Le Cri - Tougoudoum Number 8

Ian Paice, been born in 1947, is one of the major drummers of the Hard Rock style, at first years 70, with the group DEEP PURPLE.

These bars are called the beams ; they allow to read the music more quickly and to write it in a more simple way. As a rule, they respect the cutting of the times.

Without falling into paranoïa, we must recognize that the drummer was considered as a musician of least value for a long time, for the other instrumentistes knew the musical theory, while himself

When notes, inferior to the quarter note (eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty second notes ....) are written one next to another, it is usage to replace the hooks of these notes by one or several horizontal bars that links them. Thus, the hook of the eighth notes will be replaced by ONE bar, the two hooks of the sixteenth notes by TWO bars...

• Recall that the grip is formed by the index and the thumb, for the most frequent case, said the "Timpani grip" (coming from the held sticks of the players of kettledrums). For the traditional grip, used by the players of drums, many Jazz drummers and some Rock drummers, the left stick is held in the hollow between the thumb and the index.

In regard to the fills, notice that they rarely finish on the first time of the following measure, but rather on the eighth note "in the air" of the 4th one (the "and") or on the third eighth note (if one plays ternary).

The question of the Reggae rhythms does not reside necessarily in the technique, but rather in the fineness and the "groove", with an accurate snare drum/bass drum play and a very subtle hi-hat play (see soon our subject on the "hi-hat openings"), with nuances sometimes difficult to note.

The drums have the huge advantage to be modulable, for the disposal of the equipment as for the adjustment of the sound. Thus, a drumset of bad quality but equipped with good heads will sound better than a standard drumset equipped with bad-quality or used skins.

In regards to the assemblying and the taking-off, see TOUGOUDOUM Number 6. If they are not subjected to excessive tensions, the heads can have a rather long life, according to the models and the quality of your strike.

• A set of standard heads is relatively not very expansive ; a good reason to change them when they are damaged, or if you buy a secondhand drumset (especially if it is a downmarket model) with old heads, all that to preserve a good sound.

• You are not obliged to equip your drumset with a unique model of heads. A lot of drummers use a finer head for the snare drum than for the toms for example.

• At the beginning, the drums were equipped with animal heads. Even if the sound of these heads is unquestionably "hotter" and more natural, their usage is often a headache for the drummer : in a humid atmosphere, they relax themselves and the sound leaves in the lows until to disappear, while if you play under the sun or close to a spot, they stretch themselves and risk breaking. Since the years 50, the heads are most often in plastic (Kevlar type).

He begun the drums towards the age of thirteen years. His father being a Jazz pianist, he heard very soon the drummers of the "Swing" era ; this will have an important influence in the development of his play. He was marked by the drummers of his time too, like Ginger Baker (that founded the group Cream with the great guitarist Eric Clapton), Carmine Appice, Bernard Purdie or Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix' drummer.

It exists several types of rebound (upright hand and left hand), each giving a different sound and effect. We will see here the usage of the rebound on the snare drum, the most frequent one, even if it also can be played on the toms or the ride cymbal. In each of these techniques, be careful to make rebound the stick in the axis of your arm. Here the principal used rebounds on the drums.

The best approach than you can do is listening (listen to Bob Marley of course with Carlton Barrett at the drums, Serge Gainsbourg with Sly Dunbar or groups like Black Uhuru, Steel Pulse or the singer Burning Spear).

You will see quickly that certain rhythmics and certain fills are rather "classics", but that it exists an infinity of variations in the choice of the beat (ternary, binary. ..) and of the technique (bass drum on the "3" or on all the times, minimalist fills or spreading out over several measures paterns...). Then open your ears...

The beams are very useful for the writing and the reading of rhythmic figures, mixing eighth notes and sixteenth notes, for example.

It's necessary to understand the technique of the rebound for an accurate and effective usage, and, of course, to take the time to work it SLOWLY. Besides, watch to not abuse of it and make your wrists work in your drums play anyway ...

• The free bounce, called "tennis ball" : keep the grip, thumb above the stick, while relaxing it lightly. The three other fingers of your hand are totally detached from the stick in order to make the rebound easier.

See how to interpret this figure, while playing it right hand on the hi-hat, then while adding the bass drum with the snare drum in stickshot on the 3rd time. These two simultaneous notes must be heavy but not "clumsy", this is an essential rhythmic indicator for the other musicians. Attention, do not accentuate this 3rd time on the hi-hat. Work first the first measure in loop, before linking it with the second.

For a more dynamic rhythmic, play the bass drum on all the times (listen to Stewart Copeland in Police for example) and play all that with energy and suppleness.

• Three manufacturers, well known by the dealers, share almost all the market of the drums heads, usually with a good quality, and certain characteristics according to the manufacture method. Generally, avoid the too fine heads, especially if you are beginner : they will not resiste...

• It exists principally two sorts of heads : with simple or double thickness. The contained air between the two films give to the doubled heads a matter sound. They are also more resistant. They suit more particularly for the big toms (bass drum, floor tom...) or for a Rock sound. On the other hand, the simple thickness heads have a clearer sound, for a more Jazz or Fusion style. Their resonance and harmonics are superior to the double thickness heads. Attention : a simple thickness head can be thick, all depends on used film for his manufacture ; you can feel right away the thickness by touching the skin.

•The resonance head (under the drum) is rather in simple thickness, and the resonance head of the snare drum is even finer, to favor the vibration of the snare under the instrument.

• The snare drum is usually equipped with a simple thickness head, even if it exists some double thickness models, specially conceived for it. For a drier and more nervous sound, some models have even micro-perforations.

With this advice, here you are better armed to choose the heads of your drumset. Listen to the other drummers and make experiences, for, once more, the choice is vast.

One of the finest sentences to this subject consisted even in presenting a quintet as a group "of four musicians and one drummer" !

If today's drummers can find it a funny joke, this is thanks to musicians like Jo Jones (drummer but also pianist, trompettist, clappers dancer...), Max Roach (with his orchestral vision of the drum), Elvin Jones (who has "re-thought" and revolutionized our instrument) and hundreds of other drummers, genius musicians, orchestrating their instrument in the heart of the orchestra, providing the groove and creating musical life.

Put your stick up, and leave it to fall again freely on the head. You will recognize right away the effect of a ball bouncing on the ground, with an indeterminate serie of blows on the instrument, going accelerating and loosing intensity.

Keep the same position that for the free rebound, but while resuming the contact and while giving an impulse with the other fingers after the strike, to resume the control of the stick and obtain a homogenous sound.
Attention ! These fingers don't touch the stick DURING the strike.

To play this rebound, the fingers are in permanent contact with the stick, but the wrist is well supple in order not to slow down the rebound. This rebound is particularly effective if you associate it with the flam for example (See Tougoudoum Number 3).

Put a ternary feeling with triolets and eliminate the hi-hat on the 3rd time, this that leaves the place to the bass drum/stickshot :

• The other principal difference between the heads is their color : transparent, blue or black, their stick touch and their sound will be different from the white heads, said "sandblasted". These are covered with a special paint, slightly gritty and essential if you play the brushes. The sound of these heads is also clearer.

• Some models have a central reinforcement, that increases their resistance and gives them a more slamming sound, all in softenning the harmonics (very used for the toms). For the bass drum batter head, there exist self-adhesive rounds in kevlar to place at the strike point (the handymen will stick a phonecard...).

• It exists some double thickness models, confining a liquid between the two films ; they are the "oil bath" heads. More expensive and very resistant, they produce a very matt sound, with few resonance. With the realized progresses on the other models, they tend to become rarer.

• Some heads are equipped with bands of foams (muffles) or resonance softeners. It is true that these models are well practical, notably for the bass drum. On the other hand, they are more expensive and produce a standard sound, difficult to personalize.

• For the maintenance, a small sponge blow from time to time do not hurt them (do not rub too much the sandblasted heads) ; if they have "notches" (impact marks of the sticks after too violent or not done properly blows), take them off, and heat them lightly with a small flame to rectify them, that can work...

• Watch to obtain a homogenous tension on the whole surface of the skin (pay attention to the "waves" close to the edges) ; a badly stretched head will be more vulnerable and will come unstuck. The heads are stuck or set on a fine aluminium circle, that allows positioning it with precision on the tom ; if the edge of the tom is irregular, the tension will be unbalanced.

• Verify the tune of the toms : if the heads are new, or the collar screws of least quality, the tension can loosen itself and change the tuning.

Ian Paice is part of this generation of drummers knowing to play with the tempo, without being slave of the metronome : the accompanist follows the music and accepts the eventual slowdowns or accelerations. A musical direction that is unfortunately rarer today, the drummer doing necessarily to fold himself to the requirements of the click for "competing" with the machine.

A very quick and accurate strike, especially in the playing of the single roll (a every hand blow), a rare but effective use of the double bass drum, and a very-high-level technique, such are the principal characteristics of his play. Listen to the introduction of the famous SMOKE ONE THE WATER and you will have an excellent example of the hi-hat playing in sixteenth notes.

Ian Paice is of course a Rock drummer, but always extremely fine in his rhythmics and his fills. Maybe the "modern" drummers have tendency to prefer to him John Bonham, but is it useful to compare two artists? It is a matter of sensibility and feeling at the listening.

The rebound is one of the bases of drum technique. It allows to play fast figures that the action of the single wrists could not play, all while saving his energy ! The wrists play of course their role, but there are especially the fingers and the "grip" that will allow you to control the rebound.

Son of the Ska and the Rock Steady from Jamaïca, the Reggae slowed down the tempo of these beats, there put engaged texts, and became an international music, carrier of the peace message of the Rasta religion, of which the great prophet was Bob Marley, disappeared in February 1981.