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 the ‘140-160 BPM’ Category

14 Nov 2009

Tweaking

Maybe that fourth cup of coffee was a bad idea? Today's caffeine overdose has pushed me to the limit, causing my palms to sweat, my heart to palpitate and my drumming to be completely obnoxious. [caption id="attachment_4615" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Today's Target Audience"][/caption] Loop #105 A two measure loop with enough ghost notes to fill eight measures, this groove is short on restraint and heavy on bass. Get your glow sticks and lollipops out, the kids are goin...

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23 Jul 2009

Quintuple the Pleasure, Quintuple the Fun

While cleaning up my studio and preparing for the big move, I stumbled across a folder of notes and lesson materials from my Berklee days. Inside this folder was everything from Max Roach solo transcriptions, to South Indian rhythmic cycles, to 4-way independence studies. Flipping through the pages of sheet music was like stepping into a time machine and being transported back to the grimey, unventilated practice studios on Mass Ave. Awh, the good old days. [caption id="attachment_3657" al...

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28 May 2009

Stuck In Your Head

Ever have one of those days where you get a song stuck in your head and you can't get it out... no matter what? You're not even sure where or when you heard it. It might have been playing on the alarm radio when you woke up or maybe it was blasting from a car next to you at a red light. You can't remember the source... but your brain seems to think that it's a great idea to play it over and over and over. It can be a highly frustrating experience. One that I've been plagued with today. ...

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24 Apr 2009

The Car Game – Round 2

To be perfectly honest, I had no clue about what I was going to write today so I decided to attempt another death-defying round of the "car game". For those of you just tuning in, the "car game" is when I get in my car (typically after my wife has driven it), start the engine, and then base my loop on whatever happens to be playing on the radio. Anything goes. Brooks and Dunn. Daughtry. Michael Bolton. You name it... I'll make a loop that sounds like it. Fortunately, I was spared once a...

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31 Mar 2009

Flaming Hot Dance Beat

Sorry for the delay in today's loop. I've been at the ER all night receiving treatment for third-degree burns to my scalp. Nobody told me I shouldn't use Nair on my dome. [caption id="attachment_1778" align="alignleft" width="269" caption="Rough Night."][/caption] Loop #42 File this one under The Walkmen meets Dizzy's Party. Preview Here: [audio:152_dparty.mp3] Download the Logic session here. (62MB) Get the .wav file here. 152 BPM...

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12 Feb 2009

Be like Kenny.

You're in the big leagues now. Keep it clean. Keep it snappy. Keep it 140bpm. [caption id="attachment_317" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Kenny Aronoff - Session Ace"][/caption] Just like Kenny, you'll soon be beating them off with a (signature) stick. Loop #11 No crazy effects. No distortion. Just pure Top 40 gold. Preview Here: [audio:pop.mp3] Download the Logic session here. (31MB) 140 BPM...

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