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Andrew

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« on: July 19, 2004, 09:21 AM »

So, with my new gig, I'm playing a lot of brushwork. We just played a show this weekend that was recorded, fairly standard setup - all drums individualy miked, plus x/y overheads.

Now, when I play a shuffle, I sweep with my left hand from 4 o'clock to 10 o'clock and back. My right hand taps "uh-one" and "uh-three" near the 10 o'clock spot, and "uh-two" and "uh-four" near the center of the drum. This provides a natural accent pattern, and I emphasize the notes that fall on 2 and 4. This sounds great from my ears' vantage point.

Now, I listened to the recording, and it sounds like I'm accenting 1 and 3. I'm inclined to think this is because the snare mic was angled over the snare at the 10 o'clock position, so the notes I played near that area of the drum came through louder in the mic.

Is this an anomoly, or is it something I should correct my playing for? Another quirk of playing miked that I was never taught?


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Mister Acrolite

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Mr. Positive

brushes + microphone

« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2004, 10:05 AM »

That might just be an anomaly based on the mic position. But try recording it again, this time with the mic in a different position. If you still hear this discrepancy, it's you, not the mic. It happens sometimes - it's VERY hard to be objective about one's own playing.

Interesting that you're playing a shuffle with brushes. I hardly ever get to do that - more frequently I'll play songs that require more traditional swing patterns. But if you're playing some shuffles with brushes, the following is a fun pattern to try:

Essentially the left hand keeps following the right, always ending up on the opposite side of the drum from where the right brush currently is. The right hand is playing all sweeps, with a noticable attack on each quarter note. The left hand is playing all taps, with each note long enough to cover the space during which you're raising the right brush.

Accent the 2 and 4, and you've got a cool sounding, cool looking shuffle. This is either an old Thigpen or Philly Joe trick - I can't remember where I got this. But it's fun!


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Hit on 2. Repeat on 4.
(instructions found written on Mr. A's snare drum)

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Andrew

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brushes + microphone

« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2004, 10:45 AM »

Quote from: Mister Acrolite on July 19, 2004, 10:05 AM

That might just be an anomaly based on the mic position. But try recording it again, this time with the mic in a different position....

Interesting that you're playing a shuffle with brushes.

Well, it was a recorded show at a live venue, so we won't get to record there again (at least, until they book us again). I'll try recording myself at another reherasal with just an overhead and see what I hear. Or hear what I hear.

The brushes shuffle... the guy whose band this is used to be a drummer, so he can be pretty specific about what he'd like to hear. We'll start rehearsing a new song, he'll ask me to play each verse differently, and after the first run-through he'll tell me which verse sounded best to him. He seems to really like the shuffle I described above, but I really want to try the Thigpen/Philly Joe Jones one. Maybe if I sweep perpendicular to the mic (instead of in the path of the mic) I can ameliorate the issue (if, of course, the issue is the mic).