces about his life

in this revealing portrait.
by Robyn Flans

The Development of
THE MYLAR
34 DRUMHEAD
Although plastic drumheads are taken for granted today, a
great deal of time and effort went into creating them, and
a number of prominent people were involved. We talk to
Remo Belli, Chick Evans, William F. Ludwig, Jr., and
others to learn the story behind one of the most important
products in the drumming world.
Photo by Jaeger Kotos

by Charles "Woody" Thompson

 VOLUME 13, NUMBER 8

JAZZ DRUMMERS' DIFFERENT VIEW

WORKSHOP Reflections Of A New
Further Thoughts On York Producer
Playing Free by Joe Ferry PRODUCT
by Peter Erskine 76 CLOSE-UP
46 Pearl Custom Z Series
ROCK CHARTS Kit EDITOR'S
CONCEPTS Vinnie Colaiuta: "Dong by Rick Van Horn OVERVIEW
Believe In Yourself Work For Yuda" 40 4
by Roy Burns Transcribed by Chris Pearl Export Kit
48 Brady by Rick Van Horn READERS'
78 42 PLATFORM
BASICS New Zildjians 6
MASTER CLASS by William F. Miller
Playing At High
44
Volume Portraits In Rhythm: ASK A PRO
Etude #19 Sabian HH Classic
by Brian Alpert 12
by Anthony J. Cirone Rides
50
by Rick Mattingly and
82
Rick Van Horn
IT'S
ROCK 'N' JAZZ 44 QUESTIONABLE
CLINIC ROCK 16
Sabian Bell Cymbal
Linear Patterns Made PERSPECTIVES by William F. Miller
Easy Rock Around The Set 45 DRUM MARKET
by William F. Miller by Albert Bouchard
118
66 96
ELECTRONIC
REVIEW
TEACHERS' R8 Human Rhythm
FORUM Composer UPDATE
21 Productive Ideas PRINTED PAGE by Norman Weinberg 8
For The Private Teacher 100 58
by Steve Anisman INDUSTRY
68 NEW AND HAPPENINGS
UP & COMING NOTABLE 102
STRICTLY 106
Charlie Adams
TECHNIQUE by Susan Alexander
Endurance And 62
Control: Part 1
by Joe Morello
74
 EDITOR/PUBLISHER MODERN DRUMMER
Ronald Spagnardi ADVISORY BOARD
Henry Adler, Kenny Aronoff,
Louie Bellson, Bill Bruford, Roy
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Burns, Jim Chapin, Alan Dawson,
Isabel Spagnardi Dennis DeLucia, Les DeMerle,
Len DiMuzio, Charlie Donnelly,
Peter Erskine, Vic Firth, Danny
Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, Jim Keltner,
SENIOR EDITOR Mel Lewis, Larrie Londin, Peter
Rick Mattingly Magadini, George Marsh, Joe
Morello, Andy Newmark, Neil
Peart, Charlie Perry, Dave Samuels,
MANAGING EDITOR

On The List
John Santos, Ed Shaughnessy, Steve
Rick Van Horn Smith, Ed Thigpen.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
If you subscribe to several different magazines, you may have ASSOCIATE EDITORS Susan Alexander, Robyn Flans,
noticed that you're also receiving mail related to the subject William F. Miller Simon Goodwin, Karen Ervin
matter of those magazines. As a subscriber, your name is valu- Adam Budofsky Pershing, Jeff Potter, Teri Saccone,
able to companies in related fields. A subscription is an indica- Robert Santelli, Bob Saydlowski,
tion that you have more than a passing interest in the subject, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Jr., Robin Tolleson, Lauren Vogel,
and could be a potential customer for other goods or services. As T. Bruce Wittet.
Cynthia Huang
a result, these companies are usually most anxious to send you
their promotional literature through the mail. How do they ob- MODERN DRUMMER Magazine
(ISSN 0194-4533) is published
tain your name? Among other methods, by renting it from maga-
ART DIRECTOR monthly with an additional issue
zines with related-interest subscriber listings. in July by MODERN DRUMMER
We function in a manner similar to most publications; however, Terry Kennedy
Publications, Inc., 870 Pompton
MD's subscriber list is made available only to companies in the Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009.
drum or general music industry. No need to be concerned that ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Second-Class Postage paid at
any solicitations you may have received from insurance firms or Scott G. Bienstock Cedar Grove, NJ 07009 and at
encyclopedia publishers have come from companies who've ob- additional mailing offices. Copy-
tained your name from us! right 1989 by Modern Drummer
Along with protecting subscribers from unrelated direct-mail Publications, Inc. All rights
ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER reserved. Reproduction without
advertising, most publishers are also concerned with shielding
Tracy Kearney the permission of the publisher is
their readers from fraudulent or distasteful mail solicitations. MD
prohibited.
subscribers are protected from this on two fronts: First, all poten-
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tial list users must go through our national list management ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES:
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Modern Drummer Publications,
to this, any material intended for mailing must be approved by 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar
the management of MD. Should the literature be unrelated to ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Grove, NJ 07009.
our industry, or should further investigation lead us to believe Kevin W. Kearns MANUSCRIPTS: Modern Drummer
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A Member Of:

ISSUE DATE: August 1989

Magazine Publishers of America

DENNIS CHAMBERS Once an artist endorses a brand, he or she play is certainly their business, but it is
I saw Dennis Chambers play at the MD should stay with the company for at least disillusioning to see people jumping around.
Drum Festival last September, and was five years. I like to see some degree of At this point in my career, endorsements
thrilled beyond words. I hadn't really heard loyalty. I really admire artists who stay with have little or no impact on me. That's partly
of Dennis prior to that, and so was eager to a company for 10 or 20 years. because I'm so set in my preferences now,
find out more about him. What a joy it was Ken Sommerhalter and partly because I don't take them that
to see him on the cover of your May '89 Aberdeen NJ seriously.
issue! The story was great; it filled me in on Mike Kolesar
a lot of the background I was curious about. I won't buy a brand that doesn't have any Pittsburgh PA
I'm on my way to the record store now to endorsers. I assume the company couldn't
pick up some of the albums suggested by get any. But among those with a list of If a company puts out quality merchandise,
Dennis in the Listener's Guide! endorsements, I honestly think they all have let the excellent workmanship speak for
Billy Selwin about the same quality. I don't care who itself. Let the best work—not the shrewdest
Utica NY endorses a line, as long as it's one of the salesman—win!
many artists I respect. Tina Ivastanin
ON ENDORSEMENTS Adam Cooke Constantine Ml
Editor's note: In the April '89 issue of MD, Baltimore MD
Ron Spagnardi offered some thoughts on GETTING THE RIGHT SOUND
artist endorsements of percussion products, I listened to a lot of drummers when I was IN THE STUDIO
and invited readers to submit their com- coming up, but I never really paid atten- I have been reading your magazine and
ments. Here is a representative sampling of tion to what brand of equipment they used. playing drums seriously for ten years. I love
those comments. Let's face it: Any drum can sound great if MD and can't wait for the next issue. MD
it's played well. has always been a place to learn about
I, for one, have never purchased merchan- Alex J. Valasquez drums, and I think it is a major reason why
dise based on a name-artist endorsement. I Roeland Park KS drummers aren't so competitive and don't
think it's more logical to purchase equip- have an "I can outplay you" attitude these
ment that feels comfortable and sounds I rely a great deal on my drum teacher. I days.
good to my ear, rather than basing my de- feel I can trust a person I work with on a However, one article in your May '89
cision on [the opinion of] someone I don't regular, one-on-one basis, as opposed to issue has me very upset. It was titled "Get-
have a chance in hell of ever talking to. someone who might be getting paid to ting The Right Sound In The Studio." It
There seems to be a certain impersonal endorse. Actually, I think most people rely should have been titled "Getting The T.
feeling to buying products because a lead- on the opinions of those around them. Bruce Wittet Sound In The Studio." This
ing drummer uses them. I get more out of Phil Moseley was the most narrow-minded article on
talking to drummers I know, and finding Houston TX drums I've ever had the displeasure of read-
out what they think. I also get a lot more ing. Mr. Wittet is obviously a veteran of the
personal satisfaction out of buying an item I was strongly influenced by endorsements studio, but his "do it my way" attitude is
that I feel is outstanding, and then later during my formative years. As time passed, just the kind of thing that turns young drum-
discovering which name artists I admire I saw several major figures drift from com- mers off.
endorse the product. pany to company, and it definitely left an When talking about using one micro-
Rey Washam unfavorable impression on me. What they
Chicago IL
 Steve Smith the entire picture.
"Both situations require that
hit it off. One thing lead to an-
other, and they asked me if I
get on with what s in front of
me, because if I think about it
I have a lot of technique and would go to New York to do too much, it will make me
facility on the instrument," the record. crazy," he laughs.
Steve continues, "because the "I was really excited —Robyn Flans
music isn't easy technically. It because I finally got to work
requires being sensitive to
what's going on around me
with Bob Clearmountain, who
I've always liked; I think he Audie
and reacting to that in a
mature way. I definitely have
gets exceptional drum sounds.
I also got to work with
Desbrow
to learn parts, but that's only a Carmine Rojas, who I knew
small part of it. It's very im- from David Bowie albums,
provisational, and that im- and we hit it off right away,
provisation can be real busy, too. We rehearsed for about
Photo by Joseph Quever

complex playing or it can be ten days in Woodstock, New

real spacious playing, being York, and then we went into
sensitive to the composition the studio. It took about a day
and the soloist." to get the drum sounds up,
Apart from Steps, Steve's and then we started to track,

Photo by Mark Weiss

been doing an incredible averaging a couple of tracks a
variety of recording, playing day. We completed all the
Steve Smith has committed everything from jazz to heavy basic tracks in about ten days,
most of this year to Steps metal with power ballads to which I think was pretty quick
Ahead. The band released one track with the Turtle Island for how meticulous we were
N.Y.C. at the beginning of the String Quartet for their Wind- about it."
year, reflecting personnel ham Hill Jazz Metropolis Gary's favorite cut on the al- When success and a platinum
changes in the band. Com- album. "They arrange jazz bum is "Blowing Up Detroit" album finally landed on Great
poser/sax player Bendic standards and some originals, because there were no over- White's doorstep last year,
replaced Mike Brecker, which but play them as a string dubs or repairs done to the drummer Audie Desbrow says
is a major musical change for quartet with improvisation, basic track, but he says one of he was ready, "because I had
the group. which makes them different the more interesting tracks for been in the business for quite
"It's become more of a com- from any other string quartet," him to do was "Cry Little a few years before this band.
position-oriented band and says Steve. "The song was Sister." "I set up the drums dif- Everybody pays their dues;
less of a jazz blowing band," pretty difficult, so it was very ferently," he explains. "I set up you keep paying them as you
Steve explains. "The material challenging. And that was dif- a second snare drum to the left get more successful. By the
covers a wider spectrum of ferent, because the day before of the hi-hat, reversed the rack time Once Bitten went plati-
music. We do stuff that is very I did that, I played on Neal tom-toms, and came up with a num, I felt we had been
mellow and ethereal as well as Schon's solo record, Late Nite. different kind of pattern. The earning it, so I wasn't unpre-
the high-energy stuff, whereas Omar Hakim played on the song is about vampires and it's pared."
with the old Steps, it was all rest of it, but some of the supposed to be real haunting With this attitude, Desbrow
pretty intense most of the things I did were real reminis- and menacing, so I thought I undertook the collective mak-
time." cent of the Journey ballads. It's should do something a little ing of Twice Shy. More a blues
He says the approach is not a great record." off the wall, but organized. I album than the heavy metal
very different from his own New artist Richie Kotzenin thought if I changed the drum one might expect, the record
band, Vital Information, which had Steve play on his debut configuration around, a lot of has anyone who knows the
hopes to release a live album heavy metal instrumental things I would play naturally band predicting a volley to the
in the fall. "It's similar in a lot album on Shrapnel Records, would sound different without top. It's no accident that Twice
of ways. Everybody is a strong and Steve also played on a having to completely readjust Shy, like its predecessors, is
player, and the music has great Japanese release by the lead how I would play." written, performed, arranged,
melodies to it rather than it singer of Loudness, which Right after the making of and produced solely and
being real angular jazz. A lot Steve describes as mainstream Sexton's album, Gary went exclusively by Great White.
of the blowing is open in both pop. And in his off time, Steve back to England for three This marks Desbrow's third
situations as far as there not is concentrating on his writing. months to work on a project album with Great White and,
being a lot of chord changes. —Robyn Flans by Atlantic Records' Big Big as usual, he employed a click
For a drummer, it's different Sun. When he returned to the track "as reference to keep my
only because the songs are
different and the players are Gary Ferguson States, he walked into a
project with Chris Spedding.
meter close to precise. I would
never want to be so precise as
different, but conceptually it's A little over a year ago, Gary Following that, rehearsals to be like a drum machine,
the same. I guess the only dif- Ferguson moved back to L.A. began with Sexton, and the because even though it's so
ference is that in Vital Informa- from London, and a friend of summer will be spent mostly perfect, there's no heart and
tion I'm the band leader and his, Tony Berg, hooked him up on the road, including dates in soul in it. It was never
in the Steps situation I'm a with Charlie Sexton. "I ended Japan and Australia. Gary enforced for me to use a click,
band member, so I'm taking a up going to Tony's house, hopes, however, to be able to but I feel more confident and
back seat as far as my own where he has a studio in back, do some touring with Big Big secure knowing that when I
opinions about everything. I'm and I met Charlie. We were Sun if scheduling permits. hear my tracks, they're on the
letting Mike Mainieri pretty just going to play a little bit Working that kind of stuff out money.
much run the thing, and it's and see how it went. We can be tricky sometimes. "One "All my drum sounds are
kind of nice to not have to started running down these thing I've learned is not to let real," insists Audie. "There are
work so hard thinking about songs, and we just musically these things bother me and to no samplers or electronics in-
volved other than reverb and keyboard-dominated pop the road with Bon Jovi, and
the ambiance of the room. I synth band. I guess he got a Rob says their audiences are
prefer to keep it realistic, both really bad taste for it because extremely open to the band.
live and in the studio." he likes hard rock, which I do "The opening band usually has
Asked if he believes there is too, but I grew up on Carl a quarter of the crowd, and
a signature to his style, Audie Palmer, Neil Peart, and Phil we've already been increasing
modestly replies, "I don't Collins, so I love that stuff, too. the attendance for our show.
know. I can recognize a lot of I guess he didn't think I was They're extremely responsive;
drummers' playing, but I don't such a great drummer because at just about every show the
know if I've done enough yet he didn't like the music. promoter says he's never seen
musically to be identified that "When I heard Skid Row a crowd respond like that to
way, other than being in Great was auditioning and I decided an opening band. It's incred-
White. There are certain I wanted to get into something ible."
things I do that make it 'my new, I called him and said I'd —Robyn Flans
playing,' just like other like to come down to audition,
drummers have certain licks in
their songs that are identifiable
but he kept putting me off. Fi-
nally, when they were getting News...
to their style. I can't see what desperate, they gave me a tape Ian Wallace working with
mine is as of yet. It's hard to and I practiced the hell out of Stephen Stills and Don will be out in the fall.
answer. The only thing people it. I really learned the material Henley. Congratulations to Phil
identify me with is that I'm and went in for the audition. Mick Fleetwood in the Collins, who won a Grammy
real solid and I try to be as They told me later that after studio with Fleetwood Mac. Award for "Best Song Written
creative as possible within the the first song, Rachel [Bolan], Vic Mastrianni can be heard Specifically For A Motion Pic-
realms of Great White's the bass player, leaned over to on Reba McEntire's live ture Or Television" with "Two
sound. I don't want to go off Snake and said, 'If we pass on album. Also, congratulations Hearts."
and try to pull some weird this guy, we're idiots.' I think I to Vic and his wife Susan on Michael Blair in the studio
creative thing that doesn't gel really did blow Snake away. the birth of their daughter Cara with Shawn Colvin.
with our music." He was not expecting what he Katherine. Drummer and bongo player
As satisfied as he is with heard." Rod Morgenstein can be Billy Ficca on tour with The
Great White as a recording The audition took place in heard on Steve Morse's solo Washington Squares.
entity, Desbrow's primary love the winter of '86, and the band album High Tension Wires. Kenny Malone on Sandy
is the stage, and at mixing had its final lineup by the fall Ingo Schwichtenberg on Mason's album.
time, all he could think of was of '87. When Jon Bon Jovi, a tour with Helloween. Gene Barnett on new album
taking Twice Shy to the friend of Snake's, heard a tape, Eddie Bayers on albums by by Dirty Looks.
arenas. "I don't think I could he invited Skid Row to open a New Grass Revival, Holly Congratulations to Vicki and
ever get tired of being on couple of dates for Bon Jovi. Dunn, John Anderson, Mark Joe Smyth on the birth of their
tour," he states. "I always Their first gig was in front of daughter Jenna Brianne.
wanted to go on the road. 10,000 people, and Bon Jovi's Jerry Angel playing live with
After all the hours in the manager signed them immedi- Carole King.
studio, it's such a reward to be ately afterwards. Four months Billy West recently in studio
able to play it live for people later, Atlantic Records signed with Dolly Parton, Jeff Turner,
and meet the fans. Those the band, and they began their and Freddie & The Screamers.
things are really important." first album. Greg "Fritz" Hinz recording
—Elainne Halbersberg "I had been in the studio a and touring with Helix.
lot and had worked with a Congratulations to Albert
Rob Affuso click track, so I wasn't too
worried about it—until I got
Bouchard and Deborah Frost
on the birth of their son,
Photo by Rick MalKin

there," Rob recalls. "We did Abraham.

the drums in a big convention Larry Spivack is musical di-
center because we wanted to rector/solo performer with the
use the natural reverb of the Broadway production of Meta-
room, which was pretty cool. morphosis featuring Mikhail
But I was playing in a room by Baryshnikov.
myself, as opposed to having O'Connor, Danielle Alexander, David Derge working with
the other guys around, and I Vince Gill, Keith Whitley, David Benoit.
had to look at them through a Michael Murphy, Sawyer Chico Hamilton has a new
video screen. The big problem Brown, Rodney Crowell, the band called Euphoria.
was that the first couple of McCarter Sisters, Dan Seals, as The Harold Howland
days there, I was freaking well as on the soundtrack for Ensemble has a record coming
myself out, thinking, 'These Next Of Kin. Congratulations out on Soul Note, called Reiko.
are the first tracks; if I do to Eddie for winning the Music Herman Matthews touring
anything wrong it'll screw up Row Musicians Poll for the and recording with Kirk Wha-
the rest of the album.' I was most top-10 albums played on lum, touring with Bob James,
Rob Affuso laughs as he playing games with myself. in Nashville in the last year. and drumming with Kenny
relates the story of his audition After the first track, 'Piece Of Alan Jones working with Loggins.
with Skid Row: "Before Skid Me,' I mellowed out a bit and David Friesen. Jim Keltner recently in the
Row, Snake, the guitar player, got into the groove, and I was Cactus Moser on albums by studio with Eric Clapton.
had auditioned for a band that a lot more comfortable." Mark Lowry and J.C. Crowley.
I was in, which was a very This summer Skid Row is on A new Highway 101 album
VINNY APPICE Q. Let me start by saying how much I have
enjoyed your work with Dio since Holy
JUST KIDDING! Those albums are out of
print now. You might find them at a record
Diver—not to mention your previous work specialty shop.
with Black Sabbath and Rick Derringer. I My live bass drum sound is a combina-
have heard two songs by your first band, tion of using very little muffling (a 14"x4"x1"
Axis, on your instructional video (which is piece of foam just slightly touching the head
just phenomenal). I was wondering if and enough to eliminate the ring), hitting the
how I can get a copy of those two albums. bass drum hard for maximum tone and vol-
Also, how do you get your bass drum sound ume, and using an AKG D12 mic'. The ten-
live? What is the tension like on the batter sion on my snare head is fairly tight, and it
head? Do you still use Duraline heads on gives me a lot of crack and response. I
your bass and snare drums? When will we don't use Duraline heads anymore, because
Photo by Gene Kirkland
be hearing something new from Dio? the manufacturer stopped making them. I
Mike Hover am now using Aquarian Power Dot heads
W. Lafayette IN on all my drums. They're very strong, and
A. I'm glad you enjoyed my work, and to they sound real fat and natural.
all the kind words I say thanks. As for get- Dio is now in the process of writing for
ting copies of the Axis albums, just send the next album. It's due out this fall, and
me $19.95 plus shipping and handling... will feature our new guitar player from Eng-
land, Rowan Robertson.

RIKKI ROCKETT
Q. I recently had the chance to catch the morning. But there were no congas avail-
Poison show in Houston. Your solo was able, so we taped up RotoToms to approxi-
absolutely remarkable! I thought I heard mate the sound.
RotoToms; if so, what sizes did you use? I I think the "symphonic sounds" you men-
was also amazed with the symphonic tion are simply Latin Percussion timbales,
sounds you used in your solo, and would with brass shells in sizes 8", 10", 12", and
like to know what you used to make them. 14", with white batter heads. We have them
Corey Houston miked internally with the May EA miking
Houston TX system. They do tend to sound more like
A. Yes, you did hear Remo RotoToms, in timpani than standard timbales from out in
6", 8", and 10" sizes with CS Black Dot the house. Or it may be that if you heard
heads. I also used them on "Look But Don't one of our very early shows, you heard
Touch," from the Open Up And Say Ahh some sounds I was playing around with
LP. You might also find it interesting that I that were triggered from pads. But I didn't
Photo by Lissa Wales

played a set with my hands in a kind of use them that heavily, and I stopped using
shuffle pattern in the background of "Good them altogether later on in the tour. Based
Love" to simulate congas. When we were on what you heard, take one or the other of
recording the song we decided to try a these explanations as your answer, okay?
Latin percussion thing at about 3:00 in the Thanks for your questions, and keep rockin'!

Photo by Jaeger Kotos

DAVE WECKL
Q. What snare drum did you use on head. I always use
"Growing" and "Windsprint," from John Remo coated Am-
Patittucci's recent solo album? How do you bassadors for the
tune your brass piccolo snare? What's your batter and clear Am-
head choice for that drum? bassador snare-side
Mike Balistreri heads. Thanks for
Milwaukee Wl writing!
A. The snare used on all the cuts I played
on was the Yamaha brass piccolo. The tun-
ing I use depends on the particular piece of
music to be played. On those two songs, it
was what I would call a "normal" tuning:
not real high, but not detuned in any way,
either. On the first song, there was abso-
lutely no muffling. On "Windsprint," there
was a 1/2" strip of duct tape on the batter
Q. Would something like Olde English Furniture Oil be okay to Q. I am looking for the brand name and possible address of the
use on wood-finished drums? How about something like Pledge place that I can purchase a metronome like the one on the cover
furniture polish? Is there a possibility of damage to the drums? of Master Studies, by Joe Morello. I had a student several years ago
P.V. who had one, but I no longer live in that city and do not know
Shawnee OK how to get in touch with him. The metronome worked very nicely;
A. Olde English Oil is intended primarily to preserve and protect it was electrically operated, with a loud click sound and a light on
older wood surfaces that have lost some or all of their original top.
finish. It is designed to penetrate the wood grain, replacing natural G.P.
oils lost from the wood due to age. Since most wood-finished Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
drums have a substantial lacquer or polymer finish on top of the A. That metronome is the Franz Flash-Beat Wood model. It is
actual wood, the Olde English Oil would probably not be able to electric, features an on-off switch for the click sound, a lighted
penetrate to the wood below. As a result, you'd likely wind up "jewel" on top that is visible in daylight, and a choice of mahog-
with a fairly oily mess on the surface of your drum. It's also any or walnut case. You can contact the Franz Manufacturing
possible that the Olde English Oil might dissolve some older forms Company at 240 Sargent Drive, New Haven, Connecticut 06511,
of lacquer finishes. So it would probably not be a good idea to use (203) 562-0235, for further information.
this particular product on your drums.
Pledge or similar spray dusting compounds are generally good Q. Where and when are these NAMM conventions you people
for use on drums. Some contain wax, and some do not; be sure talk about? Is there any planned for the St. Louis area? I'm very
you know whether the product you plan to use does, because interested in attending if one should ever come around. How
you'll want to use it sparingly to avoid waxy build-up on the about other percussion conventions?
shells. No matter what product you use, be sure to spray your M.H.
cleaning cloth, rather than the drums themselves. This will avoid Evansville IN
getting the product into cracks and crevices in and around the A. The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) bi-
hardware, where it is almost impossible to remove. annual shows are not conventions, but trade shows at which
manufacturers and distributors display their products for retailers
Q. I have a clear acrylic Ludwig drumset. The floor tom has a to view and order. The Winter Market is held each January in
crack in it. Will that affect the sound? Anaheim, California, and the Summer Expo is held for two years in
S.S. Chicago, and in some other location (generally in the Southeast)
Worthington OH every third year. As they are now structured, the shows are not
A. That depends primarily on where and how large the crack is. A open to the general public. You must have some viable connec-
large crack—especially one leading from a bearing edge—is likely tion to the music business (as a store employee, member of the
to create minute vibrations, which could, in turn, cause a "buzz" music press, etc.)—and be able to prove it—in order to gain
in the shell. Such a crack could also interfere with proper seating access to the shows. For more information, contact NAMM, 5140
of the drumhead. Avenida Encinas, Carlsbad, California 92008.
Possibly more serious is the problem the crack might cause with The most notable percussion-oriented annual convention is that
the structural integrity of the drum. If it leads away from a screw of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS). Generally held in November,
hole where either a tuning lug or a leg-mounting bracket is in- this convention moves to a different city each year. (As a matter of
stalled, that area will be weakened. It is possible to use clear glues fact, the 1987 convention was held in St. Louis.) The 1989 PAS
designed for use on acrylic plastics (usually polymer resin-based convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee. These conven-
products) to seal up cracks. There's no way to make the glue job tions feature artists and educators in clinics, seminars, and master-
totally invisible, but if you are careful, it can be fairly inconspicu- class formats, as well as new product exhibits from manufacturers.
ous. Luckily, with a floor tom, you can easily turn the drum so that There is a registration fee to attend, and you must also be a
the repaired area faces you, and not your audience. member of the PAS. For more information, contact the Percussive
Arts Society, P.O. Box 697, Urbana, Illinois 61801-0697.
Q. In the February '89 issue of MD, Peter Erskine makes a refer-
ence to his book, Drum Concepts And Techniques. He mentions Q. I constantly read that touring is the most grueling—and some-
that the book is published by 21st Century Music. Would you be times boring—thing for band members. Is it really that bad? Drum-
so kind as to provide me with the full address of that publisher? ming is one of the very few things I'm really good at, and I plan to
P.C. construct the rest of my life around it. But if touring and recording
Santiago, Chile is actually as grueling and boring as I read, I want to know so I can
A. Peter's book is distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing Company, plan my life around another occupation.
8112 W. Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53213. M.B.
Mt. Pleasant PA
Q. Since I play a double-bass setup, I have to settle for an "open" A. A great deal of the touring life led by successful drummers can
hi-hat sound. Does anyone make a hi-hat stand that locks the be grueling: rough traveling schedules, lack of sleep, heavy physi-
cymbals in order to achieve a "tight" or closed hi-hat sound? cal demands, absence from loved ones, etc. And due to the repeti-
M.M. tive nature of doing show after show—along with all the attending
Scranton AR details that must be dealt with in each new city—a certain amount
A. Both Drum Workshop and Yamaha offer drop-lock clutches for of boredom can set in. However, many artists experienced at
hi-hats, which allow the top hi-hat cymbal to be quickly released touring take measures to avoid the boredom. (They read, sightsee,
and sit freely atop the bottom cymbal for "closed" playing. The write, practice, shop, use hotel health facilities, etc.—anything to
"tightness" of that "closed sound" will depend primarily on the keep from laying around in a hotel room all day.) They also weigh
weight of that top cymbal. As far as we know, there is no device the "grueling" demands against the emotional and financial bene-
currently on the market that would facilitate a truly tight closed-hi- fits gained from the experience. If they feel they come out ahead,
hat sound. (As a matter of fact, a hi-hat stand incorporating a then they continue to tour. If they don't, they leave "the road" for
locking pedal mechanism was the winner of MD's "Dream Prod- other musical pursuits closer to home.
uct" contest in October of 1986.) At present, your best alternative
for a closed hi-hat sound would be a permanently closed auxiliary
hi-hat, such as Tama's X-Hat or Cosmic Percussion's Hat Rack.
Last fall, when Talking Heads
drummer Chris Frantz and his wife/
musical partner Tina Weymouth de-
cided to play CBGB's, the legendary
New York City club where the
Heads first caught the at-
tention of the rock fans—and itself. "We put a lot into the shows, be-
world in the mid-'70s, cause a lot was riding on them," continues Frantz in
they knew an awful lot of memories would surface— his typically careful, cheerful tone. "And we got a lot
visions of the good as well as the bad. Flashbacks of out of them. The best thing about the shows was
the days when earning a few lousy bucks for a night's being on stage again. It had been such a long time,
work was a major accomplishment. Yes, it is indeed and it felt so good."
sweet to return to your roots, your place of origin, With Talking Heads primarily a studio band these
when you come back a winner and a star. Or is it? days—thanks mostly to David Byrne's reluctance to
"Oh sure," smiles Frantz. "It's like the return of tour and his seemingly myriad other interests—the
the conquering rock warriors." The statement amuses Tom Tom Club has become Chris and Tina's sole
him, and he laughs. vehicle for performing live. TTC also allows the duo
But this critically acclaimed series of shows, per- to explore musical themes untouched by Byrne.
formed to sell-out crowds on nights when the guest "Because of this, we're real serious about the Tom
list was a mile long, had more riding on it than mere Tom Club," continues Frantz. "Some people used to
nostalgia. For one thing, this was not a Talking Heads see the group as just a fun little thing, a little project
gig. Nor did Tina and Chris simply sit in as guests of with little consequence. Actually Tina and I are as
another band. They were up there on that weary serious about the Tom Tom Club as we are about
stage as leaders of their own band—the Tom Tom Talking Heads."
Club. Now, TTC itself was not news; the "Tom Tom Frantz is also serious about his drumming. He has
Club concept," after all, had been in existence since been ever since his days at the Rhode Island School
1980. What made the CBGB's gigs special was their of Design where he, Tina, and Byrne decided to start
nature: They marked the first time the Tom Tom Club a group. But over the years it's been an easygoing
had ever performed live. There was Chris and Tina kind of seriousness. As a drummer, Frantz hasn't
and the rest of the Tom Tom Club in the joint that quite set the world afire with technical acumen or
launched a thousand bands, playing tunes off the daring, innovative drum ideas: "I hope there aren't
Tom Tom Club's third album, Boom Boom Chi Boom that many typical Modern Drummer kind of ques-
Boom, in front of an audience of real, sweaty, danc- tions in this interview," he says between laughs. "I'm
ing, breathing people. afraid I won't be able to answer many of them."
"We were very nervous and very excited at the But he has made his mark nonetheless. His
same time," recalls Frantz, who's sitting in his man- rhythmic feel is frequently the rhythmic feel of
ager's office in midtown Manhattan a few months Talking Heads—despite Byrne's indomitable pres-
later. "Those shows were a big deal for all the right ence. And no doubt most of the rhythms heard on
reasons." the Tom Tom Club's latest LP originated with Frantz.
Despite the Tom Tom Club's lack of stage experi- There's also a subtle finesse and funky endeavor that
ence, the shows were an across-the-board success. are woven into Frantz's drumming. They rarely jump
TTC performed with a drive and near-dilerious en- out at the listener, it's true, but they're present in a sly
thusiasm of a band out to prove a few things to its sort of way, and they're tasty.
By Robert Santelli
Photo by Ebet Roberts
 How then should one describe Frantz behind a rhythms. I guess I expected lots of high energy dance tracks, since
that's what the Tom Tom Club is essentially known for.
drumset? A powerhouse stylist? No. A clever drum- CF: Well, we like to use the word "darker" rather than "subdued."
mer who knows which beats should go where, and But, yeah, I can see where you might see the songs as somewhat
why? Yes. "I'm no slugger," says Frantz. "The groove subdued. We were going through a period where we thought we
didn't want to be just a dance band. Then we got to thinking,
is the thing with me. I've always based my drumming "What's so bad about being just a dance band?" You know, it's not
on capturing the groove. I guess that comes from that easy to make a good dance record. I think some people figure
listening to so many James Brown records." you can just crank out a dance record. Sure, some artists and
Chris Frantz, as it turns out, is an easy interview. bands admittedly do just crank them out. But the Tom Tom Club
isn't such a band. And Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom certainly isn't
He is not afraid to speak his mind, and his manner is such a record. There's a lot of time and consideration that goes
warm and witty. He also has a lot to talk about. into all our songs, be they dance tunes or ballads. But some of the
songs this time out, to get back to your original point, are a bit
low-key or restrained and are maybe a little on the morose side. It
RS: How is Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom different from the two was just the way we were feeling. Some days you wake up and
previous Tom Tom Club albums? you feel like dancing. Other days you wake up and you feel like, I
CF: We worked on this record for over two years, believe it or not. don't know, maybe whacking the person next to you. [laughs] On
It was done between Talking Heads records and having babies and Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom it was our intention to express a
things like that. [Chris and Tina have two daughters, Robin, six, whole range of feelings and musical sounds, including those less
and Egan, two.] So the album took a long time to finish, but only bright. I don't know if we were 100% successful or not, but we
because we weren't able to do the whole thing in one fell swoop. gave it a real good try. And I guess that's what counts in the end.
As you probably know, the album was first released in Europe. RS: But why would "dark" feelings come out on this record? There
Then we decided to record three new tracks for the American are those who feel the music you make is a reflection of your day-
version. It's interesting because when one takes two years to to-day experiences, or, at least, your perceived day-to-day experi-
complete an album, one runs into a lot of ideas, like rhythmic ences. Should Chris Frantz fans assume that there were dark
ideas, and a lot of different kinds of inspiration. Some of the songs stretches in your and Tina's life over the past two years?
are fairly straightforward, like our version of Lou Reed's
"Femme Fatale." It was done almost like a Phil
Spector sort of "Boom Ba Boom Crash!
Boom Ba Boom Crash!" type of
rhythm. Yet a song we recorded
later on, "The Call Of The
Wild," is very soca-
influenced. It has a
lot of hi-hat and
percussion

CF: That's an in-

teresting question. I
guess the best way to an-
swer it is by saying that both
Tina and I felt it was time for a shake-
Talking up in music. For instance, in the '50s you
Heads in had this big rock 'n' roll explosion. Then in the
1977 '60s you had this big psychedelic phenomenon. In the
'70s there was punk and so-called new wave. Now it's the '80s—
and is very dance-oriented. So there's a real mixed bag of rhythms the tail end of the '80s—and we think that music is very overdue
on Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom. It's the result of the time we took for some significant changes. We were trying to find something
to make it and the various influences that struck us along the way. different that might help bring on those changes. We felt free to ex-
In no way is it a standard rock 'n' roll record. periment and to see what might happen, and that, essentially, is
RS: Why did you record three new songs for the American release what we did.
of the album? We certainly don't claim that there are any earth-shattering
CF: It was mostly a business decision. Our American record com- explosions on Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom in terms of new
pany felt that since Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom had come out in music and rhythms. But we definitely wanted to leave ourselves
Europe so far in advance of when the record was going to be open to them in case they accidentally happened. [laughs] I think
available in America, some of our fans had probably purchased we're getting somewhere slowly but surely. Tina and I both feel
Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom as an import. We all agreed that we that music has gotten pretty predictable and kind of cute these
needed to make the American release a bit different, and that's days. Admittedly, there are a lot of people out there writing good
what we did. songs. There are also a lot of drummers out there who are explor-
RS: When I first heard Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom, I was struck ing different rhythms and means of rhythms, and the results are de-
by the, shall we say, subdued quality of some of the songs and lightful. But on the whole, the contemporary music scene is not
 real exciting. When we did Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom we were like perhaps they used to. I hear drummers today who play and
looking for a little excitement in our music and, in some way, the sound like drum machines. I've checked out Rolling Stones songs
key to passing on that excitement to other people. I think the recorded before the use of drum machines, and a lot of them
bottom line is that rock 'n' roll is really overdue for something that speed up and slow down quite a bit. But if you listen to more
is a bit, I don't know, drastic. recent Stones tunes, a lot of them stay with the same tempo. So it's
RS: That's interesting. But from strictly a drummer's point of view, pretty obvious that the drum machine has had a significant effect
don't you think that the '80s has been a pretty important decade? on rock 'n' roll.
RS: What kind of drum machine do you fancy?
CF: My first one was an Oberheim DMX. Then I had
a Linn 9000. But, unfortunately, one of my
engineers took it down to Jamaica
and it was never returned
to me. Now I have an
Alesis, which I love

Tom Tom Club at

CBGB's in 1988,
with Lou Reed
(far left) sitting in.

After all, the rock drummer has

finally gotten away from the tired,
stereotyped role of just being the guy in the
back of the band. More drummers are writing and
producing. You're a perfect example of that. Drummers
are becoming stars in their own right. And then there's the new
drum technology and the unlimited possibilities of drum machines because it's so good and so small, and it sounds absolutely great.
and such. Don't you think drummers like yourself are contributing RS: How many rhythm tracks on Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom
more to music than ever before? have drum machine textures incorporated into them?
CF: Well, there have been a lot of changes in terms of drummers, CF: A couple of the songs do. On most of the songs you hear me
it's true. With all the new technology that's available today, drum- and my old Rogers drumkit. Three or four songs are entirely drum
mers can express themselves more. Drummers are writing more machine, or a combination of the drum machine and real drums.
and getting more involved. I know for me, just keeping the beat in RS: Could you identify the songs?
a band wasn't all that interesting. After you get past a certain point, CF: Let's see if I can remember: "Suboceana," "Shock The World,"
it's not so much your drumming skills that require a lot of work, it's "She Belongs To Me," which is the Bob Dylan song we covered,
more about conception and thinking up new beats, new sounds. and "Challenge Of The Love Warriors." On "Love Warriors" you
Sure, you have to keep up with your chops and all that. But the hear a Linn 9000 with some real percussion on top. You know,
challenge is to be exciting and interesting. Of course, too, it's one there's been this whole thing about anyone being able to program
thing to be real experimental, but it's another to be real experi- drum machines. But I really believe drummers program much bet-
mental and have people like what they're hearing. ter than non-drummers. I can't get that go-go beat going on real
RS: Like it enough to buy it. drums. Try as I might, I just can't get it down. But on a drum ma-
CF: Exactly. The Tom Tom Club never really stressed the commer- chine I can go crazy with it. I know it's a cliche, but the drum
cial aspect too much. But let's face it, if we didn't have a few hits, machine is a tool. How you use it determines if the results are
or a few minor hits, then we wouldn't be able to continue doing worthwhile or not.
what we're doing. That's the way it goes. From my point of view, RS: I don't recall much in the way of drum machines on Talking
I've always tried to be aware of the business of making records. I Heads albums.
mean, I even took piano lessons so I could figure out what the CF: You're right. I don't think we've used a drum machine on any
guitar players and keyboard players were saying to each other in Talking Heads songs. There was, though, one song I used a drum
the studio. [laughs] Now I know the difference between a G and a machine for, but it never made in onto an album. It had one of
G-minor. For a long time I didn't have the faintest idea what they those impossible-to-play drumbeats. No one knows the song so
were talking about. I've even gotten involved with drum ma- it's not even worth talking about.
chines. I think they're great. Mostly I use one for writing. It's great RS: Ever since the advent of the Tom Tom Club, fans and critics
to lock into a particular tempo. I use my drum machine like a click alike have viewed the group as your and Tina's alter-ego. The Tom
or metronome. And I have to say, I've even used the drum ma- Tom Club, it seemed, was the place where you two could really
chine on a song or two. It's a pretty versatile invention. elaborate on your own musical ideas, without the influence of
RS: Despite what you just said, it doesn't seem that the techno David Byrne or the confines of what Talking Heads has come to
explosion of the '80s has affected you or what you do on stage and symbolize, musically. Do you see the Tom Tom Club in this way?
in the studio like it has other drummers. CF: I guess to a certain extent that has to be true. The public
CF: I think the drum machine has made me more aware of timing, perceives Talking Heads as being dominated by David because
the way it has made other drummers more aware. Because of he's a compelling figure, and onstage he's a great performer. But
drum machines, some drummers don't speed up or slow down when it comes down to actually writing the songs, it really is a
team effort. Then, of course, David puts his lyrics on afterwards at first, we being white and Tina being female, and us working
and tries to make up a melody which, more often than not, is with Rastas. It's not something that happens every day, let's face it.
based on what's already there. I always felt that within Talking But it was clear to me halfway through the first day that everything
Heads I was able to be as creative as humanly possible. I never was going to work out just fine. Everyone came to work. It was
thought that my part in the band was limited. Just listen to the really great. Everyone was always right on time for the sessions.
records. You can tell that it's not just another rock group grinding RS: That's rarely the case with Jamaican Rastas.
out generic sounds and rhythms. CF: Well, the Rastas we worked with are actually Ethiopians,
RS: Is it safe to assume then that all the media attention that is which is a little bit different than being Jamaican. But they love
heaped on David doesn't bother you? reggae music. It was clear from the first day, once everyone got
CF: What was frustrating was that David would enter into solo over their shyness and wondering what everyone else was really
projects or projects outside of Talking Heads, and the rest of us like, that everything was really going to be fine. Ziggy's not a big
would be left with nothing to do. Now that was pretty talker. He expresses himself in his songs very well, but as
damn frustrating. That's why the Tom Tom Club came far as any other type of conversation goes, it's fairly
into existence—not because Tina and I felt limited limited. I can only tell you that, to me, the songs
or restricted by Talking Heads. If Talking Heads is came out sounding really great. It was mostly due
only busy six out of every eighteen months, to Ziggy and the band; it wasn't due to any real
what can you expect? What were we sup- talking about it.
posed to do for the other year, you know? Let RS: How much of Conscious Party reflects
me tell you, sometimes it isn't that easy the musical ideas of you and Tina?
being in two bands. If it's twice as much CF: Our idea was that the record should be
fun, it's also twice as many headaches. recorded live, because we felt that live
But we're doing our best. reggae bands usually sounded big and
RS: I understand that David wasn't in- exciting, whereas on record they often
terested in touring to promote Naked. sounded very small and not that excit-
Does a decision such as that auto- ing. So our idea was to mike them like
matically mean you and Tina will ini- we would a rock band—you know,
tiate a Tom Tom Club project? with a lot of ambiance. We had mic's
CF: Pretty much so. It's a natural out in the hall with the doors open.
thing, I guess. We also had everybody play en-
RS: Are there any plans to begin semble. A lot of times in reggae the
work on a new Talking Heads rec- rhythm section will cut and then
ord soon? everything else is overdubbed so they
CF: We'll probably go into the stu- can get separation on everything. We
dio in the fall. But I can't really say weren't interested in making a real
if we'll tour once the record is fin- "dub wise" record. We wanted the
ished and out in record stores. I musicians to sound like a band. So
just don't know. that's what we did.
RS: The Tom Tom Club and Talking We also brought in some people
Heads aren't the only things that like Lenny Pickett and Jerry Harri-
consume your time. You've been son to do something a little unpre-
pretty busy—and pretty successful, dictable. Our job was to make sure
I might add—as Ziggy Marley's pro- that the best stuff got onto tape and
ducer. that the guys got treated with respect
CF: I don't know if you know this, and didn't feel that they had to rush
but "Tumblin' Down" is the number- through the sessions, which is often
one black single in America this week. the case in Jamaica. Everything gets
So you're talking to the number-one rushed through the studios down there
black producer in America, [laughs] I'm because of financial limitations. We
kind of proud of that, actually. And so is wanted the musicians to know that if it
my wife. We made it to number two took all day to get something right, that
before with "Genius Of Love." We never was fine. More often then not we would
could knock Stevie Wonder out of the num- get three takes a day. Ordinarily in that
ber-one slot. So this week we're number same time they would have been expected
one, or rather Ziggy is. And Michael Jackson to get a dozen takes. So we were able to do
is number two. something over and over again until we were
RS: What was it like working with Ziggy Mar- sure that everybody was happy. It was a delight-
ley? I know you had to step into Alex Sadkin's ful experience, I can tell you.
shoes at a very disturbing moment. [Sadkin was RS: Will you and Tina produce the follow-up LP to
killed in an automobile accident in Jamaica just before Conscious Party?
the project got under way.] CF: Yes, we will.
CF: We knew Alex a lot better than Ziggy did. Alex worked with RS: Have you begun preparations for it?
Ziggy's father |Bob Marley]; that was the reason he was chosen to CF: Well, Ziggy and his people don't want to do the new record in
work with Ziggy. Alex had worked with us on Speaking In Tongues. New York. It got a little too cold for them the last time. I would
We were also his neighbors down in Compass Point, Chris Black- love to go to Compass Point and work on the album there, but I'm
well's studio complex in the Bahamas. We lived in the same build- not sure that will be possible. We're looking at Montserrat in the
ing as Alex. So we knew him pretty well. It was strange to take Caribbean, and if worst comes to worst, Los Angeles. Ziggy needs
over his role in the project, but I thought Tina and I could do a a big room so that we can record the band all at once. He also
really good job. needs something better, technically speaking, than his own studio,
In the beginning, though, Ziggy wasn't quite sure about us. I Tuff Gong, down in Kingston, Jamaica.
don't think he'd ever heard of us before. We had to have several RS: With the success you've experienced in the studio, both with
meetings with him. Eventually he said okay to us producing the Ziggy Marley and the Tom Tom Club, are you beginning to see
record. It did take a while for things to get going. It was awkward
 The following examples demonstrate Chris
Franz's playing on some of the more popular 5. "(Nothing But) Flowers"
Naked (Sire 25654-1)
Talking Heads tunes, as well as a few tracks This two-bar pattern implies a Latin feel, with the bass drum being
from the new Tom Tom Club album. One thing you'll notice right the focal point of the beat.
away is the simplicity of these beats—yet Chris applies them in his
own unique way. When listening to these beats within the context
of the songs, you can hear Chris's two main talents: his ability to
come up with the right beat for the song, and his ability to just sit
on a beat, never letting anything get in the way of the groove.
Examples 1 through 6 are Chris with the Talking Heads, and 7 and
8 are with the Tom Tom Club.

1. "Psycho Killer"
Talking Heads '77 (Sire SR-6036)
This first example shows the driving beats Chris played for both
the verse and chorus sections.
Verse

6. "Ruby Dear"
Naked
In this example Chris plays a variation of the classic Bo Diddley
beat.

"Take Me To The River"

2. More Songs About Buildings And Food (Sire SRK-6058)
Here's a simple beat that gives a strong "four feel" to the song. The
interesting item about this beat is the snare drum sound, which has
a sweeping pitch bend to it. 7. "Kiss Me"
Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom (Sire 4-25888)
Here's a good example of one of Chris's strong points. On this
track, he plays the first pattern for most of the track, and then he
adds a slight variation to the pattern. Since he's been keeping the
beat simple, when Chris comes in with the variation, it has a great
deal more impact than if he had been embellishing on the basic
beat earlier on.
3. "Once In A Lifetime"
Remain In Light (Sire SRK-6095)
This pattern shows Chris's ability to sit on a groove for almost an
entire track, propelling the song without getting in the way.

Variation

4. "Burning Down The House"

Speaking In Tongues (Sire 23883-1)
The following two-bar phrase that Chris played on this track is the
foundation for the whole tune. This is the track with all of those
great-sounding overdubbed tom parts.

8. "Call Of The Wild"

Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom
In this last example, Chris plays a very dance-oriented pattern with
the emphasis on beat 4 of the pattern.
In the all-too-fertile ground that often sprouts one heavy metal clone
after another, Queensryche stands alone, distinctively unique in mes-
sage and music. Straddling the fence between progressive rock and
heavy metal, Queensryche have proven to be much more than an ex-
plosion of drums and a gust of disheveled guitar screams. The music is
drawn from dramatic, not-so-catchy melodies that elicit mental images
for the lyrics—passionate pleas for social change and the struggle of the
human condition. Queensryche is pretty heady stuff, and on all of their
releases over the past six years—Queensryche, The Warning, Rage For
Order, and Operation: Mindcrime—the band has managed to reinvent
their sound on each record, without compromise to their overall style.
When the group took root in Seattle, Washington in the early '80s,
they discovered a teenager named Scott Rockenfield and invited him to
occupy the drum throne. Over the course of the band's lifespan, Scott
has literally grown up—personally and musically. The band has grown
as well, and just as the complexity of their efforts has become more am-
bitious, Scott's playing has developed the technical acumen to meet the
challenges. His clean and compelling expression has connected with
fans and fellow drummers.
Last year's Operation: Mindcrime transported the listener to a new
place. With themes based on an Orwellian nightmare, Mindcrime is a
concept album composed of 75 mini-suites that are inextricably linked
together. The architecture of the music evokes the eeriness and isola-
tion of the lyrics, while the drumming serves not only as a rhythmic
catalyst but also a strongly melodic one.

by Teri Saccone
Photo by Ross Halfin
TS: To begin with, what's the extent of your
musical training?
SR: I had about six months of snare drum
training while I was in the sixth grade. But I
quit because I thought it was boring. My
parents bought me a kit for Christmas about
a year after that, and then I just took it from
there.
TS: Since you started in your first profes-
sional band—which happens to have been
Queensryche—when you were a teenager,
you must have pushed yourself hard to get
so far so quickly. I get the feeling from
listening to you that it was practice, prac-
tice, practice in the early days.
SR: I really did practice constantly. It was
the first thing I did when I came home from
school every day, even in high school.
TS: Had you always visualized yourself as
being a drummer?
SR: I had always been attracted to the drums
Photo by Mark Weiss

when I listened to music, so it was the

obvious way to go. And my parents were
nice enough to help me along the way.
TS: Was it a struggle to figure out how to
play a kit?
SR: Oh yeah. Nothing made sense in the
beginning, and it was the typical banging
away on the kit. I would sit there with to two years, using a click track on them. cating the studio sound in a live context?
headphones on, listening to other bands. For half the songs live, I actually use a click SR: That was everyone's objective. We
That's how I taught myself. track through the headphones because, always had the rule of no limits in the
TS: I guess Neil Peart made an impression? instead of having a keyboard player on the studio; we could do anything we wanted
SR: Yeah, he was a big influence. Not that I road, we have our keyboards programmed. to do. We have four guys who can sing—
could play Neil Peart licks right off the bat. A lot of bands are doing it this way these that's minus me—and that helps with back-
But it wasn't really just Peart who influ- days. The keyboard parts happen in time to ups live. [Vocalist] Geoff [Tate] can do any-
enced me, it was the whole band—Rush as the click. I do that on four songs right now: thing singing and harmony-wise, as long as
a unit. If one person can play a certain "Revolution Calling," "Speak," "Spreading it could be pulled off live. We wanted to
way, the whole band has got to be able to The Disease," and "Eyes Of A Stranger." play it better or at the least as good live
follow the music and everybody has got to TS: I guess you are triggering throughout when we said "no limits in the studio."
understand different time signatures and your live set. And it's paid off. A lot of people have com-
things like that. I was really intrigued by SR: No, I'm not. mented on our live sound, saying that it is
Rush's music when they first started. Peart's TS: You're not using samples? as good if not better than the record. In the
playing was so precise yet so radical at the SR: Nothing. It's just acoustic drums. studio, we didn't trigger anything; it's all
same time. TS: But you've got all kinds of sounds— straight-ahead. We recorded in a room that
The collaboration of musicians who were explosions, shotguns, etc. The only sounds was the size of a racquetball court—30-
playing out of the mainstream was what that seem natural when you play live are foot high ceilings by 20 feet long.
primarily inspired me. Yes was also a band the bass drums. You must be using some TS: Great ambience.
who influenced me, especially their later synthetic device. SR: Oh yeah, it was great. And we stuck
stuff, like 90125 and Big Generator, which SR: No, really. It's just the way we mixed about eight room mic's over different parts
had some really cool melodies and high- things on the different sounds. It's all of the ceiling for different reverb sounds. It
tech production. straightforward. I mean, we've got some only took us three hours to get the drum
I'm into all kinds of music, stuff that I effects on things, but nothing's sampled or sound for the record; I was recording within
think is interesting to listen to that has some- triggered. three hours of setting up. We just slapped
thing more to it than basic rock 'n' roll. I TS: What are you using for effects? up the mic's and started going for it. It's
actually listen to a lot of new age music; SR: It's pretty much a PCM-70 with special really weird, because in the past it's taken
Vangelis is one of my favorite artists. It's reverb patches. I can't reveal any of our weeks to get certain sounds.
very atmospheric music. I also like The special effects, though. TS: It wouldn't seem as if your albums be-
Sisters of Mercy, even though it's a band TS: Queensryche is one of the few bands gin by laying the drum tracks down first.
without an actual drummer; they use a drum that captures the perfection of the studio SR: Actually, we program all the keyboard
machine. I like rhythm-conscious music that within the realm of live performing. parts to a click track in the studio first. We
doesn't necessarily find its rhythms in the SR: We've always strived to be that way. have a computer that runs all of those parts.
percussion—like new age music and some We work with our soundman to get the TS: Do you do any of that programming
soundtrack releases. right reverb patches. That's about all there yourself?
TS: I know that you use click tracks in the is to it except for the gates, which are SR: For the songs that I wrote, I programmed
studio, but I wonder how you learned to dialed in very precisely—pretty much stan- the keyboard parts. For Geoff's songs, he
duplicate the exact sounds, odd times, and dard operation these days. Tuning has a lot did his own. He plays keyboards during
flawless rhythms live. It sounds exactly like to do with it, and the cool reverb patches I the show. We just programmed them in at
the albums. have on it. Of course, the way I play it is the beginning, but you can keep going back
SR: You get to the point of knowing the going to come across differently than the there, stacking different things in the com-
material so well that it becomes second next person. puter. So the keyboards go down first, and I
nature. For instance, we've been playing TS: Before Operation: Mindcrime, had you play my drum tracks over that.
the material for the current album for close always maintained the objective of repli- TS: Have you ever recorded the drum tracks
 Drumset: Tama Cranstar in jet black finish.

A. 8 x 14 Artstar snare
B. 10 x 10 rack tom
C. 11 x 12 rack tom
D. 12 x 13 rack tom
E. 13 x 14 rack tom
F. 16 x 18 floor tom
G. 16 x 24 bass drum
H. 16 x 24 bass drum

Cymbals: Paiste (all black Colorsound

2000's for live, Reflector 3000's for
studio).

1. 14" heavy hi-hats

2. 18" power crash
3. 20" power crash
4. 20" China
5. 18" power crash
6. 16" power crash
7. 20" power crash
8. 22" power ride
9. 20" China
10. 20" China
11. 16" power crash
12. 16" power crash

Rockenfield's Hardware: All Tama including a

legless hi-hat stand and a customized Power

Gear
Tower rack system. Bass drum pedals are
chain drive Camcos with hard felt beaters.

first, and if so, Heads: Remo coated Emperor for snare batter.
how does recording Remo Pinstripes on top of toms, with clear
Ambassadors on bottom. Remo Pinstripes on bass
the way you do now drum batter side with front heads painted with
compare to that? TS: Did you prefer logos.
SR: Actually, Operation: Mindcrime is the digital to analog
first album that we've ever done where recording? Sticks: Tama Power Tool #4 model with nylon tip.
we've put the keyboard tracks down first. SR: Yeah, this was the first time
That's because our producer and engineer— we ever did it digitally. We've
Peter Collins and James Barton—worked mixed digitally before; that's how we
like this in the past, with bands like Rush. mixed Rage. For Mindcrime we did every- TS: Although you make it look easy, Op-
Programming all the keyboard parts with thing digitally: recording, mixing, master- eration: Mindcrime consists of songs that
the click track saves time later. That's the ing. It's really expensive, but we feel it's are not structured in standard form. The
primary benefit of doing it first. I like doing definitely worth the difference for us. That's tracks weave into each other fluidly, but
it first because it gives me more music to what our band is about—hi-tech. there are a lot of complex changes and
play to when I'm doing my tracks. TS: Are you really into recording technol- rhythms contained on it. On "Revolution
On the other albums, we always did the ogy? Calling," for instance, you play a pretty
drum tracks first, just to guide the guitars SR: Very much. In fact, I can't wait to get elaborate drum break with some wild time
and vocals, but I find it much better to lay off the road. I love playing live, but I really signatures, after starting it out in 4/4. The
down my tracks to a keyboard. It also gives like to spend time developing ideas in the song goes full circle and ends in 4/4. Did
the guide tracks more thickness, more studio. you write that one around the drums, given
depth. TS: I'll bet that you have your own studio the emphasis it has on the rhythms?
TS: The whole band writes the material for at home. SR: We actually put that song together as a
Queensryche, including you. Do you write SR: In my basement—actually, in my par- band. Usually, somebody comes in with a
melodies for songs on keyboards? ents' basement. We tore down walls and guitar riff or an idea for a verse or a chorus,
SR: I do develop melodies on keyboards, put in a control room. I have lots of gear; and we'll all sit down and brainstorm and
and a number that I can give as an ex- that's what I spend my money on—equip- just play until we have a song. That's how
ample is "Electric Requiem," from the lat- ment. I even have a mini-studio on the most of the songs on the album came about.
est album. When I wrote it, it originally road with me. In fact, that's how "Revolution Calling" was
started out just as a short instrumental piece. TS: What does that consist of? done: We all had a part in brainstorming
Then Jeff heard it and liked it a lot, and SR: I have an Alesis HR 16 drum machine, the shape of that song.
although it wasn't devised to have vocals a four-track Tascam recorder, a couple of TS: Do you go into the rehearsal or record-
on it, he came up with some, and then we multiple effects machines, a rack-mount JVC ing studio with snippets of ideas, or is it all
just expanded the whole piece. tape deck, and I also have an Alesis MMT- worked out well in advance?
TS: In comparison to some drummers, you 8 eight-track sequencer. I have a Roland S- SR: We go into pre-production with the
utilize a relatively conservative number of 50 sampling keyboard with me as well, songs already written. With this album,
drum tracks to record. which I use to do my writing with. We've everything was written beforehand, and
SR: Well, I use 12 to 15—at least this time I also got a Juno 106. My whole setup is then we went into pre-production with Pe-
did—that's nine for close-miking the kit and portable; it all fits into one case, except for ter Collins, who changed almost nothing;
five or six overheads. Some bands feel they the keyboards, which are the ones that we he basically kept things the way they were.
need ten times that amount to get the sound use on stage. But I'll bring them into the His goal in the beginning was to let us do it
they want. We didn't feel a need for that. room with me when I want to use them for our way. We wouldn't have allowed it to
We recorded everything digitally, too. writing.
T
player's career runs its
hey say the span
of a session
And Remembrance,
or record dates with
the likes of Melissa
Gubin is going strong.
Not as strong as he'd
like, though. It's a
and Sonny Dunham.
From 1954 to 1970,
Sol was a first-call
course in about eight Manchester or Michael source of frustration musician in New York,
years, maybe ten if he's Feinstein, or even when work lessens for playing live and/or in
lucky. Sol Gubin's road work with Julie a vital man who is the studio with Tony
recording career has Andrews. Suffice used to being incredi- Bennett, Frank Sinatra,
spanned three and a it to say that at 60, Sol bly busy. Sol's career Vic Damone, Lena
half decades—35 started in the mid-'40s, Home, Edie Gorme,
years! Admittedly he's working with such Steve Lawrence,
not as busy as he used bands as Hal Mclntyre, Stan Kenton,
to be, but he still gets Tex Beneke, Charlie Count Basie, Benny
calls, like the recent Barnett, Goodman, Perry
TV epic War Como, Johnny Mathis,
Robert Goulet, Leonard
Bernstein, Quincy
Jones, Dusty Spring-
field, Barbra Streisand,
Martha Raye, and Patti
Page. Later, he played
on Bob Hope specials,
George Burns birthday
shows, the Tony
Awards, the Emmy
Awards, the Academy
Awards, M*A*S*H,
Barney Miller, Bob
Newhart, the Olympics
Photo by Jaeger Kotos

Liberty Weekend, with

Liza Minnelli,
Bernadette Peters,
Diahann Carroll, and
 by Robyn Flans

bly musical," "tonal-

ity," "originality," and
"unbelievable time."
He also mentioned that
Sol was known to be
one of Buddy Rich's fa-
vorite drummers.
Interestingly enough,
like Rich, Sol earned a
reputation for being a
no-nonsense, no bull-
shit kind of guy. He
says there are people
who can't handle his
blunt honesty, but that
his sense of humor has
bailed him out of a few
uncomfortable spots
along the way. But it's
Photo by Jaeger Kotos

not political games that

Sol enjoys playing, it's
only good music that
he wants to play.
Al Hirt, and on count- multitudes of people respect for Sol, which Although he attended
less movies such as every week as the had begun with the Juilliard to help him
Annie, New York, New drummer on The Carol Burnett show, and he with music theory and
York, and all of Mel Burnett Show. One even accompanied me to aid in his composi-
Brooks' films. such living room was on my first meeting tional skills, Sol is
Sol moved to Califor- Jim Keltner's. Jim with Sol. His com- primarily self-taught in
nia in 1970 and for helped put this inter- ments about Sol's drums and percussion,
seven years came into view together due to playing ranged from including mallets. It's
the living rooms of his admiration and "fearless" to "incredi- been his experiences,
 went down to Miami SG: We'd go in the day
Beach to work with before and have a
Martha Raye at her music run-through for
club, but he took a about three or four
sextet down there. I hours, and then the
didn't want to go, so I next day we'd go into
went back home, but the studio early in the
the next thing I knew, morning and rehearse
I got a call from him. blocking and such.
The guy just wasn't Then there would be a
making it, and he run-through, we'd have
needed a drummer, a break, and then we'd
so I said okay. I went do the show. Once it
down, watched the went on the air, we
show one night, and couldn't stop.
started the next day. RF: What was the
From that night on, I difference doing The
have worked with Carol Burnett Show ?
Martha. We're like SG: We'd go in on a
family. Then after Thursday night for
SG: When I was with a singer, which was a that, they closed the three hours or so and
Sonny Dunham, we much better way of club, and Martha came rehearse the music and
worked at the State life. We stayed in back to New York and do some pre-recording
Theater in Connecticut better hotels, and we had her own television for some of the num-
for two days, and Patti worked a week or two show, an hour live bers. Some of them
Page happened to be at the same place. show on NBC. were live and some
on the show. Her Then one thing lead RF: Was that the first were pre-recorded.
manager asked if I to another. I left her TV show you did? Then we went in at
would be interested in and went to Hal Mcln- SG: Yes. They set up an 11:00 the next morning
going on the road with tyre's band, and then I appointment with the for another run-
her and I told him that went back home for a conductor, and I had through, there'd be a
I would love to do it. while. I got a call to go lunch with him and we lunch break, and then
I didn't hear from him with Charlie Barnett, talked. Naturally he we'd come back and
for about a year, but who I stayed with for had his own guy that do a dress rehearsal.
when he called, I took about three and a half he wanted to use, but We'd have another
the job and traveled years. I caught the tail for Martha he said he'd break and come back
with Patti for a couple end of the '49 band, give me a shot at it. and do the final taping.
of years. That was my which was a super, RF: What was a day in Basically it was the
first experience of super band. Then he the life of doing a live same thing, but the dif-
going on the road with broke the band up and show like? ference was that with
an hour-long live show, doing and take charge. do that, bang, that hour five days a week. I
we went on the air at You have to work with was over and we were didn't want to be both-
9:00, and at 10:00 we the leaders, and when done. ered working five days
were done. On Carol's they feel comfortable I never really in- a week. I was on staff
show or a videotaped that you're competent, tended to be a studio with two networks at
show, taping an hour they don't stand up player; I didn't set my the same time—NBC
show sometimes takes there waving their arms goals at that. I just en- for The Perry Como
two and a half, three, like a bird trying to get joyed playing, as much Show and ABC with
or maybe four hours. off the ground. On a as I do today. From that Patti Page—with the
RF: What was it about variety show, you run time on, I started provision that I just do
the music on that show into all kinds of getting calls, and I got the show I was sup-
that would make a Jim things—changes in into the record thing. I posed to do, which
Keltner be so awe- tempo, ritards, acceler- didn't really want to do entailed a day or two.
inspired? andos It's a potpourri television originally. It worked out that they
SG: On the theme
song, I used to play
a lot of fills, and I LISTENER'S GUIDE
Q. For readers who'd like to listen to albums that most represent your drumming, which
always managed to ones would you recommend?
play something dif- Album Artist Label Catalog #
ferent. It was a hot Swinging At the Steel Pier Elliot Lawrence Band Fantasy 3236
Bye Bye Birdie Bill Potts Colpix SCP 451
band, it really was. Big Band Plays Richard Rogers Michel Legrand Philips PHS600-074
Peter Matz was the Stereophonic Suite For Two Bands Vic Schoen Les Brown Kapp KD-7003-S
Bernstein Conducts Bernstein Leonard Bernstein Columbia MS-6677
leader. The first time ("Prelude. Fugue & Riffs" section only, with Benny Goodman)
Count Basie & The Mills Bros! Count Basie Mills Bros. Dot DLP 25838
we came in to do the Singin' Friends Gene Roland Brunswick BL-54114
I've Gotta Be Me Tony Bennett Columbia CS9882
show and the cast
came in to rehearse,
they were astounded, of tempos and different At that time television were different days.
because we had some feelings. paid something like After Patti went off, I
hard stuff to play and RF: Can you recall $12.50 an hour, rec- went to CBS to do The
they couldn't believe being in the hot seat ords were $41.25, and Steve Lawrence Show.
how good the band for the very first time jingles were something We did a show in
was. We'd do a lot of on the first show you like $20.00 an hour. 1955 called Music '55
things in one take and did? You would figure the with Stan Kenton,
not have to do it over SG: Every time I sit biggest medium in the which was another live
and over. down to play it's like world would pay show. That was the
RF: What exactly is that; you're always in better. year that Patti had a
required of a drummer the hot seat. I found it But I got calls to do show called The Big
in a variety situation? interesting, though. It shows, and then they Record. I'll say one
SG: To have no fear. was a live show, and used to have staff or- thing, the band on that
To know what you're there was so much to chestras who worked show was very, very hot.
 In the early '60s, a
young Remo Belli used a
giant bass drum to
dramatize the feasibility
of the Mylar head.
Courtesy of Remo, Inc.
 by Charles "Woody"
Thompson
drawbacks. Chief among these is their lack
Spray coatings were applied to of consistency and their sensitivity to mois-
ture. It is necessary for a good-sounding
Mylar heads to give them a
rough surface suitable for drumhead to be uniform in thickness from
brush playing. one edge to another. Yet it is typical to find
Courtesy of Remo, Inc. perhaps one calf head in ten that meets this
requirement and has an acceptable sound.
Selecting a head in the era of calfskin
meant sorting through the available prod-
uct in a process similar to choosing a good-
sounding cymbal. Each head was unique,
and the selection method was by trial and
error. Once the head was on the drum,
high moisture content in the air would cause
the head to become slack and sound mushy.
The calfskin would actually absorb mois-
ture and would not only sound bad but
become very susceptible to breakage. Con-
versely, calf heads that were tightened down
in wet weather would often shrink radi-
cally in drier weather and actually split
while in place on a drum. Calfskin heads
were particularly a problem on larger drums
such as timpani and bass drums, and for
parade drummers who did their playing
outdoors.
Drummers and inventors attempted to
solve these problems by using various ma-
terials as drumheads for many years. As
early as the 19th century, a patent was
issued for a head constructed of cloth satu-
rated in cellulose acetate. None of these
alternatives was successful enough to re-
place calfskin—until the invention of poly-
ester film.
Polyester film was invented in England
in the 1940s at Imperial Chemical Indus-
tries. The film possessed most of the attri-
butes needed to create a successful syn-
thetic drumhead. It was absolutely unaf-

T he world of drumming has seen

many technological innovations during this
the industry, fewer still are aware of how
the modern Mylar drumhead came to be.
fected by moisture even when water was
poured directly on it, it had great tensile
strength—meaning it could withstand a ter-
century, from the invention of foot pedals The saga behind the synthetic head fea- rific pounding—it was economical, it could
to the MIDI revolution. Even in light of tures several pioneering figures. It also pro- be manufactured in various thicknesses, and
such vast changes in drumming equipment, vides a fascinating case history of the in- it was chemically inert, so that it could
the development of the synthetic drumhead vention, development, and marketing of an come in contact with other chemicals with-
must rank as one of the most important in- innovative product in a free-enterprise sys- out reacting.
novations in the field. The decision to fab- tem. In order to truly appreciate the story, it According to Bill Ludwig, Jr. of Ludwig
ricate a drumhead from an inert, inorganic is necessary first to appreciate the value of Industries, polyester film was created to fill
material was an idea that, overnight, solved synthetic heads and to understand what a military need during World War II. "Dur-
some of the most significant problems that kind of improvements they brought to drum- ing the war," says Ludwig, "reconnaissance
drummers had historically been forced to ming. planes would fly over German-occupied
deal with. The synthetic head has become The first successful synthetic heads were areas in Europe and take surveillance films
so much a standard of the drum industry developed during the late 1950s. Prior to that would be used to plan bombing mis-
today that many young drummers are not that time, drumheads were made from calf- sions. They were using film made of cellu-
aware that a mere 30 years ago most drum- skin. Under ideal conditions, calfskin makes lose, and it was not unusual for this film to
mers were using heads made of animal a very fine drumhead, and there are still break, negating the effort of the reconnais-
hide. It would be difficult to imagine a mo- drummers—notably (and perhaps most sance mission. The War Department was
dern drum industry without synthetic heads. outspokenly) Mel Lewis—who prefer its begging for a substitute for cellulose. Poly-
Though few people would argue the sound and feel. ester film was developed to make a movie
impact that synthetic heads have had on Calfskin heads, however, have many film that would not break."
 mended that he try using it as a head. He
had experimented with other plastics in
the past with bad results. He put the piece
of rolled up Mylar under his desk and didn't
take it out until he found out that someone
else was going to show a Mylar head at a
trade show. Then he got excited and got
one together for the show," Grolimund says.
Ludwig recalls his first encounters with
the idea of a Mylar head. "It was around
1957 or 1958. Joe Grolimund had brought
the idea to us. But we were also getting
orders for flesh hoops from a man in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, named Chick Evans. Af-
ter we'd gotten three or four orders from
Chick Evans, him we became curious; we suspected that
displaying his when people made large orders for parts
drumheads in the from us they might be making drums. So
late 1950s (right). we contacted him. Chick wrote back to say
he was making a new kind of drumhead,
and he sent us one. It was a piece of Mylar
Chick Evans' tacked or stapled to one of our flesh hoops."
drumheads in their
Marion L. "Chick" Evans is an important
molds (below).
figure in the development of a successful
Courtesy of Chick Evans Mylar head. He was arguably the first per-

F ollowing the war, DuPont Chem-

ical Co. bought patent rights to manufac-
ture polyester film in the United States.
Their product, now known as Mylar, was
used extensively as a packaging material,
for recording tape, and as insulation for
electric motors. But it wasn't until 1953
that polyester film was to keep its date with
the destiny of drummers. It was in that year
that Jim Irwin, a chemical engineer for Min-
nesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M)
in St. Paul, Minnesota, and brother of jazz
trumpeter Pee Wee Irwin, traveled to New
York City. "I used to go to New York to see
my brother play in the nightclubs there,"
Irwin says. "It was around 1952 or '53, and
he was leading a band at the Cafe Metro-
pole. As I remember, the drummer was
Duke Ellington's former drummer, Sonny
Greer. He broke a drumhead that night,
and later I went up to him and told him remember, was that the skin head had been son who was able to put a Mylar head into
that I thought I could make a head for him around for 5,000 years and would proba- commercial production. He was one of the
that wouldn't break. I had been working bly be around for 5,000 more," Irwin says. founding partners of the Evans Products
with polyester film at 3M for about eight During the same time period, Joe Grol- Company, manufacturers of Evans heads, a
years and thought it might work as a head imund, who worked for the Ludwig Drum company that still carries his name. Signifi-
material. I went back to Minnesota and Co. in Chicago, was experimenting with cantly, Chick was neither a chemist, drum
made one up by serating the edge of a various materials in an effort to build a manufacturer, nor retailer. He was a work-
piece of Mylar so it could be bent around better drumhead. Grolimund, who went on ing drummer trying to solve his own equip-
and attached to the flesh hoop of a calfskin to become president of the Selmer Musical ment problems. He was born in Texas in
head. I took it back to Sonny in New York, Instrument Co., is today 94 years old. His 1903 and was working professionally as a
and he used it and said that it was the best recollection of his work with synthetic heads drummer at the Prince Theater in Houston,
head he'd ever played on. He was really is hazy, but he does remember tacking poly- Texas, and on Houston radio at the age of
impressed with its uniformity." ester film to a flesh hoop and being im- 17. During the 1920s, Chick moved to Santa
As a 3M chemist, Irwin was familiar with pressed with its characteristics. The head Fe, but during the 1940s and '50s he re-
the process of patent application. He ap- wouldn't break and did not dent easily. turned to his native state to perform with
plied for a patent on his Mylar head in Grolimund says that he suggested to the various well-known country & western art-
1953, and received it in 1955. Although Ludwig Drum Co. that they try to develop ists.
Irwin had no plans to produce it commer- the idea, but found—as Irwin had—that Like other drummers of the time, Evans
cially himself, he did approach some ma- the manufacturer was not quick to respond was forced to contend with the inconsis-
jor-drum manufacturers with his idea. "The to the opportunity. "I took a rolled up sheet tencies of calfskin. Unlike most other drum-
general reaction of the manufacturers, as I of Mylar in to Bill Ludwig, Jr. and recom- mers, Evans was constantly experimenting
 The Ludwig catalog of 1959 featured a smiling William F. Ludwig, Sr., displaying his
company's Mylar heads. Their weatherproof nature was dramatized by the photo of the
marching drummer playing in the rain.
Courtesy of Ludwig Industries

with ways to alleviate these problems. He cabinet shop. I would bend the scalloped
had made heads using silk, duck, and air- edge of the Mylar around one hoop and
plane cloth, treating them with various glues then take a second, thinner hoop and place
and resins in an effort to make them du- it over the Mylar on the first hoop, sand-
rable enough for use as a drumhead. They wiching the film between the two hoops.
were all less than ideal, but some were Then I would drill through the thinner hoop
better than others. Evans describes one of and through the Mylar but not into the first
his early creations: "At one point I was hoop. I would drive tacks through these
making a head out of nylon, which seemed holes in the thinner hoop and the Mylar,
to work best. I actually sold some of those and they would be held in the undrilled
heads to the Houston schools through Herb first hoop." It was in this fashion that the
Brochstein [present head of Pro-Mark Inc.] first commercially marketed Mylar head was
for their marching bands. I told them that made.
they wouldn't stand up too well, but they Evans knew that what he had created
would put them on their parade drums and would be invaluable to drummers, and he
use them when it was raining." started to market his creation. But by his
Evans first became familiar with Mylar own admission, he was an unsophisticated
after seeing it advertised on a Galveston entrepreneur at best. "I didn't really know
television station in 1954 or '55. His next how to go about it. I didn't know anything
move was to order samples from DuPont about trade magazines or any of that, so I
and make some prototype heads. He was went to the phone company and looked
encouraged by the results, but these early through all their phone books to get a list
heads tore out of their hoops when tight- of music stores that I thought would be
ened down, and puckers and tucks were interested in carrying my head. I printed up
created in the Mylar where it was bent a simple brochure and letter describing my
around the hoop. "I ended up scalloping product and sent it out by mail. The re-
the edge of the Mylar in a sawtooth pattern sponse to the brochure and sales letter was
so that it could be bent over the hoop overwhelming," he says.
without creasing," Evans recalls. "I was One individual who was impressed with
ordering wooden hoops from Ludwig and Evans' creation was Bennett Shacklette,
Patent diagrams from 1961 showing
Gretsch and having them sliced up into director of the marching band at Santa Fe
details of Ludwig drumhead construction.
Courtesy of Ludwig Industries thinner hoops on a band saw at a local
 Pearl
After I concluded my head-
switch experiment, I called
Pearl to determine what heads
were going to be made avail-
able on "stock" Custom Z kits.
I was informed that they would
most likely be shipped with
Pinstripes on the tops and clear
Ambassadors on the bottoms,
but that since the drums were
in a special-order price range,
any head combination the
buyer desired could be accom-
modated. So "you pays your
money and you takes your
choice," head-wise.
The bass drum was fitted
with a Pinstripe batter head
and a solid Pearl Black Beat
logo front head. The power of
this drum was awesome to be-
hold. I played it both com-
pletely unmuffled and with a
small amount of muffling. In

Photo by Rick Mattingly

any sort of live situation, it
would unquestionably domi-
nate the stage. The tone was
warm, fat, round, and all the
other positive terms applied to
a bass drum's sound. I was also
pleased with the amount of
Sound

T
HE TWO WORDS THAT CAME TO attack, even when using a felt beater. For
mind when first viewing Pearl's new As would be expected, the sound this kit an amplified situation or for funky, quick-
Custom Z Series drumkit were "beau- produces is big. (This is not the kit for wed- footed playing, more muffling would be re-
tiful" and "BIG." The kit offers massive dings and lounge gigs.) The maple shells quired—probably in addition to a hole cut
drums and hardware, along with a unique provide a warm, round sound, and the sheer in the front head. But I'd almost hate to see
finish and beautiful appointments. The cul- size of the drums helps to produce depth that happen; this drum can create so much
mination of five years of research and de- and tone. sound that it seems a shame to cut back on
velopment, Pearl modestly refers to the I was a bit surprised to find the toms on it in any way. The bass drum is definitely
Custom Z in a press release as "the finest our test kit fitted with clear Ambassador one of the Custom Z's best features.
musical instrument Pearl has ever made." heads top and bottom, since single-ply Am- The other is the snare drum. Using the
The Custom Z shells are completely of bassadors tend to produce a thinner sound same shell construction as the other drums
maple, with a birds-eye maple outer ply. than do twin-ply heads—and don't last as in an 8-ply thickness, the snare drum was
And while Pearl's shells have traditionally long under heavy impact. (Drums this deep crisp, precise, and sensitive. (All the more
been 6-ply, shell thicknesses on the Cus- are not particularly sensitive; they must be impressive when you consider that this was
tom Z vary with the size of the drum: 8" hit with a certain amount of authority in a 6 1/2" deep drum.) A coated Ambassador
toms are 6-ply (7.5 mm); 10" to 14" rack order to move enough air to involve the top head and clear Ambassador snare-side
toms are 8-ply (10 mm); and 16" floor toms bottom head and enhance resonance and head provided clean response and sticking
to 24" bass drums are 8-ply (12.5 mm). No projection.) sounds, while the shell added warmth and
reinforcing rings are used. I discovered that the Ambassadors pro- projection. The drum was fitted with a 20-
Pearl is well-known for "power toms," duced a very impressive attack sound, giv- strand wire snare attached by tape to the
but the Custom Z toms take a step beyond ing the drums a lot of clarity and projection smallest throw-off mechanism I've seen on
even those, with "square-sized" drums: 8x8, with a moderate amount of depth. But they a production drum in a long time. All in
10x10,12x12,13x13 and 14x14 rack toms, did start to pit under heavy impact. Switch- all, the snare drum was a pleasure to play.
and 16x16 and 18x18 floor toms. But it's ing the top heads to Pinstripes, I found that
Construction Features
the bass drums that do the most to create I got a deeper, mellower tonality and greater
the impression of sheer bigness: They head durability, but lost a bit of the precise The Custom Z kit features many innova-
come in 18x22 and 18x24 sizes. Snare definition and clarity that the Ambassadors tive details—some functional and some
drums are available in 6 1/2" and 8" depths. had provided. The thicker heads also ren- purely cosmetic. For example, all tension
The kit that was sent to us for review con- dered the toms even less sensitive to low- casings, tom mounts, leg holders, etc. at-
sisted of a 24" bass drum, 10", 12", and 13" impact playing, but since I can't honestly tached to the shells are cushioned by rub-
rack toms, a 16" floor tom, and a 6 1/2" deep see these drums in a low-volume applica- ber gaskets. All the lug bolts are fitted with
snare. tion, that's sort of a moot point. nylon washers, so there is no metal-to-metal
Custom Z Series Kit
contact against the hoops. (The drums all with our test kit were Pearl's 850W mod- solved this problem.
feature Pearl's Super Hoops.) The lug re- els, with double-braced tripods and clamp- The 880 bass drum pedal was a delight
ceivers feature brass-plated swivel nuts, mechanism height adjustments. These fea- to play. I found it quick, light, silent, and
which add a nice accent to the overall look ture hinges on one side and wing bolts on strong. It features a felt-lined chain "chan-
of the kit. the other. Nylon bushings are used at every nel" to contain the drive chain instead of a
Certain details struck me as unnecessar- connection point, and the tilters are infi- sprocket, and a small bracket on the right
ily sophisticated. These include the heavy- nitely adjustable—one of Pearl's greatest side that allows for quick spring-tension
duty bass drum spurs with spring-loaded contributions to drum-equipment design. I adjustments.
convertible tips. You pull down on the over- usually feel that extra-heavy-duty tripods
Cosmetics
sized rubber foot, give it a twist, and it are overkill, but if one were to mount
snaps back to reveal a spike tip. That seems additional Custom Z toms on a cymbal The exterior ply on the Custom Z is birds-
like a lot of mechanics to achieve some- stand, or needed to bring in a crash cymbal eye maple that has been treated in "a se-
thing that a threaded tip does just as effi- over and above a number of rack toms on cret process patented by Pearl" to create
ciently. Another item that struck me as a boom, a wide, heavy tripod base would what the company is calling a "Cham-
"gadgetry" was the clamp-method floor tom be called for. pagne" finish. If you have not seen the
leg bracket. Instead of sliding the leg in The 950 snare stand is also double- color ads, picture a birds-eye maple wood
and out of the bracket in the traditional braced, and features a locking basket ad- grain in a cafe-au-lait sort of color, and
method, the bracket itself is hinged on one justment with a quick-release lever. You you'll come pretty close to it. It's a rich-
side and has a quick-release wing bolt on put the drum in once, tighten the basket, looking finish, and since it's a fairly neutral
the other. The legs are each fitted with a lock it in place, and from then on use the base color, it should pick up stage lights
drumkey-operated memory collar that con- quick-release lever to place or remove the rather well. As of now, this is the only
forms to the shape of the holder bracket. drum. It's a convenient—if nonessential— finish in which the Custom Z is offered.
The idea is that you can open up the feature.
Price
bracket, fit in the leg, and close it down The 950 hi-hat is single-braced, features
again, keeping the exact height and angle twin adjustable springs, and uses yet an- Pearl makes no bones about the fact that
you had before—assuming you remember other clamp-style mechanism for the clutch. this kit is not for everybody. It is designed
precisely which leg went into which of the Although the action was very precise and for drummers who have the professional
three brackets on the drum. I like the idea comfortable, I found the pedal/spring as- application—and financial means—to jus-
of a memory collar for height retention, but sembly noisy, and the linkage question- tify a premium-quality instrument. A five-
question the necessity of all the other ma- able. The pedal's stroke is adjustable—in- piece kit with a 22" bass drum, including
chinery. I should also mention that the floor dependent of the travel of the hi-hat cym- hardware, carries a list price of $4,860.00.
tom legs are a full 1/2" thick—making them bals—by means of two small, vertical, hex- Our six-piece test kit, with a 24" bass drum
very heavy—and feature enormous rubber agonal rods that link the pedal itself to the and a 10x10 tom (and the hardware neces-
feet. This keeps them in scale with the mas- bar that pulls the hi-hat down. These rods sary to mount it on a cymbal stand), will
siveness of the rest of the kit, but ironically, are secured to that bar by two small bolts sell for $5,710.00. By the time you figure
they don't seem long enough to me. tightened by a drumkey. It seems likely that in the cost of the cases you would abso-
You only have to do a bit of simple arith- a heavy player, with an equally heavy foot, lutely have to have to protect such an in-
metic to realize that a kit like our test model would be able to loosen those bolts fairly vestment, you could very reasonably be
is not for people who like to sit low. Start easily—allowing the hexagonal rods to slip talking in the $6,500.00 range. But Pearl
with a 24" bass drum, mount 12x12 and right out of the pull-bar and disconnecting sees it as a question of value-for-dollar,
13x13 toms on top of it, and you can't the pedal from the rest of the hi-hat en- and of offering something special in lim-
avoid winding up with your tom heads tirely. (As a matter of fact, I only discovered ited quantities to a limited—and extremely
about 37" off the floor. (As a matter of fact, this linkage design after that very thing hap- selective—market. How strong that market
Pearl recommends that a combination of pened to me—and by no means do I have will prove to be is yet to be determined.
floor stands be used, and that the toms not a heavy foot!) The adjustability of the —Rick Van Horn
be mounted on the bass drums at all. But footboard seems a small convenience
that would only shorten the setup by an to gain in exchange for the risk of total
inch or so if you wanted your rack toms disconnection.
fairly close together atop the bass drum.) The double tom mount on the bass
Naturally, using a 22" bass drum would drum shell utilizes Pearl's familiar indi-
shorten the overall kit height. But when I vidual arms to mount each rack tom.
set up our test kit in the lowest configura- These arms are fitted with infinitely-ad-
tion possible (while maintaining a reason- justable "elbows" as opposed to ratch-
able playing angle for the rack toms), I ets, which makes tom positioning very
found that I had to extend the floor tom flexible. All connections between the
legs to their highest possible point to get arms and the drums feature clamp-style
the floor tom up to a playable height. My brackets with nylon bushings and mem-
Photo by Rick Mattingly

suggestion to Pearl would be to make the ory collars. I found the collars to be es-
legs thinner and longer. They'd probably sential, since no reasonable amount of
wind up using the same amount of steel. tightening the wing bolt on the tom
mounts seemed to prevent the drums
Hardware
from being able to rotate on their mount-
The cymbal stand and boom supplied ing arms. The notched memory collars
 Pearl Export Kit
Pearl's top-of-the-line 880, it features a dif-
ferent footboard and a slightly less sophis-
ticated spring tension adjustment. Other-
wise, it's a pro-quality pedal that I found
extremely enjoyable to play. This is a
marked departure from the kinds of pedals
often found on entry-level kits.
The stands accompanying the Export kit
are all from Pearl's 850 series, which is a
completely professional, single-braced line.
Again, nothing tacky here. The cymbal
stand and boom feature Pearl's infinitely
adjustable drum tilters and clamp-mecha-
nism height adjustments. The snare stand
features a very small tripod and will allow
for quite a low setting. (This could be use-
ful for younger, smaller players just starting
out, for older drummers who like to sit low,
or for drummers who want to mount a
deep-shelled snare drum.) The hi-hat is
smooth, solid, and quiet. The quality of the
stands makes a large contribution to the
value of the Export kit.
The tom-mounting arms differ from
Pearl's more expensive models in that they

Photo by Rick Mattingly

use ratchet "elbows" instead of rotating
drums. These offer slightly less flexibility in
tom positioning, but still provide ample
choice and solid holding power. The toms
are held with a clamp-style mechanism,
and each arm is fitted with memory col-
lars.

A
T THE SAME TIME THAT PEARL hoops, and thus help to keep the cost of
Sound
introduced the Custom Z kit the kit down, but I think they adversely
at the top of its line, the com- affect the sound of the bass drum.) A rubber Now that I've praised all the construc-
pany also upgraded the Export kit at the insert pad is included for clamping the bass tion and cosmetic features of the Export kit,
low end. Already a proven seller, the "new" drum pedal to the hoop. how does it sound? To start with, the toms
Export kit has even more to offer to new or All of the hardware fittings on all the sound very good. Our test kit featured
budget-conscious drummers. drums were solid and well-made—with Pearl's own RC heads (Pearl's version of a
The standard Export kit is a five-piece absolutely no semblance of "cheapness" Pinstripe) on the tops and clear heads on
package set, but add-ons are available for about them. Another of the upgrades was a the bottoms. I found that I was able to get a
expansion. Our test kit consisted of 10x10, new "high-tension style" lug casing, which warm, throaty sound out of the toms, with
10x12, and 11x13 rack toms, a 16x16 floor brings the look of the Export series into line satisfactory projection and tone. They
tom, a 16x22 bass drum, and a 6 1/2" metal with that of Pearl's more expensive kits. wouldn't get as deep as I would have liked,
snare drum. Export kits are finished in a This is achieved by inserting a rectangular but mahogany shells have that characteris-
variety of plastic coverings; ours was a very metal piece between the top and bottom tic. I must say, however, that I attribute part
bright and attractive Ferrari red. lugs of the drums, resulting in a single-lug of this problem to the batter heads. They
look. That insert piece is held securely by seemed exceptionally thin for twin-ply
Construction And Hardware
the lugs themselves, so no additional hard- heads, although that is what Pearl told me
Export drums are made of 9-ply mahog- ware or gluing is necessary. It's a clever they were. When I used Remo Pinstripe
any and selected wood grain. One of the move on Pearl's part, and it works; from heads on the toms, I was able to improve
improvements on the kit is the replacement any distance it is impossible to tell that the their tonality and depth a bit.
of the speckled interior finish with a sanded lugs are not one piece. The bass drum sound was acceptable to
wood-grain interior ply. This gives the drums Another improvement is the installation good, depending on what one would like
a much more professional appearance, and of 730M telescoping bass drum spurs. These to hear from a bass drum. The batter head
warms up the sound, as well. The bearing feature convertible spike/rubber-tipped feet, was another RC, and the front head was a
edges on the toms of our test kit were well- and can be rotated and locked into differ- Pearl-logo Black Beat with a large hole cut
cut, but not smoothed or finished in any ent positions for playing or packing up. out of the center. The drum had lots of
way beyond basic sanding. Considering the They are solid and secure, and hold the punch, since most of the attack sound from
price range of the Export kit, this is not drum well against slippage. the beater striking the back head was going
surprising. The bass drum is fitted with metal For better bass drum playing, the Export straight out that front hole. But it lacked
counterhoops front and back. (Perhaps kit now includes a 780 chain-drive bass depth and tone for the same reason. I tried
metal hoops are cheaper to make than wood drum pedal. Essentially the same pedal as a different front head with only a 4" hole
cut well off-center, and this gave the drum
a much fatter sound. If you like a quick,
snappy bass drum, the original setup would
be excellent for you. If you want a bigger
sound, plan to replace the bass drum head
with something that allows the sound to
bounce around in the shell a while before
leaving the drum.
The snare drum is the weak link in this
otherwise excellent starter kit. Its metal shell
appears extremely thin, and the drum
sounded about the same way. It is unusual
to see a 6 1/2" drum on an entry-level kit, so
I had high hopes for a powerful sound—
even considering the price range. But the
drum lacked snare sensitivity and was very
"clanky." I tried replacing the Pearl WA
batter head (similar to a coated Ambassa-
dor) with a variety of other brands and
styles, and got only moderate improvement.
If you are really into the Alex Van Halen
snare sound, this drum could approximate
it, but that was about the extent of its capa-
bilities.
Value
Even given my reservations about the
snare drum, the new Export kit is an excep-
tionally good value, considering the sound
quality of the other drums and the excel-
lent hardware. At $990.00 for a five-piece
kit, including hardware, there could be
money left over for quality cymbals, differ-
ent heads, or perhaps an immediate snare
drum upgrade. This means that the Export
would not only be an outstanding first set
for a young drummer, but also seriously
considerable for a part-timer or budget-
conscious professional.
—Rick Van Horn
 New Zildjians
Photos by Rick Mattingly

Zildjian recently introduced two new cym- you're playing that high-en-
bal models to their ever-increasing line: the ergy, high-adrenaline music.
Z series Mega Bell Ride and the K Custom The Mega Bell Ride is a very
Dry Ride. These two cymbals are absolute powerful cymbal, even when
extreme opposites of one another, and it's not played on the bell. How-
interesting to see Zildjian really searching ever, it can be a bit "clanky."
for new and improved sounds. What's im- It sounds best when played
pressive about the concept and design of with a heavier stick, which
these cymbals is that it's obvious the people would be the type a drummer
at Zildjian are closely watching and listen- playing heavy rock or metal
ing to drummers to see what our needs are, would use. In a large club or
and coming up with products specifically arena situation, the Mega Bell
designed to be of help. would have no problem be-
ing heard. It
might also make a good bury it in the backyard for six months, and
second ride cymbal for then and only then would it be ready to be
drummers who need that taken to a gig. I think this cymbal would
extra volume and projec- definitely appeal to those drummers!
tion at certain points in a In all seriousness, this is a beautiful-
performance. I liked play- sounding cymbal. The stick sound is very
ing Latin-type cowbell dry, and it has a low tone that is very warm.
patterns on it because I Its bell, unlike the one on the Mega Bell
could play things fast with Ride, is small, but the sound is good. It has
a light touch, and the a low pitch and is also pretty clear, even
cymbal's excellent projec- though the bell doesn't project too loudly.
tion made what I was In a small group, trio, or other small en-
playing very easy to hear. semble this cymbal would work perfectly.
Even though there are a What's great is that you can really lay into
few different ways to use it without it getting too loud or having the
this cymbal, it is primar- overtones build up too much. For this rea-
For example, take the new Z series Mega ily a ride cymbal for drummers who play son it could possibly be excellent for re-
Bell Ride. Here's an extremely heavy 21" loud. The Z series Mega Bell Ride lists for cording.
ride cymbal designed for heavy rock and $248.00. To give you an idea of the sound of this
metal players. The great thing about this On the other end of the sonic spectrum cymbal, try to imagine a low-pitched ride
cymbal is the size of its bell: 8" in diame- is Zildjian's new K Custom Dry Ride. This cymbal that hasn't been cleaned for a few
ter! When you're playing the types of mu- 20" cymbal is designed specifically for softer years and that has a few pieces of tape on
sic that the Mega Bell was designed for, the musical settings where a controlled sound it. That's about how dry it is! I found this
sheer volume and "cut" that the bell pro- from a ride cymbal is required. The first cymbal to be a real pleasure to play, and
vides is perfect. It would have no problem thing you notice about the Custom Dry it's nice to play a cymbal that has as much
penetrating through heavy guitar and bass Ride is its look: It's ugly, and it even feels a character as this one. The list price for the
sounds. And the 8" diameter bell is a big bit gritty. Years ago some drummers talked K Custom Dry Ride is $262.00.
target—something that's good to have when about how they would buy a new cymbal, —William F. Miller

Sabian HH Classic Rides

It often amazes us how many new prod- That covers a lot of ground, depending But they're not. As a Sabian representa-
ucts are designed to copy or recall old on who you were listen-
ones. We've seen any number of cymbals ing to in that 30-year
over the years that are supposed to recap- span. (Buddy Rich's A
ture the "old K" sound, and a variety of Zildjians? Elvin Jones's
snare drums modeled after the Radio King K's? Joe Morello's Paistes?)
snare drum of the '40s. And it's not just In the Sabian promo
drums—guitars are frequently claiming to photo, the cymbal is
sound like "pre-CBS Fenders." shown with a couple of
Now, continuing the tradition of basing pages from Jim Chapin's
a new model on an old sound, Sabian has Advanced Techniques For
introduced the HH Classic ride cymbals. The Modern Drummer,
According to the Sabian literature, these which deals with bebop
cymbals are meant to appeal to drummers drumming. Based on that,
who "have been seeking the elusive and then, one might expect
highly prized 'traditional' cymbal sound these cymbals to be an-
popularized by the great drummers of the other attempt at the "old
'40s, '50s. and '60s." K" sound.
Sabian Bell Cymbal
Sabian has come up with a fun
new item they call their Bell cym-
bal. It's about 12" in diameter,
and almost all of that 12" is taken
up by its steep bell shape. The
cymbal is very heavy and pro-
duces a loud, bell-like "clang"
that is piercing. It's designed pri-
marily as an effects cymbal to be
used by drummers playing louder
styles of music and who want a
cutting bell sound.
The sound of the Bell is some-
what similar to that of a bell
found on a heavy ride cymbal,
without having some of the
"body" that a regular cymbal has.
It has a completely different
sound than that of Zildjian's
Mega Bell Ride. But, like the
Mega Bell Ride, it can be used for ride view, and as an experiment Rick Van Horn
patterns, and because of its smaller size, tried mounting them on a hi-hat stand as
the Bell is very easy to position on the kit. you would a normal pair of hi-hat cym-
Also, Sabian's Bell cymbal does not have bals. The results were a bit bizarre, even
an exact pitch, like a crotale, for instance. for Rick, but interesting. They had a very
According to Sabian, Richie Hayward from cutting stick sound along with a loud open
Little Feat uses one of these cymbals in his sound. It's not very practical, but for drum-
setup alongside his splash cymbals for in- mers who have a second hi-hat stand (re-
dividual accent effects. That's probably the mote), it might be something different to
best application for it. try. The list price for the Bell is $99.00.
Sabian sent us two Bell cymbals for re- —William F. Miller

live told us at a NAMM show, "We weren't the cymbals in a band setting next to Sa-
trying to get that specific sound. We were bian AAs. HH Classic cymbals will proba-
just going for something that sounded bly appeal more to drummers who play in
good." So at this point we don't really know low- to medium-volume situations.
what the "classic" designation refers to. We noticed something with some of the
But we don't really care, because the cymbals that wasn't necessarily a problem,
only thing that matters is what they sound but that was distracting at times: Some of
like. First, the Classic ride is available in them produced a very noticeable under-
two sizes, 20" and 22". Compared to regu- tone. It was less obvious on the Brilliant
lar Sabian HH rides, the Classic rides have ones, and not evident at all in a large room
a higher pitch and brighter sound. They or when played with a medium-volume
still have that darker characteristic of hand- band. But it tended to be annoying in a
hammered cymbals, but overall we felt that small room when the cymbals were played
these cymbals had more in common with by themselves. For that reason, we wouldn't
AAs than with HHs. They are available recommend purchasing one of these
with either standard or Brilliant finishes. through mail order. Go to a shop that will
Predictably, the Brilliant-finished ones are let you play it before you buy it.
a little mellower. To sum up, these cymbals seemed to
One reason for the brighter overtones on split the difference between the current HH
the Classic rides is the fact that they have and AA cymbals—brighter than HHs, but
fairly large bells. The bells produced rea- darker than AAs. If we were naming these
sonably clear tones, which was not a trait cymbals, rather than give them an ambigu-
of old K's, but which should make these ous name like "Classic," we might just call
cymbals more popular with contemporary them "HH Brights." But names aside, for
drummers. those who have felt that the answer to their
These cymbals seem to be very thin ride cymbal needs is somewhere between
around the edges, which results in large, an HH and an AA, this might be the perfect
rippling vibrations when the cymbal is solution.
played, even at moderate volumes. That —Rick Mattingly and
thinness might also account for the slight Rick Van Horn
lack of projection we sensed when playing
 by Peter Erskine

Further Thoughts

Photo by Rick Malkin

On Playing Free
Recently while in Europe, I was in the re- cians' notes. This will involve the use of regarded as definitely fixed and final but as
cording studio with East-German born pi- rests. In much of the music that I really subject to partial or total transformations
anist Joachim Kuhn. Two of Joachim's fa- enjoy playing and listening to, the rests are from one performance to another (open
vorite English words are the adjectives the best notes (not) played! Patience goes forms, mobile forms). The composers ad-
"burning" and "free." Perhaps you can guess hand in hand with rests, as well as being hering to such ideas are part of a general
what the music was like. I recall these words an essential ingredient of the development movement—in science and philosophy as
being used in more of a qualitative than of any piece of music. Sometimes it is best well as in the arts—that tends to consider,
quantitative sense. Anyway, the directions (and crucial) to bide your time and make and therefore to express, the world in terms
he gave the band were simply this: 1. "Let's your musical statements at their proper time. of possibility rather than necessity." I quote
not talk about it," and 2. "...playing free Balance ensures that the notes, rests, ideas, this definition excerpt at length, because 1.
will make you happy." (I had been grum- and relative dynamics of the different in- I like it, and 2. it makes me smile to think
bling as to when we were going to break struments speak in true accord. that jazz has known this all along. Anyway,
for lunch.) Other components of this music may the aesthetics and sounds from classical
Oftentimes, the impression that people include the use of colors, or textural shad- free, or aleatory, music have most certainly
have about free music is that it is a jumbled ings on the various parts of the drumset. A found their way into modern jazz expres-
mass of notes and events. However, as the good example of this would be the use of sion.
tape started to roll, this particular perform- brushes to "imply" the time—where the In the context of the performance (or
ance began to unfold delicately; the music forward velocity of the music is determined recording) of a piece of free music, I think
was transparent, pleasant to listen to, and by the ebb and flow, i.e., the motion of the that it is a good idea to remember that ten-
creative. We made a good take (and then I brush strokes. The pulse here is neither sion and release are key factors in a music's
got to eat lunch). regular nor obvious. Textures and colors success. Tension and release can be ex-
I would like to go over a few of the can also be provided by flurries and clus- pressed as a V7 chord resolving to I, or as a
aesthetic possibilities that we may encoun- ters of notes. Velocity, hence forward mo- kinetic (and possibly frenetic?) piece of crea-
ter and enjoy when playing free or open tion, is easily sensed here. Another device tivity resolving to a purer, cleaner, trium-
styles of music. As I stated in my last article is to change the tempo at will, speeding up phantly clear passage—expressed tonally,
(MD, 6/89), it is essential to "listen to every- and slowing down the quarter-note pulse harmonically, and/or rhythmically. Balance.
thing that the other musicians are playing, (at whim) to achieve the desired effect. With freedom comes responsibility, and
and respond appropriately, as your taste What is the desired effect? To make a a need for discipline. There also comes the
and experience can determine. Summon highly personal musical statement, and to opportunity for a full range of expression. (I
up patience and courage. Experiment. Dis- be modern! One of the purposes of art is to wonder, though, if it is okay for someone
cover the hidden architecture in spontane- make it possible for people to look at some- to do the musical equivalent of yelling
ously composed music." thing familiar in a new light. Developments "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater.) Any-
Space, patience, and balance have be- in both jazz and classical musics have made way, back to that recording session in Ger-
come some of the most important words in this provocatively possible. In classical many.... More and more, I find myself in
my musical vocabulary. These words rep- music, the musical possibilities were playing situations where the musicians will
resent, to me, the elements of mature mu- opened up by the creation of "aleatory" not discuss what it is that's about to be
sic-making. Space means to leave breath- music. The Harvard Dictionary Of Music played. No particular song will be in mind;
ing room for your own and the other musi- defines this as "Music in which the com- tempos or keys are not talked about or
poser introduces elements of chance or considered. The muse (inspiration/creation/
unpredictability with regard to either the God) strikes, and, if the ego is not in the
composition or its performance...Chance way, the music will start to flow. Creativity
may be involved in the process of compo- and ideas are sparked in the other players.
sition, in performance, or both. In the com- What can happen? It's like several people
position process, pitches, durations, degrees meeting all at once, and starting a discus-
of intensity, etc., and/or their distribution in sion, where no agenda or outline has been
time may be chosen by dice throwing, in- prepared or must be observed. In the ideal
terpretations of abstract designs (Cage), etc., state, it's not the musicians' fingers that are
or according to certain mathematical laws doing the talking, I believe it's the musi-
of chance (Xenakis). In performance, cians' souls that are directly communicat-
chance is allowed to operate by leaving ing with each other—every player's com-
some elements and/or their order of ap- bined wealth of listening, longings, happi-
pearance to the performer's discretion ness, sadness, knowledge, technique ( =
(Boulez, Stockhausen, et al), thus introduc- language), love, and a playful sense of being
ing the idea of choice. Most of these proce- alive. When we play music, we are really
dures are derived from and motivated by playing everything that we've ever been,
new general concepts of music, according and everything that we hope to be.
to which form and structure are no longer
 Believe In Yourself
by Roy Burns

There is an old saying that goes, "Believe good cymbals? believed in himself. He also worked hard.
in yourself, because if you don't, no one Next, what are your strong points? For He was in great condition, and he had a
else will." Believing in yourself is essential example, you might have a good time feel, plan. He was ready.
in being successful. Unfortunately, when but your reading and technique may leave The fight was a split decision: two judges
we are young we tend to be impatient. If something to be desired. Ask around, find for Leonard and one for Hagler. It could
we don't get success quickly, we often get a good teacher, and improve those ele- easily have gone the other way, and Le-
discouraged. But another old saying goes, ments of your playing. When you set your onard would have had nothing to be
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." goals, say simply, "This year I am going to ashamed of. As it was, Hagler had nothing
If your first attempt doesn't succeed, you improve my reading and technique." to be ashamed of. Sometimes you do your
may need to alter your goals or change Another strong point might be that you best, but you just don't win. Sometimes
your approach. At the very least, learn from already have some good playing experi- you play great at an audition, but someone
your mistakes, and try again. ence under your belt. This is a definite else gets the job. Well, those are the
Standing in front of the mirror, saying "I plus, because there is no substitute for ex- breaks—just like in boxing. Remember,
am the world's greatest drummer" may be perience. Now, try to figure out how to even the winner of the Leonard-Hagler
positive thinking, but just saying it won't build on that experience. Think of ways to match lost almost half the rounds. Another
make it so. (Besides, there is no way to improve and to broaden your abilities. old saying goes, "I may have lost a battle,
decide who the world's greatest drummer Write things down! Putting your goals but I haven't lost the war."
might be. There are too many good drum- on paper makes them more visible. Are Before Roger Bannister broke the four-
mers and too many styles for one person to they realistic? Some may seem foolish or minute mile, all the experts said it was an
do it all.) Your goals must be realistic. Be immature when you see them written out. impossible feat; the bone structure of the
honest with yourself. In fact, be brutally On the other hand, some may seem a little human body would not permit it. How-
honest. What are your goals and what will less scary. Some may even seem more at- ever, the year after Bannister broke the four-
you need to do to achieve them? Start by tainable than you first thought. minute mile, 37 other runners broke it. One
assessing your weaknesses. What areas do Next, write down what you think you year after that, 300 runners broke the four-
you need to improve? Are you organized? might be required to do to achieve your minute mile. The human body hadn't
Are you on time? Do you have the equip- goals. You might decide to go to a famous changed. Roger Bannister had changed
ment you need, such as a good kit and music school or study with a famous drum- everyone's attitude, including that of all
mer/teacher. You might decide that you the so-called experts. Bannister accom-
need to organize your practice time or to plished this with effort and training, and,
practice more consistently. above all, by believing in himself.
After you have completed the list of things Believing in yourself allows you to do
you need to do to succeed, you must de- something substantial and meaningful. You
cide what to do first. Which idea is most may have to try more than one thing until
important? Which one is within your means you find what works for you. Many of us
and/or capabilities right now? started out with a dream and a drumset. As
Now that you have put all this on paper, we developed, some of us discovered that
you have goals and some ideas as to how we could do other things as well, such as
to achieve them. Do you believe that you running a drum shop, running a magazine
can achieve them? If you don't believe in for drummers, writing articles such as this
yourself, you won't succeed—even if you one, producing other artists, starting a rec-
try. ord company, or leaving the road to do
I had a friend who desperately wanted to studio work.
play pro baseball. However, he kept saying To me, in order to succeed, you have to
to me, "I won't make it. I just know I won't." try. In order to try, you must believe in
As a matter of fact, he didn't make it. yourself. You may have to adjust your goals;
Of course, it's possible to believe in your- you may need to make changes in what
self and still not achieve your goals. For you want to achieve as your life develops.
example, very few boxers go undefeated. What is important to you at 15 may not be
Yet many believe they can win just one as important when you are 40. Other things
more fight—even though friends and advi- may become more important to you as you
sors tell them no. Sugar Ray Leonard came grow older.
out of retirement to beat Marvelous Marvin Believing in yourself is the first and most
Hagler in a fight that the experts said important step in being successful. What is
shouldn't have been allowed. They all said being successful? For me, it is being the
Leonard would be destroyed. But Leonard best you can be. I believe that I can be the
best Roy Burns in the world. Does that
mean I am the greatest? Certainly not! It
just means that I believe I can continually
grow, develop, learn, improve, and enjoy
life, just believe that you—and only you—
can be the best you. That's the first step!
 by Brian Alpert

Playing At High Volume

In the Health And Science department of other musicians cannot properly hear the tonal quality, always allowing the stick to
the August '88 MD, I wrote an article called drums, the time—and ultimately the bounce. This effort will translate into in-
"Playing Loud—Staying Healthy." In it, I drummer's authority—will be undermined. creased accuracy and confidence at high
discussed some of the physical dangers Proper, relaxed hand technique is cru- volumes. Keep in mind that it is entirely
inherent in loud playing, and how to avoid cial in every aspect of drumming, and high- possible to strike a drum too hard, causing
them. This time, I'll focus on the drumset volume playing is no exception. What con- it to "choke." Besides being a waste of
and its relationship to the modern P.A. sys- stitutes "proper" technique is open for de- energy, the drum doesn't speak well. Look
tem, and the technique one must acquire bate, and may vary from individual to indi- for that fine line between the maximum
in order to be able to play at high volume. vidual, or from teacher to teacher. But a volume/tone/power, and the point at which
Our instrument has kept pace with the basic aspect of technique that seems fre- the drum chokes. It is a matter of "feel,"
changes in music and technology. Ride quently forgotten or dismissed when play- and will differ between instruments.
cymbals are larger and heavier; many crash ing loudly is the stick rebounding off the Drummers must learn how to adjust their
cymbals are bright, with quick decay. These head. As we find ourselves explaining far volume on a variety of levels. In learning to
cymbals "cut" through amplifiers and P.A. too often, drummers do not merely hit play drums more powerfully, you must
systems, and are more easily heard by both drums. We draw the sound out with our avoid overplaying the cymbals. For ex-
band and audience members. Snare drums sticks and hands. In attempting to draw the ample, an overplayed ride cymbal will
are designed to produce more volume, and best possible sound from a drum, the drum- "roar," producing too much sound. It be-
a new generation of high-tech heads are mer must be able to execute a controlled comes difficult for the other musicians to
able to withstand the pounding they re- rebound. To draw out the maximum amount distinguish where the time is. Special care
ceive night after night. The bass drum— of sound, it is necessary to incorporate a should be taken if you like to occasionally
minus its front head and with the proper larger hand/arm motion in both striking and ride with the shoulder of the stick; it is very
padding—provides an aggressive, less rever- rebounding. The stick must still be allowed easy to lose control of a cymbal when it is
berant sound. Its superior forward projec- to respond to the head's natural bounce. responding to a stick's total mass. The hi-
tion is more easily discerned on and off the When the player restricts the stick's natural hat will also "roar" if it is played too loosely;
stage, and is easier to mike. rebound, energy from the stroke cannot drummers who desire this sound should
In certain situations the entire drumset is flow smoothly. Unnecessary shock and seek a good balance of looseness and defi-
miked. This helps the drummer keep up stress flow back through the arm, and the nition. If you are able to pick and choose
with amplifiers and P.A. and is a necessity sound that is "drawn out" will not be the among your cymbals, avoid using your thin
if a loud band desires a full, present drum fullest, best possible sound. Some of the crash cymbals on a very loud gig. They
sound. However, miking the drums does wasted energy is transferred from the hand will last for a while, but sooner or later
not excuse the drummer from actually play- and arm to the drumhead, resulting in they may succumb to the pounding and
ing at a high volume. Here's why: dented heads. Dents add unwanted over- develop cracks.
First, in a high-volume situation, a drum tones to the sound of a head, as well as Perhaps the most obvious way to increase
struck softly—or even at a moderate vol- shortening its life span. A drummer who is your volume is by increasing the size of
ume—does not project through a micro- relaxed and able to control the rebound at your sticks. A larger, more massive stick
phone with sufficient power. The sound high volumes will inflict a significantly will instantly produce more volume, but
engineer can make it loud, but it will still lesser amount of damage to a head. not without exacting a price. The new stick
lack power. Second, at times when the Obviously, there are different ways to may seem slower and more cumbersome.
musicians are denied the luxury of having "draw" sound from a drum; and some pro- You must resist the temptation to compen-
drums in the monitors, the drummer might duce more volume than others. Playing a sate for this by playing more stressfully.
as well be unmiked. Sheer volume is nec- rimshot on the snare drum is a reliable way Also (and especially if your hands are
essary for the other musicians to hear the of producing a lot of sound. You may or slightly built), there is a chance that a heavy
drums, and even for the drummer to be may not want to always use a rimshot for stick will overtire your hands, exposing you
able to hear him/herself! (This is an amaz- the backbeat. A rimshot lacks the tone I to potential injury. This is another decision
ing feeling—to be slugging away and still desire in a backbeat, and I find that playing for the individual. It is not imperative to
be unable to hear yourself!) It may be help- it exclusively is overly stressful to the hand use a heavy stick to play loudly if you
ful to have some (or all) of the drums in the and arm. But there are occasions when I acquire the technique described above. If
monitors, but in many cases the monitor believe it to be the best choice—the au- you feel that a heavier stick is necessary,
system is either incapable of producing a thoritative "crack" is easily heard, and is work up to larger sizes gradually, in the
good drum sound, or there are not enough quite often musically appropriate. same way that a weightlifter works up to
mixes (or enough time) to allow this "lux- Drummers who are unaccustomed to heavier weights.
ury." Third, the rest of the band looks to the loud playing may initially notice a reduc- As popular music has evolved, the tech-
drummer as the time source, and even as tion in their control over the instrument. nical and physical requirements of both
an energy source for the entire ensemble. The tendency is to flail at the drums, fre- drummers and drumset have been trans-
In addition to playing clear, well-defined quently missing the "sweet spot." Control formed. Today, drummers are frequently
time, he/she must project a sense of confi- can be restored by practicing large, slow called upon to play at unprecedented vol-
dent authority. Simply playing loudly is not strokes in various combinations on the umes, and adapting to the circumstances
a cheap substitute for this intangible qual- drums. The goal is to develop more accu- of the times requires new techniques to
ity; it derives from the player's innermost rate "muscle memory" that will enable you complement long-established traditions.
self and mastery of the instrument. (In fact, to play precisely at new levels of intensity. Being consistent, relaxed, and creative
even at the lowest volumes, drummers must In addition, a certain amount of practice while playing loudly has become essential
radiate the same confidence and authority.) time should be devoted to actually playing technique, and should be approached in a
But, it is essential for drummers to be able at the desired level(s). Try to see each stroke careful, relaxed fashion.
to use volume to their advantage. If the into the center of the head. Listen for good
 FRANTZ

with outside of the Tom Tom Club and

Talking Heads, why, that would be fine.
RS: As a drummer, have you absorbed much
about the way Jamaican drummers ply their
trade? Are you influenced by reggae
rhythms?
CF: I can't help but think that it must have
a big influence on me, although I never
really tried to cop a Jamaican drum style
note for note. I've always thought Jamai-
can drummers play reggae so much better
than I ever could. I've never done a really
straight reggae tune, because, quite frankly,
Photo by Ebet Roberts

I think bands like the Police have done it

enough. To me it always sounded like white
people playing reggae. [laughs] Sly Dun-
bar once said to me, "Y'know, Chris, I love
it when you play in a rock style." [laughs]
And I love it when he plays in a reggae
style. So I guess we feel the same way
about music. I try to keep my own playing
Chris, Ziggy Marley, and Tina Weymouth so that it has lots of air in it and is able to
work well with a percussionist. If that per-
yourself more as a producer than a drum- ord made, a different definition of "pro- cussionist is African or Jamaican, or simply
mer? ducer" is applied. If being a producer means comes from Brooklyn, I want my style of
CF: What I get off on most is playing live. being the person who is ultimately respon- drumming to be open enough and have
To me, there's simply nothing more excit- sible for making sure that the best stuff gets room for whatever it is he or she will con-
ing. I love to go out and play in a live on the tape and that the artist is happy and tribute to the music. I'm most interested in
setting. We just did a Tom Tom Club tour of the record company is happy and the proj- establishing a fine-tuned working relation-
Europe; it was so great. With the exception ect goes well and doesn't get interrupted ship with the musicians I play with.
of one or two things, I hadn't been onstage for foolish reasons, then I think I can handle RS: Talking Heads have experimented with
for five and a half years prior to the Boom that. I don't ever kid myself and think that non-rock rhythms on a number of occa-
Boom Chi Boom Boom tour, which began, I'm a Quincy Jones or someone like that. sions, and so has the Tom Tom Club.
I guess you could say, at CBGB's. I was I'm not one who can write a horn arrange- CF: I think it's important to listen to a lot of
really missing it. But we were also very ment off the top of my head that sounds different things. It's like when you're grow-
nervous. We did those gigs at CBGB's last fabulous. I'd be more inclined to hire a ing up and you're learning to read, it's good
fall and got so taken with them. It was like horn player to do that for me. to read the classics, but it's also good to
15 nights to warm up for the European But being a producer is a good, honor- read trash. I really like all different kinds of
tour. I loved the whole experience of tour- able way to make a living. Tina and I like stuff. I must say, though, that I lean toward
ing again. I could do that six or eight months to think that we'll only work on projects the more funky or the more ethnic stuff.
out of the year. And if I never produced a that are really special to us. We have But I can also appreciate the drummer from,
record again, I wouldn't care. But, on the enough to do already without going out say, Whitesnake. I think it's very important,
other hand, there is something satisfying and listening to a lot of demo tapes and as they say, to keep an open mind.
about producing a record. new bands. We prefer to work with bands RS: Where do you go for inspiration? Do
I'm not quite sure I know what a record and acts we both consider special. I mean, you have favorite drummers?
producer is, actually. I think for every rec- if Ziggy Marley is the only act we work CF: I get my inspiration wherever I can find
it. When I'm feeling dry, I listen to James kept playing since then. I think I've gotten verse compliment or a backhanded com-
Brown records. I always go back to James better. Yet I still feel I'm a drummer of very pliment to say, "Oh, he has great tech-
Brown. limited technical skills. But I think I have a nique." It's like when you go to hear a
RS: What are your drumming roots? Are lot of spirit. I hope that makes up for any- band and you really hate what it's all about
you a schooled drummer? thing Steve Gadd can do that I can't. musically and someone asks you what you
CF: I started off in grade school. Having [laughs] thought of the band, you say, "Oh, they
tried several instruments, I ended up with RS: This brings up that classic argument were really tight." [laughs] So, from my
the drums. Well, they gave me a little pad over which drummer is more effective: the point of view, I can understand and appre-
in the sixth grade, along with a book. Then drummer who is technically perfect, but ciate great technique. But technique and a
in junior high school—seventh and eighth dollar will get you on the subway.
grades—I was in the school band. Af- RS: When you listen to Talking Heads
ter that I was mostly in little bands records, which albums or songs
that practiced in the basements "It's fine to borrow ideas from are you most proud of?
CF: Gee, I don't know. There
of suburban homes in Pitts-
burgh. The Beatles had come other artists as long as you are so many to choose from.
[laughs] I like "Take Me To
out and changed everything by
this time. My parents got me a contribute something that is The River." I like "Blind" and
"Ruby Dear" from the last al-
drumkit for Christmas so that I
could start to learn how to play unique to yourself." bum. I really like "Stay Up Late"
kit-style drums. Before that it was off Little Creatures. These are songs
marching parade drumming with the snare that I really enjoy listening to. When I
drum. I really loved playing the drums, but hear them I say to myself, "Good drums!"
I never felt I could make a living at it, or who possesses limited "feel," or the drum- RS: Stylistically, what are the components
that I could be a success. I always felt that mer who, more or less, is unschooled and that go into your playing?
there was a different breed of person who plays from the heart. People who enjoy CF: I have a tendency to ride the hi-hat in a
became a professional drummer and actu- perpetrating that argument would probably very straight way. Actually, I'd like to get
ally made records. The feeling of wanting put you in the latter category. more complicated. Robert Palmer once said
to play the drums persisted in me, but so CF: Probably. But I don't think that formal to me, "Chris, your foot is really great, but
did my lack of confidence. So I wound up training in music would stifle a musician, your hi-hat is in submission." [laughs] I
going to art school to study painting and particularly a drummer. On the other hand, always try to think of little things to do on
art in general. Art was the other thing in my the way I came up—with an art school the hi-hat, but I keep going back to the
life that sort of paralleled music. But even- background—taught me above all else that basics, which always works. So that's one
tually I missed the drums so much that I got it is of the utmost importance that you con- thing that's part of my drumming signature.
my drumset out of the basement of my tribute something uniquely unto yourself. If Another is the distinct absence of fills. It
parents' home. you're working on a song or a painting or a used to be that every time I did a fill, I
RS: So you actually went through a period novel, it's fine to borrow ideas from other would speed up tempo. So finally I just
when you weren't playing drums at all? artists. I mean, if your favorite band is the said to myself, "Well, rather than speeding
CF: Yes, that's right. It was a rather long Beatles and you want to use some ideas up when I do a fill, I just won't play any." I
period, too. In my sophomore year at col- that are Beatle-esque in your song, that's think I've found over the years that I most
lege I had to learn to play all over again. fine. There's nothing wrong with that—as enjoy a style of drumming that is relatively
I'd put on Al Green or David Bowie or long as you contribute something to that uncluttered. You might even call it simple.
Stones records and play along with them in song that is unique to yourself. Above any- RS: But simple in the spirit of some of the
my apartment. I did that until I could sort thing else, that is the most important thing I great Motown and Memphis drummers. Al
of play a little bit. Then I joined a band. learned in art school. To be just good at Jackson comes to mind.
About that time David Byrne and I worked technique doesn't get it. In fact, at our CF: You know, I didn't even know who Al
in a band together called the Artistics. I've school it used to be something of a per- Jackson was, but I used to love the stuff
Booker T. & the MGs cut. To me Jackson Rogers set makes it onto the records. In lar snare or else I can't play. But recently
gave just enough space so one could hear fact, it's represented on all Talking Heads' I've been using a piccolo snare, which I like
every other instrument in the song in a way records. a lot. I used a piccolo snare on Naked and
that was, I don't know, just very groovy. RS: What's the kit comprised of? just about all the new Tom Tom Club stuff.
RS: Let's talk about equipment. You play CF: It's got three tom-toms—two rack and RS: What is it about piccolo snares that you
Tama drums live, but you use a Rogers one floor—a bass drum, a hi-hat, and two like?
drumkit in the studio. Zildjian crash cymbals, 16" and 18". I don't CF: I love the higher snare sound you get
CF: That's right. I got that Rogers kit when use ride cymbals, though sometimes I'll from them. After using great big snare drums
Talking Heads signed its first record deal. ride a crash cymbal. for a long time, it's nice to play a little one.
It's been 11 years. The kit has been sort of RS: And is your Tama set essentially the They are a little on the fragile side, though. I
retired, since I leave it at home whenever same configuration? have to use Lug Locks with my snare. Boy,
we tour. But I still use it in the studio. I use CF: Yes, it is. Although if you ever saw the what did we ever do before Lug Locks came
a Tama kit live. Actually I have accumu- Talking Heads movie, Stop Making Sense, along? Thank God for those little pieces of
lated several sets of Tama drums over the you might have noticed that instead of us- plastic! [laughs] I also have to put a piece of
years. I've found that Tama has the best ing floor toms, I used timbales. I like the tape on that knob that tightens and loosens
hardware. It's quite capable of taking a good crack they produce. It sounds real good up the snare so that it doesn't come loose
beating. When you're on the road, that's every once in a while. Also, I'm not one of after constant banging.
one of the most important things. But my those drummers who has to use a particu- RS: Let's switch gears a little bit. What do
you foresee occurring with Talking Heads
in the next year or two?
CF: We just signed a new contract with
Warner Bros. for another five albums. So I
definitely see Talking Heads continuing as a
recording band. I'm very confident that we'll
continue to make great records. I think the
band has a wonderful chemistry. And at this
point we have enough confidence in our-
selves so that we don't hesitate to augment
ourselves with other players. I mean, on
Naked we used African percussionists, ac-
cordion players.... So I'm sure the records
we make in the future will continue to be
great. I wish I could say we'll be touring a
lot, but I can't. And that's disappointing
because I feel that making records is only
half the gig. I think you should take your
music to the stage and you should shake
your booty, as they say. Not everyone in
Talking Heads agrees with me on that one.
So we'll see what happens.
RS: You mentioned working with African
percussionists on the Naked album. What
was it like working with percussionists from
another culture?
CF: It was easy and it was great. What we
did was record song ideas onto cassettes
here in New York. The band got together
for three weeks to rehearse before we left
for Paris to record the album. We put to-
gether all these musical ideas—basically
whatever came into our heads. Then, when
we got to Paris, we sat down in the studio
and put the ideas together that we thought
fit, and arranged them into A, B, and C
sections of a song. Then our friend Wally
Badarou, who lives in Paris and also at
Compass Point, had arranged for us to meet
a lot of musicians. I guess the word got out
that Talking Heads was looking for some
African dudes [laughs] because plenty of
them turned up.
My favorite guy that we worked with was
Abdu Mboup. He's Senegalese and just
wonderful. He's a true Griot. You can't be-
come one; you have to be born into a Griot
family. I would sit down with him and we
would just play together and get something
going, and the rest of the band would even-
tually join in. He played on the basic rhythm
tracks; his parts weren't overdubbed or any-
thing. So the whole experience was really
very special.
RS: Is there any chance of doing something
similar in the future?
CF: I certainly would love to do it again. If
Talking Heads doesn't do it, then maybe I'll
do it with the Tom Tom Club. The Tom Tom
Club is now a real band; in addition to Tina
and myself we have guitarist Mark Roule
and keyboards player Gary Pozer. They're
both from New York. What I'd like to do
with these guys is what we did with Talking
Heads—namely, come up with basic struc-
tures of songs and song ideas and then go
to a place like Paris or Jamaica or Rio or
who knows, and get local musicians to aug-
ment the music. It's really fun to work this
way. Whether Talking Heads works that way
in the future, I don't know. But I think Tina
and I will.
RS: Talking Heads has made a truly signifi-
cant contribution to American rock 'n' roll.
Certainly its place in the music's history is a
prominent one. Are you satisfied with the
band's accomplishments? Are you satisfied
with your own accomplishments within the
band?
CF: Yes, I'm pleased with what we've done
and with what I've done. But, you know,
there's always something. No matter how
great something is, there's always some-
thing that bugs you. But I'll tell you, I really
shouldn't grumble. I think I've been a lucky
guy. Part of it has been because I've sur-
rounded myself with good people. You're
only as good as your partners.
 R8 Human
easy to have more than 16 instruments at
your disposal, due to the five different "pad
banks." These banks (lettered from A to E)
can be programmed to fire any sound from
each of the 16 instrument buttons. For ex-
ample, instrument button one in pad bank
A might be a bass drum. The same instru-
ment button might fire a cowbell in bank B
or a metal pipe in bank C. Using this type
of assignment, 80 different sounds can be
fired in any pattern!
Sounds can be chosen from 68 internal
samples that come with the machine, 26
"Copy Instruments," or 26 additional in-
struments that can be loaded into the R8
from a ROM card. "Copy Instruments" are
have been im- created by taking a factory sound and ap-
plemented on previous plying some of the abundant and diverse
drum machines, this one "takes it to editing features that the R8 has to offer.
the max." Here are just a few examples: Just what are those editing features? I'm
Other drum machines have flam buttons. glad you asked! Each sound can be ad-

I
Simply hold down this button while you justed in pitch from -4800 to +4800 cents
play one of the instrument buttons and, in 10-cent increments. (Ten cents is one
'M SURE YOU'VE presto—an instant flam. The Korg DDD5, tenth of a semitone.) In theory, this gives
read the pre-release hype about for example, allowed you to adjust the in- each instrument a tunable range of eight
Roland's new R8 Human Rhythm Com- terval between the grace note and the pri- octaves. In reality, however, this is not the
poser, or at least heard about this drum mary note in ten increments. But the R8 case. On some drum machines and elec-
machine that is designed to imitate the feels lets you adjust the flam interval in 32 steps. tronic kits that offer a wide tuning range,
and grooves of a "live" musician. But, while As if this weren't enough flexibility, the R8 the upper and lower limits aren't very prac-
the human element programmed into this also lets you set the flam ratio (the differ- tical. At extremely low pitches, the samples
machine is its biggest advertising hook, it is ence in volume between the grace and the take on a type of distortion called aliasing.
not the R8's only feature. The first time I primary notes) to one of six different val- At very high pitches, the samples tend to
pushed the power switch and saw the ues. And the flam settings are memorized sound choked and "munchkin-like." The
"Space lnvader"-style welcoming screen on for each pattern, not for the entire ma- R8 has solved this problem by applying
the display, I knew that this machine was chine. certain upper and lower limits to some in-
going to be something special! Most drummers dislike the swing func- struments. For example, the sound called
The R8 weighs less than seven pounds, tions built into drum machines. The me- "snap snare" has a lower limit of -4800,
fits into a briefcase, and, with its matte chanical rigidity of "machine swing" is but an upper tuning range of just +1900.
black finish, looks real cool. It has all the something akin to watching Sly Stallone This feature has more positive results than
paraphernalia you'd expect from a top-of- play Hamlet: It just doesn't make it! If you're negative, in that just about anything you
the-line drum machine: 16-bit samples, convinced that you would never use the create is going to sound usable.
MIDI, sync modes, and everything else. If swing function on a drum machine, you Back to the editing features. You can
you want more basic information, get a might want to play around with the R8's control the decay of a sound from 0 to 127,
brochure. I want to tell you about the im- swing parameters. You can select the "swing the "nuance" in 15 steps, the output as-
portant stuff. point" (the note value that is delayed) be- signments to 15 places, and the output as-
tween quarters, 8ths, 16ths, and 32nds, as signment type in 10 styles. You can also
Power
well as quarter, 8th, and 16th triplet values. assign any one of eight different velocity
Back in the days of "beat boxes," things You can also adjust the amount of delay. curves. These features comprise a great deal
were pretty simple: Just push a button la- The delay time varies depending on the of latitude, so let's take a quick look at
beled "Rock 1" or "Swing 3" and every- swing point you've chosen. At the slowest each of them.
thing was done for you. As drum machines swing point, you've got 23 values, and at The decay of any sound can be set from
(and electronic kits, for that matter) began the fastest only two are available. 0-127, but some sounds have two decay
to give the user more versatility, they be- Well, you're starting to get the point, settings. Many of the original samples in
came more complex. This isn't a negative, right? No matter what any other drum ma- the R8 seem to be comprised of two dis-
it's a positive. As long as the user-interface chine can do, the R8 was designed to be tinct parts. The first might be loosely termed
isn't too difficult to navigate and control, able to do more (the "higher, faster, louder" the attack or the impact sound of the stick
the increased power is well worth the extra syndrome). hitting the instrument, the second is the
time it takes to produce a finished product. tone quality of the instrument itself. While
Building Sounds
The R8 takes more time to learn than other all sounds aren't made up in this way, most
drum machines, because it has the most Let's take a look at how sounds are as- of the bass drums, snare drums, and toms
powerful programming options of any drum signed to the play buttons. There are 16 are.
machine currently on the market. While instrument buttons (velocity and pressure Once you've set the relative decay of the
many of the features included on the R8 sensitive) on the front panel of the R8. It's two parts, you can control the "nuance."
Rhythm Composer
by
Norman
Weinberg

This is Roland's term for the relative vol- tons, but none do it with the control of the There are many features available in pat-
ume between the two components of the R8. Push the Multi button, and a single tern programming mode that will make your
sampled sound. This amounts to an increase sound is assigned to all 16 instrument but- life as a programmer easier. For one thing,
in lower frequencies as the nuance value is tons. By using another feature, called the LCD display feeds you quite a bit of
increased and higher frequencies when "Align," the performance parameters are information. You are given the pattern
decreased. With hi-hat and ride cymbal evenly spaced across all the buttons. You number, the number of measures contained
sounds, the effect of moving the stick from can align the pitch, the decay, the nuance, in the pattern, the time signature, the quan-
the outer edge to the cup can be created by or any combination. If you don't like the tize level, and the pattern's name!
increasing this parameter's value. Very slick! default values, you can override them by Some of the more advanced features in-
The output assignments along with the programming each button individually. clude: instrument change, which lets you
output types available are among the most swap one instrument for another; pattern
Building Patterns
flexible and versatile I've ever seen. Each append, for joining two patterns together;
instrument can be routed to any of seven Once you've assigned all the sounds to pattern extract, which lets you copy a speci-
positions in the stereo field. If you plan to all the buttons and tweaked them to your fied instrument's data from one pattern to
use the R8 in a studio situation, any voice heart's content, it's time to start building another (perfect for copying that happenin'
can be sent through one of the eight "multi" patterns. Although the R8 comes with 32 hi-hat motion while leaving the rest of the
outputs. This way, you might send the ride factory-preset rhythm patterns, there is room data intact); pattern merge, which takes the
and crash cymbals through one multi-out, for 100 more user-programmable patterns. data from two different patterns and com-
the snare and bass drum to two others, and The R8 is equally at home in real-time or in bines them (yes, you read that correctly);
four toms through their own outputs. step-time. pattern reframe, which moves the pattern's
The output type can be poly, mono, or When programming in real-time, you can starting point to anywhere within the pat-
use one of eight "exclusive" numbers. When erase all instruments, a single instrument, tern; and pattern naming (up to eight let-
in poly mode, a long sound (such as a or a single attack. You can set the met- ters).
crash cymbal) will not cancel itself out ronome's level, output channel, note value,
Building Songs
when played several times in quick succes- and mode (always on, always off, or on
sion. When using mono, an instrument will only if the pattern is currently empty). There The R8 can hold up to ten songs, each
retrigger the sample each time the button is is a familiar Roland-style graphic display with up to 999 different parts. You can
pressed. There are eight separate exclusive on the LCD that shows up to four instru- delete a part, insert, or copy a part, copy
audio "channels" that can be called into ments at the same time. an entire song, name the song, and set the
play. When two sounds are assigned to the Step-time programming took a little get- song for continuous play. You can also pro-
same exclusive number, one of them will ting used to, but after a while, I kind of gram initial tempo and initial levels, then
cut off the decay of the other. This is very liked working in this mode. Actually, there program changes to the tempo and level
useful when you are using two different are three different modes of step-time: settings as a song part.
instruments that normally don't play to- "Basic" mode, "Normal Edit" mode, and A few features in this area are really slick!
gether, such as open and closed hi-hats. "Scope Edit" mode. When in Basic mode, You can label any part of a song, such as
There are eight different velocity curves the 16 instrument buttons determine where "Verse 1," "Bridge," "Chorus," etc. Once
on the R8. They differ from the garden- a particular instrument's sound will fire. parts are labeled, you can search for a par-
variety velocity curve in that the timbre of Select the bass drum sound, push buttons ticular label to begin editing or playing.
the instrument actually changes as the but- 1,5,9, and 13, and you've got "four on the This is a handy feature if you only want to
ton is played harder or softer. In other words, floor" quarter notes. This makes step pro- work on, say, the second verse.
the curve does more than simply change gramming much more graphic than mathe- Perhaps the hippest feature is called
the instrument button's feel. matical. "Time Calculate." Previously only found
One last groovy feature: When copying Okay, so we've got sound edits (affecting on expensive computer sequencers, the
factory sounds into Copy Instruments, you the sound of the sample) and performance Time Calculate functions let you determine
can give each newly created instrument a edits (affecting the sound assigned to any how long it will take for the song to play
name! If you've ever dreamed of turning particular instrument button). What could through the last measure or any specified
on your drum machine and seeing the name possibly come next? How about sequence bar. You can ask the R8 to display the
"DeathSn" pop up for your killer snare parameters? When using the Normal Edit performance's running time while you lis-
sound, this is the machine for you. mode, sequence parameters can be called ten to the song. It even lets you set the
The settings mentioned so far apply only into play after a sound has been pro- tempo so that the song will be played within
to the "Instrument Edit" mode. If you go grammed into the pattern. When going into a specified amount of time. Does your song
into the "Performance Edit" mode, you can this mode, you can take any individual have to fit into a 30 second commercial
make changes to the pitch, decay, nuance, attack and change its velocity, pitch, de- slot? Just punch a few buttons and the R8
and pan settings that override the instru- cay, pan setting, and nuance. In addition, will tell you the initial tempo to set.
ment settings. This way, you can have the you can also adjust the "micro timing" to
The "Human" Feature
same instrument assigned to four or five move any attack forward or backward by
different buttons, and adjust the tuning and 1/384 of a quarter note! A quick phone call The single feature of the R8 that is get-
other parameters of each button's sound. If to the Roland technical support confirmed ting all the press is its ability to select one
you can think of a more flexible arrange- that when using this feature, there are re- of eight different "feel" patches. A "feel" is
ment than that, let me know! ally 384 divisions for each quarter. Talk the result of combining the "groove" of a
There are drum machines that use a about high-resolution editing! Let's just say pattern along with additional "random"
"multi-mode" setting to spread the sound that the R8 will let you put a note any- changes. The groove is defined in the man-
of one instrument across several play but- where you want! ual as regular changes of accent and tone
that a drummer purposely creates. particular rhythmic figure often. Just define first drum machines to make use of control-
The groove is programmed by picking that figure as a Macro, and call it up when- change messages. You can tell it to route
the number of notes whose accents should ever you want to program that rhythm. the modulation wheel or general-purpose
be changed (from one to eight). Next, the The other Macro feature, called "user controllers to affect the pitch, decay, nu-
instruments (also up to eight) and the timing functions," allows storage of up to 16 but- ance, or pan settings of any instrument.
value of the note are selected. You can fine- ton procedures as a single Macro. You might When in Performance Mode, the R8 acts
tune the parameters such as velocity, pitch, use one of the user function Macros to be- very much like a synthesizer. If desired, you
decay, and nuance. Turn the groove switch gin playing a certain song from a certain can use an external MIDI keyboard to play
on and, bingo: human style motions. measure. Or you could use it to erase a a single tom sound. Specify a zero point on
When programming the random factors previously recorded pattern, set the time the keyboard (let's just say that it's middle
into the equation, it's possible to select the signature to 6/8, and establish a pattern C) and a follow rate. (For this example,
probability and the "depth" of the irregular length of one bar. we'll use the value of 100.) Middle C will
changes. Keep in mind that you don't have now play the original pitch, while each as-
MIDI
to use the random factor, as each of the cending half step will raise the pitch by 100
eight instruments can turn this feature on or As far as drum machines go, the R8 has cents and each descending half step will
off for each of the parameters. the most complete MIDI implementation lower it by the same amount. Again, you
If you're wondering if the feel patch con- currently available. While other drum ma- can use this feature to control the decay,
cept really works, the answer is yes. After chines allow you to set the MIDI note num- nuance, or pan settings instead of the pitch.
playing around with it for a while, I was bers that will fire certain sounds, each in- You might even want to combine them by
able to get patterns that sounded less me- strument on the R8 can be programmed for determining the pitch from the keyboard
chanical and predictable. Using the feels, a certain MIDI note number over any MIDI and decay time from the modulation wheel.
it's easy to turn a "ho-hum" pattern into channel! If you're controlling other sound How's that for MIDI implementation?
something refreshingly new and different. modules from the R8, or playing the R8 You can do bulk data dumps from the
from other master controllers, you have front panel of the R8, selecting between all
Additional Goodies
everything you need. When programming data, just the sequences, just the setup para-
You know you're dealing with a com- note numbers, the display shows you the meters, or a single pattern's data. With all
puter when you begin to access "Macro" MIDI number as well as the pitch's name this MIDI control at the programmer's fin-
settings. Do you normally use a particular (i.e., 036-C1). gertips and a full set of system exclusive
operation that may require several different You can tell the R8 whether or not you commands, I hope to see computer librar-
steps and key presses? If so, then you can want the machine to receive note-off mes- ian and editing programs for the R8 re-
define a Macro and perform a complex sages (to stop a decaying sound when a key leased soon.
operation with a single keystroke. is let up), pan messages (controller number
Conclusions
The R8 lets you define up to ten Macro ten), program-change messages (which can
Note settings. Each Macro Note can include be used to call up different patterns or The R8 is so well-designed that it's diffi-
up to 16 steps. Let's say that you're pro- change the feel patches), and system exclu- cult to find fault with anything. The manual
gramming a song that is going to use a sive data. In addition, the R8 is one of the is a 230-page tome that is, at times, ex-
tremely slow going. All the information is
there, and I did finally figure just about
everything out. But at some time in the
future, Roland is just going to have to hire
someone who speaks English to write their
manuals.
The user interface is complex, but logi-
cal. Some functions take several keystrokes
to complete, and the use of increment, dec-
rement, page, parameter select, and cursor
buttons gets frustrating at times. But then
again, the R8 is a very complex and power-
ful machine. I think that the only easier
interface would have required a CRT and a
trackball! After only a couple of hours, I
was able to make my way through the maze
of commands with ease. If I wanted to get
really picky, I could complain that there
isn't a tap tempo button, or that the incre-
ment/decrement and cursor buttons don't
scroll when held down, but those are about
the only faults I could come up with.
There are plenty of great sounds on this
machine, and the ability to read additional
sounds from a ROM card means that the
R8's sounds will keep up with the times.
(Roland, please offer cards with Latin, Afri-
can, and symphonic percussion samples.)
On top of all this, the price is right. Com-
ing in at $995.00 suggested retail, this ma-
chine will take a long time (if ever) to out-
grow. If you're looking for a drum machine
with muscle, if you really care about the
sound and feel of your songs, and if you
want a machine that offers mucho flexibil-
ity, this is it.
 Charlie Adams
Charlie Adams combines the finesse of jazz that we get a chance to experiment a little rock band called Chameleon. The band re-
with the emotion of rock 'n' roll. He has bit more than other groups might. In Yanni's leased four albums on their own label and
quick hands and a light touch, but he can and John Tesh's case, I get to be more di- had a large following in the Midwest, which
play hard when the time comes. He is ani- versified and use more percussion. This is they toured extensively. Charlie comments
mated when he plays, but is totally in con- the first band that I get to use brushes with on that period, "I'm glad that we went
trol of what he's doing. He may be playing since my jazz band days." through the experience as young as we
very intricate patterns on his hi-hat, but Adams grew up in Chicago and became did, but still kept our Midwestern values. A
every stroke is clean and well defined. a die-hard Buddy Rich fan early on. Rich lot of people who get some level of fame
This night finds Charlie playing with played Chicago often, and young Charlie early in their careers have problems with
popular new age artist Yanni. The band saw as many of Rich's shows as he could. drugs later on. Elvis died from it. Jimi
consists of three keyboard players—Yanni, In his teens, he began taking lessons with Hendrix died from it. Keith Moon, John
new age artist and Entertainment Tonight Phil Stanger at Frank's Drum Shop. His Bonham—the list goes on. We don't have
host John Tesh, and Joyce Imbesi—with musical tastes broadened into rock, and that problem in Yanni's band. Nobody is
Charlie on drums and percussion. With his influences included Ringo, Ginger into drugs or any artificial stimuli. It's not
everyone in a stationary position around Baker, Mitch Mitchell, Ian Paice, Carl as good, anyway. There's nothing like being
the stage, Charlie gets to be more visually Palmer, Bill Bruford, and Phil Collins. "But," on stage and hearing the audience; there's
prominent than most drummers. He sits in he says, "despite all those influences, Buddy nothing like that kind of feeling."
his "cage," surrounded by acoustic and Rich was always the number-one guy for After the breakup of Chameleon, Yanni
electronic drums. Electronic pads sit above me. signed a record deal with Private Music.
and behind him, with the acoustics more "Musicians are extreme people, I think," Chameleon's bass player, Dugan McNeill,
or less taking the centerpiece position. Charlie continues. "I like hanging around also signed a record contract, and Charlie
Charlie can whirl around to strike his with drummers the best, to tell you the found himself playing with both artists.
pads without too much stretching from his truth. I'm not into this competition thing at Dugan flew him back to Minneapolis,
sitting position, or he can stand behind the all. We're not on a football field; this isn't where they put together his album at
kit to play the pads. This can become a bit the Super Bowl. I can learn something from Prince's Paisley Park Studios. Charlie de-
difficult when he is playing both pads and other drummers." scribes Dugan's music as "kind of like U2
acoustics at the same time, but Charlie Charlie played in the jazz band in school meets Genesis.
manages to pull it off smoothly. A powerful and in rock bands after school. His studies "I've been going back and forth between
cascade of crashing cymbals will bring him included everything from marching drums the two of them," he says, "but I ended up
to his feet in dramatic concession to the to polkas, and from waltzes to Latin—not staying here in Los Angeles. I had ten years
emotional conclusion of a piece of music. to mention his first love: big band jazz. of snow. I really like winter out here," he
Off to the side of the stage sits a bass After two years in junior college, Charlie laughs.
drum, cymbals, timpani, and a piccolo entered DePaul University, where he con- Charlie describes his live setup with
snare drum. These are used mainly for work tinued his work with Phil Stanger. He also Yanni. "My acoustic drums are all miked,
with Yanni's acoustic piano pieces. studied with Bob Tilles. plus there are triggers inside them. My
Charlie is so enthusiastic about his mu- When the disco craze hit Chicago, drums are old Ludwigs, but my snare drum
sic that it's infectious. "In this band I get to Charlie imigrated to Minneapolis/St. Paul is a 15-year-old Slingerland TDR. I put a
do it all," he says, "all the stuff that I used on the recommendation of a friend. There 40-strand snare on the bottom of it.
to take lessons for. I've been very lucky in he met Yanni, and together they formed a "Down by the timpani, I have a little
Sonor Pancake, which they don't make
anymore. That's the thinnest snare I've ever
seen. It's only 2" deep. I've kept a lot of my
antiques. I have a 21" Chinese gong that's
over 200 years old. It sounds better than
any 50" gong I've ever heard. It's splashy. I
also use bell trees and wind chimes and
some LP congas."
Charlie uses a combination of Zildjian,
Paiste, and Sabian cymbals with his set.
But when it comes to recording, he might
use something different. "A lot of the cym-
bal crashes on Yanni's Chameleon Days
album are band cymbal crashes," he says.
"They sound so much different. They're so
big-sounding.
"I'm using some Roland equipment—the
Octapads and the PM-16 and the S-330
sampler. I've created all my own samples.
Everything was taken from the digital stu-
dio and transferred to cards. None of my
sounds are stock. On stage, I use the E-mu
SP-12. All my pads are Simmons.
Charlie Adams, Joyce Imbesi, John Tesh, and Yanni. "I like the electronics, although I feel
 by Susan Alexander

like I'm getting to be an M.I.T. graduate. All to know where to set a gate and where to
I do is read manuals now. I've been sam- mike a snare and the height of the mic'."
pling, and I've got so many pads and Yanni's band is very tight on stage, but
four drum machines, and I've the special communication between
learned how to work the Mac Yanni and Charlie comes from
computer. It's a lot of brain knowing each other so well. "I've
work. Playing acoustic pretty much stuck to one or two
drums is more people my whole career,"
emotional. I still Charlie says. "Besides the
don't think you can musical part of it, I also like
get the same emotion the friendship. Being with
out of electronic drums your friends makes you
as you can get out of an happy. Yanni and I
acoustic kit, because they know each other so
don't have the touch—yet. well musically be-
They have a lot of touch-sen- cause we played
sitive stuff now—and I have all in rock bands
that—but playing nice little buzz together. I
rolls or articulate stuff like that still know his
doesn't come off on electronic Greek in-
drumpads the way it does on a real fluences
snare drum.
"I think music has come full circle again.
The public has gotten so used to hearing
everything so perfect that music is not as
interesting as it used to be. I think we're
seeing it go to where now they want to
hear the drummer maybe speed up a little
bit or slow down a little bit or waiver—be-
cause it's human. They want to hear the there
human interaction. from the
"When Cream and Jimi Hendrix were inception.
out, you knew who each drummer was. He was very
Now it's become so standardized with all patient with well, too—like
the technology that sometimes you don't me and taught all the 7/8 times.
know who's playing. 'Great snare sound, me how to en- Greek 7/8 is very dif-
but I've heard it on this album and this al- gineer. While he ferent from western 7/8.
bum and this album....' was playing key- When we play Greek 7/8, you
"Buddy Rich once said in an interview board parts, I would can dance to it. That's their main
that in his day, Krupa and Louie Bellson engineer. So, when it time signature, whereas it's 4/4 here.
and all those great drummers had their in- came time to do drum "It was interesting learning 7/8 from
dividual styles. How they played was just parts, I was so familiar with Yanni, because he showed me different
as apparent as what kind of sound they what was going on with the ways of doing it so I don't even think it's an
brought out. That's the problem that drum- melody that I would base my rhythms odd time anymore. It just comes naturally
mers are facing right now. That's why, for around his melodies. That's what I like now. Plus we're doing some 9/8 stuff now.
instance, on Chameleon Days I used all about his music: I get to play drums a little It's the same Greek rhythm, only he added
my own acoustic snares. They don't sound bit more melodically because I'm not fol- two more beats at the end of the measure."
like other people's snare drums. We used a lowing a vocalist. I'm following his melo- Charlie says that his first love is playing
couple of different kinds, but they were my dies and his counterpoint and the string live. "That's what I'm setting everything up
own drums. rhythms. On certain songs we'll say, 'We for right now. They really let me do a lot of
"I think everybody's finding out that by don't need a drumbeat on this. Let's do things on this tour because they had fig-
going back to a lot of acoustic stuff, each some percussion. Let's do some timpani. ured, 'We have three keyboard players, and
drummer's sound becomes much more Let's do cymbal crashes.' The sound was a they're going to be very stationary.' They
identifiable. When I hear Neil Peart or combination of electronics and acoustics, intentionally let me do a lot of the things
Stewart Copeland, I know which drummer but we really went a lot more acoustic on that I did with the cage and all the pads.
it is. When I listen to a pop hit, I can't tell the last album. There are easier ways of playing that kind
who's playing drums. I'd rather listen to "Learning engineering has been very of stuff. But I did that on purpose."
humans now. I'm a little tired of the ma- beneficial to me because now I understand Charlie somehow finds time to write
chines." the frequencies where you record drums. I music, too. He describes it as "very jazz-
Charlie has worked on two of Yanni's know where the gates are set now, where oriented time signatures. I have a lot of
three albums. He says that Yanni gives him the EQ's are, and what reverbs I'm using. stuff written. I get to use some of it now
a lot of room to create his drum and per- Yanni's been teaching me how to produce with John and Yanni's soundtracks, and
cussion parts. "On the last album, I was drums. Now if I go in the studio, I'm going that's a great outlet. It has come in handy
for underscoring and film soundtracks be- a great job on the soundtracks and the un- "See, with Chameleon, we always had
cause you get a chance to do something a derscoring he did for Wall Street, Talk Ra- input from the other members on arrange-
little stranger. Stewart Copeland does such dio, and The Equalizer. ments and regarding writing our own parts.
So this isn't anything new right now. But in
Yanni's and John's cases, I get to be more
diversified. I get to use more percussion.
"Everything is 24-hour-a-day drumming
for me," Charlie says. "I'm on call all the
time. I'm doing John's movie right now. If
Yanni gets another movie, I'm going to have
to start on that with him. We've already
started on the next album with Yanni. And
I'm going to have to go into rehearsals with
John for The Pat Sajak Show."
Charlie has worked on three movie sound-
tracks with Yanni so far. "We did two mov-
ies at the same time, Heart Of Midnight and
The Frank Nitti Story. We were doing 14-
hour days for three weeks in a row. But we
didn't really notice it. You get into a groove.
They were our first movies, too.
"The music that Yanni did for Frank Nitti
was very melodic, Godfather-type stuff. Then
we did Steal The Sky, which was more like
a James Bond movie. I got to do a lot of
ethnic percussion in that because it was all
Middle Eastern. I got to do all these weird
bells and tablas. That was a ball.
"Heart Of Midnight is a scary one. I was
doing all kinds of percussion stuff, like gong
scrapes with backward reverbs. That one
was kind of fun. All three movies were dif-
ferent, too. Now we want to get a comedy."
In between all this activity, Charlie also
wants to get back into teaching. He used to
teach in Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
"It was really good for me," he says. "My
reading got better because I was teaching
again. It also teaches you patience.
"I want to take some lessons out here in
L.A. I want to go back and read big band
charts again just because it's different from
what I'm doing. I'd like to get some more
brush technique, too. I think that would be
kind of cool. So, I'm going to look into
that."
Now, if only someone would invent a
longer day.
 Linear Patterns
Made Easy
I don't know how many of you read Gary Chaffee's snare drum backbeats. All of the other notes just fit in between.
excellent column on linear drumming in the De-
cember '88 issue of MD, but if you didn't, you
might want to go back and take a look at it. Cary
gives a thorough explanation of the subject. As far
as the level of difficulty, though, Gary's column
jumped right into the deep end. This prompted
me to come up with a few exercises that might
ease you into the whole idea of linear drumming. Just for review,
linear drumming has to do with playing time on the drumset, but
doing so by playing a single line of notes broken up between
various parts of the set—no two voices sounding at the same time.
This first set of exercises consists of simple linear funk/rock
patterns that are fun to play and, more importantly, sound more
difficult than they actually are. You'll notice that no voice, be it
bass drum, hi-hat, or snare drum, plays more than one 16th note at
a time. Your right hand plays all of the hi-hat notes and your left
hand plays all of the snare drum notes. Start out slowly, and play
the accented backbeats loud. All of the other snare drum notes
should be ghosted (barely heard). One other piece of advice about
these patterns: Concentrate on playing the bass drum part and the

The next examples are slightly more difficult in that the right
hand on the hi-hat occasionally plays two 16th notes in a row.
 by William F. Miller

Again, start out slowly, and lay into the backbeat.

For a good independence exercise, play all of these patterns

with your right hand on the snare drum and your left hand on the
hi-hat. If you want to make these even more challenging, play
some of the unaccented snare drum notes on your toms. Also, try
playing some of the hi-hat notes on the bell of your ride cymbal.
With a little imagination, these patterns can really start sound-
ing complex!
 by Steve Anisman

21 Productive Ideas For The

Private Teacher
The following ideas are offered as sugges- 8. Tailor Exercises To Individual Interests: 15. Promote Playing: Get your students into
tions to help make you a more effective Although it's extremely important to teach some type of musical situation outside of
teacher. By employing these ideas, you can a variety of styles, many students will lose lessons whenever you feel they're ready.
maximize the benefits that your students interest if what they're learning is not ap- Remember, we are trying to create musi-
receive from each lesson with you. plied to their current musical interests. cians. It's vital for every developing musi-
Whenever possible, try to use examples cian to interact with others. There is no
1. Plan Ahead: Have an overall plan as to
from familiar music to demonstrate an im- substitute for real musical experience.
how you're going to move the student
portant point.
along. It doesn't have to be set in concrete, 16. Help Students With Equipment Selec-
but it does help you avoid wandering aim- 9. Teach With Conviction: It's important to tions: As a teacher, you'll be expected to
lessly from week to week. believe in what you're teaching. If you only know more about the instrument than just
have a half-hearted belief in what you're how to play and teach it. Students will usu-
2. Establish Groundrules: You need to es-
doing, it will come across as half-hearted ally expect you to guide them in their choice
tablish a basic understanding between you
to your students. of new or additional equipment.
and the student early in the game. Basic
groundrules can include regular practice 10. Point Out Improvements: We all have 17. Be Aware Of Differences In Abilities
requirements, fees, payment methods, atti- a natural tendency to stress areas that need And Goals: Not all students have equal abili-
tude, etc. It's a good idea to type your improvement, ignoring the improvement ties or equal expectations. This doesn't mean
groundrules and give a copy to every new itself. You may be the only gauge your stu- you shouldn't push a student to his/her full
student at the first lesson. dents have on their progress. A steady potential. But realize that not every student
stream of "this needs work" can be dis- wants to be a professional. Some may be
3. Teach Practice Skills: Practice skills are
heartening. Of course, this doesn't mean pursuing drumming for totally different rea-
very similar to study skills. Once you have
praising when performance isn't worthy of sons, and it's counterproductive to scare
them, everything comes easier. A regular
it. Approval used sparingly is more effec- them away with obscure techniques. Also,
practice schedule needs to be set up with
tive than constant praise. everyone learns at a different pace. Some
each student. Explain that you won't be
students will always be behind the point
around to enforce it, and it's his/her res- 11. Don't Fake It: If you don't know the
where you'd like them to be. If a student is
ponsibility to carry it out. Parents can be answer to a question, admit it. Feeding a
not progressing at a satisfactory pace, try to
helpful in keeping the student honest. Good student false information to save face is
determine the reason. If you can help, by
practice skills, when learned and used, can never a good idea. Once you've admitted
all means do so. If not, accept the fact that
make all the difference in the world. you don't know, do your best to find the
things may not always go exactly as planned.
answer. If you find you're constantly being
4. Keep Your Studio Clean And Up-To-
asked questions you can't answer, take it as 18. Be Willing To Bend: Keep in mind that
Date: A clean environment promotes bet-
a hint. You either need to do more home- every student is different, and different stu-
ter learning. It also helps your students feel
work on the subject, or refer the student to dents may require different teaching ap-
as though they're in an organized, impor-
another teacher. proaches. You should be willing to change
tant place, and this is vital. Have enough of
your approach if you want to be effective.
all the proper equipment and teaching aids 12. Use Surprise: Ask for something unex-
The only alternative is to accept only a cer-
readily available. It goes without saying pected periodically. This not only keeps
tain type of student—a choice most of us
that all studio equipment should always be your students' attention up, but helps to
simply cannot afford to make.
properly maintained. It's an investment that combat monotony. Having a routine is
can pay for itself many times over. good, but going through the same material 19. Have Reasons: Be able to explain why
in the exact same manner week after week you want certain things done in certain
5. Don't Miss Lessons: If for some unavoid-
can get boring—and who wants to go to a ways. Students often can't see the total pic-
able reason you have to miss a lesson, give
boring lesson? ture, or the reasoning behind it. "Because I
the student advance notice. (You obviously
said so" is not an acceptable answer.
have the right to expect the same courtesy 13. Communicate With Parents: This is
from your students.) Set up an alternate particularly important if the parents are 20. Be Patient: This is the golden rule. A
lesson date immediately. paying for the lessons. It's also common highly pressured student won't work as effi-
courtesy to keep them abreast of a student's ciently as one who is comfortable with you.
6. Teach All Styles: It's important for today's
progress. You can also use them to help A relaxed student is always more receptive
drummer to be able to play in a variety of
enforce the practice schedule you've set to learning than one who is uptight as the
styles. Your students don't have to be mas-
up with the student. result of an impatient teacher.
ters of every style, but they should be able
to hold their own in as many musical situ- 14. Promote Competition: Try to get stu- 21. Stay In Fifth Gear: Teaching requires
ations as possible. dents involved in competitive situations— considerable energy. Be prepared to give
things such as all-state tryouts or local band 110% for the entire lesson—every lesson.
7. Reinforce: Don't forget old material. Stu-
auditions. This is not to suggest entering This includes going into the lesson in a
dents have a tendency to forget the basics
students into competitions they're not ready good mood, with a clear head, and with a
when they're not reinforced regularly. Don't
for. Defeat doesn't always build character. positive attitude. Always keep in mind that
allow that to happen. Regular reinforce-
But a well-timed competition can help keep you just might be helping to mold the tal-
ment will keep both you and your students
a student motivated. ents of the world's next great drummer!
on your toes.
 ROCKENFIELD

wanted to do without any objections from a while to get the whole picture. But I think
anybody. We've been lucky because that that's changing because some of our songs
hasn't been a struggle. are getting a lot more airplay—as well as
TS: Do you think any of the stuff you're our videos. But it's still not the kind of stuff
playing is lost on your audience? that you can just slap on and everyone's
SR: That's a weird question for me to an- going to understand it right off the bat.
swer. [laughs] Sometimes I think the whole TS: The band's music has a very cohesive
band is a little out there for some people. quality not often heard in the more tradi-
Whether we're ahead of our time—I'm not tional heavy metal format. There's not the
sure about that. There are really popular traditional guitar solo, keyboard solo, etc.
bands who are just that—Pink Floyd, for When there is an instrumental break—
instance. which occurs quite often—the band often
TS: There's more to your music than a good takes the break as a unit.
song and a great singer. SR: Well, there are a lot of bands today
SR: There's something a lot deeper to this, with great musicians, but maybe because
definitely. We've never been the sex, drugs, they haven't been together long enough to
and rock 'n' roll type of band. Operation: understand each other musically, they tend
Mindcrime is about a concept that could to riff separately. It can sound like every-
happen these days. I think it just takes a body's soloing. We started out doing that
Photo by Rick Gould

while for some people to sit down and in our younger days: everybody trying to
understand the whole story, because they outshine one another, or trying to fill up
have to delve into some reading to reach it, every single space in a song. But we've
instead of just listening and enjoying the learned over the years that less can be best,
music—which is perfectly fine too, if that's less can be more. In terms of recording, the
all they want. size of the snare drum sound for instance—
happen any other way but our way. But But Operation: Mindcrime took nine if you don't play it a lot, it sounds bigger
we're easy to work with, too, in that we're months to put together because it's hard to than if you do play it a lot. Leaving air in
not closed to ideas or suggestions. We just do a concept record. You've got to have a the songs so that they can breathe helps to
have a clear vision of what we want to certain order, you've got to have charac- create better dynamics. That's something
sound like. ters, and all the characters need to have a we've learned over the years.
TS: It's great that you don't allow the pro- background. It's almost like a screenplay or TS: That attitude is displayed on your double
ducer to intrude on your creative vision. a book rather than an album. So there was bass drum technique. You tend to use both
But can you recall a time of having strayed a lot of thought put into all aspects of it, bass drums only in spots.
from that path due to outside influences: which may go over people's heads some- SR: Exactly. I'm not into playing double
record label, management, etc? times. That may be why we haven't been kicks all of the time. There is a time and a
SR: We've always done exactly what we've so commercially accepted, because it takes place in our music where it sounds good,
and there are times where it doesn't. I just
use it as an extra limb, to add something
different to a song.
TS: You also mentioned dynamics. Another
difference between your band and the rest
of the pack is the gradations between soft
and loud, delicate and heavy, darkness and
light in your sound. And when it comes to
your playing, I've seen you come down on
your drums with high lift on your sticks
and with a ferocious aggression. Alternately,
you also lean to playing less intensely when
it calls for it. It's definitely not the standard
metal—the bashing away in 4/4 type of
thing.
SR: That, again, is something that we all
prefer. Of course, we are a metal band,
and people usually like to hear the in-your-
face sound; that's what metal is all about.
But for us, there's a time and place to be
loud, and there's a time for things to be a
little more moody. For example, instead of
the usual snare sound, I might go to a side
stick or something, which a lot of drum-
mers in metal don't do; usually a lot of the
drumming is very straightforward. In most
cases, the things you hear on the first song
are pretty much what you hear on the whole
album. We're not that type of band. We
prefer to use dynamics and different sound
embellishments to create different moods
and atmospheres.
TS: Speaking of your snare sound, through
the effects you use, you obtain all different
types of sounds. Since you don't trigger
sampled sounds, do you use any special
 "if you don't where to draw the line?
SR: I don't do things just to be different, but
weeks, and then brainstorm—tearing our
own playing apart for what does and doesn't
play the I do try out ideas to keep things interesting
for me. We've done about 200 shows on
sound good.
TS: You've mentioned working with ma-
snare drum this tour so far, and since we've started
we've changed maybe two songs in the
chines several times. Did you always favor
computers and electronics, or did that come
a lot, whole set. So you find ways of changing
things around to keep it as interesting as
gradually?
SR: It was a gradual change, and now
it sounds possible.
But as far as doing things just for the sake
everything we use is computerized. As far
as me personally, I really do use the drum
bigger of being different, that's not where I'm at. I
guess working out our ideas to see if they
machines I have on the road quite a bit.
Some people find that weird because they
than if you fit just comes down to the time when we
first actually write the music. We have multi-
say that a drummer like me wouldn't nor-
mally like drum machines—whatever that
do play it track recording units in the basement, so
we'll write, record, and just play it back.
means! I love drum machines; I think they're
great. They're always right on time; that's
a lot." We might listen to the tapes for a couple of what's cool about them. [laughs] Plus for

tuning?
SR: There's really nothing special to it, ex-
cept that I have my snare drum tuned
really tight. As far as the different sounds,
every song is a separate song from the one
before it—even in a concept album—and
each has a different mood and a different
message. So why make every sound the
same? We try to use a sound that either
creates or reflects an individual's mood for
that song. That's what I like about Stewart
Copeland: He was great in perfecting his
sounds in that he'd tune his snare to a
certain pitch—like a high A—that would
be in tune with the song. For the next al-
bum, we're going to experiment further with
that, too.
TS: You seem to have playing ability on
both your right and left sides. You must be
ambidextrous.
SR: I think all drummers are ambidextrous.
Don't they have to be? [laughs] If being
ambidextrous means that I can tell my left
foot to do what my right hand does, then I
guess I am. People have told me that I am.
TS: Do you lead with either hand?
SR: Yes, I do. I can't play as well left-handed
as I can right-handed, but I can get away
with it. I've done it before in situations
where I've broken one of my bass drums
and I've had to play all my right foot pat-
terns with my left foot. I've never really
switched everything to my left side—play-
ing a mirror image of what I do on my right
side. But one thing I try to do when I prac-
tice is to work both sides, playing the same
things. If you can't play with your weak
hand what your lead hand can play, it can
be a hindrance. But if you can do both it
opens more doors. I've tried to work on
that.
TS: You have a tendency to utilize your
China cymbal in the capacity of a ride.
SR: I like it as a rhythm; it's really disturb-
ing sounding. I also like the textures that it
gives a rhythm, and it's a visual thing, too.
TS: That's something that's worked well for
you on different levels. But just because
you come up with a different way of doing
something, it doesn't guarantee that it's
going to go over well. How do you know
me, the drum machine is a great writing
tool; I just wheel my studio into my hotel
room and write. It doesn't make any noise,
I don't get any complaints from anybody.
In fact, for the last record, all the demos we
did were from programs I put down on the
drum machine. So I wrote all the drum
parts first, then I put them on the machine
for the demos.
TS: You used electronic drums on the Rage
For Order tour, but now you've come back
to acoustic drums. How come?
SR: I chose to use electronics on the tour
because Rage was such an electronic al-
bum. We used a lot of keyboards, we util-
ized a lot of the technology available to us,
plus the concept of the album was about
technology itself. Going on the road with
my electronic kit was just an expansion of
that. Then halfway through the tour, I
switched back to acoustics anyway, be-
cause things kept on blowing up on me,
and it was beginning to piss me off.
TS: Jumping back to Operation: Mindcrime,
since you enjoy programming so much,
why didn't you just program all your drum
tracks for the final product as you did on
the demos rather than playing your tracks
on a conventional kit?
SR: I wanted to program on this record; in
pre-production I programmed everything
on a Fairlight—the way Def Leppard pro-
grams drum tracks. But the producer said,
"You can play it just as well as you can
program it in, so you should really play it."
Since I can program drum tracks any time I
want to anyway, I agreed with him.
TS: With each successive album, your drum-
ming has matured. Would you attribute that
change to touring so much and working
with the same group of people for the last
eight years, or was it more of a conscious
effort on your behalf?
SR: Over the years it seems to have gotten
better. Obviously, you're supposed to im-
prove with time. [laughs] And hopefully, it
will get even better. We all practice a lot of
the time, too, and I guess that for me, it
really comes down to a matter of just that—
practicing. Through practicing and the
benefit of playing live so often, I've tried to
improve my playing each day.
When we're touring, the practice is con-
fined to soundchecks and, obviously, play-
ing the gig every night. There's not a lot of
time to physically sit down and practice
during the day because my kit isn't set up
until soundcheck. But I do keep my drum
machine with me all of the time, and I
have the keyboards close by so that I can
write songs any time I get the urge. It's not
physical drumming, but I can keep my mind
working in a creative direction and I can
get my ideas down on tape.
But looking over the albums since we
started, I'd like to think it's come a long
way. It was a lot of hard work though, and I
really strived to improve my playing. I guess
I was lucky in that I always had a good
sense of rhythm—that's a definite plus—
although I still can't dance. [laughs]
 by Joe Morello
Transcribed by Keith Necessary

Endurance And Control: Part 1

The purpose of these exercises is to help develop control of single strokes while moving between two different odd-
note groupings.
First, practice each separate subdivision slowly with the metronome, accenting the first note of each grouping. As
your proficiency increases, eliminate the accents. Start at around quarter note = 53 on your metronome. Playing these
exercises smoothly and evenly is more important than playing them fast.
Once you're comfortable with all of them, repeat the second bar of each one twice. You can then repeat the second
bar three, four, or up to as many as 30 repetitions. This is great for your endurance. You could also try this with your
feet, using two bass drums or a double pedal.
It's important that these exercises be practiced with a metronome. Stay relaxed and keep the sticks in constant motion. If you feel any
tension, don't be afraid to slow the tempo down.

These exercises can be applied easily to the drumset. First, play exercises 1 through 4 over four quarter notes on the bass drum, with
two and four on the hi-hat. Here's an example:

You can also try going back and forth between two drums. This should also be played over the bass drum and hi-hat shown in the
previous example. Use your imagination and expand on any of the exercises to suit your individual needs.

Here are a few suggestions for variations on these exercises:

1. Play at all volume levels. Try everything from extremely soft (ppp) to extremely loud (fff). Stay relaxed.
2. Play all the exercises with brushes. It's a great exercise, and you will improve control with the sticks.
3. Practice exercises 1 through 4 starting with the left hand.
Any further questions on this series of articles may be directed to Joe Morello c/o Modern Drummer magazine.
 Reflections Of A New
Will Lee, my dear friend and all-time favor- ing locked all the other tracks into the no 9/8 for me?" He turned a potentially
ite bass player, once told me that one of groove. I looked like a genius to the RCA weird situation into a party! When the ses-
my greatest talents as a record producer is execs, but the genius was Steve Gadd. sion was finished, he drove directly to the
my ability to surround myself with talented airport to catch his flight. I don't know
JOE BONADIO
people. I love to work with creative people, many people who would have done that.
and I like being friends with people I re- Will Lee put it best: "Joe Bonadio is a mon-
DAVE WECKL
spect. ster." That seems to be what everyone in
One of the advantages of my job is that I New York is saying these days. Joe is about I first met Dave Weckl in 1983, after start-
get "behind the scenes" looks at some of as rock solid a drummer as they make 'em. ing my own record label, SOS. We became
the world's greatest drummers. It's given And he's a world-class percussionist, to good friends quickly, and Dave played on
me a chance to discover some of the abili- boot. In fact, it was the extraordinary Bra- virtually all of the early SOS releases. It
ties they possess that many people may be zilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos who was obvious to me (and just about every-
unaware of. What follows are some reflec- first urged Bonadio to move to New York one else in New York) that Weckl was one
tions on three of these drummers. Hope- from Kenosha, Wisconsin. But I really don't of the special ones! He is to drums what
fully, you'll see what I've seen—some of think that Joe's success is due solely to his Michael Brecker is to saxophone, what
the aspects of their talent that places them considerable musical talents. I think that Chick Corea is to piano, what Anthony
among the most gifted players on earth. what has put Bonadio over the top is his Jackson is to bass: Weckl is brilliant. I've
warm personality. got lots of great Weckl stories, but these
STEVE GADD
I could tell you stories of his technical two best exemplify his character and awe-
For as long as I've been producing records prowess, his metronomic time, his superb some talent.
in New York, Steve Gadd has been the one musical sense.... Joe Bonadio is one of the In January 1985, having taken on the
drummer most emulated by the up-and- finest musicians on the contemporary scene. responsibility of managing The Bill Con-
coming, and most respected by the estab- His work with Chuck Mangione, Bob Moses nors Group, I was securing bookings for
lished. Steve introduced me to funk and and Pat Metheny, and The SOS All-Stars the band. We all felt that the group's "offi-
laid open a new world for me. Yet I never proves it. But his talent is not what made cial debut" should be held at The Bottom
really appreciated the full depth of his tal- him my first-call drummer and percussion- Line in New York, so I called the owner to
ents until I worked with him on a record ist. His heart is what put him at the top of make arrangements. The elite of New York's
date. my list. Joe makes everyone feel like fam- music society packed the house for the
By 1979, I had managed to land a free- ily. More often than not, you'll hear people opening night's sets. Weckl kicked things
lance producer gig at RCA Records, and say, "Joe Bonadio is my friend." And if you off with a short drum solo to the cheers of
was given the assignment of "sweetening" think that doesn't make a difference, think the audience. We had a great time, and
existing tracks for an RCA release. I lis- again! everyone loved the band. We felt good that
tened and realized that the original drum- For as long as I've known him, Bonadio first night, but we had no way of knowing
mer had some time problems, and as a has been right there when I needed him. what the next night held in store.
result none of the other instruments were He really goes out of his way to be accom- Early the following evening, I picked up
locked into any kind of groove. I wanted to odating. As far as I'm concerned, that means Weckl at his house and we drove to New
make a good impression on the "powers as much as his ability to play whatever's York City. Dave was hungry and wanted to
that were" at RCA, and I wanted to do a needed. During one of my all-night record stop somewhere for dinner. But we were
good job on one of my first projects. So I dates last year, I called Bonadio's home to already late, so we headed straight to The
called Steve to overdub new drums. see if he was available to come over to Bottom Line. Within minutes after we ar-
When he arrived on the date, I had every- Acme to do some percussion overdubs. It rived, the house lights dimmed. Weckl
thing ready for him...or so I thought. After was late and Joe was trying to get some turned to me and said, "Joe, the minute this
tuning the drums and getting his sounds up sleep before heading out to the airport set is over let's get something to eat. I'm
in only 15 minutes (I've seen it take hours where he and the rest of the Mangione starving!" Then he turned around, jumped
with others), Steve asked to see a chart of group were to catch an early flight to the onto the stage and once again kicked things
the tune. I felt sick! I was still relatively in- West Coast. Joe knew that tour would keep off with a solo! I will never cease to be
experienced at producing and had ne- him on the road for over a month, and amazed by Weckl's cool and nonchalant
glected to write a drum chart. All the RCA there would be no other time he could lay attitude. The first show concluded to a
big shots were looking on, and I thought to down these parts. So he got out of bed and standing ovation, and Weckl, not so much
myself, "I'm a goner." drove over to the studio. I felt terrible ask- unimpressed by the cheers as not allowing
It would have taken a couple of hours to ing him to do it. But Joe wouldn't have it the cheers to affect him, wandered over to
write out all the tricky rhythms in that ex- any other way. me and we split to find a restaurant. We
tended dance chart, and that would have It was after midnight when he arrived returned at midnight, just in time for the
thrown the project behind schedule. I and began laying down the percussion final set.
walked over to Gadd and whispered, parts. It was absolutely incredible watch- I stood in my usual place at the back-
"Steve, I'm in hot water. I forgot the chart. ing him turn a simple tambourine part into stage entrance, which afforded me a clear
Can you help me out?" I had no idea what a work of art. Joe had a tambourine in each view of the stage and the house. Halfway
to do. Steve said, "No problem, roll the hand and jingles strapped to each wrist. through the set, I glanced out into the audi-
tape." And with pen and manuscript paper Nothing is inconsequential to Bonadio. If ence and saw Chick Corea and Gayle Mor-
in hand, he wrote a chart as he listened! I he's doing it, it's important! And all during an sitting not far from me. Corea was there
couldn't believe my eyes. Then he sat down the session, Joe was breaking into his to check out Weckl. Dave had spotted him
behind the drums and nailed it in one take. standup comedy routines, yelling, "I told from his seat behind his drumset and was
He hadn't missed a single note! His play- you guys I'm a fusion player. Ain't you got putting on the performance of his life. At
 by Joe Ferry

York Producer
one point during his solo, half of Weckl's Recording. We were recording a particu- was! When he finally got his idea across
drumkit actually fell over. (He used to keep larly difficult piece of music that Dave had and everyone finished the overdubs, we
a floor tom mounted on a stand that also never seen before. It was full of very de- sat down and listened to the playback. As
held a couple of cymbals. When this top- manding rhythms and figures and, of course, the final notes faded, we all looked at each
pled it took the other floor tom with it.) Weckl had it covered after one read- other, speechless and dazzled by the mas-
Weckl played the snare as I scrambled on through. Also, he was playing his full rig of terful technique of Dave Weckl. In all my
stage to set the gear back upright. Then, electronic and acoustic drums and percus- years of producing and listening to music, I
the second it was all back in place, he sion simultaneously. have never witnessed anything like that.
went to the full set—with me still tighten- We went for a final "take," and about
ing clamps and bolts. I actually felt a breeze halfway through the piece the other play-
as his sticks whizzed inches past my ear. ers on the date, all extremely talented
Needless to say, the place went wild! people, began to lose their place. I was
After the show, Chick and Gayle came about to stop the tape, but when I looked
backstage to introduce themselves. Dave over at Weckl it was clear to me that he
and Chick went off into a corner of the had no intention of stopping. He actually
crowded dressing room and talked. On the played the last couple of minutes of that
way home that night, Dave said that Chick composition alone, making all the rhyth-
was thinking of putting together a group he mic figures and fills perfectly, swinging as
was going to call The Elektric Band. I think if he had the whole band with him.
Dave only half believed Chick would ever As guitarist Al Orlo said recently, "Weckl
call. But two weeks later the phone rang. left the whole rhythm section in the dust.
The next thing we knew, I was driving He displaced a 16th note, and nobody knew
Weckl to the airport to catch a flight to L.A. where Weckl was except Weckl!" We went
and his first Elektric Band tour. back and overdubbed everyone else, and
The second story takes place three and a even with Dave counting the measures and
half years later, in the spring of '88 at Acme beats, nobody knew where the hell Weckl
 Transcribed by Chris Brady

Photo by Jaeger Kotos

Vinnie
Colaiuta:
"Dong Work For Yuda"
This month's Rock Charts goes back a few years to look at Vinnie Colaiuta's playing on the Frank Zappa tune "Dong
Work For Yuda." This track, from the Joe's Garage collection (currently available as Joe's Garage: The Complete
Version, Barking Pumpkin/Capitol SWCL-74206), is a medium-slow rock tune that Vinnie takes some liberties with. At
certain points in the tune Vinnie plays with a lot of finesse, and during other sections, he wails away on the kit.
 by Anthony J. Cirone

Portraits In Rhythm:
Etude #19
A study of musical form is presented in composer's intentions, and also aids in vice repeating a theme or phrase twice as
Etude #19, providing us with a sampling of memorization. slow, is used in measure four, line seven.
the book's second section. The Introduc-
Observations Interpretations
tion begins with the opening Largo, lead-
ing to section A's first theme, the Vivace. 1. "Inverted accents" (in the opening) 1. Important notes within the Introduc-
An introduction should do exactly what it help emphasize and exaggerate the tion are clearly indicated by the opening
suggests—introduce the main body of the Introduction's character. Notice the normal accents. To effectively execute these ac-
work. In this case, it is done in dramatic accents in the second line; less energy is cents, be sure the note following the roll
fashion by using inverted accents. A smooth needed here. Be sure to focus on the transi- (the release of the roll) is not articulated
transition into the Vivace is also created tion being made into the Vivace. with an accent.
with a simple rhythm modulation. In the 2. In the book, the first measure of lines 2. The transition from the opening Largo
third line, the 16th- and 32nd-note rhythms two and three (third beat) had an incorrect into the Vivace is written as a simple
of the Introduction become the 8th and rhythm. Those measures have been cor- double-time process; that is, the speed of
16th notes of the new tempo. rected in this article. the 16th and 32nd notes in the Largo is
The body of the work contains an A 3. In lines six, seven, and eight, accents exactly the same as the 8th and 16th notes
theme (Vivace) and a B theme; the B theme are placed on the ends of the short rolls. In in the Vivace. However, given a performer's
begins after the repeat. There is a similar the book, there was a mistake on line seven, creative liberties, I execute this transition
rhythm modulation in the last two lines, as measure two, in which the final accent in using a slight tempo increase at the Vivace.
the transition is made from the B section to the series of 8th-note rolls was reversed The new section (A theme) is thus set apart
a restatement of the Introduction. Analyz- and placed on the roll. That has been cor- from the transition, and the beginning of
ing musical form, an important element of rected in this article. the theme is more readily heard. Perform-
every composition, helps to understand the 4. "Augmentation," a compositional de- ers should be sensitive to what listeners are
hearing and adjust the music accordingly.
Performances vary because of the
performer's interpretations.
3. Exaggerate the end of the crescendo
in line five, immediately before the repeat.
Therefore, as the first theme is repeated,
the subito piano dynamic will be empha-
sized.
4. Notice the dotted quarter-note roll in
line five, measure three, and that it is fol-
lowed by a drag. Release this roll early in
order to prepare for the drag.
5. Observe the G.P. in line eight. This is
an abbreviation for Grand Pause; actually,
it is a measure of silence. It's incorrect to
treat it as a fermata or hold. Simply count
the correct number of beats rest. Beethoven
cleverly used this as a device at the end of
movements so players would not move until
the piece was over!
Edited by Josie Cirone.
Music © 1968 Belwin Mills/Columbia, Hialeah FL. Used with permission.
 the studios?
SG: Oh yes. They had a lot of things
"There are times you really play aggressively, there, like percussion equipment and
bass drums, but I always brought my
own drums. I have always tuned my
and they don't want that, but then if you lay drums so they would be musical.
Each drum had tonality. As a matter
back, they want it aggressive." of fact, one of the things I'm very
proud of is the fact that when I was
doing a television show or a record,
people used to come up to me and
We were led by Vic Schoen. They liked the though? say, "I know you did that because I know
band so much that they brought Les Brown SG: It's a totally different way of playing. I your sound."
in with his band, and we did a thing that play to what's around me, and I never used RF: How did you tune your drums?
was like the Battle of the Bands. Vic wrote to wear headphones. I don't know why SG: At the time, you didn't muffle every-
this special piece for two full orchestras anybody wears them, because I like to hear thing up like they do today. That's like play-
with two rhythm sections. It was so well- the thing live. There's a lot of separation, ing on Frisbees. I'm glad I was in a profes-
received that Vic wrote some more things, but the rhythm section is always together. sion where I'd walk in and see anywhere
and we did an album with one rhythm sec- Somebody told me after I came to Califor- from three people to 100 people playing
tion that was a combination of players, and nia that in the studio, you don't play with live, not programming. At one point in my
that was wild. any dynamics. You play the same level all life, I thought about having an AC implant.
RF: Do you remember being in the studio the time, with brushes or sticks or what- I honestly do not like what is going on, and
for the first time and what that felt like? ever. And I said, "I don't find that easy to I've felt this way since the inception of
SG: Yeah, I think it was with Don Costa at do. There are shadings." And they said, electronics.
Columbia, on 30th Street. I played drums, "Well, they'll do it inside the booth." In RF: Has it eaten into your work?
and unbeknownst to me, he wrote a bell New York, the engineers would respect your SG: Of course. It's eaten into everybody's
part, too, which I had to play. I didn't have approach to playing. Today you're in a sepa- work. It used to be a live performance. I
any mallets with me because they hadn't rate room or a booth, and you're miked got a call from Elliot Lawrence for a Lin-
told me about that, so I just turned the every way possible. Then, it was a natural coln Mercury commercial when I was in
drumsticks around and tried to get a sound way to play. When it got soft, you played New York around 1955. I got to the studio
like that—dainty. soft. When it got loud, you played loud. It at 76th and First Avenue, and Elliot came
RF: Were you nervous that it was your first used to break me up because people would over and said, "Wait 'til you see what we're
time in the studio? say, "When it gets softer, don't you slow doing today. You're not going to believe
SC: In a way, I guess. But I went in and did down a little, and when you get louder, this." They were shooting the commercial
what I had to. don't you pick up the tempo?" I said, "No." on the stage, and we were set up back in
RF: Isn't the process different than live, RF: Were you actually using your drums in the foyer. We ran the music down, and
then it was, "Let's take one." We did our
part while they did their thing up there,
and they played it back immediately. It was
the first videotaped commercial, the ad-
vent of video tape. We could see where it
was going to lead. No more live shows.
From that moment on, they got control of
this and control of that. Now I watch guys
come in with their programmable drums,
which I don't think have any soul or feel-
ing to them; it's just mechanical. I think
somehow it's going to come back around
again. It's never going to duplicate a live
orchestra. The percussion players are all
coming in with racks. Harvey Mason was
playing drums on a television series about
two years ago, and Larry Bunker and I were
playing percussion. Harvey had his drums
set up with the railing around them, and I
went over and said, "That's nice Harvey,
but you look like you're in a handicapped
toilet." He cracked up. It's kind of weird
when you're working with a 70- to 100-
piece orchestra and you're sitting in a little
portable booth.
RF: Can you give us a taste of what it was
like recording in those days vs. now?
SG: If they had two mic's on a drummer it
was a lot. Then they started experimenting
with these lavalier mic's that you hang
around your neck, which got a much bet-
ter sound. You just went wherever you had
to; it was wireless. They first started using
that when I was doing a radio show with
Ernie Kovaks. It got a much better sound,
except you couldn't breathe or cough or
 grumble—and I used to mumble a lot. To-
day when I go into a studio, there's an
average of eight to twelve microphones.
RF: Does that change the way you play at
all?
SG: I still use the same approach. A lot of
engineers used to love when I'd come in
because I don't sit there and clop. I don't
think I've ever broken a head. Joe Porcaro
came up to me on a session we were doing
a few months ago, looked at my drums,
and said, "Those are the same heads you
had ten years ago." The only times my
heads have ever broken have been when
I'm doing a show and one of the rock 'n'
rollers comes in and has to use my drums.
I believe in playing in context with what's
around you, and—like my good friend Al-
lan Schwartzberg mentioned in his inter-
view for this magazine—with humor. I've
always had a little humor. It's something
that you do that some people would inter-
pret as funny—little inuendos. They're not
unmusical, but it's just a different approach
to things. I got called to do a session for a
commercial where I was playing a dinner
plate. That's all they wanted me to bring, a
dinner plate and a brush. So I brought a
couple of different kinds—porcelain, plas-
tic.
RF: When you started in the studios, there
weren't click tracks, were there?
SG: No. When we did commercials and
we were like a half a second over, we'd
have to do another take. That's good train-
ing.
RF: When you started using one, did that
feel too regimented?
SG: No, I just felt they didn't trust us any-
more. [laughs] We were doing a picture a
long time ago with Marion Evans. We did a
couple of takes with the click, and then we
decided we'd try one without the click.
The time was exactly the same.
RF: You once said that you have to do a lot
of sessions in order to get one that you
really enjoy. What are the variables that
make you either enjoy or not enjoy a ses-
sion?
SG: It's the music. What you're asking about
is gratification. The sessions are all impor-
tant—don't get me wrong—and I treat
every date that I do with the same intensity,
but it's like reading a book you enjoy or
reading a book that's drudgery.
RF: What about working with different pro-
ducers and engineers?
SG: I remember doing something with Ber-
nadette Peters once that was like music
from the '40s or '50s. I have five or six sets
of drums for different occasions. I wasn't
told to bring anything in particular, but I
knew what it was going to be, so I brought
a regular band set. I came in, and the pro-
ducer saw a front head on the bass drum.
He kept me going with the bass drum for-
ever: "No, that's not the right sound." They
were striving to get a rock sound, and I
said, "I can get the sound on this drum or
I'll call my company and have another bass
drum sent out. It's not a rock date, but if
this is the sound you want, I'll give it to
you." So I padded the drum and loosened because I had it stuffed with shredded body else. It wasn't the kind of thing where
the head up to where it was like a paper paper and the sound of this drum was you come in and just sit down. They went
bag, and he said, "Yeah, that's it, perfect." phenomenal. It was a 16 x 24 rosewood in, but ended up having to call another
Meanwhile, my other bass drum came in bass drum. My mouth fell open and I said, session, and I went in and did it. Those
and I said, "Do you want to listen to this "Look, I don't come in here and touch things happen.
one just in case?" And he said, "No, it's your dials. At least you could have asked I loved a lot of things we used to do
perfect." For that kind of music, you don't me. Put that head back on. I don't want to with Tony Bennett. We always had good
want a rock sound. Even the conductor/ know about this. I tune these things a cer- writers like Marion Evans and Pat Wil-
arranger said it wasn't the right sound. I tain way." He put it back on and to this liams. It was always good music and fun
never worked for that producer again be- day I can't get the same sound that I had, to play. And after the sessions we'd all go
cause he thought I was giving him a hard and I very seldom use that set. around to the pizza joint around the cor-
time. RF: Let's talk about some of the things ner and carry on a little bit.
It came to the point where if I got called you're most proud of and why. I did a jazz thing with Bill Potts on Bye
to do something, I was ready to have two SG: There was a live show on the air many Bye Birdie that was with Clark Terry, Ernie
sets brought down. If you don't like this years ago, maybe '56 or '57, called Omni- Royal, Milt Hinton, and all the guys that
one, try the other one. I could alter the bus, and they did a whole show on music. I'm proud of.
drums, but my feeling during that time There was a piece that Leonard Bernstein We just finished this thing with Ralph
was that the engineers were looking for had written for Benny Goodman that we Burns on Bert Rigby, You're A Fool, a new
the same sound all the time. Hal [Blaine] recorded later, after the show. It was an Carl Reiner picture. Prior to doing the ses-
is the one who invented the concert toms. extremely difficult piece of music because sions I had to go in with Ralph and make
He came out with that sound, and if a guy the drum part had certain areas where your click tracks with a woodblock so he could
went into a date without those drums...it two hands were doing something inde- use it on the track later with the orchestra.
wasn't even soundwise, but it was crucial pendently of your two feet; each limb had We had a five-day call, and we finished in
sightwise. When Don Costa was alive and its own chore to perform. It was a coordi- three days; that's how good the band was.
I'd get calls to do sessions with him, it nation of four different parts of my body On this picture, the closing credits were
was, "Bring your concert toms." I didn't playing four different things. It was a hard six or seven minutes; it had a click that
even own concert toms, so I got the cart- thing to play, and we did it on the show changed, and it was a very big production
age company to rent me concert toms, live. Benny didn't even do the show. Al thing. Finally, Ralph called me over and
and I eventually got a set. That's what I Galladora, a clarinet player at ABC, a mar- asked if we should try it without a click,
used on the Burnett show—8", 10", 12", velous virtuoso, did it on the show. We and I said, "Yes, let's try it; we have noth-
and 14". recorded it with Benny, and for some rea- ing to lose." And we did it in one take.
I had another incident where my drums son, with Benny, it had to be done in I'm proud of having been associated with
were sent in with a two-headed bass drum. sections. Benny was kind of weird any- the Olympics. I did the Liberty Weekend
I put the cymbals up, walked out of the way. When they got the date set for re- thing in 1984. I did a Richard Rodgers
room, and when I came back, the engi- cording, I couldn't make it because I had special with Steve and Edie that won an
neer was taking my front head off. I flipped another thing to do, so they called some- award—a dynamite show. I did the Emmys
for a long time, I did the Tonys and the RF: How did you teach yourself? stage and asked if I could have his auto-
Academy Awards. I did the Academy SG: I used to just play around with the pad. graph and a picture, and he said, "Get
Awards in '84, and Steve Lawrence and They got a teacher for me who told them I lost."
Sammy Davis had a 12- or 14-minute med- had promise, which after one or two les- RF: Didn't that break your heart at 12 years
ley of songs that went from one feel to sons convinced them, and then they got a old?
another, totally different bags, with a 90- to set of drums for me, if you could call them SG: It taught me a lot. As a matter of fact,
100-piece orchestra. We ran it down, and that. I just sat down and played. A friend I Buddy and I became very good friends,
it was done in one take. I don't pat myself went to school with played clarinet. He and I brought it up to him and it cracked
on the back, but I take pride in everything I would come over, and even before I got him up. Another time, I think I was about
do. the drums he'd play the clarinet and I'd 15, Les Brown was playing at Hamids Pier,
RF: What made you pick up a stick ini- play on a pretzel can with a set of brushes and I went up and asked if I could sit in.
tially? or on an old banjo with the strings off, on And they said yes, so I sat in with the band.
SG: This is going to sound funny, but when the head. I used to go around and listen to Johnny Richards came in with a band, and
I was about 11, my parents took me to the bands and players, which reminds me of a I sat in with them, too.
movies to see Strike Up The Band with funny story: The first time I met Buddy Rich I used to just watch people play. Now
Mickey Rooney, and for some reason, I he was with Tommy Dorsey's band at Steel that I think about it, I used to find it sort of
watched it and said, "I'd like to do that." Pier. I watched Buddy, and I went back- weird because I would tap my feet the
RF: Then did you bug your parents?
SG: Oh yeah, and they said, "No way. Play
the violin or the saxophone or whatever." I
gave in to the tenor saxophone, but I used
to purposely get the worst sound it was
possible to get—it sounded like a goose
being run over—until it was, "You win." So
we went out and got a pad, and I took one
or two lessons, but most of what I do was
self-taught.
same way the guys in the band were tap- 10 or 12 years I was in New York, which with a big band and a small band?
ping their feet. was about the time that the rock 'n' roll SG: When you're with a group, you can
Soon I started playing in Jersey. I played trend started with the triplets. Everybody stretch out and play with each other a little
with the high school gym band, and we was playing triplets, and after a while, it more. With a big band, it's nice when you
played dances and things. I also used to would boggle your mind. Tony said he had feel 16, 18 guys really locked together.
work Saturdays and Sundays at a place two or three months in Europe with Basie's Many say it's more confining. Not for me,
called Daddy Lou's Bar. I worked with a band, so I went and it was beautiful. though, because I don't remember what I
sextet, and I was the only white guy. We'd When we got back to New York, I went did the last time, so it's never the same.
go in there and work for $5.00 from 7:00 at in to do a couple of sessions, and after Every time you play something, it's differ-
night until maybe 4:00 or 5:00 in the morn- playing all that nice music with that great ent, because of how everybody's feeling.
ing. band, I was starting to go bananas. Back to When I worked with Sinatra, I could look
RF: And you were how old? the triplets again. Rufus Jones was leaving at him and know what kind of a mood he
SG: I was about 14. Basie, so I went out and stayed with the was in. You have to play games and guess
RF: How could you go into a bar? band about seven months. This was about what kind of a mood whoever you're work-
SG: Atlantic City was a wide open town, 1966. ing with is in. If they're laid back and in a
and this is way back. RF: What was that like? good mood, they want to settle into a nice
RF: Weren't your parents worried about SG: Absolute joy. That band was so great to groove. If they get nervous and they want
you? play with. Musically it gives you a chance to get off, you can see by the gestures.
SG: No, they knew where I was. And then to get into the music. It's a totally different Working with Steve and Edie was funny,
as things went on, I started going up to way of playing. It's like dancing on sand. It because sometimes she'd want it faster and
New York and working around there. just flows. It's the kind of music I like to he'd want it slower. I devised a thing where
Around 1946, I joined Sonny Dunham's play. I love live performance; there's noth- my right hand was playing where the time
band. ing like it. In the studios you're buried. was and my left hand would be either a
RF: Having worked with such a variety of RF: You also worked with the Buddy Rich little ahead of it or a little behind. It sounded
people, what is the difference between play- band. pretty weird. If they turned around and
ing with a singer and in an instrumental SG: While I was in New York, Buddy and I would ask, "What the hell was that?" I'd
context? were good friends, and when Buddy would say, "Well, you got what you asked for."
SG: I have always approached it as though come into town and have to play a show, Lena Home was the same way. She'd want
the singer were a jazz player—an instru- he would always call me to come in if the something slower or faster, and Lenny Hay-
mentalist. The singer would be just like the band had to play with the act. One time ton would be conducting and go the oppo-
horn. Tony always had good music, Steve Buddy had a pinched nerve and he could site way. When the show is over, you just
and Edie always had good music, Vic barely move. He was just in agony, so they walk away and don't get caught in be-
Damone, Diahann Carroll, you name it. called me and I went out with the band to tween.
RF: You also worked with Count Basie. do about six one-nighters. RF: What was it like working with Sinatra?
SG: I did Tony Bennett's records for the last RF: What's the difference between playing How long did you work with him?
SG: On and off, seven years.
RF: Was he difficult to work with?
SG: He could be. But working with Frank
was a groove sometimes. I don't think I
could take it as a steady diet, though. Irv
Cottier has been with him so long.
RF: What was required of you in that par-
ticular context?
SG: To play the way he would like the
music to be played. I sometimes called it
chopping wood. Nelson Riddle used to
write some of those charts, and they were
always regimented. You just kept going with
the afterbeats and this and that. I worked
with Frank with a sextet and a big band. I
enjoyed working with him, but it just got to
a point where I really don't like to play that
way. Every time you sit down to play some-
thing, your mood is not always the same.
There are times you really play aggressively,
and they don't want that, but then if you
lay back, they want it aggressive. When
singers or arrangers say, "Just pick up the
tempo a little bit," there really isn't that
much difference; it's infinitesimal. Some
people like it with that nervous feeling.
There are times when everybody is laid
back, and you have to get it going and
keep it going.
RF: What was the situation that gave you
the most creative freedom?
SG: People are going to think I'm crazy,
but playing with a big band is where I
experienced a lot of freedom. And yet
people say, "The instruments are all play-
ing notes on a chart." That's true on the
drums, but you can interpret it differently
every time.
RF: Even when you're reading a chart?
SG: Very few people really know how to
write drum parts. A drum part, to me, should
be like a small score—what the brass are
playing, what the saxes are playing....
What's important should be accented with
the brass. The way people write drum parts,
they're guides. It makes it much easier if
it's written like a small score, because you
know exactly what is going down.
RF: You put your own band together a few
years ago.
SG: In 1980, Al Hirt came into town, and
we did an album with him. He liked the
big band thing so much he decided to put
one together. I went down to New Orleans
and we talked. I came back and went to
the Dick Grove School and got a lot of
young players. And Al gave me a pretty
good leeway, financially. The lowest-paid
guy in the band was making $550 a week,
which in 1980, for the first time out with a
band, was good, and that was guaranteed,
work or no work. I moved down there, but
things turned out differently than I had ex-
pected. I lived there for six and a half
months—just enough to lose a lot of work
here. But it was a good band, and I still
think it could have gone. Unfortunately,
the business aspects were set up totally
wrong, but it was still fun.
RF: Do you ever just play around town?
SG: When I first came here I put together a
little group, and we played Dante's for three
nights. It cost me $96.00. I object to the
jazz clubs exploiting musicians for $35 or
$50 a night. A lot of guys who do it are
doing other things, so they do it for kicks.
But when you have to make a living doing
it, it's really difficult.
RF: What do you want at this stage of your
life?
SG: Just to keep playing. I've tried a lot of
different ventures. I used to do some com-
edy writing, and a lot of people said, "You
should be a stand-up comic," but I just
want to keep playing my drums. I'm not
out to pasture by any means. I understand
that the electronics are here and what they
mean, and I feel very strongly that these
people are phasing themselves out of busi-
ness. When I see motion pictures or TV
shows that are done in a garage with a
machine, I strongly object to that. Technol-
ogy is here to stay, let's face it, but they're
never going to replace live players. I hon-
estly believe it's going to come back around
again. I don't like being denied doing what
I love. That hurts me. I really enjoy doing
what I do, and whatever it is, I want to do
the best I can. I think my reputation by my
peers is most important to me. A lot of
people don't know who I am or what I
stand for, but my peers know, and I'm
really proud of that. I just want to keep on
going, that's all.
MYLAR

High School. Recently, Bennett recollected Evans' operation and discuss business. Belli was inserted into an aluminum hoop."
his meeting with Evans. "He visited me in came away from the meeting feeling that Although generally well-suited for drum-
the band room at Santa Fe High. He brought Evans was not in a position to meet the head use, polyester film has two trouble-
me some heads and wanted me to use them volume demands that could arise for his some drawbacks: It will tend not to stick to
in the marching band. I'd never seen a head product and was not, for various reasons, a adhesives, and although it has a great deal
like his before. It was a plastic sheet at- person with whom he could do business. of tensile strength and will withstand heavy
tached to a wooden hoop. I'm quite sure Evans, on the other hand, came away feel- battering, it has a very weak tear strength
we used the heads at the American Band ing that he had found a person who could and will rip easily once the membrane has
Directors Association Convention in Santa help him get his fledgling business off the been punctured. This continued to create
Fe in March of 1957. The heads held up ground. problems in devising an effective mounting
well and were a big improvement over calf. Belli returned to Los Angeles and in the system for the material. "What I did," Much-
In the rain and snow, calf heads would get subsequent months decided to start nick says, "was to combine an adhesive
soggy and you could easily put a stick manufacturing Mylar heads as part of a and mechanical bond." Muchnick's mount-
through them. I played dance drums at the Drum City operation that was already mak- ing system involved punching holes around
time, but I didn't use the plastic heads on ing a few percussion accessories. Accord- the edge of a round Mylar blank and then
my set. Skin heads were better; you couldn't ing to Belli, problems were starting to arise inserting this edge into an aluminum chan-
use a brush on Chick's heads, because you with some of Evans' heads that had been nel shaped into a hoop. The channel was
couldn't get a smooth swish." According to sold through Drum City; the tack-and- filled with a liquid adhesive that would flow
Evans, Shacklette's marching band was the wooden-hoop mounting system would oc- through the holes in the Mylar and, when
first in the country to use a Mylar head. casionally fail when put under high ten- dry, effectively lock the membrane into the
Evans' sales letter also found its way to sion. Roy Harte, who was doing a great aluminum hoop. In another refinement,
Drum City, a percussion store in Hollywood, deal of session playing at the time, was Muchnick would apply heat to the Mylar
California, owned and operated by Remo testing them on the job and apparently run- blank to form a hat-shaped head that would
Belli and Roy Harte. The young store own- ning into problems with the Mylar tearing fit over a drum shell and effectively elimi-
ers were intrigued by Evans' description of out from the hoops and denting badly. nate any chance of creasing and tucking in
his product and ordered several heads. Af- At this point, seeking a solution to these the head. Muchnick's design endured; it is
ter receiving the new heads, Belli wrote problems, Belli was introduced by his ac- the basic mounting system used in Remo
Evans indicating that he was "very im- countant, Sid Gerwin, to Sam Muchnick— Weather King heads.
pressed" with the product and offering to a Los Angeles chemist with a strong back- During this time, Evans was going ahead
distribute them through his store. Accord- ground in adhesives. Another key figure, with refinements on his own drumhead.
ing to Belli, he was by then familiar with Muchnick recalls his early encounter with Apparently independently of Muchnick,
Mylar as a product, having used it in the the concept of a Mylar head: "Remo showed Evans had come up with a similar system of
decorations for a percussion fair, and he me a piece of Mylar stapled to a wooden imbedding the perforated edge of a head in
had once jokingly discussed its use as a hoop and asked what I could do to improve polyester resin. Evans formed the resin in a
drumhead with Bud Slingerland. In April it. I said I'd play with it. I came up with a circular trough and removed it from this
1957, Belli visited Evans in Santa Fe to see method of making a hat-shaped blank that trough when the resin had hardened around
the edge of the head. Consequently, his
head had a flexible resin hoop reinforced
internally with butcher twine—as opposed
to Muchnick's stiffer aluminum channel.
Evans was similarly molding the Mylar into
a hat shape using a circular heating ele-
ment that was applied to the head. Evans
had designed and built machinery capable
of producing high-quality heads and was
manufacturing them in his home with the
help of his family.
When he became aware that Belli was
manufacturing heads made from Mylar,
Evans filed suit in Los Angeles County Su-
perior Court, charging Remo Inc. with ille-
gally appropriating his idea. He asked for a
quarter-million dollars in damages. In his
pretrial deposition, Belli built his defense
on several points. He pointed out that Irwin,
and not Evans, held a patent on the idea of
a polyester film head, that several other
people around the country—including in-
strument-maker Virgil Partch, Irving Faber-
man of New York City, Joe Grolimund of
Selmer, and George Nelson of the Vega
Banjo Company—had experimented with
the idea prior to or at the same time as
Evans; and further, that he, Belli, had been
advised by his patent attorney that although
the mounting system of a Mylar head was
possibly patentable, the use of Mylar as a
material for drumheads was probably not
patentable. Since the mounting system being
used for Belli's head was of his own design,
it was essentially his own unique product.
He also pointed out that in DuPont's origi-
nal patent descriptions of Mylar, its use as options. Irwin says, "Although we had no 1957, Belli, with the help of Muchnick,
a material for drumheads was specifically plans to commercialize the head, we did worked closely with the DuPont Corpora-
mentioned and that DuPont salesmen had think about licensing it. When Remo came tion to develop a grade of Mylar best suited
tried at various times to interest instrument out with his head, we had some correspon- for drumheads and to solve some of the
companies in manufacturing Mylar heads. dence with him and we were thinking about consistency problems that arose with the
Evans had hoped to fight Belli's asser- going to court. But I didn't think it was a mass production of Mylar heads. Occa-
tions in court, maintaining that the idea for good bet. We were getting letters from his sionally, Mylar would shatter when hit, and
the product had come directly from him, attorneys, and DuPont said that if it came this—as well as other problems—needed
but he did not have the means to retain to litigation they would back Remo and to be addressed. Using the talents of Much-
lawyers outright and consequently hired Ludwig and the major companies. They say nick, and later of Don Hartry, Belli contin-
lawyers on a contingency basis (i.e., his that today the cost of going to court over an ued to improve and refine synthetic heads,
attorneys would be paid a percentage of issue like this can run into the millions. In and today operates a successful company
whatever damages he could collect in the retrospect, I sometimes think we should that has been responsible for many ad-
case). have sold stock in my patent and, in that vances in the manufacturing of percussion
Late in the summer of 1958, Evans' law- way, raised the money to go into litiga- equipment. Muchnick eventually parted
yers advised him to accept an offer from tions." ways with Belli and went on to develop the
Remo Inc. for an out-of-court settlement. After successfully introducing his Mylar first Kevlar woven-fabric head.
According to Evans, he was paid $5,000 in Weather King head to the drum market in When asked about the generally held
the settlement and came away with $2,800
after the lawyers were paid their fee.
By this time the Ludwig Drum Company
had also gone into the Mylar head busi-
ness, and were running into their own legal
problems. Bill Ludwig, Jr. says, "We were
buying Mylar from DuPont and tacking it
on wooden hoops—like Chick's head—but
it kept pulling out. We kept testing different
methods, and one day I walked into my
father's office and saw him bending metal
around the edge of Mylar with a pair of
pliers. He had come up with a system of
mechanically interlocking the head mate-
rial between two metal hoops." Ludwig pat-
ented the mounting system and started pro-
ducing heads in this manner.
Soon after this head went on the market,
Bud Slingerland—of the Slingerland Drum
Co., Ludwig's crosstown drum manufactur-
ing rival—came out with his own head,
which copied exactly the Ludwig mount-
ing system. The Ludwig company sued.
"It took a year for the case to come to
trial, and the trial lasted five days," Ludwig
says. "Bud stood up in court and admitted
that he told his people to copy our design. I
thought we had him nailed. But we lost the
case because the judge—who, incidentally,
was not a patent judge—decided our pat-
ent was invalid. He cited the legal concept
of prior art, which holds that the utilization
of a particular system that has been used
before in other applications is not patent-
able. They cited several examples of prod-
ucts that had been clamped in a rolled and
interlocking way similar to our head mount-
ing system. Their examples included Pull-
man car window screens, rattan chair seats,
and the top and bottoms of beer cans."
Ludwig appealed the case to a higher court
but, in spite of spending "a couple of
hundred thousand dollars" on legal fees,
the decision of the lower court was upheld.
"We went to Bud Slingerland after losing in
court and asked him to at least put our
patent number on his drumhead so that we
would have a better case in protecting both
our companies against a Japanese copy of
the product," Ludwig says.
In Minnesota, Irwin—who still held the
original patent on a Mylar head and who
had probably built the first polyester film
drumhead—was considering his own legal
perception that he was the inventor of the with Belli, Evans continued to produce My- making and selling Evans' drumhead. By
polyester film drumhead, Remo responds, lar heads at his home in Santa Fe. Often, this time, other manufacturers were start-
"All I've ever said is that I was the one to his wife would make the heads at home ing to take note of Belli's success with the
help develop the Remo Weather King drum- while he went on selling trips to music Weather King head and were becoming in-
head along with Sam Muchnick. It seems stores. Evans made copies of Belli's letter terested in an association with a head-maker
like the idea for a product is often in the air expressing interest in his drumhead and gave such as Evans. Beals said that he signed the
at a certain time. People send me ideas for them to music store owners to demonstrate contract with Evans just one day before a
percussion products from all over the world, that his was the original Mylar head. In representative from Grossman Music, par-
and in a given time period I'll get three or late-1958, a salesman showed one of Evans' ent company of Rogers' Drum Co., was
four that are the same thing. The double heads to Bob Beals, a jewelry/music store scheduled to meet with Evans in Santa Fe.
bass drum pedal is a good example of a owner in Dodge City, Kansas. Beals was Evans and his wife moved to Dodge City,
product that occurred to more than one intrigued by the product much the way Belli but shortly thereafter Evans became dissat-
inventor at about the same time. Making an had been when he first saw it, and went to isfied with the association with Evans Prod-
idea happen is about getting up at 5:00 in see Evans in New Mexico. On December ucts, sold his share to Beals, and returned
the morning and going to bed at midnight, 1, 1958, Beals and Evans, along with Beals' to Santa Fe. The Evans name stayed with
or getting on a plane and going somewhere brother Harold and his business partner Beals, and Evans agreed to limit his own
when you don't want to." Larry Drehmer, formed a corporation known production of drumheads. But with the
After settling out of court in his lawsuit as Evans Products Inc. for the purpose of money from his buyout he tooled up again
and, staying within the production quotas
of his agreement with Beals, was soon back
in the drumhead business. "Eventually,"
Evans says, "Beals called me from Kansas
and said that every store they were trying
to stock with heads was already stocked
with mine. So I sold out to them a second
time. Part of that agreement was that I
wouldn't make heads for the next ten years."
Evans' days as a drumhead manufacturer
were essentially over, but even today, at 85
years of age, he envisions new product
ideas and fabricates a few Mylar heads in
his living room to sell or give away to local
Santa Fe players. He is philosophical about
his failures and lack of sophistication as an
entrepreneur. "I'm just a damned old drum-
mer; I didn't realize what would happen in
the big leagues. If I had had brain one, I
could have gotten a small-business loan
and started a real business. I had a hell of a
good reputation, and that's why the com-
pany retained my name."
Today, synthetic heads come in an al-
most countless variety of colors, thicknesses,
and muffling designs. But the vast majority
are still made from polyester film, and ba-
sic mounting systems developed in the
1950s are still in use on most of them. It is
likely that the spirit of entrepeneurship and
competition that resulted in the modern
Mylar head will continue to operate and
stimulate new advances in drum membrane
technology. Belli has indicated that his com-
pany is experimenting with new materials.
Muchnick is convinced that Kevlar can be
used successfully as a head material if
manufactured and marketed correctly. Evans
has some ideas for a "quick-change" head
that can accommodate either brush or stick
playing. And the Asahi Chemical Cloth Co.
of Japan recently introduced the Compo
line of Kevlar/polyester composite drum-
heads.
The desire to be successful with the in-
troduction of a new and important product
spurred the development and refinement
of the weatherproof drumhead. It also cre-
ated legal problems and hard feelings be-
tween some of those involved. Ultimately,
however, the beneficiaries of the working
out of this process in a free-enterprise sys-
tem have been drummers themselves.
 by Albert Bouchard

Rock Around The Set

Photo by Rick Malkin

Steve Smith said something in a Modern Drum- then blow the roof off the sucker.
mer interview that stuck in my mind. He talked
about throwing away the "road maps" he once
used to get around his drumset to create fills. He
wanted to get away from his comfortable old no-
tions and preconceived ways of doing things. He
didn't want to be afraid to explore new, possibly
more difficult, territory. But Steve is a very accom-
plished drummer who, at this point in his career, can drive with
his eyes closed. Most people need some directions to get where
they want to go. I have designed some exercises to facilitate
getting around the drumset. They are very simple and easy to
remember. I call them the "ones," "twos," "threes," "fours," "fives,"
and "sixes." The names are derived from how many times an
individual drum is struck before moving to the next one.
The "ones" are meant to be played by alternating the sticking,
RLRL, for each drum. The first "ones" can be played at any tempo
from 100 to 200 beats per minute (bpm).

Here's a popular variation on the "threes." Alex Van Halen,

among many others, uses it.

The second "ones" exercise should be played at a medium

tempo, about 120 bpm.

The "fours" are almost anti-climatic. You will find them much
easier because the dominant hand can lead again. But just be-
cause they're easier does not mean they're not as useful.

These "twos" aren't so terrible. They're among the most useful

"road maps" in creating fills. Once again, use alternating sticking.
You'll notice you can now lead with your dominant hand.

The "fives" create a propulsive, broken rhythm that makes an

interesting fill.

The "threes" are tricky because you must alternate your lead
hand, and at some point you must cross over to maintain a consis-
tent single-stroke sticking pattern. Some people do a double stroke
with either the right or left hand, but to me, this never sounds as
powerful or as even. Practice this slowly until you've got it down,
 How do you create fills from all of these exercises? First, maybe Incorporate some rudiments with "ones," "twos," "threes," and
we ought to talk about what a fill does. A good fill not only "fours." For example:
relieves the monotony of a straight beat, it adds excitement. It
propels the music from one section to the next. Sometimes it
accents the rhythmic figures of another instrument or voice; some-
times it plays against them. Often it stands alone. That does not
mean it should stick out like a sore thumb. A fill should always
have a purpose. It should not be thrown in just because the
timekeeper got bored.
Sometimes as you play and listen to the music, something will
occur to you that will lead you into the next section. It may be
perfect, but more often than not, you may need to work on a fill
before attempting it in performance. As the saying goes, the best
improvisations are the most well-rehearsed. Different combina-
tions of the "ones," "twos," "threes," and "fours" will create some
original-sounding fills of your own. Do two "threes" to make a
"six." Or try these, for example:

"Ones" and "Fours"

Here are some advanced fills. Notice how they pertain to what
we've just discussed.

"Threes" and "Twos"

"Fours" and "Twos"

BRAZILIAN PERCUSSION pages (!) of this work, Mr. Braman has put together an exhaustive
MANUAL amount of drumming information. Because of the large amount of
by Daniel Sabanovich material, drummers might find this book intimidating at first, but
Publisher: with a little perseverance there is a lot of excellent information to
Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. be had here. Because of space, this review can only touch on
16380 Roscoe Blvd., some of the general points discussed in this book.
P.O. Box 10003 Drumming Patterns is basically broken down into two main
Van Nuys CA 91410-0003 sections: snare drum patterns and drumset patterns. But don't let
Price: $9.95 me give the impression that this book is just a listing of exercises.
I guess I should be flattered On the contrary, there is quite a lot of text that thoroughly explains
by the amount of wholesale the numerous examples. As for the examples themselves, they are
quotes Mr. Sabanovich pulls extremely clear and very well notated. The production quality of
out of an article I wrote five Drumming Patterns is very high. The time and effort put forth in its
years ago for Modern Per- creation must have been considerable.
cussionist magazine for this As for the first section on snare drum patterns, such topics as
book. In any case (and in sticking patterns, embellishment patterns, accent patterns, flam
spite of the fact that I'm patterns, single-stroke patterns, double/buzz-stroke patterns, and
merely a passing reference roll patterns are discussed. At the end of this part of the book,
in his bibliography), I'm several fold-out pages are included that show ways to vary the
always glad for wider dissemination of the beauty and power of previous exercises presented. This is done by opening up a fold-
Brazilian percussion, and this book does do many things right. out page, and then turning to the sections to which it applies. This
In this 57-page work, there are photographs, technical playing allows the student to see both the old exercises and the ways they
explanations, and a pronunciation guide for all the principal in- are to be interpreted. It's an excellent idea that works well.
struments of the escoles de samba in Brazil. There are also some To quote the author, "Part one of Drumming Patterns identifies
tips to help guide the reader to the proper "feel" of samba. And the all the basic patterns of stick (two-limb) technique. Part two con-
inclusion of two model pieces in ten-part score form gives a verts these patterns into rhythms, and then applies these rhythmic
percussion ensemble an opportunity to play samba together. The patterns to various drumset (four-limb) solo and accompaniment
last part of the book details some drumset patterns, with an em- drumming styles." In this drumset section such topics as patterns
phasis on samba. The author also includes a bibliography and a with single and triple strokes, rock/funk patterns, jazz patterns,
discography of samba groups and drumset players. Brazilian patterns, non-independent patterns, and solo patterns
The title of this book suggests to me that this would be a manual are discussed. At the ends of each of these sections are more fold-
much more comprehensive in scope, in terms of inclusion of some out pages, which again offer new ways to apply the previous
more Brazilian rhythms (such as maracatu, maxixe, frevo, ca- concepts. Finally, the appendixes at the end of the book include a
poeira, etc.), and some more generic instruments such as the lot of good conceptual ideas on drumming.
caxixi (a seed-filled wicker shaker), the berimbau (a single-string Overall, Drumming Patterns is an excellent book that looks at
bowed instrument), the pau de chuva (rain stick), the zabumba (a technique in a slightly different way, focusing on what the author
small bass drum), and certainly the triangle. The book might more calls "the essential patterns of technique." This book also comes
accurately be called a samba manual, or part one of a two- or with a helpful cassette tape that explains how to use Drumming
three-part series on Brazilian percussion. Patterns. The only problem with a book like this is its scope, in
The discography section of the Brazilian Percussion Manual is that it tries to cover so much. It could have easily been divided
good, but there are several significant omissions. Samba-wise, the into two shorter books. However, with patience and the right atti-
recordings of each year's Carnaval are available on Top Tape and tude, this book can be of great benefit to your drumming.
RCA records, and probably should have been included. Also, —William F. Miller
mention should have been made of drummers such as Marcio
Bahia (with Hermeto Pascoal), Nene (with Hermeto and Elis Re- DRUM TUNING
gina), and Ze Eduardo Nazario (with Egberto Gismonti, Milton by Larry Nolly
Nascimento, and Grupo Urn), not to mention records by NaNa Publisher:
Vasconcelos, Djavan, Simone, and Gal Costa. (The latter three are Drumstix Publishing
singers.) All in all, however, this manual is a valiant effort at whet- P.O. Box 9216
ting the appetite of the curious, non-third-world percussionist. Wilmington DE 19809-9216
—Gordon Gottlieb Price: $7.95
Perhaps because the drums
DRUMMING PATTERNS are not a melodic instrument
by Chuck Braman per se, tuning them seems to
Publisher: be a mystery to many begin-
Drumstroke Publications ners, and even to some not-
136 Beech Street quite novices. The subject
Berea OH 44017 certainly comes up often
Price: $20.00 enough in MD's pages, with
In the preface of this book top artists being asked about
the author states, "Drum- their own personal tuning
ming Patterns is an encyclo- methods. It can obviously be
pedia of technique and quite a subjective topic. Based on the premise that there really is
rhythm, rather than a method no "correct" way to tune drums, but that there are certain guide-
book to be practiced from be- lines to follow that will ensure that they sound as good as possible,
ginning to end." Calling this Larry Nolly's Drum Tuning sets out to spell out in plain English just
book an encyclopedia of what some of those guidelines are.
rhythm is not an overstate- The book begins at a very basic level, describing exactly what a
ment, because within the 175 drumset consists of (bass drums, snare, floor toms, etc.), making it
clear that Nolly feels that tuning is one of the first things someone
studying drumset should comprehend. From there he gets more
specific to the topic and explains, through the use of a couple of
charts (based on an article from the February '84 issue of MD),
how certain tuning decisions will affect a drum's sound and per-
formance. Once the reader has gotten this far, he or she is ready to
begin experimenting on an actual set, with Nolly clearly explain-
ing which rods to turn, how much, and when. Also covered in this
relatively short book (23 pages) are topics such as signals to
change heads, what kind of heads to choose, tuning power toms,
cutting holes in heads, muffling, tuning a head to itself, tuning top
and bottom heads to each other, and tuning each drum to the
others in the set.
Throughout Drum Tuning, Nolly doesn't usually push his prefer-
ences, but rather advises experimentation. One exception is the
matter of drum-mounting hardware. Where some people believe
that it can adversely affect the optimum sound of a drum—at least
one company's existence is based on this theory—Nolly insists
that it really doesn't matter, and that different tuning and/or experi-
menting with drum placement can alleviate the problem. In any
event, Nolly generally succeeds at clarifying an often baffling
area, and Drum Tuning is a pretty good place to look to for the
basics of the subject.
—Adam Budofsky
 FIRST ANNUAL BUDDY RICH Phil promised to be present if the tribute
were held again next year. Later, the first
SCHOLARSHIP CONCERT annual Buddy Rich Memorial Scholarship
was presented to an aspiring drummer from
Long Island, 17-year-old Toby Ralph. This
year's award was a $5,000 scholarship for
the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Toby's winning performance was chosen
by the drummers who participated in the
Rich tribute.
An original vocal and drum tribute was
next performed by Jim Chapin, noted drum-
mer and author and father of the late singer
Harry Chapin. Harry's widow was instru-
mental in organizing a collection in the
lobby for cans of food donated by the audi-
ence, to be distributed to the needy by the
Long Island Cares program.
Dave Weckl, fresh from a tour with Chick
Corea, performed next, playing the funky
"Mercy, Mercy" and the up-tempo "Bugle

Photo by Lame Wilser

Call Rag." He later spoke of the commu-
nity spirit of the evening: "It's nice, the
family of drummers," he said. "We're all
together again."
A pair of standing ovations came after
the intermission. The first was for double-
bass pioneer Louie Bellson, who performed
Back row, left to right: Louie Bellson, Gregg Bissonette, Jim Chapin, Vinnie on the exciting "Carnaby Street" section of
Colaiuta, Al Miller, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, and Joe Morello. Front row, left to right: his own composition, "The London Suite."
Dom Famularo, Steve Arnold, and Cathy Rich.
The accomplished author and composer—
The sound of drums filled the air when the and brush work that made him famous dur- voted into the Halls Of Fame of both MD
first annual Buddy Rich Memorial Scholar- ing his 12-year stint with the Dave Brubeck and the Percussive Arts Society—mesmer-
ship Concert was held this past April in Quartet, as well as with Marion McPart- ized the audience with an extended solo.
New York. Many of the world's greatest land and Stan Kenton, Morello drove the Steve Gadd was the only drummer of the
drummers were on hand to pay tribute to band effortlessly, and brought the audience night not to play a lengthy solo. However,
the late virtuoso/legend by performing songs to its feet. Joe even managed to work in his his infectious groove playing and impecca-
from the Buddy Rich library with the band routine where he places one brush flat at bly tasteful fills on "Just In Time" and "Ba-
that made them famous. The show was the top of the drum and rolls it down to the sically Blues" brought the audience to its
presented in the round on the rotating stage bottom, creating a single-stroke roll effect. feet yet again. When the cheering subsided,
of the Westbury Music Fair, on Long Island. When the audience quieted down again, he too paid tribute to Rich: "Buddy gave
The benefit performance was hosted by the Morello simply said about Buddy, "He was 110 percent all the time. It's nice to be part
Long Island Drum Center, in association just one of a kind." of something that says 'thank you' to
with Manny's Music and Scabeba Enter- A brief break was then taken from the Buddy."
tainment. music to present the Buddy Rich Lifetime Next came Gregg Bissonette. Applying
"We are here for one reason and one Achievement Award to Mel Lewis. The his experience from Maynard Ferguson's
reason alone," began Dom Famularo, em- award was accepted on behalf of Mel by big band, Gregg performed "In A Mellow
cee for the evening. "And that's to honor his two daughters. A telegram from Phil Tone" and "Time Check" with the band.
the world's greatest drummer, Buddy Rich." Collins in tribute to Buddy was also read; With his long platinum-blonde hair flying,
After an introductory number by the
Buddy Rich Big Band (featuring Danny Steve Gadd,
D'lmperio on drums), movie screens were Vinnie
lowered over the stage to show a vintage Colaiuta,
and Dave
1940 clip of Buddy with the Tommy Dorsey
Weckl
Orchestra on the classic "Hawaiian War climaxed the
Chant." Buddy's lightning-fast tom-tom show with
work captivated the audience almost five an exchange
decades after it had originally been filmed. of solo licks.
Famularo then kicked off the evening's
feature spots by playing on Buddy's arrange-
ment of the Earth, Wind & Fire hit, "Fan-
tasy." Dom's fills and solo spots spotlighted
Photo by Laine Wilser

his rapid-fire double-bass technique. Dom

was followed by Long Island drum teacher
and veteran big-band drummer Al Miller,
who swung hard on two tunes with the
band.
The first standing ovation of the night
was given to Joe Morello. Using the stick
 the footsteps of his grandfather—who be-
gan his career as a child tap dancer—the
youngster danced to Michael Jackson's
"Bad."
The last drummer to perform solo with
the band was Vinnie Colaiuta. Vinnie
managed to infuse his own inimitable
playing style into such Rich classics as
"Big Swing Face" and "Ya Gotta Try,"

Photo by Laine Wilser

while still retaining a solid, swinging feel.
The evening concluded with a classic
three-way drumming exchange between
Vinnie, Steve Gadd, and Dave Weckl.
The three opened their feature in a hu-
morous vein when Steve counted a quick
four and the three drummers simultane-
Gregg Bissonette and Louie Bellson Toby Ralph, recipient ously launched into the classic drum pat-
traded double-bass phrases. of the first Buddy Rich tern from "Wipeout." Following that,
Memorial Scholarship. Steve set the groove for a Latin rhythm,
on which the three studio giants first
he surprised some of the rockers in the au- drummer smiling approvingly and listening traded solos, and later climaxed the eve-
dience with his solid swinging feel before intently as the other played. After trading ning by playing unison figures.
breaking into an action-packed solo. solos, the two played together, with their As the audience filed out, they passed
When Bissonette walked to the center four bass drums and many tom-toms and one of Buddy's old drumsets on display in
stage microphone, he described Rich as cymbals rocking the theater. the lobby. Although the throne where he
"the greatest of all inspirations." Looking Rich's daughter, Cathy, who sang on once sat was now vacant, drummers and
back on his youth, he recalled sitting on Buddy's Big Swing Face album at the age fans alike stopped to stare—some rever-
his living room floor practicing to Buddy of 12, performed "Them There Eyes" with ently—at the tools used by Buddy to create
Rich records on their album jackets. the band (accompanied by Steve Arnold his drumming magic.
After performing solo, Bissonette then on drums). Cathy's performance was fol- —Michael Kohn and Rick Van Horn
took part in a drum battle with Bellson. lowed by a dance routine featuring her
The two generations fought it out, each four-year-old son, Nicholas. Following in
PURECUSSION NE sion has also entered into distribution
agreements with Collarlock, ddrum, and SILVER FOX
SERIES DRUMS wind chime manufacturer Spectrasound.
PureCussion, Inc., 5957 West 37th St., QWICKSILVER
AND TRIGGER SET Minneapolis, MN 55416.
MALLETS
PureCussion recently introduced their new
NE series drums, which now accept all M&K PRODUC-
brands of heads. As with all PureCussion
improvements, a retrofit kit is available to TIONS OFFERS LES
allow owners of the current tuneable
drums to convert their kit. PureCussion DEMERLE VIDEO
states that now the portability feature of M&K Video Productions recently an-
their drums, combined with a greater nounced the latest addition to its T.O.P.
access to a wider selection of drumheads, (Today's Outstanding Performers) Series
will give players an even higher comfort videos: Les Demerle—Rock Fusion Drum
level while traveling. Set Applications: Complete Lesson Pack-
Also introduced was PureCussion's age #1. The package contains a 75-minute
Trigger Set. According to the manufac- hi-fi stereo video and a book with tran-
turer, specially designed triggers give 360- scriptions of drum charts and exercises
degree head contact without actually demonstrated in the video. Topics
touching the head, with a mounting included are: live rock/fusion studio Silver Fox has added Qwicksilver multi-
position only possible on PureCussion performances by Transfusion, applying tom and bass drum mallets to its existing
drums. A head-surface-mounted trigger is rudiments to the drumset, developing line. Qwicksilver tom mallets have high-
available for standard snare drums. finger control, solo techniques, under- alloy, 1/2"-diameter silver anodized alumi-
Packaged individually, the new PureCus- standing stickings, one-on-one personal num shafts with non-slip black vinyl grips,
sion triggers allow players to add one, discussions with Les, and "a whole lot of and are available with either hard felt
two, or more PureCussion drums to their drumming." M&K Productions, Dept. balls or high-impact black acetal balls.
conventional kits as trigger sources 102, 818 Green Ridge Circle, Langhorne, Qwicksilver bass drum mallets have high-
without giving up the feel of playing on PA 19047. alloy, 5/8"-diameter, silver anodized
heads versus pads. PureCussion drums, aluminum shafts with densi-foam comfort
with their RIMS drum mounts, adapt to grips and an articulation ball at the end of
any manufacturer's hardware. PureCus- the handle. They are available in three
sizes, with premium grade hard felt balls. Meisel Music, P.O. Box 980, Springfield,
Silver Fox Percussion, P.O. Box 06884, NJ 07081, (201) 379-5000.
Fort Meyers, FL 33906, (813) 332-4141.

PRIMERA MAC-
VATER PERCUS-
COMPATIBLE
SION TIMPANI
DRUM SOFTWARE
MALLETS Primera Software has made available a
Vater Percussion now manufactures a line new drumming program called Different
of timpani mallets for private label distri- Drummer. The program makes use of the
bution to retailers and wholesalers. Ac- Macintosh computer's graphic display and
cording to the company, these mallets are "point and click" interface in an effort to
manufactured with hard white rock maple improve musicians' productivity and bring
shafts and very high-quality felt. Models drum programming into the large "enthu-
available are: Staccato, Ultra Staccato, siast market."
General, and Legato. Vater also has Different Drummer plays digitized
timbale sticks available in three sizes— sounds on the Macintosh, and over MIDI.
3/8", 7/16", and 1/2"—in both hickory and It includes a pattern editor, song editor,
maple. Vater Percussion, Inc., 270 Centre mer the opportunity to match his or her jam window, and centralized instrument
St., Holbrook, MA 02343. Tel: (617) 767- own playing style. The beater is filled with setups. Drum tracks created with Different
1877, Fax (617) 767-0010. a sand-like material, which can be re- Drummer are compatible with all major
moved or refilled as desired. When the sequencer programs, through the standard
BACKBEATER BASS filling is removed, a very natural, rich-in-
overtone sound is produced. This creates
MIDI file format. Patterns in Different
Drummer support notes as fine as 256th
DRUM BEATER one of the lightest beaters available on the
market, and makes the Backbeater
notes, with triplets, quintuplets, sep-
tuplets, and nine levels of accenting.
Meisel Music, Inc. now offers the Back- especially suited for jazz playing. Gradual Patterns may be in one of 35 time
beater bass drum beater, which the com- filling of the beater produces varying signatures. Primera Software, 650
pany says is designed to give every drum- levels of "kick," from light to heavy. Cragmont Ave., Berkeley, CA 94708,
(415)525-3000.
 described as being the same as that of the
NEW PRODUCTS and is available in black, black diamond,
or red maple finish. The Hilite comes with traditional Pro-Mark 5A. The 707 is used
and endorsed by Simon Phillips, Ed
FROM SONOR chrome-plated hardware and is available
in black, black diamond, creme lacquer, Shaughnessy, and Terry Bozzio.
Sonor has and red maple. Pro-Mark's Stick Rapp gripping tape is
introduced Sonor has also introduced a new bass now available in a checkerboard pattern.
the new drum pedal, the Z 9390. It features a du- The three color combinations now avail-
Hilite dis- rable, lightweight construction, and has able are: black/red, yellow/black, and
tortion- been specifically designed for the drum- white/black. Pro-Mark, 10707 Craighead
free drum mer who seeks a smooth pedal with fast Drive, Houston, TX 77025.
system. action. The Z 9390 features roller or
According
to Sonor,
bronze bearings on its axle, center piece,
heel plate, and foot plate. The pedal also EVANS EXPANDS
the Hilite
offers
comes equipped with a newly shaped
beater ball, and features lightweight alloy RESONANT LINE;
improved
sound
castings. Other features include noise-
eliminating mufflers for the chain, versatile EQUIPS
output
through a
adjustments for spring tension, foot plate,
and beater, and an easy-to-handle clamp MONTINERI
built-in isolation mounting system. This
system eliminates any direct contact
for the bass drum hoop. Sonor, c/o Korg
USA, 89 Frost St., Westbury, NY 11590, SNARES
between any metal on the drum and the (516) 333-1900. Following the success of their Resonant
drum's maple shell, thus preventing tom-tom bottom and bass drum front
common distortion and increasing vibra- heads, Evans Products has expanded the
tional energy transfer. The drum's lug sys- NEW PRO-MARK series with the introduction of Resonant
tem, tom holders, and floor tom leg heads for the bottom (snare side) of all
mounts are isolated from the shell by PRODUCTS 12", 13", 14", and 15" snare drums. These
specially developed rubber insulators. In Pro-Mark has added the 707N nylon tip heads are available in a choice of hazy or
addition, the screws that lead through the model to its Texas Hickory line of drum- glass finishes in 200 (thin), 300 (medium),
shell are insulated. The Hilite system is sticks. This model is also available with a and 500 (heavy) gauges, and all include
available in two versions: The Hilite wood tip. The new stick features a round, Evans' patented CAD/CAM aluminum
Exclusive, and the Hilite. The Hilite ball-shaped nylon tip. It is 16 1/4" long, and alloy hoop. Custom snare drum maker Joe
Exclusive features copper-plated hardware 9/16" in diameter. The 707 diameter is best Montineri has recently chosen to equip all
Montineri snare drums with CAD/CAM
heads. The complete line of Montineri SENNHEISER DCI RELEASES
snare drums now feature UNO 58 1000
MD 518 FOLLOW-UP
DYNAMIC MIC' WECKL VIDEO
Sennheiser DCI
Electronic Music
has intro- Video
duced the has an-
MD 518 nounced
dynamic the Sep-
micro- tember 1
phone, spe- release of
cifically designed for sound reinforcement Dave Weckl's The Next Step video, the
of high sound pressure signals, which in- follow-up to his Back To Basics video, re-
clude vocal and percussion miking. Ac- leased by DCI last year. The Next Step is
white-coated batter and Resonant snare- cording to Sennheiser, a smooth cardioid 80 minutes long and features lots of
side heads as original factory equipment. pickup pattern ensures maximum rejec- playing by Dave on songs such as "Spur
In addition, the Evans batter heads on tion of unwanted sounds from the rear of Of The Moment" and "Rainy Day," from
Montineri snare drums have an exclu- the MD 518 and allows for use in close his audiocassette package Contemporary
sively developed coating applied to the proximity of stage monitors and side fill Drummer + One. On the new video,
underside of the head to improve the cabinets. Since the MD 518 is highly in- Dave covers topics like practicing with
drum's performance and reduce the need sensitive to strong magnetic fields such as the click, constructing a groove, hi-hat
for alternative muffling devices. Evans those from speaker cabinets, it can be util- technique, and orchestrating a drum part.
Products, Inc., PO Box 58, 201 W. Trail, ized near large stage speakers without He also provides detailed pointers in
Dodge City, KS 67801. Tel.: (316) 225- worry of hum and buzz. Sennheiser advanced areas such as soloing, beat dis-
1308, Fax:(316)227-2314. Electronic Corporation, 6 Vista Dr., Box placement (or "playing backwards"), and
987, Old Lyme, CT 06371. Tel.: (203) odd times. DCI Music Video, 541 Ave. of
434-9190, Fax: (203) 434-1759. the Americas, New York, NY 10011,
(212)691-1884.
NEW PEARL In other Pearl news, endorser Omar
Hakim is the featured solo artist on the
group of diverse program modules that
function simultaneously and freely pass
MIDI information among them. All of this
PRODUCTS newly released CD for May EA acoustic
drum miking systems. This is a ten-song happens in real time, allowing the user to
compilation recording with Omar taking hear the results immediately. The software
the miking system through its paces in a centerpiece of the Real Time Studio is
variety of drumming styles and ap- Real Time, Intelligent Music's sequencer
proaches. The disc can be purchased for for the Atari ST. Real Time is a full-
$7.00. To order, write Pearl International, featured, 256-track, intelligent sequencer
Inc., Omar CD/May EA, 408 Harding in which every function performs in real
Industrial Dr., Nashville, TN 37211. time.
Pearl International has also announced Also new from Intelligent Music is Car-
the release of its 26-page, full-color tographer MIDI mapping software, which
Marching And Concert Percussion serves as an input processor for the Real
Catalog. Among the new products Time Studio. Cartographer allows a musi-
included in the catalog are Competitor cian to record multiple tracks simultane-
series marching percussion, chimes, ously, do keyboard splits, note reassign-
In response to the need for a high-qual- copper and aluminum professional ments, velocity control, and other map-
ity—but affordable—reduced-weight line timpani, and other marching and concert ping functions from a MIDI keyboard.
of marching percussion, Pearl has equipment. For a free copy of the catalog, Version 2.0 of Cartographer is a software
developed the Competitor series. The or other Pearl info, write to Pearl Interna- emulator for The Mapper by Axxess.
Competitor series is constructed of all- tional, PO Box 111240, Nashville, TN The core of the Real Time Studio's
birch shells and reinforced hardware, and 37222-1240. multi-tasking capabilities are Multi-GEM
has been acoustically and cosmetically and MIDI-GEM. Multi-GEM is a group of
designed similar to Pearl's Championship system accessories that allows for true
series. The Competitor series includes a GEM multi-tasking between different Atari
12x14 all-birch snare drum, two sets of
trios and one quad, and six sizes of bass
INTELLIGENT MIDI applications. Multi-GEM is an auto
file that enhances the Atari's operating
drums from 14x18 through 14x28. The MUSIC REAL system, allowing for MIDI output and
series also offers a line of carriers designed input to be shared between multi-tasking
specifically for the series. Each carrier is TIME STUDIO applications. MIDI-GEM also enhances
made of T-5 aircraft aluminum and is Intelligent Music has introduced a soft- the Atari's MIDI handling capabilities.
similar in design to Pearl's Professional ware environment called the Real Time Intelligent Music, Caroline Meyers, Tel.:
line. Studio. The Real Time Studio consists of a (518) 434-4110, Fax: (518) 434-0308.
 READERS'

phone on two toms, Mr. Wittet says, "let it

rest." In other words, if you do this, you're
wrong. On using many toms, he says, "the
fewer the better." (I guess Neil Peart and
Chester Thompson know nothing about re-
cording.) He also kisses the butts of Steve
Gadd, Dave Mattacks, and Jim Keltner.
These three gentlemen are great drummers,
but kissing their butts shows poor taste. Mr.
Wittet goes on to say, "My favorite setup
would be a 10" in a deep depth, and 12",
and a 14x14." Are we all supposed to use
this setup? I have nothing against using
smaller toms; I use them myself. But I think
drummers know what they want. For in-
stance, John Bonham and Buddy Rich
would have sounded silly with these size
toms.
Finally, to see "The Bryan Adams Sound"
listed in the sidebar—as if Bryan himself
played the drums. No credit was given to
the drummers who have played with Mr.
Adams. I could go on for eight pages, but I
think you get the point. Mr. Wittet should
not only turn in his typewriter, but should
apologize for writing such a piece of trash
and offending so many drummers!
Stephen Browne
Dumont NJ
T. Bruce Wittet replies: Boy, did you get up
on the wrong side of the bed, Stephen!
Let's just think ten seconds before we speak
next time. I know I did in conceiving the
article in question. The piece was, I had
thought, delivered in a spirit of humility
and open criticism. Many of the ideas pre-
sented—such as choice of heads—derived
from a diary I've kept for 15 years, since my first demos. I thought
I'd share some of my conclusions—in a non-dogmatic way—in an
effort to help young drummers get through the first hurdle in a
studio setting (just as, with admirable patience, Jim Keltner and
Dave Mattacks did with me). If these two, plus Steve Gadd (who I
don't know from Adam, except through his work) are not your
benchmarks, well then, what can I say? Carlos Vega perhaps, or
Jeff Porcaro...? Better?
Please excuse my omission—quite intended—of Neil Peart. He
speaks lucidly for himself often in these pages on how he achieves
his signature sound. As for my reference to Simon Phillips, you
have misconstrued my tribute to him. I mean, don't "let it rest" at
that, Stephen. Co ahead and set up nine toms on a studio date.
You sound like you've been around the block a couple of times
and could handle it. But pity the poor youngster in a little neigh-
borhood studio where they don't have enough mic's for all nine
toms. He's got a major job on his hands, and thus I uttered a sug-
gestion of smaller size drums—for reasons given—and fewer of
them. This is not the "T. Bruce Wittet sound," this is logic and
compassion. (And by the way, John Bonham sounded like John
Bonham on a Ludwig Jazzette kit that he kept in his basement. See
my tribute in MD's July '84 issue.) The "Bryan Adams" drum sound
is cited for generic value. Yes, credit should go to both Pat Steward
and Mickey Curry.
Finally, as for "offending" drummers: I've just returned from
L.A., where many top studio players graciously complimented me
on the article. I'm not going to name drop, lest I be accused again
of stooping to the Freudian lengths you accuse me of in your letter.
But even more important: The street-level response was favorable.
When I walk into the Pro Drum Shop on Vine St. and witness the
proprietor patiently choosing a whole set of cymbals for a drum-
mer who will surely never see his teens again, I know that there's a
range of players out there who can use any advice they can get.
That's why I started writing for MD.
 next month in ADVERTISER'S
SEPTEMBER'S
MD... INDEX
ABK Rocks ...............................................................75
Action/Reaction .......................................................73
Aphex Systems......................................................... 81
Mike Balter Mallets................................................ 104
Sam Barnard .......................................................... 106
Beato Music Products ..............................................67
Beyer Mics ...............................................................43
Calato/Regal Tip ......................................................45
Canasonic Drumheads........................................... 101
Corder Drum Company ...........................................60
Cuban Style Congas .................................................43
DC1000 Percussion .................................................48
DCI Music Video ................................................ 71,91
Drummers Collective ...............................................90
Drum/Keyboard Shop .....................................101,116
Photo by Rick Malkin

Drums on Sale ....................................................... 119

DrumStix ................................................................. 64
Drum Workshop ...............................................89,115
Dynacord ..............................................................107
Evans Products.................................................... 70,77
Chas. E.Foote, Ltd. ...................................................66
General Medical Co. .............................................119
Grant's Drum City ...................................................67
Great American Drumstick Co................................. 77
Grove School of Music .......................................... 105
Gretsch/Istanbul Cymbals ........................................82
Imperial ...................................................................48

TERRI LYNE KAT .......................................................................116

Latin Percussion ....................................................... 87
Ludwig Industries ....................... Inside Front Cover,69
Manny's Music Store ...............................................56

CARRINGTON
Mapex Percussion.................................................... 11
May EA .................................................................... 61
MD Back Issues ..............................................112,114
MD Drum Festival ...................................................97
MD Equipment Annual .......................................... 103
MD Library .........................................................92/93
Musician's Institute .............................................54,86
Noble & Cooley..................................................... 104

TESLA's Paiste.......................................................... .......38/39

Pearl International ............ 13,14/15,Inside Back Cover

TROY
Percussion Paradise .................................................64
Precision Drum Co. .................................................77
Premier Percussion USA ............................................5
Pro Mark......................................................... 108,111

LUCCKETTA
PureCussion ............................................................. 17
Remo .............................................................64,95,96
Resurrection Drums .................................................85
Reunion Blues ....................................................... 106
RIMS........................................................................ 84
Rimshot America .....................................................85
R.O.C. Drums........................................................ 110

BOBBY Roland Corp. U.S................................................32/33

Sabian ................................................................88/89
Sam Ash Music Stores ..............................................94
"Set The Pace" Pedal Practice Pads..........................43

PREVITE
Shure Bros. ..............................................................55
Solid Percussion, Inc..............................................117
Sonor Percussion .....................................................65
Tama .............................................................9,57,120
Thoroughbred Music ............................................... 72
Valley Drum Shop ...................................................46
Vater Percussion ...............................................87,119
Vic Firth, Inc.............................................................. 1
Vintage Drum Center............................................. 119
Waddell's Cymbal Warehouse............................... 119
Glenn Weber Drum Studio ......................................64
Plus columns by: Steve Weiss Music ................................................... 77
The Woodwind & The Brasswind .......................... 119
Joe Morello Yamaha ..................................................................6,7
Zildjian ................47,49,51,52/53, Outside Back Cover
Kenny Aronoff
Rod Morgenstein
and much more...
don't miss it!