I had the great pleasure of recording The Police live very early in their astounding career. Though I’m a guitar player, I spent most of my time in rehearsals standing next to Stewart in absolute and total awe. The first time was their very first US tour supporting Roxanne and the first album. They were so unbelievably good I was afraid the small club audience was literally going to riot with joy. The band’s one roadie worked overtime protecting them. By the second time it was a superb theater and another unforgettable night. Their writing had taken a quantum leap. Stewart’s setup incorporated a Gibson echoplex with an ultra-tight microphone placement on the high hat, a foot switch about 2 inches from the hat pedal turned the echo on and off. It was revolutionary stuff and the facility with which he controlled that echo switch within his kit playing blew my mind. To a listener it was virtually magic.
Peter Yianilos So he would turn the echo on and off on the fly? I’ve noticed that he liked using that echo on songs like Voices Inside My Head. I’ve always wanted to be able to sit down at my drums and have that echo repeating everything I played in tempo with what I was already playing. It sounds like it would be like a funky metronome. How did Stewart make sure that the echo was going to be exactly a quarter note behind him, if need be, and how did he make sure that the echo would repeat in the same tempo that he was playing? I’d love to know the answers to those questions. One more question. Did you ever get to see them play Dead End Job back in the early days? Sting nails a very difficult sounding bass line in that song!
Copeland has a unique signature. Whenever Sting has a new band and play Police songs you immediately miss some of his rhythmic DNA. Well chosen examples in this vid. Thumbs up
By learning Copeland way of playing you get a masterclass on how you can be a very skilled and fast drummer but silence is also a note. Copeland was a master at the use of silence.
Agreed 100%. The Bed’s Too Big Without You is The Police’s greatest song. In the 20+ years I had a CD player in my car, any time I listened to that song I cranked up the bass and played it loud, and inevitably someone would give a nod, call out “The Police!” or stop and talk to me about it. First time I heard it, I was 11 and hypnotized.
Man it’s crazy how he digs in Live and to be so dynamic with those punk/reggae grooves. Every groove, accent or fills manages to subvert your expectations yet still fits with the song. So musical! One of my all time favorite players... Nice analysis btw.
This is brilliant. Thank you! Maybe I'm slow on the uptake, but what this tutorial has brought home to me, for the first time, is that Stewart is essentially, a jazz drummer playing pop/rock. Which marries perfectly with Sting's composition style. The combo is dynamite. I've historically been a Sting fan, but the older I get, the more I appreciate Stewart and I now realise that he, pretty much, WAS The Police.
Forget ye Not the monumental contribution of Andy Summers......whose breadth of experience, time, tone and taste complemented the other 2 guys input......!!
Yes but let's not forget the clear reggae influence on a lot of his beats. The first beat in this essentially is a one drop reggae. So is portions of "don't stand so close to me" (altho it is more of a steppers reggae groove) and "message in a bottle" and "walking on the moon". The triplet ride figure he plays on "Whole in my life" is also directly borrowed from reggae but in a different context so less obvious. He seemed to love halftime grooves and switching around upbeats and downbeats and stuff. He used echo effects on the drums which was something jamaican dub producers were doing...and so on.
I wouldn't call him a jazz drummer. He was greatly informed by so-called "world" music, which, for him, was mainly comprised of African and Middle Eastern rhythms. Maybe you mention jazz because of the improvisational mindset with which he plays.
Copeland beats are so deceptive. They don’t sound so hard until you try to play them. Very hard to make them groove the way he did. Nate you got the job in the Police tribute band.
@@rulinghabs True. Funny how Stew hates Jazz though and last time he tried playing Jazz it wasn't so jazzy either, more like a rock drummer playing a shuffle groove than a swingy one.
@@johnm4710 you have to be a very skilled musician to play them correctly...but only if you were Stewart Copeland himself, you couldn't have thought about it.
I haven't played my kit for a number of years but cannot stop watching your videos since I stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago. Thanks so much for putting these out there for us!
Bass player here..... LOVE your channel. Spot on. Stewart is one of my favorite drummers of all time. My favorite drummers to jam with are those influenced by him. At 51, most guys my age obviously gravitate towards drummers from that age such as Peart, and I love him as well. However, he is so much more stiff, compared to SC who plays so loose. My personal favorites by SC? Driven To Tears, Spirits In The Material World, and Bring On the Night.
That’s a great one! I love the fill he uses to take the song back into the verse. It ends on one but not with the bass drum and a crash cymbal but with a nicely played splash cymbal.
I think that is one of very few Police songs to which Stu Copeland wrote the music too, so he probably made sure to give it his best on the drums for that one.
@@drewper73 Firstly, Kevin already said that, so no idea why you felt the need to chime in and tell him he's right? :-/ Secondly it was also mentioned at 15:32
FINALLY somebody does a Stewart video who can ACTUALLY sound like him when he describes his beats. We all know Copeland has an X factory to his style. Some kind of unique, tempo bendy, push-pull, sorta swing sorta not type of playing that almost no one can replicate. This is as close as anyone has gotten to capturing it.
Yes, such an incredibly unique feel. I don't know if he is but he always comes over to me like he's playing ahead of the beat because he's so damned propulsive. His speech is exactly the same - Relentless, reckless enthusiasm!
Stewart's one of my absolute favorite musicians! Was introduced as a kid through the Spyro games and have rediscovered his Police and post-Police career over the last few years.
I think Copeland's most recognizable feature is freshness. He is just a true innovator of the groove. You can never really expect anything from his playing even if its plain 4/4. This implies a profound knowledge of the instrument.
Sensational review. In Montreal in 2007, Sting got on a knee and sang “walking on the moon” to my very pregnant wife. I splurged on front row seats for my friends. It was $11k. And I would have paid more.
Very well done! Thanks for digging a lil' deeper and covering some of Mr. Copeland's lesser known grooves. I'd give Murder by Numbers the #1 nod here. It's also sheer musical genius. Stewart lays down interesting metronome time that hides the 1 and allows Sting to wax poetically over the top. *BUT*, then he drops the chorus beat and totally crushes it with the huge snare back beat, muted bass drum hits and tasty groove embellishments on the cymbals and toms. Stewart's drumming is a prime example of musical creativity as a drummer through his masterful use of dynamics, off-beats and very well placed notes on the cymbals and toms that serve the song so well and help create an immersive experience. Musical gold! I also really like the term "propulsive". Spot on my drummer brother!
Great list. I guess it’s no surprise that most of the songs you selected are from the early Police albums. That’s when he had the strongest influence on the band’s overall sound. The later albums was when Sting took over. I love Murder By Numbers and Miss Gradenko is actually my favorite song from Synchronicity...
Great choices! Tough to restrict the list to 5 (or even 7). I might add "One World (Not Three)," "The Bed's Too Big Without You," "Man In A Suitcase," and (but of course) "Reggatta De Blanc," but I wholeheartedly agree with all of your picks.
Miss Gradenko is a great song. It's impossible to criticize your list because, like you said, there are so many to pick from. I was hoping to see Driven to Tears, though. My absolute favorite Police song ever. Great drums, great guitar solo, great vocals. A perfect song.
1 Message in a Bottle 2 Walking on the Moon 3 Murder By Numbers 4 The Beds Too Big Without You 5 No Time This Time 6 Roxanne 7 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 8 Hole In My Life 9 Next To You 10 Voices Inside My Head
It was a good selection . I would have needed to put Miss Grandenko among top 3 togheter with Driven to tears and Message in a bottle. I feel that Stewart's playing on Miss Grandenko is his most fantastic. One of his great fills seems to loose tempo, but he play just behind the beat. Driven to tears, is the song i listen to most. The bars just before the guitar-solo, and how he then suddenly shift to very tight hi hat.... wow....i can't get over it. One world, from live in Atlanta, has in my opinion some of the most swinging drumming recorded. Fantastic. I could go on and on.....
Driven To Tears and One World (Not Three) are also in my Top 5. Miss Gradenko could be on the list depending on how I feel that day. It’s definitely a 6 or 7 on my list.
I've viewed many of your videos and must respect your educated presentation of the work of varied drummers. However, as a 64 year old musician that's started at age 5, honestly, if I was a beginner or even mid-level drummer, I'd be lost. Having taken a single lesson at age 21, I've always played by ear. After that lesson, I did buy the original Ludwig Jazz drumming book and taught myself to read enough to study the book. I wasn't a Police fan until after I saw "Bring on the Night" in 1985. But a year later I was in a band that played too much variety for me, but did try to master message in a bottle. When they decided they wanted to play it, having never listened to Copland, I sucked. I went home, put the CD on and learned it enough to recognize that there were parts the other guys were missing. My point is I listened to Copeland because I had to learn what he was doing. I've never counted out a rhythm because I feel it. But I have had to listen to many songs to pick up the little intricate rhythms different drummers incorporate to make a song a hit. I went from Ringo to Danny Seraphine to Bill Bruford, then a quick reverse to study Buddy Rich after having the amazing opportunity to enjoy two of his shows, back to back in a nightclub back in the late 70s. Another drummer and myself had a table maybe 10ft away from Buddy. At the time, I didn't have much respect for him as I had only seen him on the tonight show, having no clue how amazing his band was, or worse, how spectacular he was. Sure, he had the showmanship with his lightening speed solos, but he enhanced his band! He played the way I always wanted to play, to enhance the music. With the arrangements his band played, only a greatly gifted drummer could enhance the music. You are probably half my age, doesn't matter, and I admire your honesty and humility when comparing yourself to the greats. My comment may appear to be criticism, but it's the opposite! As addressed previously, a beginner and mid-level drummer can get lost in your analysis. Did I? Hell yeah! Only because I don't count the rhythm, and either copy beat for beat, or play what I feel on originals. You do a great job breaking down so many different musicians, just neglect the heart of the music. Drummers represent not just the heart of the song, but the soul as well! I couldn't do what you do, but I know I can sit as a concert percussionist, or record originals of any genre once I feel it. With one caveat: Rap and metal are too boring!
Stewart Copeland was one of my main drumming influences (after Ian Paice of Deep Purple) and I learned most of my Reggae chops from him (with a bit of help from Sly and Robbie of course). I worked at Solid State Logic for 7 years (the Worlds most successful studio mixing console) and at one point they had a Sony 1/2" 3324 digital tape machine there with Message in a Bottle on a tape so, guess what, I solo 'ed Stewart's Hi-hat throughout the whole song, wow.
Excellent video! You broke down all of his licks into easy-to-hear parts. In particular, I really appreciate you including Murder by Numbers not only b/c its one of my fav Police songs, but b/c, like you said, when Stewart starts his drum beat intro, it's not always clear where the downbeat is until the Sting's bass and Andy's guitar comes in. Over the years, I've been able to pick it up even earlier than that which is nice, but now that you've shown what each part of Stewart's kit is doing at what time, it makes it even easier to listen to and pick up. Thanks so much! Ee-yoh!
OMG…I’ve been struggling with this as a drummer and a fan my whole life and you broke it down with precision…mad props dude, thank you, no really, thank you!!
Almost all The Police's songs has this unique quality of Stewart's drumming. The steady drumming in "Behind my camel" though it sounds steady is filled with embellishments, concluding part of the drumming in "Voices inside my head" has to be replayed over and over to be admired. Then thers is the incredible "Driven to tears" and I could go on, just from one album.
As a guitar/bass player who has played a lot of The Police. I loved this video man. Really helps me understand the tunes better. Love your vids. I'll never miss one.
Sorry I'm late to this party - I've been watching a few Copeland covers on RUclips and yours just came up as a recommendation. I enjoyed this. There are two more little pieces of genius I'd add - that "machine gun" fill in Every Little Thing, and that fill in Driven To Tears that hangs a couple of beats too long into the next bar. Both mind blowing to a young drummer (as I was) when they came out. 100% agree that Message In A Bottle needed to be included. It might be the obvious choice but it's the obvious choice for an obvious reason.
Awesome! Would also love to have seen breakdowns of "Spirits in the Material World" and "Synchronicity II". I've always wondered whether Stewart came up with these grooves before or after punching Sting out in rehearsal... ;-)
Great class on Stewart Copeland, really enjoyed it! It's really hard to narrow it down to 5 beats, or even 7. I was a huge Police fan (still am!) back when Outlandos D'Amour came out, and saw them 4 times in NYC between '79 and '82. Even saw the reunion in 2008 at Giants Stadium. Stewart blew me away then and now. Thanks again for this video.................
Great video!! I read where for MIAB (and for other Regatta and Zenyatta studio tracks) was them playing the different parts (chorus, bridge, verse , etc) w/o crashes each for a several minutes, and then cutting up (literally-as it was tape) the best parts to put together the master track. Then Copeland went to work overdubbing. He's always marveled at how folks can pretty accurately play what is on thew studio track as it really wasn't 'played' that way.
While I always love Stewart’s playing on anything, he blows my mind on The Police’s LIVE album. Hole In My Life, So Lonely and The Beds Too Big Without You...incredible from “LIVE” 1979 versions!
This is a great breakdown of SC. ... I'm a bassist/composer and just got my Linn 9000 up running after many years and look forward to breaking down beats and Stewart's have always been a groove.
Impossible to narrow down to 5. Simply impossible. But I can't leave out Roxanne because it turned rock drumming on its ear. I also really love Shambelle, Secret Journey and Synchronicity 1 & 2. The genius of Stewart is the incredible feels he generates on seemingly simple songs. Message in a Bottle is sheer genius and I don't hear many drummers playing it with the same feel he does. The kid from No Doubt did a great job on it when Sting played it with them at the Super Bowl.
Thanks Nate... coincidently, I was watching a 2014 Stewart Copeland master class on the Drum Channel only last night. He mentioned almost every take on the Police tracks would be no more than one or two passes, if I heard correctly. As an example, he talked about the tune “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, where he comes out of the chorus back into the verse . He said that was all he could think of at the time, hated it, and came up with way better transitions as they played it live...
Stewart Copeland is in my Top Five all time favorite drummers. His snare sound and stick attack is incredible.Thanks for this 80/20~! (And the shout out to Rick Beato too)... Subscribed.
Nice list! I’ve been a fan of Copeland’s drumming for years. I was inspired by his drumming when creating parts for an album session I did last Summer.
impossible to overestimate stewart's influence on my playing and teenage life. everything about who he was and how he played was just over-the-top cool as shit. how on earth could a *drummer* be in a band with a young sting and a young andy and be COOLER than them? you'll have to ask stewart
Great video! You could have done a Top 100. "One World" is one that I'd put high on any Stewart Copeland top beats list. Top fills too. Top everything!
it’s great to see miss gradenko on a list like this! It’s one of my favorites ever and it’s super underrated. Thanks for the analysis on copelands best beats !!!
Quarters on the hi-hat of 'Hole in my Life' also. In the recording you actually feel it on 2 and 4 but it looks like he plays quarters on stage. Really great rhythm. Stewart's the best.
Stuart is Just fabulous, and still plays with as much fire in his advanced years! Glad you picked Miss Gradenko, one of my favourites for sure, as is Oh My God ..
My 3 favorite drummers are Steve Gadd, Bill Bruford, and Stewart Copeland, precisely because of the way they filled their songs with all these odd, complex, unusual beats. Gadd's Aja, Bruford's Heart of the Sunrise, and Copeland's Walking on the Moon are examples of why I like their drumming so much. I am not a musician but through time I have really come to appreciate how their drumming made these songs great, and this video of Copeland's work makes me understand in a totally novice kind of way just how intricate his playing is.Watching it made me appreciate it even more.
Great video. One of the things I adore in Copeland is that he always seems just a bit early on the beat. Maybe there is a correct term for this, I'm not a scholar drummer. I notice the opposite with Hunt Sales, he always seems a bit after the beat (I love him with Tin Machine). Both styles are impossible to imitatie. Favorit Police/Copeland tune for me is "Voices inside my head". Oh, and let us not forget...Copeland probably has THE best snare drum sound of all time!
I don’t know of a term that describes one drummer’s tendency to play ahead of the beat or behind the beat. There could be. I think it’s just a result of how each of us feel the pulse and where we feel the most comfortable, either ahead, on, or behind the beat. I think tempo was Stewart’s biggest weakness. Not only did he tend to play some songs much faster live than in the studio but he also had a tendency to rush. He’s got a lot of energy!
@@drewper73 Yeah I think you're right. If you see him interviewed he really is a bundle of energy. He also had that speeded up punk vibe driving the songs along.
Before their St. Paul show for their reunion tour, I realized the seats behind the stage (hockey rink) were never sold so I moved to the 1st balcony directly above Copeland. When the show started, the rigging came up obstructing my view of Summers and Sumner but I had a perfect overhead view of Copeland. It was as if I was standing right behind him looking over his shoulder...only I was 30 feet tall. One of my best concert experiences ever despite the fact that I never even got a glimpse of the other two.
Congratulations on hitting 40,000 subs. I just watched a video about top ten drum intros and not one jazz one made the list. Have you thought of doing one of those. Top 7 though. Great video again, always thought stewart to be an interesting drummer.
Same here. I am a 62 yr old woman, but someone just gave me a keyboard (across the balcony) and I realize I can record some beat on this ancient thing. I think I am a frustrated bassist or drummer... I refuse to feel like such a spaz!!
For me the duo songs Driven to Tears and Voices Inside My Head on Zenyatta Mondatta is some kind of apogee of drums sound production and drumming techniques, a condensed of fundamental Stewart Copeland's styles right there in the middle of Police's discography. There is "before", the defining beats of the first two albums and there is "after", The slightly more overproduced sounds of Hugh Padgham on the last two albums. Driven to Tears seems to be a particularly overlooked choice, but I dare you to go listen to that number right now and re-consider your list. :)
Without opening the video, try playing quarter note triplet rim shots under the swung half time hi hat groove on the breaks on "Walking On The Moon." Stewart doesn't play straight quarter note triplets but I came up with playing it that way decades ago, just to make it more difficult. Try it out.
I had the great pleasure of recording The Police live very early in their astounding career. Though I’m a guitar player, I spent most of my time in rehearsals standing next to Stewart in absolute and total awe. The first time was their very first US tour supporting Roxanne and the first album. They were so unbelievably good I was afraid the small club audience was literally going to riot with joy. The band’s one roadie worked overtime protecting them.
By the second time it was a superb theater and another unforgettable night. Their writing had taken a quantum leap. Stewart’s setup incorporated a Gibson echoplex with an ultra-tight microphone placement on the high hat, a foot switch about 2 inches from the hat pedal turned the echo on and off. It was revolutionary stuff and the facility with which he controlled that echo switch within his kit playing blew my mind. To a listener it was virtually magic.
Never realized that echo was Copeland himself. What an innovative era.
wow, cheers - thanks for sharing the story
Hi Peter! Dan Saraceni here....I remember that show, it CHANGED MY LIFE! I didn't know you recorded it though. Hope everything is going well!
Peter Yianilos So he would turn the echo on and off on the fly? I’ve noticed that he liked using that echo on songs like Voices Inside My Head. I’ve always wanted to be able to sit down at my drums and have that echo repeating everything I played in tempo with what I was already playing. It sounds like it would be like a funky metronome. How did Stewart make sure that the echo was going to be exactly a quarter note behind him, if need be, and how did he make sure that the echo would repeat in the same tempo that he was playing? I’d love to know the answers to those questions.
One more question. Did you ever get to see them play Dead End Job back in the early days? Sting nails a very difficult sounding bass line in that song!
Peter Yianilos 🏆
Copeland has a unique signature. Whenever Sting has a new band and play Police songs you immediately miss some of his rhythmic DNA. Well chosen examples in this vid. Thumbs up
Absolutely right! Copeland is unique, unlike any drummer/percussionist in history!
By learning Copeland way of playing you get a masterclass on how you can be a very skilled and fast drummer but silence is also a note.
Copeland was a master at the use of silence.
True
Yupp, agreed. 🥁 🥁 🥁
Absolutely. I love when he doesn’t hit the crash while finishing a fill sometimes. Leaves it there...
'is'
As they say its what you 'don't play' not what you do...
This is probably one of the Best drum lessons I've ever watched;
No doubt
My top Stewart Copeland beats
1. Peanuts
2. Re-Humanize Yourself
3. Synchronicity I
4. Spirits in the Material World
5. So Lonely
Stewart Copeland is my favorite drummer of all time. Good lesson. The Bed’s Too Big Without You should absolutely be on this list though.
Agreed 100%. The Bed’s Too Big Without You is The Police’s greatest song. In the 20+ years I had a CD player in my car, any time I listened to that song I cranked up the bass and played it loud, and inevitably someone would give a nod, call out “The Police!” or stop and talk to me about it. First time I heard it, I was 11 and hypnotized.
Man it’s crazy how he digs in Live and to be so dynamic with those punk/reggae grooves. Every groove, accent or fills manages to subvert your expectations yet still fits with the song. So musical! One of my all time favorite players... Nice analysis btw.
This is brilliant. Thank you! Maybe I'm slow on the uptake, but what this tutorial has brought home to me, for the first time, is that Stewart is essentially, a jazz drummer playing pop/rock. Which marries perfectly with Sting's composition style. The combo is dynamite. I've historically been a Sting fan, but the older I get, the more I appreciate Stewart and I now realise that he, pretty much, WAS The Police.
Great comment. Absolutely agree.
Truth.
Forget ye Not the monumental contribution of Andy Summers......whose breadth of experience, time, tone and taste complemented the other 2 guys input......!!
Yes but let's not forget the clear reggae influence on a lot of his beats. The first beat in this essentially is a one drop reggae. So is portions of "don't stand so close to me" (altho it is more of a steppers reggae groove) and "message in a bottle" and "walking on the moon". The triplet ride figure he plays on "Whole in my life" is also directly borrowed from reggae but in a different context so less obvious. He seemed to love halftime grooves and switching around upbeats and downbeats and stuff. He used echo effects on the drums which was something jamaican dub producers were doing...and so on.
I wouldn't call him a jazz drummer. He was greatly informed by so-called "world" music, which, for him, was mainly comprised of African and Middle Eastern rhythms. Maybe you mention jazz because of the improvisational mindset with which he plays.
From one Stewart fan to another thank you. I spent my childhood fantasizing I was Stewart Copeland and/or Neil Peart.
You must be a cool guy to begin with. 😎
KT
Please do a whole series on just Stewart! Love this!
Bryan Powers 👌🏽
Copeland beats are so deceptive. They don’t sound so hard until you try to play them. Very hard to make them groove the way he did.
Nate you got the job in the Police tribute band.
Typical when your first influences are jazz drummers.
@@rulinghabs True. Funny how Stew hates Jazz though and last time he tried playing Jazz it wasn't so jazzy either, more like a rock drummer playing a shuffle groove than a swingy one.
They're not that hard. I can reproduce with a little practice.
@@johnm4710 you have to be a very skilled musician to play them correctly...but only if you were Stewart Copeland himself, you couldn't have thought about it.
I haven't played my kit for a number of years but cannot stop watching your videos since I stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago. Thanks so much for putting these out there for us!
@Curtis Judd, I knew there was a reason I liked your channel so much!!
@@3qgc Haha! Good to see you here, Doug!
Time flies,I hope you are back playing soon .
Wow. just effin WOW. You just explained how and why I LOVED these songs ever since I was a kid !!!! Thank YOU !
Bass player here..... LOVE your channel.
Spot on. Stewart is one of my favorite drummers of all time. My favorite drummers to jam with are those influenced by him. At 51, most guys my age obviously gravitate towards drummers from that age such as Peart, and I love him as well. However, he is so much more stiff, compared to SC who plays so loose. My personal favorites by SC? Driven To Tears, Spirits In The Material World, and Bring On the Night.
Miss Gradenko is the most underrated track by The Police, and my favorite performance by Stewart ⚡⚡
That’s a great one! I love the fill he uses to take the song back into the verse. It ends on one but not with the bass drum and a crash cymbal but with a nicely played splash cymbal.
You're uniform don't seem to fit
I think that is one of very few Police songs to which Stu Copeland wrote the music too, so he probably made sure to give it his best on the drums for that one.
Kevin Connor Yes, he did write Miss Gradenko.
@@drewper73 Firstly, Kevin already said that, so no idea why you felt the need to chime in and tell him he's right? :-/
Secondly it was also mentioned at 15:32
Copeland isn’t necessarily under appreciated, but i don’t think he’s talked about enough. Thanks for the vids you’ve done 🙏🏻 they’re awesome.
One World has killer dynamics and nuance. Should be on the list for sure.
The comment I've bee looking for👍🍻
I'm obsessed with Copeland's style. Such clean reggae inspired stuff.
FINALLY somebody does a Stewart video who can ACTUALLY sound like him when he describes his beats. We all know Copeland has an X factory to his style. Some kind of unique, tempo bendy, push-pull, sorta swing sorta not type of playing that almost no one can replicate. This is as close as anyone has gotten to capturing it.
Great drummers do their own thing. And he’s great
Yes, such an incredibly unique feel. I don't know if he is but he always comes over to me like he's playing ahead of the beat because he's so damned propulsive. His speech is exactly the same - Relentless, reckless enthusiasm!
i am crying when i see steward play.... so much depth and passion!!!! this is the answer!!!! thank u for this wonderful lesson!
Stewart's one of my absolute favorite musicians! Was introduced as a kid through the Spyro games and have rediscovered his Police and post-Police career over the last few years.
The opening of Walking on the Moon still gives me chills.
One that gets overlooked is Darkness from Ghost in the Machine. Give it a listen and see what I mean.
Agreed
Masoko Tanga, Regatta De Blanc (the song), No Time This Time, One World, The Other Way of Stopping.
I think Copeland's most recognizable feature is freshness. He is just a true innovator of the groove. You can never really expect anything from his playing even if its plain 4/4.
This implies a profound knowledge of the instrument.
I've never played drums before and I doubt I ever will, but this video gave me a really great understanding and respect for it!
I love how Nate gets his grin on when he locks in fun grooves... Great break down of Copeland grooves
Sensational review. In Montreal in 2007, Sting got on a knee and sang “walking on the moon” to my very pregnant wife. I splurged on front row seats for my friends. It was $11k. And I would have paid more.
Even the basic 4/4 at the end of 'Driven to Tears' has so much style and feel. It's not what you play, it's how you play it.
Very well done! Thanks for digging a lil' deeper and covering some of Mr. Copeland's lesser known grooves.
I'd give Murder by Numbers the #1 nod here. It's also sheer musical genius. Stewart lays down interesting metronome time that hides the 1 and allows Sting to wax poetically over the top.
*BUT*, then he drops the chorus beat and totally crushes it with the huge snare back beat, muted bass drum hits and tasty groove embellishments on the cymbals and toms.
Stewart's drumming is a prime example of musical creativity as a drummer through his masterful use of dynamics, off-beats and very well placed notes on the cymbals and toms that serve the song so well and help create an immersive experience. Musical gold!
I also really like the term "propulsive". Spot on my drummer brother!
Great list. I guess it’s no surprise that most of the songs you selected are from the early Police albums. That’s when he had the strongest influence on the band’s overall sound. The later albums was when Sting took over. I love Murder By Numbers and Miss Gradenko is actually my favorite song from Synchronicity...
Great choices! Tough to restrict the list to 5 (or even 7). I might add "One World (Not Three)," "The Bed's Too Big Without You," "Man In A Suitcase," and (but of course) "Reggatta De Blanc," but I wholeheartedly agree with all of your picks.
For sure Man in a suitcase.Lovely,I missed it!!!!!
Everything Stewart plays is fucking amazing.
Miss Gradenko is a great song. It's impossible to criticize your list because, like you said, there are so many to pick from. I was hoping to see Driven to Tears, though. My absolute favorite Police song ever. Great drums, great guitar solo, great vocals. A perfect song.
If Walking on the Moon didn’t make the list I would have had a stroke
Too right m8.
Such a good song and drun
1 Message in a Bottle
2 Walking on the Moon
3 Murder By Numbers
4 The Beds Too Big Without You
5 No Time This Time
6 Roxanne
7 Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
8 Hole In My Life
9 Next To You
10 Voices Inside My Head
#4 yesssss
You’re #4 and #5 are in my top five also! Murder By Numbers almost made the cut.
I totally agree with Murder and Beds
Specifically #3.
No list is complete without Driven to Tears
It was a good selection . I would have needed to put Miss Grandenko among top 3 togheter with Driven to tears and Message in a bottle. I feel that Stewart's playing on Miss Grandenko is his most fantastic. One of his great fills seems to loose tempo, but he play just behind the beat. Driven to tears, is the song i listen to most. The bars just before the guitar-solo, and how he then suddenly shift to very tight hi hat.... wow....i can't get over it. One world, from live in Atlanta, has in my opinion some of the most swinging drumming recorded. Fantastic. I could go on and on.....
Driven To Tears and One World (Not Three) are also in my Top 5. Miss Gradenko could be on the list depending on how I feel that day. It’s definitely a 6 or 7 on my list.
I applaud !!! Short & sweet, to the point. Your admiration is contagious... And I am a pianist !
I've viewed many of your videos and must respect your educated presentation of the work of varied drummers. However, as a 64 year old musician that's started at age 5, honestly, if I was a beginner or even mid-level drummer, I'd be lost. Having taken a single lesson at age 21, I've always played by ear. After that lesson, I did buy the original Ludwig Jazz drumming book and taught myself to read enough to study the book. I wasn't a Police fan until after I saw "Bring on the Night" in 1985.
But a year later I was in a band that played too much variety for me, but did try to master message in a bottle.
When they decided they wanted to play it, having never listened to Copland, I sucked. I went home, put the CD on and learned it enough to recognize that there were parts the other guys were missing. My point is I listened to Copeland because I had to learn what he was doing. I've never counted out a rhythm because I feel it. But I have had to listen to many songs to pick up the little intricate rhythms different drummers incorporate to make a song a hit. I went from Ringo to Danny Seraphine to Bill Bruford, then a quick reverse to study Buddy Rich after having the amazing opportunity to enjoy two of his shows, back to back in a nightclub back in the late 70s. Another drummer and myself had a table maybe 10ft away from Buddy. At the time, I didn't have much respect for him as I had only seen him on the tonight show, having no clue how amazing his band was, or worse, how spectacular he was. Sure, he had the showmanship with his lightening speed solos, but he enhanced his band! He played the way I always wanted to play, to enhance the music. With the arrangements his band played, only a greatly gifted drummer could enhance the music.
You are probably half my age, doesn't matter, and I admire your honesty and humility when comparing yourself to the greats.
My comment may appear to be criticism, but it's the opposite! As addressed previously, a beginner and mid-level drummer can get lost in your analysis. Did I? Hell yeah! Only because I don't count the rhythm, and either copy beat for beat, or play what I feel on originals. You do a great job breaking down so many different musicians, just neglect the heart of the music. Drummers represent not just the heart of the song, but the soul as well! I couldn't do what you do, but I know I can sit as a concert percussionist, or record originals of any genre once I feel it. With one caveat: Rap and metal are too boring!
Stewart Copeland was one of my main drumming influences (after Ian Paice of Deep Purple) and I learned most of my Reggae chops from him (with a bit of help from Sly and Robbie of course).
I worked at Solid State Logic for 7 years (the Worlds most successful studio mixing console) and at one point they had a Sony 1/2" 3324 digital tape machine there with Message in a Bottle on a tape so, guess what, I solo 'ed Stewart's Hi-hat throughout the whole song, wow.
The Other Way Of Stopping never gets the love it should.
Especially the outro...
my ultimate hero! congrats on the video, stewart was the reason why I became a drummer! hello from mexico!
Excellent video! You broke down all of his licks into easy-to-hear parts. In particular, I really appreciate you including Murder by Numbers not only b/c its one of my fav Police songs, but b/c, like you said, when Stewart starts his drum beat intro, it's not always clear where the downbeat is until the Sting's bass and Andy's guitar comes in. Over the years, I've been able to pick it up even earlier than that which is nice, but now that you've shown what each part of Stewart's kit is doing at what time, it makes it even easier to listen to and pick up. Thanks so much! Ee-yoh!
OMG…I’ve been struggling with this as a drummer and a fan my whole life and you broke it down with precision…mad props dude, thank you, no really, thank you!!
Almost all The Police's songs has this unique quality of Stewart's drumming. The steady drumming in "Behind my camel" though it sounds steady is filled with embellishments, concluding part of the drumming in "Voices inside my head" has to be replayed over and over to be admired. Then thers is the incredible "Driven to tears" and I could go on, just from one album.
Great job Nate I have been goin down the Stewart rabbit hole just love his playing thankyou bro
As a guitar/bass player who has played a lot of The Police. I loved this video man. Really helps me understand the tunes better. Love your vids. I'll never miss one.
Sorry I'm late to this party - I've been watching a few Copeland covers on RUclips and yours just came up as a recommendation.
I enjoyed this. There are two more little pieces of genius I'd add - that "machine gun" fill in Every Little Thing, and that fill in Driven To Tears that hangs a couple of beats too long into the next bar. Both mind blowing to a young drummer (as I was) when they came out.
100% agree that Message In A Bottle needed to be included. It might be the obvious choice but it's the obvious choice for an obvious reason.
Awesome! Would also love to have seen breakdowns of "Spirits in the Material World" and "Synchronicity II". I've always wondered whether Stewart came up with these grooves before or after punching Sting out in rehearsal... ;-)
My 2 favorites
Stewart always made sure to remind people that Sting was his bass player. Man, they fought like cats and dogs.
Great class on Stewart Copeland, really enjoyed it! It's really hard to narrow it down to 5 beats, or even 7. I was a huge Police fan (still am!) back when Outlandos D'Amour came out, and saw them 4 times in NYC between '79 and '82. Even saw the reunion in 2008 at Giants Stadium. Stewart blew me away then and now. Thanks again for this video.................
Great video!! I read where for MIAB (and for other Regatta and Zenyatta studio tracks) was them playing the different parts (chorus, bridge, verse , etc) w/o crashes each for a several minutes, and then cutting up (literally-as it was tape) the best parts to put together the master track. Then Copeland went to work overdubbing. He's always marveled at how folks can pretty accurately play what is on thew studio track as it really wasn't 'played' that way.
Here's a great webpage with this info and more: www.infinitedensity.net/music/copeland/
Excellent! He’s one of my faves. Spent a bunch of time trying to learn this stuff back in the day.
Thank you for breaking these down. I finally understand the theory. Excellent video, much appreciated.
Please Do A Shoot on GENESIS..And Phil Collins Drumming...🤗🤗
While I always love Stewart’s playing on anything, he blows my mind on The Police’s LIVE album. Hole In My Life, So Lonely and The Beds Too Big Without You...incredible from “LIVE” 1979 versions!
Hey! Nice Rick Beato shoutout. Love that guys channel.
This is a great breakdown of SC. ... I'm a bassist/composer and just got my Linn 9000 up running after many years and look forward to breaking down beats and Stewart's have always been a groove.
Impossible to narrow down to 5. Simply impossible. But I can't leave out Roxanne because it turned rock drumming on its ear. I also really love Shambelle, Secret Journey and Synchronicity 1 & 2. The genius of Stewart is the incredible feels he generates on seemingly simple songs. Message in a Bottle is sheer genius and I don't hear many drummers playing it with the same feel he does. The kid from No Doubt did a great job on it when Sting played it with them at the Super Bowl.
So informative, no bullshit, all analytical context! Great job man.
Brilliant -- first time i am hearing Copeland analyzed so precisely like that --
Driven to Tears is all you need to know ...
hell yes
Great focus and detail. Rick Beato is in the shade!
Thanks Nate... coincidently, I was watching a 2014 Stewart Copeland master class on the Drum Channel only last night. He mentioned almost every take on the Police tracks would be no more than one or two passes, if I heard correctly. As an example, he talked about the tune “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, where he comes out of the chorus back into the verse . He said that was all he could think of at the time, hated it, and came up with way better transitions as they played it live...
Bopworks Drumsticks I love the live version of that song. Really awakened me to the genius of Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland is in my Top Five all time favorite drummers. His snare sound and stick attack is incredible.Thanks for this 80/20~! (And the shout out to Rick Beato too)... Subscribed.
You're a great teacher. Thanks for the work. I have a greater appreciation for Stewart's work on Synchronicity.
Nice list! I’ve been a fan of Copeland’s drumming for years. I was inspired by his drumming when creating parts for an album session I did last Summer.
Message in a bottle is a monster song , it will never die . Stewart's best ever drumming including Driven to tears 💯❤️
impossible to overestimate stewart's influence on my playing and teenage life. everything about who he was and how he played was just over-the-top cool as shit. how on earth could a *drummer* be in a band with a young sting and a young andy and be COOLER than them? you'll have to ask stewart
This was an entertaining and very informative video. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Many thanks!
Great video! You could have done a Top 100. "One World" is one that I'd put high on any Stewart Copeland top beats list. Top fills too. Top everything!
I love the way Stewart Copeland uses spacing… And using splashes and rides and his fills without overdoing it!
New to Drums, thanks for breaking down the dope beats.
Really, really cool. Thanks for putting this labor of love together. I was a fun watch!
Very entertaining.....personally i love Stewarts drumming on wrapped around your finger.....
...I Think the Song ....Driven to Tears IS A AWESOME DRUM BEAT from Copeland...
it’s great to see miss gradenko on a list like this! It’s one of my favorites ever and it’s super underrated. Thanks for the analysis on copelands best beats !!!
Quarters on the hi-hat of 'Hole in my Life' also. In the recording you actually feel it on 2 and 4 but it looks like he plays quarters on stage. Really great rhythm. Stewart's the best.
Stuart is Just fabulous, and still plays with as much fire in his advanced years! Glad you picked Miss Gradenko, one of my favourites for sure, as is Oh My God ..
It was all going really well, and then Miss Gradenko... made it great!
everything about drum grooves by stewart copeland is important to me so thanks so much for this video 🥁👍
Wow you explained Murder by numbers really well! I finally got why it was so weird, thank you so much!
Briiliant video! I'm new to your channel and i'm not even a drummer :) thanks a lot !!!
Peace and love from France
I'll second that - big fan of SC from waay back. Peace and love from TASmania.
My 3 favorite drummers are Steve Gadd, Bill Bruford, and Stewart Copeland, precisely because of the way they filled their songs with all these odd, complex, unusual beats. Gadd's Aja, Bruford's Heart of the Sunrise, and Copeland's Walking on the Moon are examples of why I like their drumming so much. I am not a musician but through time I have really come to appreciate how their drumming made these songs great, and this video of Copeland's work makes me understand in a totally novice kind of way just how intricate his playing is.Watching it made me appreciate it even more.
Great video. One of the things I adore in Copeland is that he always seems just a bit early on the beat. Maybe there is a correct term for this, I'm not a scholar drummer. I notice the opposite with Hunt Sales, he always seems a bit after the beat (I love him with Tin Machine). Both styles are impossible to imitatie. Favorit Police/Copeland tune for me is "Voices inside my head". Oh, and let us not forget...Copeland probably has THE best snare drum sound of all time!
I don’t know of a term that describes one drummer’s tendency to play ahead of the beat or behind the beat. There could be. I think it’s just a result of how each of us feel the pulse and where we feel the most comfortable, either ahead, on, or behind the beat. I think tempo was Stewart’s biggest weakness. Not only did he tend to play some songs much faster live than in the studio but he also had a tendency to rush. He’s got a lot of energy!
@@drewper73 Yeah I think you're right. If you see him interviewed he really is a bundle of energy. He also had that speeded up punk vibe driving the songs along.
The energy level on Synchronicity 1 is insane. Driven to Tears has some of my favourite Stewart nuances.
No time this time
Regatta de Blanc
Driven to tears
Masoko Tanga
Every little things
Canary in a coalmine
When the world is runnin' down
Miss Gradenko
No Time This Time should be on the list if for no other reason than the killer drum breaks at the end of the song. That one gets ya going.
I like the sound track Stewart made for the original Equalizer show.
Awesome video and excellent explanation of what is going on!! Thanks
this live version is total killer, but also Andy Summers cannot be praised enough imho
My versions are (in random order):
1. Bring on the night
2. Walking on the moon
3. Wrap around your finger
4. Sinchronicity 1
5. Hungry for you
The breakdown on One World from the album Ghost in the Machine is way sick too
Yes! Total jam
This guy really breaks it down well so us lay peopel can understand what's going on in Stew's brilliant beats.
Great explanations!!!! You did a great great job !!!!! A real pleasure to watch and listen to !!! Stuart is in my top 5 drummers . Very inspiring !!!!
Absolutely my most favorite drummer. I was fortunate enough to have seen the Police twice in the late 70’s early 80’s. Phenomenal band!!!
Before their St. Paul show for their reunion tour, I realized the seats behind the stage (hockey rink) were never sold so I moved to the 1st balcony directly above Copeland. When the show started, the rigging came up obstructing my view of Summers and Sumner but I had a perfect overhead view of Copeland. It was as if I was standing right behind him looking over his shoulder...only I was 30 feet tall. One of my best concert experiences ever despite the fact that I never even got a glimpse of the other two.
Congratulations on hitting 40,000 subs. I just watched a video about top ten drum intros and not one jazz one made the list. Have you thought of doing one of those. Top 7 though. Great video again, always thought stewart to be an interesting drummer.
for me its the beat and fills at the end of 'driven to tears'
That one big fill in Driven To Tears, right before the reprisal break is everything!!!
Just discovered and subscribed. Not a drummer, just a huge Police fan and general music geek. Great call on Ms. Gradenko on the honorable mention.
Same here. I am a 62 yr old woman, but someone just gave me a keyboard (across the balcony) and I realize I can record some beat on this ancient thing. I think I am a frustrated bassist or drummer... I refuse to feel like such a spaz!!
For me the duo songs Driven to Tears and Voices Inside My Head on Zenyatta Mondatta is some kind of apogee of drums sound production and drumming techniques, a condensed of fundamental Stewart Copeland's styles right there in the middle of Police's discography. There is "before", the defining beats of the first two albums and there is "after", The slightly more overproduced sounds of Hugh Padgham on the last two albums. Driven to Tears seems to be a particularly overlooked choice, but I dare you to go listen to that number right now and re-consider your list. :)
Without opening the video, try playing quarter note triplet rim shots under the swung half time hi hat groove on the breaks on "Walking On The Moon." Stewart doesn't play straight quarter note triplets but I came up with playing it that way decades ago, just to make it more difficult. Try it out.
.Love how you picked the songs that no one would think of. Learn diff groves from Cope