In this second video, I am comping Stephen Scott's solo on 'Marmaduke' from the the album 'Parker's Mood'.
I tried to apply two of the things I mentioned in the assessment of my previous video:
"-try different instrumentations and integrate the toms more..
-achieve the same result (concerning flow and dynamics) by using sticks with both hands."
Video 2 - Assessment
- I managed to include the toms more in my comping.
- My time/phrasing is good except for the part (0:11-0:14), where I am dragging.
- I should pay attention to the volume of my cymbals. If I played like this in a real situation, I would probably have difficulty hearing the pianist.
- This comping example, is on the edge of sounding like a drum-solo.
- For my next experimentations, the goal is to find the sweet spot between Creativity & Elegance.
Video 1 - Assessment
The snare-drum (with the brush on my left hand) and the hihat (with my left foot) are the main instruments which I use in this take. I occasionally use the bass drum (with my right foot) and the ride-cymbal (with the stick on the right hand) to add some accents.
- I like the phrase I played in the bars 43 - 46. So, I ‘ll keep it and make variations.
- I want to improve:
-the sweeping motion of the brush (side to side), instead of using it only like a stick (up-down).
-my phrasing. I want it to be very light and swinging all the time.
- In my next experimentations I want to:
-use more off-beats
-try different instrumentations and integrate the toms more..
-achieve the same result (concerning flow and dynamics) by using sticks with both hands.
"How can one find his/her own characteristic style of playing?"
This is a question that especially young aspiring musicians, like me, tend to ask themselves a lot.
However, I believe that there is no specific answer to this question and therefore it's easy for someone to feel overwhelmed or lost during the proccess.
So, instead of me searching for my (so-called) own style, I decided to adopt a more practical approach recommended by the great drummer Tony Williams.
In his last interview1 at the downbeat magazine in 1997 Tony Williams said:
"I've studied all my musical life, but learning is only good if you do something constructive with it."
I decided that from now on, I will be spending a part of my daily practice on creating something, besides learning new things or improving the things I already know. It could be a drum groove, a sound, a song, a concept or even my own interpretation of an already-existing piece of music.
Additionaly, I would also like to share some points of view that occured while discussing with colleagues and teachers about this topic:
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Your (musical) environment can play a definitive role in creating your own sound/style. Let's take the example of drummers Tony Williams and Elvin Jones. They both were solid and creative drummers. However, Miles Davis' Quintet and John Coltrane's Quartet were the vehicles that helped those drummers develop their styles and apply their ideas, thus creating a signature vocabulary and sound which made them recognizable.
- The huge amount of (musical) information, you get from internet and the social media, can also have negative effects on your creative proccess. It's easy to fall in the trap of copying or just catching up with the latest trends of drumming, instead of listening to your bandmates and yourself.
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Listening to music constantly can make your creative/compositional proccess harder. In this quarantine, I spent almost all my days listening to music. While working on my research, while eating, while going for a walk in the park, while having a shower.. Then I would sit down to compose without results, because my mind would be full of music that I have been listening during the whole day. Therefore, I believe that giving a break to your ears and brain is equally important. When the craving for listening to music arrives, don't feed yourself with already-existing music. Just let yourseld imagine the sounds & music you would like to listen. Grab this chance to sing, play, compose, record!
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If you have difficulties applying your drumming ideas in the music you usually play, maybe it's time to write your own music that compliments your ideas.
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Describing in words the style of playing you want to create can give you ideas to start with..
I tried this out for myself.
- Last, Recording and Transcribing your own playing can give you a detailed insight to your playing so that you can can decide which elements you want to keep/improve and which ones you want to delete.
