My Michael McDermott drum key arrived today. This thing has some serious weight to it.
-- Check out my interview with Michael ![]() Cris Cohen: What's the key to learning how to play well with others on an album? To play well with the percussionist? To play well with the programmed drums? Chris Fryar, drummer, the Zac Brown Band: The most helpful thing you can keep in mind is to listen, to be aware. For example, when Daniel (de los Reyes) is playing, sometimes he'll play a part, and that part will just catch the ear of whoever's in the booth and he will go, "Oh yeah, why don't we make that into a loop?" In that kind of context, you want to just listen and give space to those ideas as they come up in a live context. And so from my perspective, my job is to hit the high points, the strong beats, embellish where I can, but pretty much be aware and be open to what's happening musically with the electronic end of things. And what's happening with Daniel's end of things. So if he picks up a shaker and starts playing an intricate pattern, then I am more than likely going to lessen what I do on the hi-hat, since they are similar sounds. I defer to him. It's out of love for the music and out of love for him, because he's an incredible player and masterful musician in his own. I don't want to detract from what he's doing. ![]() Cris Cohen: I read in another interview you did where you said, “I have a philosophy that every single note I play matters.” Does that ever get in the way of seeing the big picture? Because it sounds like, if you go down that road, you could get really hyper-focused and miss some of the grand scheme of things. Mark Schulman, drummer for P!nk: That's a fantastic question. But remember what I said earlier: First and foremost, I'm there to be of service. It's funny, because people describe what it is like when you are playing on stage. It's this sort of hyper-awareness where you are totally present and foreshadowing the future, paying attention to everything you do, as well as really paying attention to what everybody else does. I am so acutely aware of everybody else. That's one of the reasons why I get the gigs that I've gotten is because of my awareness of others. So it's this hybrid of me paying attention to the nuances of what I play and paying attention to every little nuance so I can play off of everybody else and respond or change or shift or whatever needs to happen. Because I'm there to be of service first. Daniel Glass: Your groove has power! It really does! A successful groove will MOVE your audience from Point A to Point B. It’s just too bad that most drummers don’t take advantage of this power. Instead, they put in the minimum time to develop a decent groove that’s “good enough.“ Then they focus most of their energy on complex patterns, chops, and other “sexy” stuff that’s intended to impress other drummers. And they wonder why they don’t sound like Steve Gadd...
-- Sign up for Daniel's upcoming class "Finding Your Golden Groove". From the archives. Recorded November 1998.
Cris Cohen interviews Roger McGuinn. They discuss: - His album "Live From Mars" - "King of the Hill," the duet he recorded with Tom Petty - His love of folk music - Learning to perform as a solo artist - And more |
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