Steve Gadd, a pair of brushes and a 2″ Ampex Box.

Ryan on Feb 15th 2010

No, this isn’t a setup to a weird joke.

Damn, the 80’s looked fun.

Filed in Videos | One response so far

The Art of Brushes – Vol 1

Ryan on Feb 12th 2010

Breaking news, hot off the press from the good people over at thelooploft.com:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Loop Loft, Boston, MA – February 12, 2010 – Have you been searching for a loop pack focused entirely on brushes? Well, you’re not alone. At The Loop Loft, we’ve received many requests for drum loops that incorporate the warmth and ambiance that only brushes and a coated drumhead can provide. After several months and eight separate recording sessions, we’re proud to bring you the first loop pack consisting of 100% brush performances. With grooves ranging from jazz ballads to funky linear grooves to double time “train” shuffles to folk rock back beats, The Art of Brushes Volumes Vol 1 is the most dynamic and genre-spanning loop pack available anywhere!

Picture 6 258x300 The Art of Brushes   Vol 1

Number of Loops: 103
Tempo Range: 68-212 BPM

- Instant Downloads
- 100% Royalty Free
- High Quality 24 Bit 48 KHZ Audio
- WAV, REX2 and AIFF Formats

Sets included:
68_JazzBallad
75_PopBallad
79_Chill
103_Funky
140_Granola
144_BackBeat
179_FiveFour
212_Train

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For more info on The Art of Brushes Vol 1, just click here.

Filed in Uncategorized | One response so far

Brushing Up On The Funk

Ryan on Jan 25th 2010

Such a pun-laden headline could only mean one thing: Another funk loop. And rather than picking up the sticks and burying the VU meters into the red, I decided to to go the subtle route and use brushes to lay down the back beat.

Jim Keltner - Master of brushes, forks and pens.

Jim Keltner - Master of brushes, forks and pens.

Loop #119

I’ll admit, I’m not breaking any new ground with today’s groove. Drummers like Steve Jordan, Jim Keltner, and even the guy from G. Love and Special Sauce have been incorporating brushes into funk and pop grooves for years. I am, however, providing you with two measures of pristinely-produced, wide open snare, right hand on the floor tom, brush-based goodness.

Enjoy.

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103 BPM

Filed in 100-120 BPM, Folk, Funk | No responses yet

Save the Beat

Ryan on Nov 18th 2009

I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing tired, canned dance beats. I don’t even like dance music. But if I have to hear it while out in public, away from the safe confines of my iPod, I might as well try to improve the quality of the drum sounds. The world has been overrun by shitty producers with their 808 samples and re-mixed Ableton Live schlock. And don’t even get me started about the kitten DJs who spin said schlock.

Stop the madness.

Stop the madness.

Loop #108

How does one try to come up with fresh sounding dance loops? Start with something that sounds nothing like a cliché electronica beat. In this case, it’s using brushes to lay down the groove. Chopped up with a touch of gating, peppered with some growly floor toms and sautéd in some extra trashy hi hats, I give you my first dance loop intended to make this genre a little more palatable (especially when served alongside a $14 gin and tonic made by someone like this).

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118 BPM

Filed in 100-120 BPM, Dance, Pop | 6 responses so far

Request #2 – Mellow Acoustic

Ryan on Nov 15th 2009

Loop #107

Here’s my loop response from the following request:

“I’d like something that can go behind a slow acoustic guitar without taking over.”

Brushes - Russ Kunkel Style

Brushes - Russ Kunkel Style

I immediately thought of Russ Kunkel’s brush-ballad playing from those early 1970’s James Taylor records. I tuned the snare down nice and low, kept the groove nice and simple and rounded things out with a bit of reverb.

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70 BPM

Filed in 060-080 BPM, Folk, Pop | No responses yet

Filling the Gap

Ryan on Oct 25th 2009

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 work.

Loop #101

The second-fastest loop yet to be released, today’s groove kicks of my new tempo category with some straight up bebop playing in the vein of Max Roach and Vernel Fournier. A four bar phrase with brushes on the snare drum, this uptempo jazz groove is one of many that I’ll be releasing in the next loop pack.

Max Roach

Max Roach

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285 BPM

Filed in 280-300 BPM, Jazz | No responses yet

Brushapalooza

Ryan on Aug 5th 2009

Yeah, I know I haven’t posted any “free” loops in the past few days. Things are a bit crazy at the moment… and there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes. You shall see soon. To keep you entertained in the meantime, here’s a video of Clayton Cameron (Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett) demonstrating some very basic brush technique.

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Lunchtime Lesson – Who Need Sticks?

Ryan on May 7th 2009

Best know for his amazing brush work, Ed Thigpen shows us how to take it a step further by only playing with his hands…. and then using mallets to bring the solo to a crescendo.

Filed in Videos | One response so far

Lunchtime Lesson – Billy Hart

Ryan on May 6th 2009

The always swinging, Billy Hart, gives us an up close look into the art of brush (and broomstick) playing.

Filed in Videos | 2 responses so far

Brush Party

Ryan on May 5th 2009

Well, I promised nothing but jazz this week and I’m staying true to my word. As much as I wanted to record some glam-rock, power ballad beats (trust me, they’re coming), I resisted the temptation and stayed focused on the “classic” stuff.

Loop #63

Max Roach

Max Roach

Like yesterday’s groove, today’s loop is another eight bar phrase, but at a brisker tempo and played with brushes. Stylistically, it’s a mix of all of my favorite brush players including; “Philly Joe” Jones, Max Roach and Vernel Fournier.

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245 BPM

Filed in 240-260 BPM, Jazz | 2 responses so far

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