that was so good i have never thought about how deep drums are but wow i need to get so much better and this is helped find a starting point and really just focus on the big picture of music
No mention of bass drum pitch - I assume it's the F, an octave below the rack tom. So the rack is 3F, the snare is 3A, the FT is 3C, and the BD is 2F? I think it's a great way to create 'music' on the drums when soloing, but I think, as mentioned, it could cause a conflict if the other musicians are playing in a key that doesn't include those notes -- not sure if that would work. As Max Roach once said, it's not important to tune the drums to specific notes, it's the phrasing of your solo that's important. I think tuning in Perfect 4ths is probably a better all round method for group performance, especially if you are playing with a guitarist. All you really need from the drums is high, medium, and low-- you fill in the rest with your imagination, at least in theory. Very creative, though.
Joff- that's why the title is MELODIC DRUMMING. it surely isn't "non sense" as u put it. some cats take the drums to another level. no big deal. I can respect it.
Go listen to a live version of him playing the melody of the tune “Billie’s bounce” here on youtube. Great player with nice ideas & he swings his ass off!!
I don't think most drummers, when they think of playing melodically, are thinking of tonality, but rather of creating interesting combinations of highs and lows. Which is great, because if you were playing drums tonally (as opposed to melodically) you would need to retune for every song.
+Cody Walker Jr. Well there is a range of tuning, and he can obviously change the tuning very quickly. Plus why does every song have to be in a different key? You can play many many songs in the same key or at least the same tonic. Also, you should consider writing your own music around your kit and playing, rather than just playing other people's music. When you write your own music, you can maximize the potential of your kit and fit everything else around it.
+wiremessiah In a gigging jazz situation, you often don't know what songs you're going to do ahead of time. You'll often alternate between major and minor keys. Moreover, jazz songs modulate quite often: you might go through three or four keys (both major and minor) in a single song. You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would. You can't retune the bass drum on a per-chord basis, which is what a literal interpretation would seem to imply here. That's not the point here, though: Ari's just trying to play his drums in a more melodic manner. Mallets facilitate this, too: you get a more even attack from mallets, which gets you closer to a horn-like tone. You obviously can't play every single song with mallets, nor will you be turning off your snare wires or ignoring your ride cymbal ;-) The title of this is excerpt is misleading: "Jazz Drum Tuning" led me to think that a good deal of time would be spent talking about the relative pitches of batter vs. resonant head, as well as the relationships between the toms, snare, and bass. Not seeing any of that here. Some cool ways to bend notes on the fly, though, with fingers and elbows.
John Miller It doesn't really matter. Drums are out of tune with the song anyway. They all have a fundamental pitch, it's just a matter of whether it's the right one or not. If drums had to be in tune with every chord or key, then drums would not work. My point is that you can tune drums to a key, and they can complement other instruments tonality with their own. Here is what I have achieved with drum tuning: www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/1014460-perfectly-tuned-kit.html "You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would." And you cant expect a horn player to play chords like a piano, they are different instruments with different limitations. You are supposed to understand those limitations and possibilities and stretch and transcend them, as he does in this vid. "Not seeing any of that here." Yes you are, he is tuning the snare and toms to a chord. Relationship between head, though, is pretty rudimentary stuff, not sure why he would go into that. That's easy for jazz. Toms same tuning, snare side higher, kick depends on muting, if it's not muted, same tuning, if it is, batter head tighter for response. These are just guidelines, obviously, anything else is just taste.
Yeah. And, after that he played a melody, like Ed Thigpen. Some professionals only turn certain lugs after establishing pitch, makes it quick and easy to re-tune in the middle of a gig.
+Brian Chilcoat well, he endorses Vater sticks so I guess Vater mallets, unless it was recorded before he signed with them, in which case it would probably be Ayotte.
joff- i dont tune this way either but if that's his approach and style then let it be man. you got your preference right? then do u and others will do them. chill
I'm not too fussy about tuning my drums. I don't even like to use the word "tuning". I tension the head to where it feels good. I'm looking for a nice playing surface. That's all. I suppose someone will tell me I'm wrong or something. Yeah right, like anyone even knows if your floor tom is not in the correct key. Come on. I love how this guy plays, but I ain't buying this whole Bb, F#, Gm7 or whatever. Not when it comes to drums. Just no!
Yep, and in the studio that's generally what you do: tune the kit for each song... at least, that's the way we do it in the rock/pop/r'nb world. Live, techs usually go for the key of E or A (Eb is popular for country) and call it a day.
I think you'll find Rhythm is the yin and Harmony is the yang, so to speak. All melodies are combinations of rhythm and harmony, to say drums is one and not the other, would be a bunch of unmusical robots playing combinations that would not be pleasant to the ear nor make people want to dance. I'd go back and look at the first orchestrations of the drum kit and first people to play the drum kit. In Jazz especially, the drums is most certainly about both Rhythm, and Melody.
The bass drum note/tunning is outstanding! Plays the main note of the chord, and more bassy. He don't speak about!
Dude, this is just beautiful!
This guy's a true master at this craft!
Jaw dropping video!
Cheers from Brazil!
that was so good i have never thought about how deep drums are but wow i need to get so much better and this is helped find a starting point and really just focus on the big picture of music
Oh my gosh, this is fascinating, and this guy is so great at playing actual melodies using such a small kit. highly innovative.
That number was entitled 'sackin' the bass player' .That was incredible! could hear the whole band in there. cheers
dang. next time i tune i'm gonna say booo dooo dooo
That was awesome. I love his bass drum.
No mention of bass drum pitch - I assume it's the F, an octave below the rack tom. So the rack is 3F, the snare is 3A, the FT is 3C, and the BD is 2F?
I think it's a great way to create 'music' on the drums when soloing, but I think, as mentioned, it could cause a conflict if the other musicians are playing in a key that doesn't include those notes -- not sure if that would work.
As Max Roach once said, it's not important to tune the drums to specific notes, it's the phrasing of your solo that's important.
I think tuning in Perfect 4ths is probably a better all round method for group performance, especially if you are playing with a guitarist.
All you really need from the drums is high, medium, and low-- you fill in the rest with your imagination, at least in theory.
Very creative, though.
Good job! Your explanations are crystal clear!
All this comes from a 4 piece kit ? This is amazing.
This is madness! :O
thats really nice and beautiful! thank you!
This is so cool ,,Thanks for posting this !!!!!
Remarkable aproach.
damn that was so beautiful
you are the man
Lovely!
yes yes! yes!! way to go
nice drumming
Joff- that's why the title is MELODIC DRUMMING. it surely isn't "non sense" as u put it. some cats take the drums to another level. no big deal. I can respect it.
wow!
Go listen to a live version of him playing the melody of the tune
“Billie’s bounce” here on youtube.
Great player with nice ideas & he swings his ass off!!
Oh yah!
what about the skin in the bottom of the toms and snare and bass drum?
more low than the top skin or high?
A little bit higher
I don't think most drummers, when they think of playing melodically, are thinking of tonality, but rather of creating interesting combinations of highs and lows. Which is great, because if you were playing drums tonally (as opposed to melodically) you would need to retune for every song.
This is interesting for recording , Doesn't seem too usable for live playing. Every song being in a different key and such. Thanks for the video
+Cody Walker Jr. Well there is a range of tuning, and he can obviously change the tuning very quickly. Plus why does every song have to be in a different key? You can play many many songs in the same key or at least the same tonic.
Also, you should consider writing your own music around your kit and playing, rather than just playing other people's music. When you write your own music, you can maximize the potential of your kit and fit everything else around it.
+wiremessiah In a gigging jazz situation, you often don't know what songs you're going to do ahead of time. You'll often alternate between major and minor keys. Moreover, jazz songs modulate quite often: you might go through three or four keys (both major and minor) in a single song. You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would. You can't retune the bass drum on a per-chord basis, which is what a literal interpretation would seem to imply here.
That's not the point here, though: Ari's just trying to play his drums in a more melodic manner. Mallets facilitate this, too: you get a more even attack from mallets, which gets you closer to a horn-like tone. You obviously can't play every single song with mallets, nor will you be turning off your snare wires or ignoring your ride cymbal ;-)
The title of this is excerpt is misleading: "Jazz Drum Tuning" led me to think that a good deal of time would be spent talking about the relative pitches of batter vs. resonant head, as well as the relationships between the toms, snare, and bass. Not seeing any of that here. Some cool ways to bend notes on the fly, though, with fingers and elbows.
John Miller
It doesn't really matter. Drums are out of tune with the song anyway. They all have a fundamental pitch, it's just a matter of whether it's the right one or not. If drums had to be in tune with every chord or key, then drums would not work. My point is that you can tune drums to a key, and they can complement other instruments tonality with their own.
Here is what I have achieved with drum tuning:
www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/1014460-perfectly-tuned-kit.html
"You can't take the approach of "let's tune my drums to the tonic of the song" and expect to solo over the form of a song like a horn player would."
And you cant expect a horn player to play chords like a piano, they are different instruments with different limitations. You are supposed to understand those limitations and possibilities and stretch and transcend them, as he does in this vid.
"Not seeing any of that here."
Yes you are, he is tuning the snare and toms to a chord. Relationship between head, though, is pretty rudimentary stuff, not sure why he would go into that. That's easy for jazz. Toms same tuning, snare side higher, kick depends on muting, if it's not muted, same tuning, if it is, batter head tighter for response. These are just guidelines, obviously, anything else is just taste.
The only way to have drums fully in tune would be to build them like saxophones.
both my friend ....both
and I would agree with that.
lo veo todo el tiempo
they can create melodies though and some people find that pleasant as well
also "i need to make that note a little lower" *random quarter turns on not every lug*
Yeah. And, after that he played a melody, like Ed Thigpen. Some professionals only turn certain lugs after establishing pitch, makes it quick and easy to re-tune in the middle of a gig.
It’s called melodic drumming for a reason. We want the drums to sing/resonate a desired key.
Anyone know what brand of mallets he's using
+Brian Chilcoat
well, he endorses Vater sticks so I guess Vater mallets, unless it was recorded before he signed with them, in which case it would probably be Ayotte.
Or borrow Terry Bozzio's kit...
joff- i dont tune this way either but if that's his approach and style then let it be man. you got your preference right? then do u and others will do them. chill
its like saying "piano is about the melody not the ryhthm"
Then all these come up a half step.
NERD.
I'm gonna go watch some Star trek now
I just pissed myself.
I'm not too fussy about tuning my drums. I don't even like to use the word "tuning". I tension the head to where it feels good. I'm looking for a nice playing surface. That's all. I suppose someone will tell me I'm wrong or something. Yeah right, like anyone even knows if your floor tom is not in the correct key. Come on. I love how this guy plays, but I ain't buying this whole Bb, F#, Gm7 or whatever. Not when it comes to drums. Just no!
buuuuu lol
tuning your drums to specific triads only works for ONE KEY lol he's like oh if im playing in minor i better tune to F minor,....?lol
Yep, and in the studio that's generally what you do: tune the kit for each song... at least, that's the way we do it in the rock/pop/r'nb world. Live, techs usually go for the key of E or A (Eb is popular for country) and call it a day.
Timpani mallets....Really?
Yes really.
Steven Weeks..Your last name is so fitting for you!!!!....We can tell you have only been playing for a few weeks with that comment!!!
If it sounds good, why would you care... unless you're on the spectrum.
Drums are about rhythm not melody.
I think you'll find Rhythm is the yin and Harmony is the yang, so to speak. All melodies are combinations of rhythm and harmony, to say drums is one and not the other, would be a bunch of unmusical robots playing combinations that would not be pleasant to the ear nor make people want to dance. I'd go back and look at the first orchestrations of the drum kit and first people to play the drum kit. In Jazz especially, the drums is most certainly about both Rhythm, and Melody.
Sorry, I don't agree...
Definitely dig your solo, but less of the drunk feel shit. you're not really good at it.