Brian Doherty

What Do You Think?

There is great irony in a songwriter relying heavily on a drummer, thus minimizing their role in the creation of their own tunes. But that’s what I witnessed when working with many singer/songwriters in the 1990’s.  I wonder, to what degree did Gershwin, Beethoven, Hamlish and other notable composers, rely on their drummers/percussionists for the principal ideas of their music?  My guess is not much at all.  Yet, time and time again, I’d work with singer/songwriters who had no clear vision of arrangement, counter melodies, harmonies or orchestration for their own work.  In some instances, the easiest element on which to offer input or suggestions, was the rhythm part.  For a drummer, this could be a nightmare.

Why The Fuss?

Sometime in the 1990’s, I was talking with engineer/producer John Sickett at a recording session in Hoboken, NJ.  As usual, our conversation centered around the state of the music business, note-worthy new bands and the projects in which we were currently involved.  This particular day, we also discussed the current glut of singer/songwriters in the New York area.  There was a tidal wave of emerging artists going solo, pedaling their songs in an attempt to get signed to a major record label.  I knew this first-hand because I’d been hired by dozens of them for gigs and recordings.  “You know, they gotta move away from the beat and get back to the song“, John complained, referring to the current state of songwriting craft.  His statement hit me hard.  As a matter of fact, in my opinion, most singer/songwriters overly obsessed about the beat and groove, while ignoring the real meat and potatoes of their work; the lyrics, arrangement, orchestration, melody, harmony, etc.  However, it wasn’t just the overall groove they dwelled upon, but the physical appearance of the drummer as well.  Why the fuss?

Credit Where It’s Due

In those days, the standard approach to fleshing out a song would begin with the writer and musicians assembled in a rehearsal room.  The singer/songwriter would usually play their song on a guitar.  I’m not sure if you can relate to this, but there was almost a standard singer/songwriter guitar rhythm those days.  I describe it as strummed 16th notes with Charleston-like accents on beats one, “an” of two, and four.  If you need an aural example, check out that song Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  This pattern  was a song-killer.  Rhythmically speaking, it was too active and did not allow for spaces (which are crucial components of a comprehensive rhythm arrangement).  After the initial listen, I would ask questions of the writer, including what mood they wished to convey, or if they could refer to a popular song as a model in this instance.  The answers to these questions would give us a framework in which to proceed.  Often, however, the answers were vague and incomplete, leaving us painstaking guesswork, or the process of musical trial and error.  Other tasks ahead of us were to determine rhythm section parts, arrangements, orchestrations, dynamics, kick drum patterns, etc.  The subtext of this situation was usually, “I’m not really sure what should be played in this spot, but what would you guys play here?”, allowing the artist to choose from  a smorgasbord of possibilities, before rendering any musical decision.  Afterwards, when an initial draft was completed, the singer/song “writer” would usually capture the musicians performance by recording it during the rehearsal, thereby claiming ownership of the tune as its sole creator.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that all the musicians involved in this process were contributing to the creation of the composition in some way.  Hence, it is my belief that contributing musicians should get commensurate writing credit, and financial remuneration, in this situation.

Eenie Meenie

Needless to say, I wasn’t the only drummer helping singer/songwriters in this manner.  As a matter of fact, in the mid-90’s, it seemed that singer/songwriters were becoming increasingly picky about their drummers, as they had an abundance of eager, hungry and affordable tub-thumpers from which to choose; a virtual menu of electronic and traditional drummers, if you will.  It was apparent that the drummer’s physical look and style was a factor too.  There were drummers who wore hats (mostly to cover a bald spot), dressed in costume for a “look”, or spoke in an affected accent, way out of the bounds of their natural dialect.  (There was one hat-wearing drummer from the Mid-West suburbs who put on an accent and dialect as if he was raised in the Southern Baptist Church).  There were theatrical drummers who twirled sticks or played standing up.  There were the worldly drummers who employed more exotic percussion.  These guys would have ethnic drums, frame drums, djembes or vintage percussion in their set up.  Sometimes they wore an African dashiki to express their inner ethnicity.

What A Bargain

In any event, singer/songwriters always got the better end of the stick.  Always dangling the carrot of later, greater success, they’d become agitated when negotiating terms with musicians, weaving in teasers about the promising future of the project, the immanent record deal, or the numerous industry executives coming to the next gig.  As a bargaining blockade, they would sometimes accuse their musicians of being mercenaries.  Ouch! Try that with your plumber, dentist, or store clerk when it’s time to pay your next bill.  Let me know how that works out.

Exposed

Yet, when things went less than perfect, or the flaws of the artist’s work were exposed, guess which musician would get the blame first?  “Did we play the song this slow last time? What happened to that drum fill you used to play in that part? You didn’t play this loud in rehearsal. Is that the drum kit you use on your other gigs? Did you count off the song at the right tempo? My old drummer always set up a conga drum with his kit.  Why don’t you bring a shaker or maracas to the next gig?” I could go on and on here.  My point is that the artist would say anything EXCEPT, “This song needs to be reworked”, or “I need to come up with a better arrangement for this section”, or “The tempo is too fast for the lyric, so I’ve decided to slow it down”, and so on.  In addition, I NEVER heard an artist declare, “This song sucks and is officially cut from our set list. Self-reflection and evaluation of this magnitude was an uncommon attribute in these cases, unfortunately.

Cream of The Crop

To be fair, the singer/songwriters I’m describing for this disussion, were the Bleeker Street, solo breed I observed or encountered in the 1990’s.  If you were an active musician during that period, had a pulse, and lived within 100 miles of the Big Apple, I’ll bet you experienced some of this stuff first hand.  Happily, I can tell you that I worked with a few incredibly gifted artists from this scene as well.  One was Joy Askew.  An amazing singer, writer and musician who had previously worked with Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson and Laurie Anderson, among many others.  Another was Hub Moore, a heart-felt lyricist and a expert at the craft of songwriting.  Also, there was Ben Folds.  Ben, bassist Tom Spagnardi, and I worked on songs in the basement of my Jersey City brownstone, and then showcased them at The Bitter End and Sine.  It was at a Sine gig that Ben was discovered by the guy who would be his business manager for many years.

The Silver Lining

Most of the songs, by the Bleeker Street artists I experienced, fell short in many ways.  Since I did quite a bit of work in this regard, I found it necessary to make the best of situations–somewhat of a “polisher”, so to speak.  As bad as this may sound, there was a wonderful silver lining.  In fact, there was no better on-the-job-training for a young drummer, in my opinion.  It was making music against all odds, like swimming upstream, jogging with ankle weights or breathing through a straw for long periods of time.  By the time you got to the artists with well-written tunes, played by an ensemble of ace musicians, it was as refreshing as a cool breeze on a hot summer day.

Part 1 of this series can be read here.

The Pitch

I’m finishing up my latest post entitled, The Pitch: How My Passion for Rock ‘N’ Roll Led Me to RCA Records and a Career In Teaching. In it, I detail my many hair-brained business concepts, including one that caught the attention of music giant, BMG and the President of RCA Records, Bob Jamieson. It’s an eight-part series and will be posted daily over the course of eight days beginning Sunday, June 13, 2010. An earlier posting, The Pitch: Part I serves as the basis of the series and will be included in an updated and revised form.  UDATE: JUNE 30, 2010.  The Pitch: How My Passion for Rock ‘N’ Roll Led Me to RCA Records and a Career In Teaching can be read here.

Drums and Percussion At Work

My long-time friend, percussionist Emedin Rivera and I recently performed with Bock and Blu in Stamford, CT (see photo below). Emedin and I have been working together with various artists since the mid-80’s. For years we were the rhythm section for legendary violinist, Noel Pointer. Recently, we had a chance to reminisce about our tenure with Noel and how, at sound check, we would often learn that we’d be playing with all the other acts on the night’s bill. In other words, we were “farmed-out” to the other entertainers. Showbiz!  Gotta love it! Emedin and I are proud Paiste and Vic Firth endorsers, hence the products in the pics.

A Winning Team Relies On Paiste Cymbals! Photo by Morgan Trinker www.morgantrinker.com

A Great Team Needs A Perfect Pair! Percussionist Emedin Rivera and Drummer Brian Doherty use Vic Firth sticks and mallets on the job.

Video Plans

Plans are in the works to shoot a series of short drum videos for my Youtube channel and my website. Among other ideas, I want to create segments that demonstrate ensemble playing and the process of making musical decisions. My goal is to make them short, easy and informative.

So far, I’ve posted two drum loops to my website. They are free and easily downloadable. You can find them under the Audio Tracks category to the right or here.  I posted one track on Youtube recently. You can view it here.

I was in a musical funk and in search of some new material to listen to. An album that would reveal a little more upon every listen. In the past, records by Wilco, The Jayhawks, Boston, Weezer and Pete Yorn had done the trick. Now, I was coming up empty. I blindly reached into the CD case and pulled out the first disc I touched; The Police’s Zenyatta Mondatta. Jeez, this vinyl record had lived on my turntable for months when I was in college. I spent a semester listening to the entire album at least once a day, digesting every lyric and drum fill. Now as I was driving, I stuck it in the player waiting to hear how it would sound after all this time.

It was just what the doctor ordered. A real band playing music before the pro tools era of “fixes.” Simple arrangements allowing  the instruments to breathe and the spaces to take effect. And of course, the unparalleled creative energy of Stewart Copeland’s drumming. This guy wrote the book on a style of drumming that we haven’t heard before or for that matter, since. Songs like “Bombs Away” and “Driven to Tears” now sounded as fresh as ever. His bell and ride cymbal patterns transcend rhythm and at times sound like counter melodies. Granted, Sting has proven to be a star all on his own, but I think that some recording artists are not better going solo.

This got me thinking about artists who also parted with their drummers. Tom Petty and drummer Stan Lynch. The Pretenders and Martin Chambers. AC/DC and Phil Rudd. Aerosmith and Joe Perry (They recorded an entire album with another drummer and shelved it after it was decided “it didn’t sound like Aerosmith”). What about R.E.M. and Bill Berry, or The Replacements and Chris Mars? Some of these bands have wisely reconnected with their drummers. However, it looks to me that these break-ups were an effort by the artist to move on, move up, be better and reach a higher station in the business, as if it was the drummer holding them back.  (Thoughts on why this happens will appear in Part 2 of this series).  UPDATE 5/29/10: I share some of my thoughts and hypotheses regarding this narcissistic artist syndrome in another piece which can be read here.

So, how did it work out? Has Tom Petty exceeded the standards of “American Girl” or “Breakdown” since the firing of Stan Lynch? How did it go for R.E.M.? If today were the beginning of their career, where would they stand? Stewart Copeland’s drumming was integral to the success of The Police. Perhaps a little too much so. Is it possible that Sting ditched The Police partly because the drummer’s style branded the music? Has Sting truly done better and more innovative work since dumping Steward Copeland?  It appears that some recording artists ruin a good thing just so they can say, “This is all mine and I did it all by myself.”

Conversely, I imagined The Rolling Stones without Charlie Watts and Rush without Neil Peart. Dave Matthews without Carter Beauford, but I couldn’t do it. Thank God that Page and Plant did not pursue Led Zeppelin without John Bonham. It seems that these artists embraced their drummer’s musical personality, making it part of their brand, front and center.

I love listening to other drummers, to hear where they’re coming from musically and what motivates their choices.  I often share my observations with colleagues while shooting the breeze.  My questions framing the conversation are always the same; “What makes this drummer great?”  “What separates him from the rest of the pack?”  “What drives his musical choices and instincts?”  Recently, a bass player colleague paid me a compliment by telling me that I play “right on the beat; not ahead or behind.”  I was elated, until I realized I didn’t know precisely what he meant.  Musicians often evaluate the worth of drummers with phrases like, “Behind or ahead of the beat”, or “Great time and feel.”  But what do these phrases really mean?

Just because I can’t translate these expressions into specifics, doesn’t mean that others are clueless.  What it means, is that I think of these traits in different musical terms.  I’d like to share these with my fellow drummers and instrumentalists.  Here are 5 musical tips for achieving a great feel and groove.

Feel Trumps Time

Don’t worry about your overall time.  Instead answer the question, “Does it feel right?”  There are countless examples of musicians speeding up or slowing down in relation to a click track, and yet the overall track still works.  From a drummer’s perspective, I immediately think about John Bonham and Levon Helm.  Getting the right feel will take care of everything.

Orchestration

Maintain focus on the part you’re executing and how it enhances the track you’re playing.  Your choice of instruments of the kit; what to leave in, what to leave out and what to highlight will make all the difference.  A drum track with little or no use of cymbals has a much different feel than one that leans heavily on them.

Weak Hand

Drummers–try leading with your weak hand.  (Other instrumentalists may be able to apply this principle to their instrument.)  Doing this places your stronger hand on the weaker beats.  With practice, this can change the feeling of your musical phrases.  An added bonus is that the strong hand will often be on the second-to-last stroke (weak beat).  I refer to this as the “leading tone” of the phrase.  Emphasizing the leading tone brings added life and energy to phrases.  Articles have been written about this, and legendary timpanist, Fred Hinger, made this leading tone theory the centerpiece of his teachings.  Implement it and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Remove the Drummer Hat

Plain and simple: take a step back and use your ears as a casual listener.  How does your track sound now?  Play to a wide audience and not only to fellow musicians.

Give Notes Their Due

Be deliberate and precise when playing note values.  Drummers can express lengths of notes as well as the type of attack or sustain.  Sometimes just being aware of it is all you need.  However, if you want to take it further, you can sometimes achieve longer tones by leaving the stick near the drum head immediately after a stroke.  I think of this as “digging in.”  This sometimes works well on the ride cymbal or kick drum.  Longer sounds can also be expressed with press rolls, bigger crash cymbals, etc.  Quick hi hat splashes, smaller cymbals and quickly pulling the stick away from the drum head can help with shorter sounds.  I’m not suggesting you go crazy with this stuff; don’t let it get in the way of your playing.  It’s supposed to enhance your feel.

Here’s the Musician magazine article. I think the problem is fixed (thanks Jade!). Click the link and the file should load. It may take a few seconds, so please be patient. This article was written by Bill Flanagan, who shadowed the band while we recorded in Gainsville, FL.

The final installment of this series will be posted on Monday, March 1st.

The Silos Musican Mag

The Challenge. We study and practice.  Yet the question remains, “What now?”  How do I make a musical connection to others?  How do I apply my skills to real-world experiences?  It’s frustrating that the craft of drumming, and the landscape of the music business is not an exact science.  But there are things you can do; steps you can take; and changes you can implement to take you out of the practice room and into the music business. Let’s start by planning and then by taking a look at your goals.

Take stock. Examine your musical and professional experiences and goals.  Where are you in your music career?  How many shows do you play a year?  Do you have the network you need to achieve your goals?  Do you have any network at all?  What do you want to be doing next month or next year?  Are you on the outside looking in?  If so, what must change?  This type of personal assessment will be different for everyone depending on your hopes and dreams.  Allow yourself the time for this evaluation.  Perhaps even do some research.  Be very clear about the type of drummer you are, and the types of playing at which you shine. Taking an honest look at your present situation will save time now and perhaps avoid future disappointment.  It will also pave the way for your next step.

Find your pigeonhole. Have a concise, truthful answer prepared to the “What kind of drummer are you?” question.  Once you’ve decided, stick to the answer and tell people that answer when they ask!  For drummers, this seems to go against our very core.  We are taught to be well rounded and versatile.  We should be open to many musical styles.  However, it is also important to realize that fellow musicians, band mates, the music industry, even your local bartender, will classify you as a certain kind of drummer.  For example, think of a drummer that you do not know personally, but one whose work you admire.  What kind of drummer is he?  If you had to put him in one musical category, what would it be?  You see?  We do it to others, and others will do it to us.

If you do not pigeonhole yourself, others may do it for you. For example, suppose you consider yourself a heavy metal drummer.  Your band recently returned from a successful tour.  You have several weeks before your band tours again.  To pay the rent, you accept a six-week gig, playing a show at a local dinner theater.  Because you are now working at a dinner theater, are you a show drummer?  The outside world may see it that way if you let them.  However, if you have already established yourself as a heavy metal drummer, the theater gig will only help you appear accomplished and versatile.  Remember to decide your category honestly, and then stick to it, no matter what kinds of jobs you are doing.  Soon, others will describe you by using your own phrase. If you do not take the time to type cast yourself, to pigeonhole your career, you are leaving your legacy open to the random interpretation of your peers.  Now that you have your place in the music world, it is time to make something happen.