Soft pop rock percussion ideas - In the Studio

[Sakuntu]

I have a recording session this friday for a "Adult contemporary" piano player who wants a "softer sound" to her music. she sent me some scratch tracks and I've been coming up with things...but to be honest, All i'm doing is taking drum set rhythms and putting them on djembes, cajons bongos's etc. Basically the shaker pattern covers what the high hat would do, the hand drums handle a bass -slap- bass bass -slap (and other rock variations). i'll throw in other stuff once in a while if needed. but i get stuck in a rut sometimes.

Most of my gigs tend to be for acoustic rock -pop stuff like this. which usually means lots of tamborine, shaker, and triangle -being that the drum set is handleing everything else. If i get lucky there may be one or two songs where the congas will fit in. I've discovered that the worst thing for playing this stlye is to try to fit in a traditional latin groove into it. I"m interested in any other approaches or ideas that any one may have in adapting afro latin percussion into this style of music (i.e white middle class american soft rock :p ) Let me know what you guys do in these situations.

[congamyk]

This is an interesting dilemma. If the artist hiring you is telling you what they want and telling you not to deviate then they are not letting the ideas flow naturally. They are pianists, they are hiring a percussionist... rhythm. They should allow you time to absorb the music and come up with some ideas before and go over them.

Many times what they want isn't what the music needs. You may be describing the music as "white soft-pop" but perhaps the pianist is trying to get a new age, smooth jazz, fusion, folk or other feel or they are at least open to hearing your ideas.

I wonder if some double-time feel grooves would sound good with this music. The rhythm doesn't have to be loud, just driving. Rim shots on the 2 and 4, a swinging tumbao on congas, lots of flowing effects like rainstick, gong, water, etcs.

Ask the artist who thier heros are, then do a search and listen to thier influences music. I bet they have great grooves accompanying thier style. You could emulate the rhythm they have. Then, listen to the artist's music that's hiring you, write down some ideas and see if the artist is open to any of them.

Best wishes.



Edited By congamyk on 1165459046

[korman]

British percussionist's Pete Lockett's site has ten articles-lessons about the pop percussion where he describes his experience in using small percussion and hand drums in pop setting. You might steal some ideas there!

Pete Lockett's pop percussion tutorials

His site contains loads of useful tips other lessons as well. More experienced players already may know most of what he writes about, but for beginners Lockett's website is awesome!

[fed]

Sakuntu, my neighbor...
Good topic. I have to say I am struggling with the same things. But I am not sweating it, I am learning to trust my inspiration and ear and Creator .

If it sounds good to you, it's good. Here is a piece of track where I used bomba rhythm to build up the dynamics of the song. http://www.koinoniafellowship.com/kpb/p ... sample.mp3

I can send you whole track if interested, because it starts with just a cajon.

When I play live I experiment a lot. Trying different patterns I know, listening to the drummer if there is one and trying to find space to add my 2 slaps.

If you are playing percussion for a song, IMHO, you are supporting and creating the feel and the groove, this is not the time to get out your 4 over 6 bembe pattern, unless of course it fits the groove

I have a lot to say about this, being recently in the studio, and going through pain of creating... but not sure how much of it is helpful, so I'll leave it at that...

Sakuntu, we got to meet sometime... I am every Monday night 5 to 6 at Eastman on the corner of East and Gibbs, with Latin Jazz Workshop class. You can see the room from the street. You should stop by.

By the way, just out of curiosity, are you recording with Matt out in Hilton?

[Sakuntu]

Thanks everyone for the ideas and feed back. I came up with some stuff that hopefully will go good with the music. I'm using lots of different instruments-Djembe, cajon, Ngoma, Tar, Riq along with the shakers triangle etc...-something to give it a real unique sound yet still keeping with the pop feel. I love playing tumbao and guaguanco etc... but i'm tired of always trying to fit it in to pop music. Fed-thanks for the audio. Yes we have to meet some time being this close. Send me a personal message some time so we can work out the details. I'm actually recording in Avon with Derek Lvendusky. He's based out of Elim Gospel Church. Ever heard of "Isaiah Six"? thats his band. More ideas Fellow board members-This is good stuff that never gets talked about!!!!

[pidoca]

G'day mate.

Cassandra wilson has an album which was recorded in the mississipi with 2 percussionists. i can't remember the name of the album. But it really show what can be done with percussion and voice and piano.

have you tried playing the rhythm you know on diferent drums, sometimes can be good. or across different drums.

[Sakuntu]

Thanks for the suggested listening. I just came back from the studio. it went better than I thought. I tried the same rhtyhm for 2 songs however I used different drum voicings-it really gave a whole different feel. Thats a great suggestion. Now just to wait for it to be mixed and mastered!

[dannydrumperc]

British percussionist's Pete Lockett's site has ten articles-lessons about the pop percussion where he describes his experience in using small percussion and hand drums in pop setting. You might steal some ideas there!

Pete Lockett's pop percussion tutorials

His site contains loads of useful tips other lessons as well. More experienced players already may know most of what he writes about, but for beginners Lockett's website is awesome!

Wow! These exercises are great for developing smooth transsions!

Any other site or book with similar exercises?

[CongaTick]

Yep, this is a constant frustration.

I play/support a couple of classic rock groups without really focusing on latin rhythms. One group is very interested in workingme in and having me lead/explore a variety of tumbaos, from simple to complex, even on covers. Very cool. Other group, very rigid, but I work for him. What I have found that works is to not try and fit a specific rhythm pattern to a song, but rather use the drums (I use three or four, depending) to create melodic texture element within the song's structure. In other words, instead of trying to force the song into a preconceived pattern, I will complement the tempo established/desired by the guy paying the bills with a percussive bed designed as a melodic element. (Geez, I hope this makes some kind of sense and is of help. )