Archive for October, 2009
Yeah, I know I haven't been blogging much this week. It's because I've been locked up in the studio, chugging gallons of Red Bull, snorting several kilos of Fun Dip and editing hundreds of drum loops, all in preparation of the November 1st release of Gruss Loops Volume VI.
I'd be lying if I didn't say this was the best series of loops I've ever created... if not, in the history of the internets. From South Indian frame drum grooves to super tight James Brown-inspired funk beats to uptempo...
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Here's a nice impromptu drum half-circle (the dudes with the djembes must have been out on an EZ Wider run) in 3... or 6/8... whatever makes you happy, featuring Jamey Haddad, Danilo Perez and Osvaldo Jorge.
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While perusing the homepage of this site earlier today, making sure everything was in order, something jumped out at me: A major gap in my tempo categories! How did this happen? How have I not recorded anything between 260-300 BPM?? That's prime wanking territory. I've spent years perfecting paradiddles and triple flama-ratama-dingdongs in the this range, yet I somehow neglected to record anything for this blog. I immediately went up to my studio, set the click track to 285 BPM and got to ...
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Here's a nice profile of Steely Dan's classic 1977 album, "Aja". ...
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When I started this blog back in February, people thought I was crazy. They said things like, "Why would you just give this stuff away?" and "You'll only keep it up for a while. It sounds like an ass-load of work." Well, nine months and 100 free loops later, I'm still going strong, cranking out the beatz and poking fun at certain drummers. Now, on such a momentous occasion in the history of drum loop-centric blogs, I figured it would be à propos to take a moment and recap some of the highl...
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Here's some nice footage of Brian Blade recording with the patented "Ringo towel sound".
[caption id="attachment_4364" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="click me"][/caption]
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Other than Herbie's shirt, this might be the hippest thing to ever air on a late night talk show. Sure, they don't really have a chance to stretch, but these musical spots are usually confined to 3-4 minutes.
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When I heard the heater click on in my house today, I knew it was finally time to play my Eckerman frame drum. You see, this particular drum has a calfskin head and during the more humid months of the year, the head loosens so much that the drum is practically unplayable. Now, with the air crisp and dry, and my furnace cranking out some heat, the drum has naturally tightened up to its optimal tuning range.
[caption id="attachment_4345" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Eckerman Frame Dr...
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Since I just posted some Peter Erskine-inspired loops, I figured I'd share this video of him playing "Birdland" with Weather Report in 1978. Apparently, shirts were optional in this band. I wonder what would happen if they were to share a bill with Paul Anka?
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While I'm not a big fan of packing up everything you own, moving it into a new place and then unpacking again, it does tend have its little rewards. Like rediscovering items you forgot you even possessed. In this case, that item is Joe Henderson's incredible 1979 album, "Relaxin' at Camarillo". I had purchased this record back in high school while going through my "must own everything Tony Williams ever played on" phase and somehow managed to lose track of it after 10 years of continuous movi...
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