Gavin Harrison here!

Drum-Head said:
Sorry to Gavin for posting this here but, Charles is that you?!

Hey Chris, it's me. =)

Just making one of my rare appearances. Whenever I've had the chance I've always asked exceptional drummers this question, and Gavin here is no exception. I think there is something about the ideas and beliefs of a drummer of that level that got them to that level, and these concepts are what interest me.
 
Greetings Gavin!

How do you rest? Home and in the tour. Do you like some books, cinema, maybe fishing ))), or any other, for example you go to night clubs? Have you a car? You like fast driving? What kind of music you like to listen in the car?
 
Hi Gavin!

Im just wondering how you participate when making and arranging songs?
And how do you come up with your parts? Do you find that when you hear a riff you instantly think of some genius way to play that part, or do you try 20 different ways to do it before you settle with the one way you think is best?

And finally Do you think drummers get enough credit for what they do? Drummers rarely get creditet, but sometimes they really are the x-factor to why a song shines!

PS: I think "The Start of Something Beautiful" is best flowing and grooving 9/8 I have ever heard! Simply brilliant!!

Keep Up The Good Work!!
 
Hi Chris
" Is there a specific way that you practice that gives you consistent and reliable progress?"

I changed the way I practise about 10 years ago. I don't spend much time working on my muscle technique anymore. If I do it tends to be on a pad whilst I'm watching TV....and it's hardly ever these days.
My practise is much more random in a way - I think of ideas that I want to express on the drums - and then see if I can play them - if I can't - it's usually just a question of co-ordination. When I'm using my imagination to just 'dream up' a fill or pattern, I don't really think of 64th notes on the kick with cross arm patterns on the crash cymbals, so I usually have enough muscle technique to execute want I want anyway.

I write down a lot of my ideas on scraps of paper - and revisit some of them from time to time to see if the 'rhythmic design' still holds up. I'm trying to get to a point where I'm much more in touch with my imagination - and have the facility on the instrument to perform them without tripping up.

Regurgitating licks based heavily on technique are becoming very boring and disappointing to me.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Hi e7z,
I don't have many interests outside music - I've got a lot of work to do - and that keeps my mind flowing. Getting enough sleep seems to be the hardest thing to do when I'm working. I'm in Japan at the moment and suffering some bad jet lag,
I do have a car - but don't get chance to drive it fast much around London.

Hi cvighals,
Glad you like "The Start of Something Beautiful". That one is a good example of how my drum parts took shape. One day I was listening to a Sting song called "Big Lie, Small World" and I really didn't like the programmed drums on that track, so I thought to myself - what would I have played on that song? So I jammed along - and after a while I settled on a pattern that I liked. I wrote it down and thought nothing more of it. A few months later, I looked at the rhythm I'd come up with and still liked it. Sometime later - I played the drum pattern to Steve Wilson and suggested a different type of bass line that closely follows the way the drums move. That's how the verse groove got going to "The Start of Something Beautiful". I also had a much more urgent rhythm in 5/8 that contrasted the slow vibe of the 9/8. In fact I originally called the piece (as a joke) "9 to 5". I worked closely with Steve to create the basis of that piece - and I was very pleased with the design of the rhythmic elements. Steve of course turned it into a very nice song.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Thank you Gavin.

OK, then may I ask you working question? Tell the recipe of your snare drum and bass drum sound . If it is possible in full details: what equipment to use, and, the most important, as it to adjust. For certain you have favourite adjustments which you use. I see that it is very big theme, but maybe you will find a time.

Thank you.
 
Hi, Gavin! Major fangirl here, and I think it's beyond cool that you're willing to answer questions. I saw PT in Chicago last fall, the first night of your two-night stand to record the DVD. It was my first PT show, and something I won't soon forget. And I met Adrian. :)

Now, to my question: I've heard a few live versions of Hatesong and Tinto Brass, and during the extended outros you often do one of your rhythmic displacements (I hope that's the right term) for a bar or two. Does Colin ever say backstage, "Yo, mate, those things you do are screwing with my head!"? Is he so used to those little curveballs that they're not a problem for him and the band? Does he have a click track in his ear?

I suspect the answer is that he's such a pro nothing throws him, but it throws me - in a good way - every time I hear it. :)

Thanks!


Tracey
 
Hi e7z,
I'm not sure I understand your question about the "recipe of your snare drum and bass drum sound".?

Hi Tracey,
wow, your first post is a question to me!!! Yes your first PT experience will soon be a DVD.
I've try to improvise over those sections in "Hatesong" and "Tinto Brass" and in doing so - occasionally - a bit of rhythmic displacement or modulation might slip in. Colin, and the rest of the band, know that I might do something of this nature in an improvised section and are prepared for such an event. So to answer your question he has never said to me "Yo, mate, those things you do are screwing with my head!". (I like the phrase though).

Hi Melvin,
thanks for the kind words!!

cheers
Gavin
 
Hey Gavin,

Just a quick note to say thanks! I have been experimenting with diffrent grips over the past year and you have made me realised that holding the stick quite far back is not a bad thing as this is the most comfortable way for me too play also. I also took note of how far you sat back from the kit and this has also helped me!

On a more personal note, where abouts are you in London and will you ever allow fellow London DW members to get lessons from you? hehehe.

Cheers,

Chris
 
Last edited:
Well, since I last posted in here, I've been trying some of the fills in the Futile video. Wow, man, they are versatile (my favourite is the one in which you adjust the hihat clutch just before it, buzz roll, and then the fill, it's GREAT)!!! Also, I love the way you make odd time signatures seem very natural. Flams on the drums between alternating cymbals, they are great, also very good.

It's great to see a drummer with great chops, but also with a great sense of rhythm. Very satisfying. No luck finding the album....yet. I'll have to look on the 'net (buying of course) or at a bigger music store.

I have been experimenting with diffrent grips over the past year and you have made me realised that holding the stick quite far back is not a bad thing as this is the most confortable way for me too play also.
I also realised this from a mix of Gavin and Keith Carlock. I tend not to use it though (I don't have enough control for it yet, me thinks), as the stick likes to slip further back, and I get a stick butt in the middle of palm. Ow, tingly.
 
Alright Gav, i got your latest dvd and noticed you changed to K hi hats?. Is this a permanent change-i loved the sound of your remix hi hats previously-if that was what you used on the last PT record. Shallow is one of the best rock songs ive heard by the way.

Cheers Mate
 
Hi Chris,
Glad to hear you're having fun. In my view, there is nothing wrong with holding the stick right at the end if it feels natural to you.
I grip the left stick with my little finger - and it's about 1 cm from the end of the stick. I don't really use the little finger on my right hand at all - instead my third finger is about 1 cm from the end of that stick too.

Hi e7z,
I think making 'your sound' really comes from how you strike the drum. (see the post above about grip). I tend to get a similar sound out of most of my snares because of it.
Generally I use a double ply skin on the snare like a coated pinstripe or emperor - and a dampening ring. I cut the snares down to 8 strands...and always hit a rim shot for a backbeat. That's about it.

Hi TomasHakkesBrain,
Yes I've changed over to K hi hats because - first they sound very musical to me, and second I broke too many top cymbals of the Remix series. I still have the Remix hats and still really like them - but I know they won't take a lot of heavy hitting.
Glad you liked "Shallow" - I used the K hi hats on that song.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Yeah thats pretty much what I do myself! As when I use the moller technique...my back 2 fingers provide the fulcrum.

@ Chip. I find that my right hand has some issues with the force of grip I apply. I try to keep it loose so I am not tensing up too much but I have not found the "sweet spot" of grip to keep it firm and too stop it sliding. After all these years I thought my left hand was giving me the most amount of grief but since I have been evaluating my playing style I have noticed my right hand is not as advanced as I thought it was. Back to the practice pad for me!
 
Hi e7z,
there's no big secret really. I use a Shure SM57 on the top and bottom of the snare drum. Sometimes an Audix i5 on the top. I reverse the phase of the bottom mic - and that's it.
Playing in a good sounding room really helps too. Usually I use a Waves C1 compressor plug-in - depends on which snare drum and the song of course.
My main bass drum is pretty dead - with a large pillow inside. A port hole in the front head and an Audix D6 mic just inside the hole.
Sometimes I use a bass drum with two coated Ambassador heads on and no dampening. I put a Shure SM91 inside the drum and a Neumann TLM103 close to the front head for a big sound. Experimentation is always worthwhile until you find a sound you like - and that fits the style of music you are playing.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Gavin Harrison said:
Generally I use a double ply skin on the snare like a coated pinstripe or emperor - and a dampening ring. I cut the snares down to 8 strands...and always hit a rim shot for a backbeat. That's about it.

Gavin,


That's funny to read that because you snare sound has a lot of body in my opinion.


Cheers,
Christopher.
 
Back
Top