Dad3353

'Useful' is, perhaps, not the right term, for me. All my drum stuff is useful, and I've used the Platinum SSD in a few compos, but not had the occasion to incorporate this SSD5. I gave it a spin on a 'dummy' track, just to see (and hear...) how it went; it went superbly. High quality sampling, 'dry', so future treatment is easy and not pre-coloured, great control over dynamics (as one would expect...). It'll surely feature one day soon, depending on the Basschat Compo Challenge throwing up a suitable vehicle. One cannot really complain at this price point, though; that would be silly. Altogether Good Stuff, and worth the disk space eaten up.

What are these 'fills' of which you speak..?

Good evening, Mike, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Well, without going so far as to condone unwarranted 'nose-thumbing', Richard Thompson continued, and continues to continue, delivering high quality stuff since going solo from Fairport Convention, where he excelled. Worth producing stuff under his own name..? Absolutely. I'd also mention the duo Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, both extremely proficient and important artists as Hot Tuna since the end of Jefferson Airplane.

And are you still seeing the lass..? Our Daughter sings an an amateur choir of some 130 members. Last year's repertoire was a selection of Broadway hits, in historical order, which they performed at a unique occasion at the Mogador Theatre, Paris. Quite apart from knowing that Our Daughter was part of the troop, the whole show was uplifting and joyous, and well worth the 500Km round trip. There's a new show being prepared for next year; we'll be there to see it.

Good evening, Jake , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Good evening, Spidey , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

It is indeed a very fine kit, although maybe a bit overkill for any 'quick'n'dirty' composing. I've the SS Platinum stuff; it really does sound great.

Whilst, from a sound engineer standpoint, I might agree with this approach, I don't think it to be an an appropriate response to the problem evoked. Before getting into the need for amplifying a bass drum in the kind of venues envisaged, I'd recommend using the right tools for the sound required. Firstly, of course, a decent drum..! The batter and resonant head will play a part, as will its tuning, and eventual damping. The choice of beater comes into play, too. So, to resume, a hard beater (wood, or plastic...) will give the attack accentuated above. A resonant head and pre-EQed batter head will give as solid a 'thump' as anything (Evans do fine bass drum heads for this; a clear EMAD, for instance, for batter, and an EQ3 for reso..?). Little internal damping, and sympathetic tuning should make any decent shell responsive enough, and would, indeed, sound all the better for not being thrashed constantly..! Here's a review of beaters... 43 Bass Drum Beaters Reviewed ... Surely something in there to get the best from the kit before resorting to a separate PA, for pub gigs..?

I'd suggest that, if the vocals are struggling to project, that's even more of a reason to not add an amplified bass drum..! In my experience, a 24" Ludwig bass drum is plenty, plenty powerful, even with a 'lazy' bass drum foot..! Micing that up in anything smaller than a stadium would be a real waste of a Ludwig. Just sayin'; peace.

Have look at ... Jens Larsen: Chord Progression Building Blocks ... Andy Kyte Music: Jazz Building Blocks, Part II ... Lots of detail here ... Jazz Satandards .com ... Another approach (an e-book...)... The Jazz Standards Playbook ... For deeper study... Mark Levine: The Jazz Theory Book ... ... and the 'Lego' bricks method itself ... The New Guide To Harmony With Lego Bricks ... Enough for this week-end, maybe..? Hope this helps.

There are a lot of these 'Real Book' 'standards' that, to those having studied them a bit, reveal their structures to be, in some respects, a bit like a collection of 'musical Lego bricks'. By this, I mean that they're comprise a series of relatively simple concepts, strung together, such that, once the structure recognised, what's coming up next becomes pretty evident. This is easily demonstrated by the well-known 'I-iv-v' stuff found in many pop songs, or the notion of three-chord 'cowboy' stuff. The 'Lego' used in Real Book tunes is a bit more complex, and richer, than those simple examples, but there are few 'standards' musicians who'll learn by heart each and every song, in each and every key. They'll absorb, over time and through much 'wood-shedding' and playing out, a whole repertoire of 'Lego', and assemble the bits with fluidity, whatever the 'standard' being called., in whatever key is required. It's not rocket surgery, really; just a specific 'mind-set'. I've a number of books which break down many of these tunes into their 'Lego' parts; it's quite revealing.

Odd, when there are so many ways of achieving this. Brushes, hot-rods, the famous 'wallet on the batter head', several types of muffler or damping ring. Changing the batter head for a thicker one will help a lot, or even an oil-filled head (I'm not a fan, but then again, I don't hit hard, so...). In extreme cases, a tea-towel spread over the drum tames it a lot, and sounds pretty good, usually..! The first prerequisite, though, and maybe the most difficult in some cases, is to get the drummer 'on board' with the necessity. Without that, there's little scope, I agree. Just sayin'.

If you'll pardon me, this makes little sense. If the bass drum (or any other instrument...) needs to go through the PA to be heard, it should go through the PA, end of story. A band with a violin..? Maybe he'll bring his own local PA..? Then the harmonica player. Another local PA. Keys..? No, nt through FOH; bring your own PA... The list goes on. A spot of drums (bass drum, overhead...) are easily mixed into any decent-enough 'tops only' PA. How do I know this..? It's what our band does, and many other bands I've played with or done the sound for. Such a system won't work for a stadium, naturally, but lifting any instrument into the mix for the audience is what the PA is for, no..? Obviously, a heavy-metal 'head-banging' raucous rock band would be a different affair, but I doubt that the bass drum be weak in such a formation in the first place..! It's a separate issue as to why the drum is so low in the first place, of course, but that's a whole other kettle of worms.

Tommy Cogbill, a regular contributor to Memphis recordings 'back then'.

Blatantly flouting protocol, but I did this yesterday, just for fun, using a random 'virtual firework' video found on t'web (the work of a certain Mattéo Géa, in France...), and had a splendid surprise. No editing of either the video or music; it just seemed to fit together..! Maybe any soundtrack would do the same..? Dunno. Just sayin'...

Another good reason for the ban.

Good evening, Pedrorq , and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

Isn't that a given..?

We're the opposite. Our singer is the raison d'être of our band, and we all lock into the lyrics, tone, expression of his performance. Yes, we can work on stuff on an individual basis, in any combination of guitars, bass and/or drums, but without the song itself, there's nothing really to work with, as a rehearsal. No rhythm guitar..? No big deal. No lead guitar..? We'll hum those bits. No bass..? Summit's missing, but the band plays on. No drums..? Oh-o. That's me, so I wouldn't know what they do without me..! (Not actually true, as the singer plays fine drums, too, even on my 'lefty' kit. He was the singer/drummer in the band, back then, when I was playing bass, before Our Youngest took that spot and we all moved around to our current roles...)