Gavin Harrison here!

I have recently gotten into his drumming with Porcupine Tree, and discovered that this guy has major chops, skills and groove. What do people know about him, his equipment, and technique. Any and all information is a good thing.


Very talented drummer. Uses Sonor SQ2 mostly. He has youtube videos, training tools for drummers that would be a great place to start to learn his technique. Gavin's genius isn't about raw speed or volume, it's about subtle genius. He is able to play odd time meters and make it "feel" like a simple time groove. He's far more talented than I even first thought until I really started to study his music more. Gavin's drumming makes sense...whereas a lot of drummers are just trying to fill up a measure, Gavin's understanding of musical nuance allows him to be efficient with his drumming in "not over playing" while still producing very entertaining and complex drumming with dynamics that would give any drummer a nice challenge. The Porcupine Tree song "Start of Something Special" is a nice place to start to see what I am talking about when I say "nuance of the music". The guy is brilliant and one of the most entertaining drummers EVER...and he doesn't need to twirl his sticks, play 220BPM double kick or have a drum riser that goes in circles to make his mark.
 
The Porcupine Tree song "Start of Something Special" is a nice place to start to see what I am talking about when I say "nuance of the music".

Ahem, it's Start of Something Beautiful.

*wink*
 
Hello Gavin, hope all is well,

I had a couple quick questions. Firstly, looking back on your career what project did you have the most fun with? Secondly, did you ever have to play Voyage 34 live?

Still really enjoying your record! Thanks for your time!
 
Hi Lightbulb_Sun

I had a couple quick questions. Firstly, looking back on your career what project did you have the most fun with? Secondly, did you ever have to play Voyage 34 live?

I think the person I most enjoyed playing with was Lewis Taylor as I was such a fan of his songs. Around 1998 I went to do a recording session that he was producing for a French girl singer. The session was fantastic and I really liked the songs. Next day I went out and bought his first album entitled "Lewis Taylor". About a year later he called me to play on his second album "Lewis 2" and then we did some live shows in London. Unfortunately he has now retired.

I never did play Voyage 34.

Hi Florsky

how often do you change your bottom heads?


almost never - but I have been on a bit of a tuning thing lately. When I get my drums sounding pretty good I now record each drum so I can reference it and check if the drums have shifted in pitch. (I also put it on my iPhone so I can quickly check it when I'm out and about with different drumsets).
I play pretty hard and so the tuning does move throughout the day. On a recording session I might check my pitches against this recording 2 or 3 times during the day.
Here's my most recent recording reference. It starts with the 14" snare drum (snares off) and then the toms 8", 10", 12" 15" 18".
View attachment Drum Tuning June 2015.mov
cheers
Gavin
 
Great sounding reference Gavin! For your toms and floor toms, do you tune the resonant heads higher than or the same as the batter?

Also wanted to add that I came across a YT video of you playing the 16" K Light Hats and 20" K Dark Thin Crash and I soon after went out and bought both... I gotta say they are extremely versatile cymbals with such a great tone and feel. The hats are perfection. And this is coming from a Sabian guy!
 
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Hey Gavin! Huge fan!

I have a question that popped into my head when i was watching some of your videos. Do you always do rim shots to accent the backbeat?
 
HiTrip McNealy

Great sounding reference Gavin! For your toms and floor toms, do you tune the resonant heads higher than or the same as the batter?

Yes I do..and for the last few years I have Remo Coated Vintage Emperor on the tops and Remo Clear Ambassadors on the bottoms.

Also wanted to add that I came across a YT video of you playing the 16" K Light Hats and 20" K Dark Thin Crash and I soon after went out and bought both... I gotta say they are extremely versatile cymbals with such a great tone and feel. The hats are perfection. And this is coming from a Sabian guy!

Yeah that's the video I shot at the Zildjian factory. Those cymbals are great !

Hi blah

I have a question that popped into my head when i was watching some of your videos. Do you always do rim shots to accent the backbeat?


Yes I do 95% of the time and it helps for consistency if I can hit the middle of the drum (or just slightly north of centre) whilst hitting the rim at the same time. A lot of my sound it created right there. You can see from this worn drumhead photo what I'm talking about.

11159927_10152908634798865_6707656590165914682_o.jpg

However if you're playing rim shots in low volume situations might not be that popular with everyone around you - so you also need to know when it's appropriate.

cheers
Gavin
 
Hi Gavin,

I am a HUGE fan of yours and I really like all of your concepts, ideals and especially your playing! I also have your Rhythmic Visions and Rhythmic Horizons DVD's.

I have been away from the drums for some time now, but I am making my way back to all the joy that drumming brings to me.

I really like your playing on 19 Days - I was just sharing it with some friends last night after our dinner party, and they were all blown away!

I really love the sound you get from your bass drum. I know you use a pillow as part of the way you get your sound. Could you please post a picture of your pillow and the pillow inside of your bass drum?

Much thanks and keep inspiring us all with your wonderful playing!

Cheers,

Andrew
 
Hello Gavin!

Question at the bottom if you want to skip my long post:

So I tried going to askgavinharrison.com and uh... something about Japanese fruit came up. Not sure if it's my internet or not, but... well anyways...

I don't really want to ask you a question that has been asked probably many times, but I just spent the last hour going threw about 15 pages of forum questions. (Incidentally, I laughed quite a few times to some of your Q&A, very entertaining reading [also highly educational]). *side note, thanks to the reading, I now know where to get the Basic Arm System for MY chimes (made from my broken Paiste 2002's... I'm sure you understand that you never really want to throw away cymbals even after they break. They are precious! They can't just be discarded)

*From a previous question you answered, not a question, more of a thank you*
I asked you a while ago about Sonor's Ascent Series, and you replied with (not verbatim) "Ascents are very good! However, can't beat handmade German drums. Prolite, or if budget is a concert, Delite". Shortly there after, I bought myself a Prolite Snare, and a 24" Delite bass drum. Both are pure magic, and I love them to death. Recording with them is a dream, and my band can't get over how awesome they sound.

*to the question*
After countless bids on various replacements for my toms, I stumbled on a Cream White 5 piece Prolite shell pack in all the right sizes, And WON! So now I'm anxious to start playing with my new toy, though my budget right now is (understandably) not permitting me to go buy a bunch of heads to try out. So I've been trying to figure out what heads you were using in the Prolite Demo you did when they were first revealed. I loved the sound they were putting out, and I think that might be a good place to start.

What heads did you use on your Prolite Kit demo for Sonor? You don't have to go over the tuning, I've read your answer for that a few times today :).

Thank you again!

EDIT

PFFT! After writing this whole post, I just saw your response from earlier, 3 posts down. I think that might have answered my question. That's what I get for starting in the middle.
 
Hi AMP01

I really love the sound you get from your bass drum. I know you use a pillow as part of the way you get your sound. Could you please post a picture of your pillow and the pillow inside of your bass drum?

Here's a photo I took a few years ago on my 17" deep bass drum and you can see the pillow lying length-wise (and it goes up to just under where the beater strikes the head). On my 15" bass drum I put the pillow side-ways. The pillow is the heaviest feather pillow I could find...the light weight synthetic ones just won't do. I also devised a light temporary wood cross bar (held in with velcro) to keep the pillow off the front head as I wanted it to ring (on this occasion). Otherwise I take the wood cross bar out and then the pillow mutes the front head too. At this time I had an Audix D6 mounted in the bass drum (and it sounded really good). At the moment I have a Shure Beta 91A and an AKG D12VR mounted in the bass drum (the AKG just above the Shure) and I think it sounds a bit better - plus I have more control with two separate mics.

Gav BD.jpg

Hi Venimal

What heads did you use on your Prolite Kit demo for Sonor?


On that drumset I had Remo Coated Emperors on the toms (not the Vintage Emperors). The Vintage Emperors are very slightly thicker and (for me) work better on the thicker shell drums (like the SQ2's that I have at home). The ProLite have the really thin shells and I find that they sound slightly better with just the regular Emperors on them. They have Remo Clear Ambassadors on the bottoms. There was a Remo C.S on the snare drum.

cheers
Gavin
 
Here's a photo I took a few years ago on my 17" deep bass drum and you can see the pillow lying length-wise (and it goes up to just under where the beater strikes the head). On my 15" bass drum I put the pillow side-ways. The pillow is the heaviest feather pillow I could find...the light weight synthetic ones just won't do. I also devised a light temporary wood cross bar (held in with velcro) to keep the pillow off the front head as I wanted it to ring (on this occasion). Otherwise I take the wood cross bar out and then the pillow mutes the front head too. At this time I had an Audix D6 mounted in the bass drum (and it sounded really good). At the moment I have a Shure Beta 91A and an AKG D12VR mounted in the bass drum (the AKG just above the Shure) and I think it sounds a bit better - plus I have more control with two separate mics.
And you use the clear Powerstroke 3 as your batter head, right?
 
Hi Gavin,

Thanks for the reply! Do you know the dimensions of the pillow? Do I see something else under the pillow, to the right of the pillow, touching the batter head? (It looks like strips of black tape?) Also, do you use a double bass patch where the beaters hit the drum head? If so which one.

Have you ever tried the Remo Powersonic bass drum head? (The one that has the muffling built in)

Thanks again and cheers!
Andrew
 
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Yes I do 95% of the time and it helps for consistency if I can hit the middle of the drum (or just slightly north of centre) whilst hitting the rim at the same time. A lot of my sound it created right there. You can see from this worn drumhead photo what I'm talking about.

Hi Gavin,

I saw you performing at the Drum Night in Gießen in October last year and I got the impression that you're hitting the drums quite hard. I do rim shots most of the time as well and it's a returning nightmare to find the top lugs loosening or the bottom lugs laying on the floor. The need for constant checking of the tuning is really annoying especially on stage because it prevents me from concentrating on the next song.

I tried some of the available systems e.g the TAMA Hold tight washer (I play TAMA), Pearl's Tension Keeper, Gibraltar's Lug Locks. These systems either seem to work only for a limited time because they wear out or they don't fit perfectly and make noises or the tightening effect isn't strong enough for heavy hitters.

I'm wondering how you prevent the lugs from loosening because you seem to hit the drums harder then me.

Cheers
Tom
 
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Hi Gavin,

It has been some time since we last corresponded. I helped setup an autograph signing for you in San Jose at San Jose Pro Drum and we did a dinner and met again at the NAMM show. I have been out of the music stuff for a awhile.

Anyhoo, glad to see you are still answering questions and offering your time.

My question is, are you still open to doing recording for bands on a per track basis for pay? Is there a way to communicate and work out the details. You and I used to correspond via MySpace....LOL. I have a band that is interested in your services.

Regards,
Paul
 
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