James Gadson Takes Us In Between
Revisiting Mr. Kenwood Dennard
In The Toms Tonight
With Coffee
Back To Brushes
New Look, New Loops
The best early birthday present… ever.
A Loop Supreme
That Great Gretsch Sound
Lez Zeppelin And The Importance of Ghost Notes
The Soundcheck

Archive for June, 2009

29 Jun 2009

A Deal You Can’t Refuse

As I'm putting the finishing touches on Gruss Loops Volume II, I realized I should make you painfully aware of the sweet deal that currently lays before you. You see, since I'm offering the loop packs as a subscription service, there will be over 200 loops available over the course of the next two days. That's right. You could sign up now, grab Volume I right now AND Volume II in another 24 hours.... all for the rock bottom price of $9.95. You can even cancel after you nab both of the pack...

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28 Jun 2009

Working It Out

So, I wanted to get back to the experiment that I started with Bob Reynolds a few weeks ago. For those of you just tuning in, Bob and I decided to collaborate together on my loops by bouncing some musical ideas off of each other and building grooves around them. Bob was the first to offer up a track and sent the following rough demo: [audio:FirstInversion.mp3] [caption id="attachment_3303" align="alignleft" width="229" caption="Do You Think I Read This?"][/caption] I opened up Bob's d...

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27 Jun 2009

Videos | by Ryan

0

Josh Freese Presents: “The Tommy Lee Waltz”

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24 Jun 2009

Not to leave you hanging…

Yes yes, I know I haven't been cranking out the free loops on a "daily" basis this week. A full refund is in the mail. I promise. You see, things are pretty crazy around "Casa del Gruss" at the moment. We're currently looking for some new digs (something a little more drummer friendly.. you know, ideally with a barn and a 48 channel Neve console) and I'm finishing up Volume II of Gruss Loops... to be released next week! But fear not, here's a loop to keep you cheap bastards entertained in t...

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21 Jun 2009

Videos | by Ryan

3

YouTube Jam Session

Here's a good example of what can happen when you're really bored on a rainy Sunday afternoon. This originally started as a youtube video posted by Bob Reynolds... just him playing Donna Lee a cappella. Then, a few days ago, I saw via Twitter that a guy who goes by the youtube alias, "boobsax", added a contrabass clarinet part on top (or underneath I should say) of Bob's original video. Pretty cool, I thought. What a perfect opportunity for me to mess this up. I recorded a full siz...

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18 Jun 2009

The Day the Cowbell Died

Ever since the infamous SNL skit featuring Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell aired on April 8, 2000, drummers around the world have been forced to endure countless "more cowbell" jokes. Every time you even think about overdubbing some cowbell on a pop song or including it into a latin groove, you can guarantee a slew of tired punchlines and horrible impressions from those around you. For me, it got so bad that I stopped using a cowbell all together. It just wasn't worth it. What was on...

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17 Jun 2009

Videos | by Ryan

2

Lunchtime Lesson – Bernard is Back

It's been way too long since I've posted a video of Bernard Purdie. This is something that should almost be done on a weekly basis... if not daily. So here you go. Sit back, eat your sandwich and watch the master lay it down. ...

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15 Jun 2009

This is where it gets interesting.

As you might recall, last week I mentioned I would be collaborating with my old friend, Bob Reynolds, in the process of creating music/ideas/grooves for upcoming loop packs. Well, today I received my first "rough sketch" from Bob along with the following notes: Not exactly odd time, but I have this 12/8 loop in there that's playing much slower than intended (hence the sound of stretching). I feel like this is maybe in 6/4? I don't know, I made a chart for it in 12/8 because that's where t...

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11 Jun 2009

Zeibekiko to The Max.

Have you heard a Zeibekiko groove before? I hadn't... until this morning when I received this email from one of my readers in France: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello Ryan! First I do appreciate your blog, it's fun to read, well written (even if, being a french reader, I'm not the best judge...), with nice loops... My drumming moment of the day (I'm not a drummer). I would like...

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10 Jun 2009

Hypocrite.

I know I've made some snarky comments about splash cymbals in the past. This is why I feel I must explain myself before posting today's loop. You see, there are other ways to utilize splash cymbals besides highlighting DX-7 solos in bad fusion jams and recording prog-rock concept albums. [caption id="attachment_3141" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Charles Haynes"][/caption] This is a trick I picked up a few years ago while hanging out at Wally's on "funk night". One of the house...

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