Gavin Harrison here!

ok , so you mean each book takes a year to cover it up ?! so means I'm totaly wrong about it
By the way thx man.
cheers
Haha. No way you are going to have the time to get through those in 3-4 years. It's better to go through 2-3 of them properly then skimp through them all. But I'm not Gavin, good luck ;)
 
Hi Gavin.
I was wondering the next time you're doing a clinic in Dublin, if you could stop by our college, Bimm. Graham Hopkins is one of the lecturers and we try get in as many musicians as we can to show the students some things. It would be great if you could!
 
Just in case you ran out of money or a gig or both, in a recent interview Richard Marx answered the question "What would be the lineup for your dream gig? he answered :

........ My “dream” band, off the top of my head, would be Gavin Harrison on drums; Michael Landau on guitar; Marcus Miller on bass and Chuck Leavell on keys. But I’d have no business being in that band.


What about that ?! :D

What would your dream lineup be? Or would every stage be too small to fit everyone in?
 
Hi szokematyi

With the Speed Cobra you can independently adjust the height of the foot board against the angle of the beater. So if you REALLY wanted to - you could have the foot board on maximum height and the beater 1cm from the bass drum head.


If what you want is a lot of stick definition (but nice cymbal tone) I would recommend the Zildjian K 20" ride. It has a great rock bell on it too.

Thanks, but I wouldn't want to have the beater that close. The pedal would be useless that way. What I meant was: having the beater at the usual distance from the head, but having the footboard as high as possible. I've noticed, that this way I could put more power into the strike with less amount of movement from the ankle. Meaning: less amount than I'd have to, if my footboard were low(er). Sorry if I can't really explain it in english.

I'd love to have a K ride, but it's way too expensive for my budget. Maybe one day! I merely wanted to know your opinion on heavy and ping rides in general. Still interested to be honest! :)

Oh, and one last thing! I've tried to browse through all the pages here, but so far no luck! Has the notation for Plasson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlixwQsc0wY) ever been posted? Or do you have it? (Unlikely I know, but I have to ask!) :)

Cheers,
Matthew
 
Thanks, but I wouldn't want to have the beater that close. The pedal would be useless that way. What I meant was: having the beater at the usual distance from the head, but having the footboard as high as possible. I've noticed, that this way I could put more power into the strike with less amount of movement from the ankle.

You can do what you want with the speed cobra, it's awesome. However the speed cobra has the cobra coil under the pedal. It will loose it's effect if your pedals are high. I have them pretty low so the cobra coil can spring back the pedal faster.

I have a 20" K ride BTW. Sounds great.
 
ok , so you mean each book takes a year to cover it up ?! so means I'm totaly wrong about it
By the way thx man.
cheers

I don't know the best way for YOU but I'm doing stick control one page per week. I do the whole page for 30 minutes every day for a week before I move on to the next one. I do it 30 minutes with my hands and 30 minutes with my feet. Dom famularo recommends this.
 
You can do what you want with the speed cobra, However the speed cobra has the cobra coil under the pedal. It will loose it's effect if your pedals are high.
I have a 20" K ride BTW. Sounds great.

Thanks mate, but looks like the Coil isn't for me. The way my feet "works", only the high footboard makes me feel comfortable. I don't really have a fast feet, and I don't really need them to be fast. I'm only doing fast(er) fills, filling in the "gaps" with 2,3 or max 5-6 32nd notes, but no "machine gun-like ratatata-stuff". Thats not for me! And the stuff I can do is more than enough for the kind of music I like to play. Still, If I do anything fast or a bit more complicated, the slight discomfort grows in my feet if I have the footboard low. It's probably because of my sport-background (gymnastics and kick-boxing). I probably messed up my ankles. :(

And regarding the K ride... Would you mind If I'd hate you for owning one? ;)

Cheers,
Matthew
 
Last edited:
cool note. I do practice with realistic rock these days. Good one!
But I'll work on mentioned book as well soon.
I don't know the best way for YOU but I'm doing stick control one page per week. I do the whole page for 30 minutes every day for a week before I move on to the next one. I do it 30 minutes with my hands and 30 minutes with my feet. Dom famularo recommends this.
 
Thanks mate, but looks like the Coil isn't for me. The way my feet "works", only the high footboard makes me feel comfortable. I don't really have a fast feet, and I don't really need them to be fast. I'm only doing fast(er) fills, filling in the "gaps" with 2,3 or max 5-6 32nd notes, but no "machine gun-like ratatata-stuff". Thats not for me! And the stuff I can do is more than enough for the kind of music I like to play. Still, If I do anything fast or a bit more complicated, the slight discomfort grows in my feet if I have the footboard low. It's probably because of my sport-background (gymnastics and kick-boxing). I probably messed up my ankles. :(

And regarding the K ride... Would you mind If I'd hate you for owning one? ;)

Cheers,
Matthew

Of course it's still a great pedal even without the cobra coil. I'm not sure I notice any difference with the cobra coil anyway, all I know is that I really like these pedals.

Haha I bought a Tama Starclassic Maple kit from a guy that gave me a good bargain. I said sure, but only if I can get your K ride thrown in with the kit :D

I got it for free, and I got the kit cheaper than he wanted to sell it for.

BTW Gavin: What do you think is the most effective way to practice? Doing maybe one or two exercises per day for long periods of time like an hour each and practice those for like 2-3 weeks and the move on to something else. Or... do you think it's more effective to practice many things for maybe 15 minutes each and do that for a longer time say 2 months until moving on?

I'm talking about exercises that are meant to improve general drumming skills such as coordination, control, accuracy and speed on the kit and not stuff that you can necessarily use in music.

I practice beats, fills and whatnot separately.
 
Last edited:
Hi Tetragrammaton

my friend wants to cover your rendition of Laurence Cottle's "Quite Firm" for one of his end-of-school music performance exams. Would it be at all possible for you to send either a notated arrangement of the band backing track you use or the backing track itself for him to play along to with a click?

Sorry but neither are available.

Hi Phlintlock

If you weren't drumming what instrument would you choose to play?

anything if I could do it well. Trumpet, Piano, Sax, Guitar

Hi euphoric_anomaly

How often do you use traditional grip? I've seen you switch on and off on some video's, but only for a short period of time (1 bar for example). I've never gotten into traditional grip, it feels unnatural and uncomfortable to hold the stick.


I like to use it when I'm playing swing sometimes as it's nice and delicate for ghost notes and buzzes - but I can't get a huge back beat sound from it.

Last question: Is Nil Recurring (the song) in 6/8? I absolutely love that breakdown after the grinding heavy chorus, how you and Colin just slip into a darker tone, the hi-hat notes are especially pronounced even at a low volume, just amazing.

You could think of it as 6/8 or 3/4. I think it goes into 9/8 later on - I can't really remember.

Hi Drumfy

I just saw you perform Sound of Muzak on Youtube, and it blew me away. On the album version, what is the splash cymbal you hit at the very first stroke?


it's an A Zildjian 6" splash.

Hi Netz Ausg

Gavin - Do you ever crash your ride or do you rely on your crash cymbals for this? The angle of your ride suggests not, but just wondered anyhow.


I don't really crash the ride that much.

Hi Nergretty

Maybe you can help cause I can't get my brain around this one. I'm playing 16 even notes on top of 5 8th notes. I can't figure out what note value the 16 notes have or at least my sequencer can't find a grid where these notes will fit evenly. Any ideas? Basically I'm playing 4 even notes over 5 32nd notes I guess so that suggests a 4 over 5 polyrhythm? But what would the note value be and how would I write it?

that is a bit of a brain ache. An easy way to think of this would be to write five bars of 4/4 16th notes and a bass drum on beat one of every bar. Then you would pick out every 5th 16th note. That (against the bass drum) would give you the desired 16 even notes over 5. You could program your sequencer this way and then just multiple the tempo up by a factor of 8. I don't think there's many sequencers that will allow you to write 16:5

Hi Kalma

great work on the new album "Routes" by Ed! :)
You did a great take on 'Goofy' - liked it more than the one I did, haha :)


thanks.

I've got a question about recording whole albums..
When I record my drums and compare the songs later, the drums always sound pretty different. When I listen to the new Routes album it seems like the sound was pretty much the same basically. (Actually on all albums I hear..)
So, how do you record an album? Do you have one logic-project you record all songs in? Or do you create a template with "basic-settings" that you like and just do slightly changes?


I start each recording with my basic Logic template that already has a lot of settings in it that I've built up over the past years. But it's really not that much in terms of slight bits of EQ, compression, reverb etc. Then I tweak it to suit the music that I'm playing. Funnily enough Ed's album was recorded over a period of about 18 months - and I'm conscious to try to make it sound the same if I can.

Hi BabyBob

Had a great time with at the Clinic by Gavin Harrison...some pics...


great - glad you enjoyed it.

Why were your Overhead Mics in that position? (Both on the Right side)
Also does the 8" tom look different from the other toms?


I have no idea. That's how the sound guy wanted to do it.

Hi Swiss Matthias

so when you're travelling the world, do your bells travel with you, or do Zildjian have
several replicas for you all over the world?


I take the bells with me. Zildjian have only made a couple of sets as far as I know.

Hi sina

I’m 32 years old and practicing drum by 3 to 4 hours a day. But not just as a hobby but thinking as future career. Is it doable to become a great drummer at my age And practice practice practice could help me to reach to that point then I would be able to join cool bands or I’m totally wrong about being a drummer ?!
By the way here is the list of books I arranged to practice for next three years: HAAHA Am I crazy?!


yes you are crazy if you think you can get through these books in 3 years :). You'd have better results if you just spend the time on 2 or 3 of these books - but REALLY study them in detail. Quality of study is more important than quantity. Plus you need to invent your own exercises and develop your own ideas.

Hi JakkP

I was wondering the next time you're doing a clinic in Dublin, if you could stop by our college, Bimm. Graham Hopkins is one of the lecturers and we try get in as many musicians as we can to show the students some things. It would be great if you could!


I have no plans to make another drum clinic in Dublin at the moment.

Hi Drizzle

Just in case you ran out of money or a gig or both, in a recent interview Richard Marx answered the question "What would be the lineup for your dream gig? he answered :
My “dream” band, off the top of my head, would be Gavin Harrison on drums; Michael Landau on guitar; Marcus Miller on bass and Chuck Leavell on keys. But I’d have no business being in that band. What would your dream lineup be? Or would every stage be too small to fit everyone in?


That's very nice of him to mention me amongst those other extremely good musicians. I'd be honoured to play in a band like that.

Hi szokematyi

Thanks, but I wouldn't want to have the beater that close. The pedal would be useless that way. What I meant was: having the beater at the usual distance from the head, but having the footboard as high as possible. I've noticed, that this way I could put more power into the strike with less amount of movement from the ankle. Meaning: less amount than I'd have to, if my footboard were low(er). Sorry if I can't really explain it in english.

and what I meant was - you can adjust the foot board angle INDEPENDENT to the beater angle. So you can have the foot board at any angle and keep the beater angle the same.

Oh, and one last thing! I've tried to browse through all the pages here, but so far no luck! Has the notation for Plasson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlixwQsc0wY) ever been posted? Or do you have it? (Unlikely I know, but I have to ask!) :)

not as far as I know.

Hi EvilDrummer

BTW Gavin: What do you think is the most effective way to practice? Doing maybe one or two exercises per day for long periods of time like an hour each and practice those for like 2-3 weeks and the move on to something else. Or... do you think it's more effective to practice many things for maybe 15 minutes each and do that for a longer time say 2 months until moving on?


I think it helps to really grasp an exercise before moving on. Sometimes it might take me a week to 'master' a coordination exercise - other times a few minutes so I couldn't really put a time on it. As long as you do a few hours of good quality study every day - everything should get better. It helped me a lot to record and listen carefully to my playing.

cheers
Gavin
 
Good afternoon Gavin,

Just thought I'd share a little something with you and everyone reading this thread.

There's a video of you playing Killer Joe at Guitar Center and within this video you play a fill (not sure of the exact time stamp), that has the effect of slowing down and stretching the time as you move through the bar. To cut a long story short it inspired me to devise this little challenge for myself:

subdivisionexcercise.png


As you can see, it consists of: a sextuplet paradiddle-diddle, slurred five-stroke roll, half a paraddidle and three eight note triplets. Because the number of notes within the space of a crochet decrease with each beat of the bar, it creates that "time stretching" effect. There's an intrinsic benefit to the excercise too in that, the sticking in terms of right and left hand switches with every bar. I was wondering if you use any excercises such as this one to practice subdivisions?

Warm regards,

Kev

p.s. I've got a lot of mileage out of the various "ying-yang" type excercises you've shared, so thank you for that.
 
Hi Gavin

Thanks for the note. Which one of the books from this list you recommend to start with.
On the other hand what about the age? What do think about starting Drumming at age of 32 as a long life career.

thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think it helps to really grasp an exercise before moving on. Sometimes it might take me a week to 'master' a coordination exercise - other times a few minutes so I couldn't really put a time on it. As long as you do a few hours of good quality study every day - everything should get better. It helped me a lot to record and listen carefully to my playing.

cheers
Gavin

Cool thanks for the reply.

Hey gavin! I'm running out of beats to practice, can you name your top three favorite beats to play. I mean beats other than your own because I've pretty much heard most of them I think :D
 
Also does the 8" tom look different from the other toms?

Very sharp - I didn't see that at first. Unless I'm greatly mistaken that is a Tama Starclassic or superstar 8" Tom - The tom mounth is very clear in those shots and it is unmistakably a Tama Starcast mouth system. The die-cast hoops make me think it's a Supe or Star, though the fact that the mount is black and not chrome makes me think it's not a current model of either. The Supes all come with Black Nickel chrome hardware and Stars have a chrome plated. The old Black powder-coat was phased in the last few years as far as I know.

I might be wrong on the model, but I'm 99% sure it's a tama drum.
 
Hi Gavin!

Thanks, I finally understood! I misunderstood your first reply, sorry! :)

And a question! I don't think you ever had any problems like this, but still... I'm in a situation, where I'm trying to find the best groove (of course, thats a relative term!) for a verse, but whatever I come up with, don't really "says" what I want it to. It's a two measure-long 11/8 part, divided into two 6/8-5/8 part. The guitar plays the same time signatures, and if I only play "with the guitar", it sounds kind of silly for me. But whenever I try to find a different beat/groove, "bend the measures" a bit, I get the feeling that I slip away too far from the guitar's "pulse".
What would be your approach? Let it rest a bit, then try again, or "muscle it out"? I'm starting to ran out of ideas, so I need a new approach.
 
I'm not sure that is has been asked already, so i just go ahead.

Gavin, if you're willing to share this, could you tell me or us a bit about
your recording. Beeing specific are you willing to share your frequency settings
where your bass drum or snare drum sounds perfect for you?

If not, could you help me out a little in general with the frequencies, so i can learn from you a bit?

thanks i hope you understand my question!
 
I'm not sure that is has been asked already, so i just go ahead.

Gavin, if you're willing to share this, could you tell me or us a bit about
your recording. Beeing specific are you willing to share your frequency settings
where your bass drum or snare drum sounds perfect for you?

If not, could you help me out a little in general with the frequencies, so i can learn from you a bit?

thanks i hope you understand my question!

Uhm, frequency? You mean where he boosts/cuts the EQ's?
 
Back
Top