Actual Proof

[henryrobinett]

Yeah, yeah. Actual Poof from Herbie Hancock's Thrust album. My favorite tune from that very fine record.

[Chen]

As a drummer for the last 20 years I would say that no one could play a drum machine like that and not be able to play a real drum set. Rhythm is rhythm I don't care how you slice it. Either you have it or you don't.

yeah, what he said!
I know a great drummer who's playing amazing on the hr-16.
Interestingly he's doing exactly the same worm up routine on both the real kit and the hr-16.

[David R.]

Wow. I finally got to watch it.

Drummer has wayyyy too much ability on the HR16. It is obvious he is a drummer, look at the way he plays the high hat controller. Too much rhythm to not be.

I have no idea how he kept the sensitivity on the pads, I had the HR16 and the MMT8 and the pads were always the first to go.

Thanks for that.

[John Peacock]

I think it is MORE impressive that he is doing it on the pads instead of a real kit.

Some people seem to be missing the point... He is a real drummer and certainly a real musician even if he has never touched acoustic drums before. Though I too doubt that is the case.

It's quite remarkable.

-Jp

[Jax]

My question isn't whether he's a real drummer, but I wonder if he can do all the same things on a real kit as on the HR-16. There may be some stuff he can do on one and not on the other. It would be interesting to see.

[amost]

Very bjorkin' cool. thanks!

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by John Peacock

Some people seem to be missing the point... He is a real drummer and certainly a real musician even if he has never touched acoustic drums before.

Absolutely agree. He's an accomplished rhythm player and whether that's his instrument of choice - or the only one he knows - he takes control of it and makes it work for him. That's the most that any musician can do (and more than most).

[DeepSpace]

Originally Posted by David R.

I have no idea how he kept the sensitivity on the pads, I had the HR16 and the MMT8 and the pads were always the first to go.

I believe it's possible to get replacement pads fitted to the HR16 by Alesis. Don't know about the MMT8.

[JJgray]

It's clearly evident the guy is not only a great drummer, but he also wails on the drum machine too. The high-hat work, double kicks and cool fills he does clearly shows his experience. The fact that he's transpired his skills to the HR-16 as well makes this video that much more impressive. It drum machine is there as a matter for his convenience.

As a guitar player I've hamfisted my way through laying drum patterns down, and I'm in complete awe of guys like him that do it in real time, and so effertlessly.

[Matt Grondin]

Originally Posted by goldphinga

wrong.! the tune is actual proof from the album thrust and the bass player is improvising, not playing a transcription.

This is true. It's definitely "Actual Proof" from Thrust.

[2leod]

Originally Posted by Jax

Amazing!

thumbsup thumbsup

Makes me want to walk around with a drum machine on a frame in front me.. kind of like how Jimi was never without his guitar.

If only I had the time...

Future Man!

Check out some of the stuff he does with Bela Fleck .

[van Overhalen]

Originally Posted by David R.

I have no idea how he kept the sensitivity on the pads, I had the HR16 and the MMT8 and the pads were always the first to go.

That' s so true.
The pads on my HR 16 stopped working years ago...and they charge a fortune for repair...
But my HR 16 is grey not white and it doesn't have such a variety of sounds like in the video. No China for instance.

[bob katz]

Originally Posted by not_so_new

WOW... I don't know what is more impressive there. Pretty amazing.

Yes, I love those soft and delicate cymbal hits. And how did he hit the snare drum so consistently, every time :-)?

Yes, folks, this is the drum sound of the future. The guy's fantastically talented, though!

I have a good friend who is a fantastic acoustic drummer, but prefers to play the electronic drums, and those of us engineers here in town just can't understand it, he gets a much more dynamic and refined sound with the real drum set. Am i just too old fashioned?

BK

[van Overhalen]

Originally Posted by bob katz

Yes, I love those soft and delicate cymbal hits. And how did he hit the snare drum so consistently, every time :-)?

Yes, folks, this is the drum sound of the future. The guy's fantastically talented, though!

I have a good friend who is a fantastic acoustic drummer, but prefers to play the electronic drums, and those of us engineers here in town just can't understand it, he gets a much more dynamic and refined sound with the real drum set. Am i just too old fashioned?

BK

I don't think that you are old fashioned and I prefer real drums any time...

but I never thought that it might be possible to actually PERFORM on a
crappy drum-machine this way !

Now, that IS pretty amazing, no ?

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by van Overhalen

I don't think that you are old fashioned and I prefer real drums any time...

but I never thought that it might be possible to actually PERFORM on a
crappy drum-machine this way !

Now, that IS pretty amazing, no ?

Same here... I prefer real drums (I am a drummer after all.. ) but it is amazing that he can play like that on pads.

[amost]

I would so much rather hear Bela with a real kit...but that's me.

[Jake]

Amazing link!

Having used a HR-16 for well over 10 years, I can tell you that he was plainly not using the internal sounds (well maybe the cowbell) and I think the MPC sitting right behind him was the obvious source of the triggered drum samples. Like others have noted, I can't believe the expression he was able to get from the somewhat crappy HR16 drum pads. Once again, talent trumps equipment every single time. Along those lines, I'd be pretty surprised if we wasn't an experienced drummer given the sophistication of his chops, but then again . . . . ?

[2leod]

Originally Posted by amost

I would so much rather hear Bela with a real kit...but that's me.

Yeah, I'm more of an organic sound kinda guy myself. I think the kid in the first video throws down, and brings more to the party than Future Man ( I can't even type that without chuckling!), but I do applaud people who challenge convention.

[True North]

Originally Posted by macr0w

As a drummer for the last 20 years I would say that no one could play a drum machine like that and not be able to play a real drum set. Rhythm is rhythm I don't care how you slice it. Either you have it or you don't.

I would agree, his phrasing was way too advanced for just some Joe to pick up. You can also tell that he phrases from a drum kit perspective.

[AjD]

Holy crap.

I know these threads tend to turn into 'real drums sound better' sermons. But for a moment, let's all just appreciate the musicianship....













...wow.

Anyway, if you didn't watch the whole thing, fast foward to about 6:00. That's some scary chops right there, gents. Where are the industry talent scouts when you need them? You could put these two guys on Leno or Letterman right now, just jamming like this, and they'd bring down the house.

Or, if that drummer guy doesn't make it in music... he's got a very promising future in the field of high speed data entry.

Adam

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by van Overhalen

I never thought that it might be possible to actually PERFORM on a
crappy drum-machine this way !

Now, that IS pretty amazing, no ?

Sammy Merendino "played drums" on an album I did 15 years ago. I use quotes because he played the entire album by hand (fingers, actually) on the pads of a Linn 9000, triggering sounds from a Forat F16 and an Emulator III. It was mind boggling how good his parts were, and how effortlessly he executed them on those little pads. At that time Sammy told me he used to play a real drumkit, but he hadn't done a session with sticks & skins in several years. But his phrasing & licks were completely believable --AND MUSICAL -- just like what a great drummer would have & could have played on a kit.

[Rob King]

That was very entertaining to watch! Those guys are pretty incredible!

Rob

[John Peacock]

Originally Posted by True North

I would agree, his phrasing was way too advanced for just some Joe to pick up. You can also tell that he phrases from a drum kit perspective.

He is clearly not some Joe... And even if he has never played accoustic instruments before, he is still not "just some Joe." He is obviously very talented and has put an incredible amount of time into playing drum pads that way.

I'm a little concerned because because I am hearing a lot of bias coming through on this thread. Though no one has said it this way, it is obvious that many of the posters are harboring the following thoughts: "Drum machines are only for untalented rap producers, not real musicians. So if he can play the drum machine in a talented way, he must also be a 'real drummer.'" In which case I refer you to my original post.

Again, let me say, I find this guy so incredible because they are NOT acoustic drums. I hear very talented acoustic drummers all the time. Go to any highly rated jazz club in any major city. I have also seen very talented drum machine players (Jel from Themselves comes to mind), but I have never seen anything like this clip before.

Now on a more serious note, I'd love to hear him do the exact same performance, but this time with 808 samples.

-Jp

[noiseflaw]

Boy that was refreshing to see/hear in an odd kinda way, just goes to show, that whatever you play, you just gottat 'get ta groove' - and those boy's were vibin'.

V cool.

[David R.]

Originally Posted by John Peacock

Now on a more serious note, I'd love to hear him do the exact same performance, but this time with 808 samples.

-Jp

That is what I love about midi drums. You can record a performance like that and sweeten/change the sounds later.

I think there is a consensus this guy is a bad ass musician. My guess is he would be just as good on a drum kit, or just as good banging on pots and pans in his kitchen.

The sounds are from the HR16, as much as I remember. As tempting as it is to replace the pads, I think I will pass on that adventure.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by 2leod

Future Man!

Check out some of the stuff he does with Bela Fleck .

Ah, yes! I have witnessed Future Man playing with Bela while watching Austin City Limits. It would probably be just that much cooler to see it done live in person.

Btw, I saw a show with Bela Fleck on his banjo-tar thing, Victor Wooten on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums (and Bill Evans on sax but IMO he almost didn't need to be there). Vinnie is just plain disgustingly sickeningly frighteningly awe-inspiring-ly inspirationally good, as was the rest of the band (but I'm a drummer ).

[2leod]

The only stuff of Vinnie Colaiuta's I've heard was on Sting's albums, and I liked him there, but I just checked out his discography - yeowza! I'm gonna keep my ears open for more of his work.

The last time I saw Bela was in Trio, with Stanley Clarke and Jean Luc Ponty. That was a treat!

[KingDaddyO]

Originally Posted by Kamurah

Hot Damn! I don't give a rats ass if it's a drum machine, time machine, ATM machine, machine gun, washing machine, sewing machine....whatever....

ROTHLMFAO

Dude... huge blast of milk AND a bite of cheese sandwich blown completely through me nose

Thanks. I think I'm ok now



and yeah, those are some bodacious chops indeed!!

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by 2leod

The only stuff of Vinnie Colaiuta's I've heard was on Sting's albums, and I liked him there, but I just checked out his discography - yeowza! I'm gonna keep my ears open for more of his work.

My favorite "Vinnie's Got Awesome Chops" story is a quote I read by Terry Bozzio, where he was talking about the time in the late 70's when he parted ways with Frank Zappa's band. Terry admitted he'd gotten kind of cocky & arrogant; the quote was something along the lines of "I thought I was the best drummer in the world. I figured I was irreplaceable. I mean, Frank had written The Black Page for me and I'd learned to play it; if I could do that, I was in a league of my own. No one else could play that tune.

"And then one week later Vinnie Colaiuta's playing The Black Page in concert with Frank. I was humbled."

(all paraphrased, of course)

[2leod]

I just read this story from the Zappa years on his webpage;

Steve Vai on Vinnie Colaiuta:

I'll tell you a really great Vinnie story. He's one of the most amazing sight-readers that ever existed on the instrument. One day we were in a Frank rehearsal, this was early '80s, and Frank brought in this piece of music called "Mo 'N Herb's Vacation." Just unbelievably complex. All the drums were written out, just like "The Black Page" except even more complex. There were these runs of like 17 over 3 and every drumhead is notated differently. And there were a whole bunch of people there, I think Bozzio was there.

Vinnie had this piece of music on the stand to his right. To his left he had another music stand with a plate of sushi on it, okay? Now the tempo of the piece was very slow, like "The Black Page." And then the first riff came in, [mimics bizarre Zappa-esque drum rhythm patterns] with all these choking of cymbals, and hi-hat, ruffs, spinning of rototoms and all this crazy stuff. And I saw Vinnie reading this thing. Now, Vinnie has this habit of pushing his glasses up with the middle finger of his right hand. Well I saw him look at this one bar of music, it was the last bar of music on the page. He started to play it as he was turning the page with one hand, and then once the page was turned he continued playing the riff with his right hand, as he reached over with his left hand, grabbed a piece of sushi and put it in his mouth, continued the riff with his left hand and feet, pushed his glasses up, and then played the remaining part of the bar.

It was the sickest thing I have ever seen. Frank threw his music up in the air. Bozzio turned around and walked away. I just started laughing."

-As told to Don Zulaica (Excerpted from www.drumstuff.com)