Gavin Harrison here!

Hi Danny,
yes back then in 1981 I had a Gretsch maple kit - huge thing it was too. 24, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and then later I bought another 24" bass drum (as you do). I must have been off my head. I'd carry cut down versions of the kit for pub gigs - I couldn't get the whole thing in my car. When I met your dad he had a custom made white marine pearl finish kit (maybe Eddie Ryan?) I remember the concert toms were square sizes 10x10 12x12 13x13 etc.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Last edited:
Hi Drizzle,
I think of that section in 17/8. It was a riff that Steve wrote and of course the verse is sung on that riff. I tried to make it sound like 4/4 rather than pick out all the little sub riffs.

Cheers
Gavin


Drizzle said:
I've been transcribing Open Car and would like to know if I'm right aboutthe time signature is.

To me the intro riff is in 17/16 or 17/8, am I right??

The verse section are 8/8 + 9/8 or would you call this 17/8

Do these odd time signatures songs (parts) come from jams or do you 'create' it on purpose???
Click to expand...
 
Hi Gavin!

I was wondering. Those small 5" cymbals (above your hihats). What brand are they? Your kit was described in "De Slagwerkkrant" a couple months ago, but they said that they were "custom".

Can you tell me some more about them? And are they "tuned" in some sort of way?

All the best!

Sam
 
Hi Gavin,

"Fear Of A Blank Planet" is already out here in Italy, bought it today, f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c album ! Although I don't think that you'll never "Anesthetize" anybody at that speed & volume !!! :)

Keep up !

Andrea
 
Last edited:


Hey Gavin - The PT site says you'll be in the SF Bay Area in early May. Will you be doing any clinics? (I hope) I am planning a to be there - buying tickets now. Let me know.

Thanks, Charterman
 
Hi Gavin

I just watched the videos of you that were posted from a recent clinic. As always.. Great playing!!! You are truly gifted and one of my favs. Thanks also to Bernhard for posting those vids because where I live presently, there aren't many chances of drum clinics
so this site is a great educational arena for me :)..

I have a few questions for ya Gavin. First.. how do you remember these songs? I've always been amazed by drummers like yourself and say Weckl and Buddy Rich who remember these complicated arrangements, some of which extend 10 minutes or longer.. What's your secret?

2nd. How long did it take you to come up with the drum parts for say "video 3" for example (the funky song you did at the clinic).

and lastly :) can you tell me a little bit about the laptop setup you used at that clinic?
Is your entire music just on the laptop for example,, with music left and click to the right ? I'm really curious. Normally I use a mini disc player with my music panned one way and click the other with a small headphone amplifier when I play with my band but your setup looks so simple on the clinic videos.

Thanks Gavin
Good luck on the new Porcupine Tree tour.. :) I am hoping to see you and Porcupine Tree in Toronto Canada...:) It's a 500 mile drive for me but I'm hoping to get the time off to see the show.

glen thomas
 
Hi Glen,
I find it actually easier to remember complicated songs because they tell a kind of story - this bit follows that bit and goes onto that bit etc.- songs that have 4 verses and 7 choruses and are very repetative are harder because I'm probably going to forget which verse or chorus I'm in - plus I really don't like counting bars.

The 3rd video is called "Quite Firm" and I originally recorded it for my first DVD Rhythmic Visions about 6 years ago. I play that one a lot at drum clinics. I can't remember how long it took me to learn and develop it - probably a couple of weeks.

I use Logic Pro on a Mac Powerbook. It's connected via firewire to an M-Audio 410 box so that I can send a stereo mix to the front of house desk. I really wanted stereo rather than mono because there's some percussion stuff that's really stereo and it justs sounds nicer anyway. I plug into the headphone socket on the front of the M-Audio box and it's loud enough to hear the track over my drums. So far it's worked fine and it's a self contained package that doesn't rely on a monitor desk and engineer.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Hi Gavin,

I relation to your previous answer, I just heared the new song Anesthetize and I really like it.

Love the drumsound as well, real clean.

Anyway how do you record such a song, do you have a leadsheet, or do you have the whole song written out, or do you know it inside out??

Is the song recorded in one take or is it recorded in multiple takes.

Greeetz, Dre
 
Hi Drizzle,
"Anesthetize" was quite easy to record because we played it 20 times on tour first. When I recorded the demo I just needed to work out a way to play the start of the second section - that's about the only really tricky part in it. I tried many different rhythms in the different sections - but I was in my studio at home on my own so I had no pressure to come up with parts quickly. I think sections 1 & 2 were recorded together - and then in part 3 - the drum sound changes so obviously I did that separately.

Cheers
Gavin
 
RESPECT!

I really admirer of your recording skills gavin! It all sounds superpro!

Did you take some sort of an education on engineering? (sorry if you got this question a million times)

All the best, Sam!
 
Last edited:
Sound of Muzak

Hi Gavin and everybody else here!

I've listened to the song "The sound of Muzak" and really liked it, especially the main drumgroove. I went to play along with the song which is actually pretty simple once you've figured out the pattern. Yet, I couldn't really figure out how you came up with such a strange bassdrum pattern and such weird places for the backbeat. After a few times playing through I realized it:
Everything is in 7/16 - the Snare pattern AND the Bassdrum pattern - each pattern fits into one bar of 7/4 four times. That is why the sound and feel of the groove is so even. So my assumption is this: The pattern is really totally planned out and composed rather than based on a jam. I would have never guessed that because it feels so damn good.

I really have to tell you this: Compared to the genius idea of that groove, a groove like Seven Days is like playing in the sandbunker.... Man.... this is just amazing. Nobody who "just listens" will ever understand the complexity of this groove, you really have to take a closer look. That is just WOW.

Now my question is this: Is it really as I have guessed a composed and thought out groove, or did it just "happen" and the fact that all the parts are in 7/16 is just a coincidence?


Sorry if this has been brought up already - I was too lazy to read through all the 920 Posts in this thread....

For anybody interested, I have made a nice little transcription of the groove. I'm sure that some guys have played that groove and never realized how cool it actually is.... If you haven't played it: Here is your chance!
Sorry if the transcription is not 1000% right with the ghost notes, but they are really hard to hear through the mix (even with headphones) and Gavin plays quite some variations.
 

Attachments

  • Muzak.pdf
    29.9 KB · Views: 1,487
Hi SickRick,
Great job on the transcription.
Yes this was a very composed pattern. The only important part missing from your transcription is the quarter note accents on the hi hat. It gives the whole thing a regular pulse for the audience to hang on to. It's what I call "overriding" and it takes the 7/16 (kick and snare pattern) or 7/8 if you think of it in the musical context with the guitar line - and makes it 7/4. Great fun to play.

Cheers
Gavin
 
Gavin Harrison said:
Hi SickRick,
Great job on the transcription.
Yes this was a very composed pattern. The only important part missing from your transcription is the quarter note accents on the hi hat. It gives the whole thing a regular pulse for the audience to hang on to. It's what I call "overriding" and it takes the 7/16 (kick and snare pattern) or 7/8 if you think of it in the musical context with the guitar line - and makes it 7/4. Great fun to play.

Cheers
Gavin
Click to expand...

Yeah.... I left that out because it looked funny with all the accents... I thought it would be common sense. ;)

That Song is truly fun to play. Everybody should give it a shot!
 
Gavin:

Like many on this forum I am blown away with your inventiveness and controlled technique as well as the musicality in your playing. The purpose of this message, however, concerns your most recent contribution to Modern Drummer on the issue of independence. Although I live in Florida now, I grew up in the North of England and lived there until 1990. When I was fifteen or sixteen, late one friday night I watched, with my Dad, a Billy Cobham drum clinic being shown for some reason on BBC 2. I was blown away with the complexity of his remarkably simple single stroke pattern around his kit - he was playing with the left hand in a counter clockwise direction playing one stroke on each of three drums - and with the right hand in a clockwise directions playing one stroke on each of four drums.

I have tried to talk about this clinic with many many people since it was on TV. No-one ever knew what the hell I was talking about and multiple people thought I must be insane because when on earth would a Cobham drum clinic have ever been on TV - especially in the days when there were only three (or maybe four) channels. Quite frankly, I had started to believe maybe I imagined ther whole thing!

And then, out of the blue - your Modern Drummer column. Thanks!!!!

Paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top