Circuit-33 (The Band)Not to be confused with circuits of any other variety

Unlike Other Instruments

Even though the modern day electronic musical keyboard is arguably the most flexible and versatile instrument ever created, and although it would probably not be considered a restriction, I have never seen one with anything except the standard octave key spacing format.  Likewise when it comes to ordering woodwinds, the saxophone player is not asked how he wants his new baritone sax ‘keyed’, or what geometric shape he prefers.   Likewise, professional basketball players have little worry that the courts they will be playing on will be consistent in their dimensions.

Drum and Percussion Sets are Kind of Like Golf Courses

On the other hand, no two golf courses are identical.  Despite being made up of certain general elements that they all have  in common, each one is different, but can be uniquely designed and laid out according to the needs of the players, (golfers & drummers).   Drums as a musical instrument are comprised of many individual things that make different sounds when struck.  There seem to be no cardinal rules, (or even city ordinances for that matter), that are broken when it comes to customizing drum sets to the need and preference of the modern drummer.

Back in the Day

Traditionally a ‘trap set’ consisted of a Bass Drum with a Tom mounted to it, a Floor Tom, a Snare Drum, Hi-Hat Cymbals, and typically a Ride Cymbal, and possibly a Crash Cymbal.  As simplistic as that might sound, it is incredible just how much sound a good drummer could derive from it.

But today it is not uncommon to find sets with multiple Bass Drums, multiple Floor Toms, multiple Snare Drums, and a virtual constellation of Mounted Toms in varying styles and sizes.

Octabons

Groupings of small diameter single-headed drums of varying depths (notably Tama “Octabons”) are often included in some of the larger drum kits. 

Drummer Stuart Copeland (of “The Police”) made extensive use of them in his performances.

Rototoms

Remo “Rototoms” continue to make an interesting addition to many drum kits.  Besides taking up precious little ‘percussion playground’ space because of their having no actual shell, they are unique in that they are tuned simply by hand rotation.  Drummer Danny Seraphine (of “Chicago” fame) was known to have an onstage assistant turn his Rototoms during his solos that featured them. Some drummers use Rototoms almost exclusively for their drum kit.  (You can’t ask for a much easier way to tune them!)

I also ran across this variation:  Rototom mounted (acoustically open) on top of same sized drum shell.

The most unusual use of the Rototom I’ve seen is by Drummer Terry Bozzio, who uses two of the Rototom frames without the drum heads:  He has them attached to a Hi-Hat stand in place of the cymbals! (No Rules, remember?)

(Continued on No Rules for Drum Sets – Pt-2)

Influences:

Sometimes I’m asked about who has most influenced the way I play guitar.  There have been many great guitarists that I’ve listened to and learned something from, so it’s not an easy question to answer.  But if I had to narrow it down to just a few that I feel have shaped my playing style, I would have to say:  U2’s ‘The Edge’, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, and Andy Summers (of The Police).

Styles & Tunings:

I enjoy music from a wide variety of styles, but my preference is for Hard Rock, New Wave, and the Blues.  I’m not much into exotic guitar tunings.  I pretty much stick to standard.

Guitars:

I have several guitars that I occasionally play with, but the ones I find myself always going back to are my Fender Stratocaster, and my Epiphone Casino.

Drums are Inherently Different

When you stop and think about it, the drums are inherently a very odd instrument.  And it’s not because drums are played by striking them with sticks either.  Playing the xylophone or vibraphone, (sometimes called ‘Vibes’), with mallets does not seem odd to me.  And playing the different hammered out tonal areas of steel drums, (sometimes called “Pans”), seems right to me too.  So what is it about a drum set that seems so unconventional to me?

In trying to understand and put into words why it is I feel so strongly about drums being odd in relation to other musical instruments, I’m thinking it must be in the fact that,  even though you tune them, they have little to do with the actual melody of the music.  I mean, at the end of a song, nobody turns in disgust to look at the drummer and say: “What key were you playing?  Dude!  You need to tune those things!” Don’t get me wrong:  The drummer can get himself into trouble just as easily as any other musician, although for completely different reasons, none of which will be because his bass drum was tuned a quarter-tone flat.

Rhythmic, Not Melodic

So if the drums are not contributing to the melody, why are they there?  If the drums are taken out of the equation, the melody continues, the harmonies still blend, the guitar solos still impress the listener, but there is a definite void that cannot be filled simply with more melodic instrumentation.  Why not?  Because drums supply drama!  Drums provide dynamics!

But drums are also like an audible beacon, providing a rhythmic signal to the other musicians navigating along the song’s blueprint, providing the framework that the  melody is interwoven through.  This is true even in songs not known for exceptional drumming, as well as in music where the song has an extended break.

The Perfectly Placed Beat

An example that comes to mind is:  “I Will Always Love You”, sung by Whitney Houston for The Bodyguard movie soundtrack.  This song does not exactly ‘feature’ the drums, and yet you can imagine how hollow sounding it would  be without them.  If you are familiar with the song, can you imagine how it might sound at the break, the part right after she sings “But above all this I wish you love”, and before the ‘change in key’ that brings in the final chorus, the most emotional part of the song, but without drums?  What a letdown! The suspense would still be there in anticipation of the crescendo, but it would never arrive!

I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)

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For me, that one essential drum beat on the ‘toms’, marking the end of the break as she sings, “And I . . . will always love you . . .”, that is crucial to the power of the whole song, not because of melody, but because of rhythm.  It reestablishes the song’s emotionally slow cadence, which serves to frame the perfect foundation for her powerful ending chorus, with its sweeping falsettos!

One simple yet essential, perfectly placed drum beat!

Am I saying that no music is dynamic without percussion?  No, not at all.  Nor am I saying that it is solely to the credit of the drums that music is dynamic.  There are many dynamic pieces of music that have no drums.  But I do believe that when the music calls for it, there is no truly satisfying substitute for properly played drums.

And although I believe that to be true, I certainly do not want to imply that I think I am that ‘proper drum player’ in all cases.  Just because a doctor knows what the patient needs, does not mean he thinks he is always the best physician to provide the cure.  If I were to find myself someday in the position of being a musical “Surgeon General”, I would be writing out a veritable font of Percussion Prescriptions, fillable only by the most qualified of drummers:  Steve Gadd, Harvey Mason, Dave Weckl, James Bradley Jr, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Smith, Richard Bailey, etc.  Of course I would be honored to occsionally ’scrub up’ so that I might make myself available to hand them their sticks, or replenish their favorite beverage.  (I would be a musical Surgeon General with a realistic sense of modesty . . .)

Childhood Fascination

I think my earliest recollection of being fascinated with drums goes back to when I was about eight years old, becoming intrigued as I stood near a drummer playing in a band at a wedding reception my parents took me to. This was the first time I ever got up close to a drum set. It had all those big, loud, sparkled drums, and several shiny brass cymbals to hit with those long wooden sticks! Sometimes they would make a metallic ‘ping’ sound, and other times they would make a loud ‘crashing’ sound! Plus there were two other ‘cymbals on a stick’, and the drummer kept moving one of them up and down with his foot! He kept hitting the top one with a stick, making one sound when they were opened, and a different sound when they closed.

Sometimes he held the handle of a drumstick to the head of the drum and tapped the drum rim with the other end, making a sharp ‘clacking’ sound. Then at other times he would put the sticks down and start hitting the drums and cymbals using these other things that had a bunch of thin straight wires fanning out from their handles, (I later learned were called ‘brushes’). And when he would swirl them around on top of one of the drums, (the ’snare drum’), they would make a soft ’swishing’ sound. Then, on the same drum, he would get completely different sounds by going back to using the sticks. What a crazy musical instrument! So many neat things to hit! Who came up with this crazy contraption? (I didn’t understand it, but I wanted to shake his hand.)

I have no idea what music they were playing, but the audience danced to it, and I was mesmerized by the actions of the drummer, probably because there were so many different things the drummer did to make the music. In my youth I took piano lessons for a couple years. I was not very good at it. There were so many things I tried to learn that were completely foreign to me, like chords, keys, sharps, flats, etc. But this drummer did not seem to be concerned with such things. He just had to hit things with sticks and swirl things with brushes while pushing on pedals with his feet. How did he know which thing to hit, and when to hit it, and which way to hit it? It proved to be quite intriguing to this eight year old, (as much as an eight year old can be intrigued, that is).