Author: Ben Loshin

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All About Groove – What Is A Groove and How Can You Develop Yours?

Groove

“Groove” is a word we use a lot, but for a term that is supposed to define our main purpose as drummers, we sure have a hard time defining it.  Ask five drummers what a groove is, and you’ll get five different answers.  When I was starting out on the drums, I thought groove was mainly about choosing the right pattern and playing it with metronomic accuracy.  Maybe it’s because the importance of playing to a metronome is constantly drilled into us.  The more experienced I get as a player, however, the more I realize the click is just a reference.  And by no means does metronomic accuracy equal groove.  Otherwise we would have all been replaced by drum machines long ago.  I hate the term timekeeping.  Calling a drummer a time keeper is like calling a writer a typer.  Of course, timekeeping is a vital part of our job, but it’s just the beginning in terms of developing a groove!

Feel is another term that plays into groove.  To say a drummer has a good feel is, I think, to say he or she makes you feel something as a listener or feel the intention of the song.  Although, Groove and Feel are abstract “right brain” concepts, maybe there’s a way to approach them with the analytical left side of your brain?  Doing so could enable you to practice these little details that make all the difference.  While performing music is mostly an intuitive, subjective activity, practicing is an analytical, objective activity.

This begs the question, what is it we do as human drummers that makes us groove in a way a computer can’t?  Or, why can two different drummers play the same pattern and sound so different?  I think it comes down to the aspects of groove that don’t get talked about enough – beat placement, type of swing, sound balance, and sound choices.  In the next few blog posts I’m going offer my two cents on these topics and recommend some listening to hear these concepts in action.  Then, I’ll guide you through some of my exercises I use to practice this stuff.

(Side note, if you do any drum programming, you can use this stuff to make your patterns sound more human.)

And I’ll leave you with some inspiration…

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Session with Skip Saylor

I had the pleasure this weekend of playing on a country record for a new singer/songwriter named Ricky Johnson with Skip Saylor producing and Robby Lattimore on bass.  We tracked at Skip’s studio.  Working with Skip was incredible.  Among his many credits are Wilco’s Being There and Tom Petty’s Damn The Torpedos, two of my favorite albums ever.

I played my GMS Maple kit with a few different snares, a Supraphonic, a Black Beauty, and a 8″ x 14″ Tama brass.

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Backing Tracks 101

From my experience, and in talking to drummer friends, it seems drummers are taking on more and more responsibility in terms of running the show.  Traditionally, this has involved cueing count-offs/endings,  communicating dynamics, and defining the tempo.  But now, with an increasing number of acts using prerecorded material, another opportunity has been created for the tech savvy drummer – managing the playback of backing tracks.

In case you’re new to the world of backing tracks, just think them as pieces of pre-recorded audio running in the background of a performance.  This can be anything from a few background vocals, to string arrangements, to entire finished album mixes that the performers mime to.  (Yes, I’ve done a few of those gigs.)   A click track is used in order to keep the live performances in sync with the pre-recorded content.  Syncing of the show also makes automated lighting and video cues possible.

The hardware for live playback can be stationed on stage and run by a band member or offstage with a tech. At the club level, it’s pretty common for it to be part of a keyboard player or drummer’s rig because we tend to be stationary.  In the case of bigger acts, the playback rig might live offstage and be run by a dedicated tech.

Becoming familiar with the many options for live playback hardware is another way to set yourself apart in the marketplace of drummers looking for gigs. You’ll be ready to take on the additional responsibility of setting up, running, and editing a vital part of the show; you’ll be able to speak the production language used by professionals; and you’ll be better suited to move into more of a musical director’s role if that’s your thing. If you’re part of band, you can use this information to add production value to your band’s live show in the way that’s most practical for you.

Note: The decision to use backing tracks is a matter of taste that can be very genre-specific and artist-specific. Perhaps the decision to use or not to use backing tracks will be the topic of a future article here at The Drummer’s Mouth.

As the technology keeps changing I’ll be using this as an archive for different configurations at different price points. There will be graphics explaining the setup, a rating system with 5 categories, and links to shopping lists.  Be sure to check back here often or subscribe to the newsletter for the latest updates on backing tracks rigs.

 The $200 Backing Tracks Rig