TheEssenceofPerformanceontheAcoustic

DrumKit:AStudyofFeel

SamRaines

ORCIDIdentifier0000-0002-1683-2587

MasterofMusic

August2018

MelbourneConservatoriumofMusic

TheUniversityofMelbourne

Thisthesisissubmittedinpartialfulfilmentofrequirements

forthedegreeofMasterofMusic.

ii

AbstractThispractice-ledresearchinvestigatesanddiscussesthetermsandapplicationsof

‘feel’and‘time’inacousticdrumming,andthroughvariousperformancesettingsI

break down and examine how these phenomena exist withinmy performance.

Topicsofthisresearchincludefeel,time,groove,improvisation,pulse,liveness,and

motif, all of which are looked at through the various effects they can have on

performance. This dissertation includes both written and recorded

documentation of my own performances, as well as drawing on sources of

information such as music notation (transcriptions), sound waves, various

publications,linernotesandexperientialdescriptionsofeachperformancesetting.

Thecreativeworkspresented in this researcharemadeupofvarious recorded

performances,whichcanbeidentifiedinthe‘ListofEmbeddedAudio’.Assections

ofthisdissertationarebasedonspecificrecordings,therelevantaudioisalsolisted

withinthetext.Thisshouldallowthereadertolistentoeachrecordedperformance

beforeoraftertherelevantsectionisread.Eachrecordedworkforthisresearchis

presentedinanmp3format.

iii

StatementofOriginality

IcertifythattheintellectualcontentofthisthesistowardsthedegreeofMasterof

Music is the product of my own work, and that all the assistance received in

preparingthisthesishasbeenacknowledged.Thisthesishasnotbeensubmitted

foranydegreeorotherpurposeandis18,628wordsinlengthasapprovedbythe

ResearchHigherDegreesCommittee.

SamRaines

iv

Acknowledgments

Iamincrediblygratefultomyprinciplesupervisor,GeoffHughes,forhisongoing

supportanddirectionthroughoutthisstudy.

Iwouldalsoliketothankthefollowingpeoplefortheirsupport:

Mypartner,RebeccaKoster.

Myparents,PeterandKateRaines.

Myco-supervisor,AlexPertout.

Andfinally,allthemusicianswhohavesharedinthemusicmakingprocesswith

me,andespeciallytheonesfeaturedintheworkspresentedinthisstudy.

v

Contents

LISTOFFIGURES………………………………………………………………….……………….….……………..viii

LISTOFEMBEDDEDAUDIO……………………….……………………….…………….…..…………………….x

INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................1

I.OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................................................1

II.AUTOETHNOGRAPHY(METHOD).................................................................................................................2

III.STAGESUNDERTAKENTHROUGHOUTTHISRESEARCH.........................................................................4

IV.ETYMOLOGYOFFEEL....................................................................................................................................5

V.DRUMMERSONFEELANDTIME...................................................................................................................6

VI.GROOVE...........................................................................................................................................................7

VII.NUANCESANDMEDIATISATIONS...........................................................................................................10

CHAPTERONE..................................................................................................................................12

“OUTRUN”..........................................................................................................................................12

AUDIO1.2“OUTRUN”ISOLATEDDRUMKITTRACK..................................................................................12

1.1CREATINGAMOTIF...................................................................................................................................12

1.2TOPICSOFTHISCHAPTER........................................................................................................................13

1.3CREATINGLIVENESSINTHEMOTIF.......................................................................................................14

1.4ABREAKDOWNOFTHEMOTIF...............................................................................................................14

1.5THEMOTIF..................................................................................................................................................16

1.6THEEFFECTOFNUANCESINTEMPO,ARTICULATIONANDPLACEMENT.......................................17

1.7AVISUALBREAKDOWN............................................................................................................................22

1.8“OUTRUN”SUMMARY................................................................................................................................25

1.9“OUTRUN”-LIVE.......................................................................................................................................26

1.10LIVEPERFORMANCECONTINGENCIES................................................................................................26

vi

CHAPTERTWO.................................................................................................................................32

“RIDERS”............................................................................................................................................32

2.1FREEDOMFROMMETRE...........................................................................................................................32

2.2TOPICSOFTHISCHAPTER........................................................................................................................33

2.3ABANDONINGTHEMETRE.......................................................................................................................36

2.4DRUMKITANDBASSGUITARMOTIFS..................................................................................................36

2.5APUSHINGEFFECTINTHEGROOVE......................................................................................................38

2.6AMETRICITY................................................................................................................................................42

2.7SOLOANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................................43

2.8FILLSGESTURINGADOWNBEAT.............................................................................................................46

2.9SHIFTINGTHEPULSE.................................................................................................................................50

2.10REENTERINGTHEMETRICGROOVE....................................................................................................54

2.11“RIDERS”SUMMARY...............................................................................................................................54

CHAPTERTHREE.............................................................................................................................56

“SKIPPINGSTONE”..........................................................................................................................56

3.1PORTRAYINGANIMAGETHROUGHTIME..............................................................................................56

3.2TOPICSOFTHISCHAPTER........................................................................................................................56

3.3FEEL,STORYANDRECORDING:HALBLAINE.......................................................................................57

3.4“WIPEOUT”-SPACEIMPLIEDBYTIME................................................................................................58

3.5NUANCEDDYNAMICVARIATION.............................................................................................................62

3.5.1TIMBREANDBODILYMOVEMENT......................................................................................................64

3.5.2SYNCOPATION.........................................................................................................................................65

3.6“WIPEOUT”SUMMARY............................................................................................................................66

3.7“SKIPPINGSTONE”.....................................................................................................................................67

3.7.1INTRODUCTION/VERSE1.....................................................................................................................68

3.7.2PORTRAYINGANIMAGE........................................................................................................................69

3.7.3PULSE.......................................................................................................................................................71

vii

3.7.4TRANSITIONINGFROMVERSETOCHORUS........................................................................................74

3.7.5CHORUS....................................................................................................................................................75

CHAPTERFOUR...............................................................................................................................78

“EC”......................................................................................................................................................78

4.1RHYTHMANDTEMPOSETTHEMOOD...................................................................................................78

4.2TOPICSOFTHISCHAPTER........................................................................................................................78

4.3IMPROVISATION..........................................................................................................................................79

4.4GROOVE........................................................................................................................................................79

4.5IMPROVISATIONWITHINGROOVE..........................................................................................................82

4.6PLAYINGALONGSIDEAPERCUSSIONIST................................................................................................83

4.7VARIATIONINTHEFEELOFTHEGROOVEBETWEENDRUMKITANDPERCUSSION.....................86

4.8“EC”SUMMARY..........................................................................................................................................87

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................................89

SIGNIFICANCEOFMYFINDINGS.....................................................................................................................89

KEYPOINTSMADEINREACHINGMYPOSITION.........................................................................................89

RELEVANTFACTORSOUTSIDETHESCOPEOFTHISRESEARCH.............................................................91

TOPICSLINKEDTOTHEWIDERCONTEXTINMYDISCIPLINE..................................................................92

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................94

DISCOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................................98

viii

ListofFigures

FIGURE1.1“OUTRUN”MOTIF……………………………..……………….……………….…………..…...….15

FIGURE1.2TEMPORALVARIATIONCREATINGLIVENESS…………………………………..........21

FIGURE1.3SOUNDWAVEANDTRANSCRIPTIONOFTHEOPENING4BARS……….…......23

FIGURE1.4SEXTUPLETGROUPINGBETWEENDRUMKITANDPERCUSSION………….…25

FIGURE1.5STAGESETUPFORLIVEPERFORMANCE………………….………..……………….….27

FIGURE2.1“RIDERS”CHART…………...……………………………………………….…………….…..34-35

FIGURE2.2RIDECYMBALANDBASSGUITARMOTIFSINAANDA’SECTION………........38

FIGURE2.3BASSGUITARSOUNDWAVEANDMUSICNOTATIONOFINTRO.……………...40

FIGURE2.4SECONDFOURBARSOFINTROWITHRIDECYMBAL………………………….......40

FIGURE2.5APUSHINGEFFECTBETWEENSECTIONSOFTHEHEADANDSOLO…..……42

FIGURE2.6THESOLOSECTION………………………………………………………………………….……43

FIGURE2.7SHIFTINGFROMMETRICTOAMETRICTIME……………………………..….….……45

FIGURE2.8DRUMFILLCREATINGASENSEOFDOWNBEAT…………..………………….……...48

FIGURE2.9DRUMFILLCREATINGASENSEOFDOWNBEAT……….………………………….….49

FIGURE2.10DRUMFILLCREATINGASENSEOFDOWNBEAT…................…….………………....49

FIGURE2.11DOWNBEAT–AMETRICITY–DOWNBEAT(SOUNDWAVE)………………...…...50

FIGURE2.123-NOTEPHRASEAND2-NOTEPHRASEWITHDISPLACEDAXIS………….53-54

FIGURE2.13TACTUSANDTATUMOF“RIDERS”…………………………………………......................55

FIGURE3.1AVISUALEXAMPLEOFTHEPUSHINGEFFECT……………………………………........61

FIGURE3.2“WIPEOUT”DYNAMICNUANCESMEASUREDINDECIBELS………………………63

FIGURE3.3“WIPEOUT”OPENINGDRUMPART………………………………………………………….64

FIGURE3.4Richards,Hayden,UNTITLED,2016,Photograph.AccessedAugust7,2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMx7DurgSlN/?hl=en&taken-

by=sa_rips………………………………………………………………………...…………..65

FIGURE3.5SYNCOPATIONCREATINGTENSION……………………………………………………...…66

ix

FIGURE3.6Richards,Hayden,UNTITLED,2016,Photograph.AccessedAugust7,2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLUOrxZgDiS/?hl=en&taken-

by=sa_rips…………………………………………………………………………...………..69

FIGURE3.7Richards,Hayden,UNTITLED,2016,Photograph.AccessedAugust7,2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH_V24rhrl1/?hl=en&taken-

by=sa_rips……………………………………………………………………………...……..70

FIGURE3.8SPATIALMOVEMENTINFORMINGTEMPORALMOVEMENT……………………...73

FIGURE3.9“SKIPPINGSTONE”INTROAND1STVERSEDRUMKITTRANSCRIPTION…….75

FIGURE3.10Richard,Hayden,UNTITLED,2016,Photograph.AccessedAugust7,2018.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGRFoPfOrjx/?hl=en&taken-

by=sa_rips……………………………………………………..………………………………76

FIGURE3.11“SKIPPINGSTONE”CHORUSDRUMKITTRANSCRIPTION……………………….77

FIGURE4.1“EC”MOTIF……………………………………………………………………………………………...80

FIGURE4.2VARIATIONONMOTIF(BAR5)..……………………………………………………………….81

FIGURE4.3VARIATIONONMOTIF(BAR9).………………………………………………………………..82

FIGURE4.4VARIATIONONMOTIF(BAR43).……………………………………………………………...83

FIGURE4.5COWBELLANDDRUMKITMOTIFS…………………………………………………………...84

FIGURE4.6INDIRECTRHYTHMICVARIATION(BAR18)……………………………………………85

FIGURE4.7OPPOSING‘FEELS’INTHEGROOVE(BAR12)………………………..……………..….87

x

ListofEmbeddedAudioAUDIO1.1“OUTRUN”……..………………………….………………………………………………………...…...12AUDIO1.2“OUTRUN”ISOLATEDDRUMKITTRACK…………………………………………..….…..12AUDIO1.3“OUTRUN”-LIVE………………………………..…………………………………………....……..…26AUDIO2.1“RIDERS”……….…………………………………………..…………………………………..……......32AUDIO3.1“WIPEOUT”…………………………………………………………………………………….………..58AUDIO3.2“SKIPPINGSTONE”……………………………………………………………………….…….……67AUDIO4.1“EC”…………………………………………………………………………………..……………….……78AUDIO4.2“EC”ISOLATEDDRUMKITANDPERCUSSIONTRACKS………………..……...….78

1

Introduction

I.Overview

Grammyawardwinningandprominentdrumkiteducator,PeterErskine,states,

“Wemakemusic feelgoodbyourtimekeeping.”1Withinthisconcisestatement

Erskine uses two terms that are common in contemporary Western drum kit

practice–‘feel’and‘time’.Althoughcommonlyspoken,adegreeofindeterminacy

lives in thepraxisof these terms, suggesting that theymaybestbeunderstood

throughexperience,ratherthanexpressedinageneralsense.

Thispractice-ledresearchinvestigatesanddiscussesthetermsandapplicationsof

‘feel’and‘time’inacousticdrumming,andthroughvariousperformancesettingsI

willbreakdownandexaminehowthesephenomenaexistwithinmyperformance.

Topicsofthisresearchincludefeel,time,groove,improvisation,pulse,liveness,and

motif, all of which are looked at through the various effects they can have on

performance. 2 This dissertation includes both written and recorded

documentation of my own performances, as well as drawing on sources of

information such as music notation (transcriptions), sound waves, various

publications,linernotesandexperientialdescriptionsofeachperformancesetting.

When I began this research, I searched for the definition of ‘feel’ in theOxford

Dictionary of Music (which has over 12,000 entries and has supposedly been

1PeterErskine,TheDrumPerspective(Milwaukee:HalLeonardCorporation,1998),9.2PaulSaden,LivenessinModernMusic:Musicians,Technology,andthePerceptionofPerformance(NewYork:Routledge,2013).Saden’sdescriptionsof‘liveness’willbediscussedthroughoutthisdissertation,especiallyinrelationtodrumkitperformance.

2

unrivalledfor20years)andfoundnoentryfortheterm.Initially,Ifoundthistobe

surprisinggiventhecommonusageofthetermincontemporarymusicmaking.I

was left thinkingthatmaybethetermwastoovague,orperhapsfeelwas justa

combinationoftermslikeexpression,tempoandarticulation.However,thefurther

Iexploredthistopic,themoreitbecameapparentthatnomatterhowconclusive

thetermwasinanysenseoftheword,asignificantqualityofsubjectivityseemed

essential to itsmeaning.This isperhapswhatmadeautoethnographyasuitable

methodologyformyresearch.

II.Autoethnography(Method)

InPractice-ledResearch,Research-ledPractice intheCreativeArts,authorsHazel

Smith andRogerT.Deandiscuss the “methodological, theoretical, practical and

political issues surrounding creative practice and research.” 3 Within this

discussion,SmithandDeanpresenttheargumentthatpractice-ledresearchand

research-led practice are not separatemethods, and in fact co-existswithin an

‘iterative cyclic web’.4 Smith and Dean support this argument by stating, “that

creative practice – the training and specialised knowledge that creative

practitionershaveandtheprocessestheyengageinwhentheyaremakingartcan

leadtospecialisedresearchinsightswhichcanthenbegeneralisedandwrittenup

asresearch.”5

ThismethodrepresentstheoneIhavetakenthroughoutthisstudy,wheremyaim

has been to highlight the insights, conceptualisation and theorisation that has

3 HazelSmithandRogerT.DeanPractice-ledResearch,Research-ledPractice in theCreativeArts(UnitedKingdom:EdinburghUniversityPress,2009),9.4SmithandRogerPractice-ledResearch,Research-ledPractice,2.5SmithandRogerPractice-ledResearch,Research-ledPractice,5.

3

arisen when reflecting on and documenting my own creative practice. 6

Furthermore,themethodofmyresearchcanbelinkedtothesub-cyclesthatare

fundamentaltotheiterativecyclicwebmodel,whicharepresentedbelow:

Ideageneration

(howgeneralisedtermsandpracticessuchas‘feel’and‘time’manifestin

acousticdrumkitperformance)

Output

(recordingofvariousperformances)

Theoriseideasanddeveloptechniquesasmethod

(DAWanalysisandtemporalandspatialanalysis)

Applicationoftheoriesandtechniquestonewcreativework

(newperformanceandlisteningperspectives)

YolandWadsworth’s presentation of ‘Participatory Action Research’ is another

research framework that this essay employs. Wadsworth explains that

“participatory action research setsout to explicitly study something inorder to

changeorimproveit.”7Unlike‘oldparadigmscience’thatbeginswithahypothesis,

and proceeds towards a conclusion, participatory action research is a social

researchthat“tellsastory.”8Itaimstowardsinventinga“differentandbetterway

6SmithandRogerPractice-ledResearch,Research-ledPractice,5.7 YolandWadsworth,“ActionResearchInternational,”WhatisParticipatoryActionResearch?,2,1998:2.

8Wadsworth,“ActionResearchInternational,”4.

4

ofseeingandunderstandingourrealities,”whichinthecaseofthisresearchare

therealitiesinherentinacousticdrumkitperformance.9

III.StagesUndertakenThroughoutthisResearch

1. My investigation began by searching various texts and interviews with

drummerswhomanifestthequalitiesoffeelandtime,inordertoseehowthey

usedtheterms.ThesedrummersincludedHarveyMason,PeterErskine,Steve

Gadd, Jojo Mayer, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, and Hal Blaine. Later, I

incorporatedvariousscholarsintothissearchtogetamoreacademicallydriven

perspective.Inexploringbothavenues,itbecameapparentthateachindividual

discussed these terms with slightly different interpretations, contexts and

perspectives.

2. Astheseinterpretationsinfluencedmyownunderstanding,Istartedtohearmy

documented performances with a new perspective. My attention was drawn

away from the notational rhythmic elements andwas refocused towards the

movementoccurringwithintheserhythms.Becauseattimesthismovementwas

revealedinsuchsubtleforms,ausefultechniqueIemployedfordemonstrating

myexampleswasplacingsoundwavesagainstthegridofaDAW10inorderto

specifywherecertaineffectswereoccurringinthemusic.

3. Inthethirdstageofthisstudy,afterfocusingonmyownperformance,Ibegan

focusingonthecollectivemovementamongtheinstrumentalistswithwhomI

9Wadsworth,“ActionResearchInternational,”13.10DigitalAudioWorkstation.

5

played with. Hearing the subtle movement of rhythmic phrasing between

instrumentalistsmeantthatrhythmicdesignsthatseemedsimpleattheoutset

becamemore complex when viewed through a different lens. This rhythmic

movement, that went beyond the limits of music notation, is referred to

throughoutthisstudyasthe‘feelofthegroove’.11

4. The fourth stage of this study involved giving an experiential description of

performanceelementsthatIconsideredasanalogoustofeelandtimewithinfive

different performance settings. This retrospective description allowedme to

describe the phenomena, of which I had little awareness at the time of its

occurrence. Only when I revisited and refocused my listening towards

performanceelementssuchasgroove,pulseandexpressivetiming,wasIableto

identify the nature of feel and time, and the effects they had on each

performance.12

IV.EtymologyofFeel

The term ‘feel’ comes fromtheLatinword sentireand isdefinedas “perception

throughsenseswhicharenotreferredtospecificorgans.”13Theword‘sense’,from

theLatinwordsensus,meansto“know,feelorperceivewiththesenses.”14These

initialdefinitionsopenedafewdoorsintomyenquiryandthefirstpointofcallwas

recognisingthatthesetermswerebestunderstoodwithinnuancedemotiveand

11Roholt,Tiger.C.Groove:aphenomenologyofrhythmicnuance.NewYork:Bloomsbury,2014,3.12VijayIyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound:EmbodiedCognitioninWestAfricanandAfrican-AmericanMusics”(Ph.D.,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,1998),15.13OnlineEtymologyDictionary,s.v.“Feel,”accessedApril25,2016,http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Feel.

14OnlineEtymologyDictionary,s.v.“Sense,”accessedApril25,2016,http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Feel.

6

intuitiveexperiences.Furthermore,while‘know’and‘knowledge’sharethesame

etymological roots, some insight into the epistemological context of this study

began to appear. In an essay entitled Epistemological Background to

PhenomenologyasaResearchMethodintheArts,phenomenologistBarryBignell

states,“Knowledgeisnotawaywherebywereproducean‘objective’world,buta

relationshipintowhichweplaceourselves.”15Bignell’sclaimsupportstheprocess

Ihavetakentoexplorethetopicsinthisresearch,whichthroughself-reflection,

was to best describe my relationship with the various performance elements

relevanttoeachchapter.

V.DrummersonFeelandTime

Tobetterunderstandtheconceptoffeelandtimeinperformance,drummerand

producerAdhmir“Questlove”Thompsondemonstratesanoteworthyapproachto

studio recording. Performing with artists like The Roots and The Philadelphia

Experiment, Questlove reasserts the importance of real-time playing in a style

dominatedby samplingandprogramming.16The importanceof this approach is

that while creating a quantised sound, he pursues liveness by not editing out

rhythmic deviations in relation to themetronomictity of the grid.When talking

about this approach with The Roots, Questlove states, “The idea was to sound

disciplined,butwithatotalhumanfeel,"whichsignifiesinagenresuchashiphop,

andespeciallyinarecordingsituation,adesireforanelementofhumannessinthe

feel of the groove - an element thatmayotherwisebe lost in a programmedor

15BarryBignell,“EpistemologicalBackgroundtoPhenomenologyasaResearchMethodintheArts:LeadingThoughts:1.

16“Ahmire“Questlove”Thompson.“DRUMMERWORLD,accessedFebruary2,2017,http://drummerworld.com/drummers/Ahmir_Thompson.html.

7

digitallyaltereddrumpart.17

Drummer Jojo Mayer’s awareness of feel and time comes from intuition and

liveness,whichhedescribesas senses thatguidehisperformance.Hementions

that while his machine-like drumming style may be considered obsolete, what

interestshimisthespacebetween0and1thatdrummachinesareunabletocreate.

The space thatMayer is alluding to is a humanistic realm that is reached, and

especially strong, when improvising. Mayer states, “in this space our decision-

makingprocessissoshortthatwecannotconsciouslymakedecisions,andwecan

surrenderourintentionsandletintuitionovercome.”18

VI.Groove

The concept of groovewill be considered throughout this dissertation, and the

‘consistency’ of its naturewill be considered its fundamental quality. Drummer

DavidGarabaldistatesinhisbookFutureSounds,“Goodgrooveisamachine-like

consistency from beat to beat and from section to section within a tune.” 19

Interestingly, Garibaldi’s description of groove is a machine ‘like’ consistency,

implyingthatahighlevelofaccuracyisnecessary,yetthroughahumanprocess,

whichinrelationtoadrummachineorprogrammeddrumpatternfor instance,

naturallyhaselementsofdiscrepancy.

To further define groove, when I asked drummer Harvey Mason what his

17“Questlove(2013),”RedBullMusicAcademy,accessedNovember28,2017,http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/questlove-new-york-2013.18 “ExploringTheDistanceBetween0and1JojoMayer.”YouTubevideo,20:15.Postedby“TEDxTalks,”November6,2011.https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=KExLCJAuTXA

19DavidGaribaldi,FutureSounds(USA:AlfredPublishingCo,1992),18.

8

interpretation of the term was he explained, “I believe drums or any other

instrumentcangroovewithoutrhythmicrepetitionbutrhythmicconsistencyisa

must.” 20 Interestingly both Garibaldi and Mason use the term ‘consistency’ to

describetheirunderstandingofgroove,andforthepurposeofthisresearchthis

willbewhatliesattheheartofthephenomenon.

Paul Saden discusses the quality of humanness in groove inLiveness inModern

Music:Musicians,Technology,andthePerceptionofPerformance,andlooksatthe

grooveofTheWhiteStripes’drummer,MeganWhite.Henotesthatalthoughher

performancehasarhythmicloosenessand‘unlearnedness’,thelivenessthatcomes

across in her performance is a key characteristic of the groove. In recorded

performances,thereisaconsciousdecisiontoforegodigitalalterationstocorrect

herrhythmicimprecisionbecausethiswouldconsequentlyweakenthegrooveand

misrepresent the intention of the performance. In fact, White’s drumming is

appreciated for its simplicity and devotion to liveness, as it presents a real

drummerplayinginreal-time,inagenreandindustrythatarguablyhasbecome

obsessedwithdigitalexactness.21WhileMasonandGarabaldi’sdefinitionofgroove

referstoamorerhythmicandnumericalconsistency,Saden’sunderstandingofthe

termalludestoatruthfulnessinperformance,whetheritisrhythmicallyconsistent

ornot.PerhapsthemostnoteworthypointSadenmakesisthatgoodgroovedoes

not always come from rhythmic exactness, but from the performer having a

genuineunderstandingoftheirintentionwithinanygivenperformance.

20HarveyMason,emailcorrespondence,June22,2013.21Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,83.

9

In Groove: a phenomenology of rhythmic nuance, Tiger C. Roholt discusses the

activityof engaging in groovesby stating, “the sort of facility for engagingwith

grooves…isbuiltupovertime;oneacquiresitbybeingassimilatedintoagiven

musicalculture.”22Sheextendsthisargumentbystating,“Thefacilityforperceiving

groovesdoesnotcomefrompropositionalknowledge;itdoesnotconsistofaset

of propositions that must be learned in order to hear the grooves of a given

genre.”23Roholt’s considerations for engaging andperceiving a groove suggests

thattherearemorerequirementsthanlearningthetheoryofagivengenreinorder

to execute its style. She alludes that to authentically ‘get in the groove’, a

relationshiptothegroove’sculturemustfirstbeestablished.

InMicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound:EmbodiedCognition inWest

AfricanandAfrican-AmericanMusics,VijayIyerexplorestopicsthatarerelatableto

this essay such as rhythm, groove, and pulse. Early in the text, Iyermakes the

assertion that “a fair amount ofmystique is attached to rhythmperception and

performance; there is a relative poverty of terminology… associatedwith these

finerpointsofrhythm,”24whichexemplifiesoneofthehurdlesthisresearchhas

presented. Having limited resources that address topics such as feel, time, and

groove, has requiredme to rely on a restricted amount of literature. However,

despitethelackofresources,ithasbeenreassuringtodiscoverscholarssuchas

Iyer,Roholt,andSadendiscussingtheserather‘untouched’topicswithadegreeof

similarity.

22Roholt,Groove,71.23Roholt,Groove,72.24Iyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,”27.

10

In relation to ‘groove’ as an embodied phenomenon, Iyer claims that “music

perception and cognition are embodied activities” and that “what it means to

groove…involvesthecontinualembodiedawarenessoftherelationshipofthepulse

to the generatedmusicalmaterial.”25In Chapter 3, I present the argument of an

embodiedawarenesstoapulsegeneratedfromtheocean,andinparticularawave’s

motion.

VII.NuancesandMediatisations

Withinthisresearch,exploringthespacebeyondthelimitationsofmusicnotation

wasausefulwayforexpandingeachchapter.Tobetterunderstandwhatliesbeyond

notation,Rholtexplainsthatagroove’squalitycomesfrom“playingnotesever-so-

slightlyearlyorever-so–slightlylate(inadditiontosubtletiesofdynamics,timbre,

etc.)…agroove is the feelofa rhythm.”26Iyeralsoconfirms that “one’s senseof

rhythm is referred to as ‘feel’.”27Therefore, we can consider that the rhythmic

nuancesofadrummer’sperformancemakeupthatindividual’sfeelinrelationto

the groove. The ‘push’ and ‘pull’ effect of playing slightly in front of the beat or

slightlybehindthebeatisdescribedas‘felt’,becausetherhythmicnuancesaretoo

minor to notate. 28Yet, within this research there are several contributions to

performancethatareconsideredwhenanalysingfeelandtime.Forexample,iftwo

drummersweretoplaythesamepattern,atthesametempo,onthesamedrumkit,

in the same room, because of nuances in articulation, bodily movement, and

intention,itwouldsounddifferent,andsignificantly,feeldifferent.Therefore,these

25Iyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,”9-27.26Roholt,Groove,1.27Iyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,”27.28 Roholt,Groove,39.

11

aretheconsiderationstowardsperformancethatwillbediscussedthroughoutthis

research.

12

CHAPTERONE

“Outrun”

Audio1.1“Outrun”Audio1.2“Outrun”IsolatedDrumKitTrack

1.1CreatingaMotif

Prior to recording “Outrun”, I was presented with a demo of the song by the

songwriter. In this particular instance, a sampled drum part had been used

throughout the entirety of the demo. This was intended to roughly outline the

desired drum part, yet was open for interpretation and alteration. Receiving a

demolikethisissomethingIhadencounteredmanytimesbefore,soIwasaware

thatmy rolewas to create an original part, while capturing the essence of the

sample.Creatingapartthroughthisprocessledmetodevelopwhatiscommonly

knownasa‘motif’.Amotifisarecurringpatternplayedthroughoutatunethatis

purposefulforcreatingthegroove,similartoaguitarhookoranostinatobassline.

Whilethemotifisnotnecessarilyadheredtothroughouttheentiretyofanytune,

itskeynotesandcharacteristicsarecontinuallyreferencedandprovidearhythmic

stabilitythroughconsistencyfortheotherinstrumentaliststoplayoff.Anexample

of a motif in acoustic drum kit performance is that of Harvey Mason’s on the

Headhuntersrecording“Chameleon”.Throughoutthe15-minuterecording,Mason

continuallyreferencesthemotif’skeynotes,suchapreemptedbackbeatplayedon

thefourth16thnoteofbeatoneandcrotchetaccentonthehi-hatsandridecymbal,

whilealsovaryinghismotifandimprovising.InHeadHunters:TheMakingofJazz’s

First Platinum Album, ethnomusicologist Steve Pond states, “Mason claims

considerablelatitudetovaryhispattern,whilestillreinforcingthesenseofstability

13

bymaking sure to landonkeynotes of the groove.Mason refers to the groove

frequently,dippingintotheflowofit,whileassertinghisrighttoimproviseonit.”29

Becauseamotifisrepeatedthroughtime,itaffectstimeinitsrepetitionandisin

turn affected by time in both performance and listening experiences. In

Communication,Music,andSpeechaboutMusic,musicologistStevenFeld,explains

theeffectthattimecanhaveontheexperienceoflisteningbystating:

Listeningexperienceinvolvesthingsthathappenintime;suchthings

changeoftenandrapidly.Toconstructamodelofthisexperienceand

a senseof its relation tohowsigns signifyandhowmusic symbols

mean, one must confront the dynamics of changeability, the

interaction of form and content, the interaction of specific and

generalexperience.30

1.2TopicsofthisChapter

This chapter will discuss performance elements such as creating a motif,

consistency, rhythmic nuances, liveness, and touch. By looking at both a studio

recordingaswellasaliveperformanceof“Outrun”,Iwillshowwherethesetopics

reveal themselves andwhat effect theyhave on themusic. The analysiswill be

supported by the use of sound waves, music notation, and my experiential

descriptionwithinthetwoperformancesettings.

29StevenPond,HerbieHancock:TheMakingofJazz’sFirstPlatinumAlbum,(UnitedStatesofAmerica,TheUniversityofMichiganPress,2005),45.30StevenFeld,“Communication,Music,andSpeechinMusic,”YearbookforTraditionalMusic,Vol16,1984:4.

14

1.3CreatingLivenessintheMotif

Thesampleddrummotifusedinthedemowasafour-barphrase,whichwaslonger

thanwhatIwasusedtohearinginademo.CommonlengthsformotifsIhadlearnt

andcreatedpreviouslywerebetweenhalfabarandtwobarsinlength,sothefirst

thingthatbecameapparentwasthattherewouldbesomedifficultiescreatinga

sense of consistency through longer temporal development. One of these

difficulties was the stabilisation of the groove, because gaining a sense of

familiarisationtothepatternwouldrequiremoretime,forinstance,thanifitwas

aone-barpattern.Wehadbeengivenspecificinstructionsfromtheproducerthat

therecordinghadtocreatealivefeel,whichmeanttechniquessuchasthedrum

partbeinglooped,theuseofaclicktrack,andtheuseofmulti-tracking,werenot

going to be employed. While these studio techniques could help stabilise the

groove,theywouldgiveastrongersenseofdigitalinfluenceandmaycompromise

thelivenessofthegroove.

1.4ABreakdownoftheMotif

Figure1.1showsthemotifIplayedthroughouttheentiretyoftherecording,with

theonlyintentionalvariationbeingacrashcymbaladdedonthedownbeatofthe

firstbar in thechoruses.As thepatternmoves through its four-barsequence, it

graduallygetsdenserinnotes,aswellaslessconsistentwithitsrhythmsandvoices

of the drum kit. Here, I will breakdown each bar and demonstrate where any

consistenciesandinconsistenciesareoccurring.Followingthis,Iwilllookathow

these consistencies and inconsistencies affect the groove andoverall feel of the

motif.

15

Fig1.1“OutrunMotif”

BAR1

Bar1showsseveralconsistenciessuchasasteady8thnotehi-hatrhythm,abass

drumonthedownbeat(whichisnotaconsistencywithinthebarbutisarguablya

consistencywithincontemporarydrumming),andasnaredrumbackbeatplayed

onbeatstwoandfour.Inadditiontothis,thereisaconsistencyoftimbrewithin

each voice of the drum kit, as all three voices are being played similarly. For

example,thehi-hatisalwaysplayedwiththeshoulderofthestickandontheedge

ofthecymbal,thesnaredrumisplayedwithafullstrokeinthecenterofthehead,

andthebassdrumisplayedwiththebeaterheldintotheheadaftereachstroke,

creatingashortersustain.

BAR2

In bar 2 these consistencies begin to reduce. Firstly, there is no bass drum

throughouttheentirebar,creatingarhythmicandtimbralinconsistencyinrelation

tothepreviousbar.Followingthis,thesnaredrumbeginstovaryitsrhythmand

articulationbyplaying16thnotebuzzedstrokes,howeverwhilemaintainingthe

backbeat.Thenatthebeginningofbeatfourtheconsistenthi-hatrhythmends,and

16

finally,onthelastnoteofthebartheracktomisintroducedasanewvoiceinthe

motif.

BAR3

Inbar3,aneffortismadetoreinforcethegroovebyrepeatingbar2.Therhythm

andorchestrationofthehandsremainthesame,onlynowthereisabassdrumon

thedownbeatandthefourth16thnoteafterthedownbeat(the‘a’).

BAR4

Just as themotif begins to offer some consistency, bar 4 reduces any sense of

familiarisation to the previous bars and is executed in a fill-like nature. This

reductionofconsistencyiscausedbyeliminatingthebackbeatonbeatstwoand

four,discontinuing theunderlying8thnotehi-hatrhythm,andomitting thebass

drum throughout the entire bar. Following this, further destabilisation of the

grooveiscreatedbyarhythmicshiftinthelasttwobeats,from16thnotesto16th

notetriplets.Inadditiontothisrhythmicshift,beforereturningtothebeginningof

thepattern,thelasttwobeatsofthebarareplayedbetweenapercussionistand

myself,introducingonelastinconsistencyofinstrumentalist.

1.5TheMotif

Atthetime,Iaddressedthematterofplayingalongmotifbypresentingasenseof

familiarisationthroughcontinualrepetitionofthewholefour-barsequence,rather

thana shortermotifwith continual variations.Although thepatternwould take

longer for a sense of familiarisation to set in the groove, once the groove was

established it would remain constant. Looking back on the performance, I am

17

remindedofmyfascinationwithtimekeepingattheperiodinwhichtherecording

tookplace.Aimingforanearmetronomictempo(withouttheuseofaclicktrack)

was something that I valued more than an execution of varied rhythms and

orchestrations,andwaswillingtoputagreatdealofmyfocustowardsit.InThe

DrumPerspective,Erskinediscussestheimportanceoftimekeepingandstates,“We

makemusic feelgoodbyourtimekeeping.”31This isalsoconfirmedbyWhitney

BalliettinEcstasyattheOnionwhostates,“[Timekeepingis]thedrummersprimary

function.” 32 The four bar sequence in “Outrun” exemplifies my own concern

towards timekeeping anddemonstrates how I valued its importance over other

elements.Interestingly,theresultofmydecisiontoplayahighlyrepetitivemotif

wasneverquestionedbythesongwriterorproducer.

1.6TheEffectofNuancesinTempo,ArticulationandPlacement

With an understanding of the consistencies, inconsistencies, andmy intentions

withinthemotif,hereIwilllookattheeffectsthesehadontheoverallgroove,as

well as my approach to making the four-bar motif capture the essence of the

sample.Initially,bytryingtoachievethefeelofthesample,Iwasunsurewhether

playingsucharepetitivemotifmightsoundtoorestricted,andevenboring,yetas

IcontinuedtoplaythemotifIrealisedthatthereweresubtlevariationswithinmy

performancehappeningall the time.Subtleshifts in tempo,rhythmicplacement

andarticulationwereconstantlyoccurring,whichIbegantoperceiveasaformof

variationwithoutalteringthenotationaldesign.Inthissense,aninnerlifeisgiven

to the unvaried rhythm through subtle yet consistent deviations from

31PeterErskine,TheDrumPerspective(Milwaukee:HalLeonardCorporation,1998),9.32WhitneyBalliett,EcstasyattheOnion(Indianapolis:Bobbs-Merrill,1971),155.

18

metronomicity33,asanindividual’slimbsengagewiththeinstrumentinaunique

way.Iyersupportsthisclaimbystating,“[rhythmicdeviations]containthesonic

trace of physical embodiment.”34Through this process, not havingmetronomic

timing,buthavingnearmetronomictiming,contributedgreatlytoachievingatrace

ofphysicalembodiment(alivefeel),whilesimultaneouslypresentingtheinfluence

of the sample. Metronomic timing felt too inhuman, whereas subtle tempo

deviationsthroughouttheperformancecreatedanelementoflivenessbyavoiding

the rigidity of quantised rhythms and metronomic predictabilities. This

discrepancy was in no way detrimental to the groove, and in fact through the

limitations of human accuracy, in comparison to digital technology, created a

liveliergroove.Iyermentions:

Itwasnotuntil theadventofautomatedmachinerythathumanears

wereevertreatedtoinhumanrhythmicprecision.Thefactisthatsonic

traceoftemporalconstraintsimposedbythebodyareoftenperceived

as aesthetically pleasing, while inhuman rhythmic regularity often is

not.35

Thisapproachofnotusingaclicktrackbutaimingfornearmetronomictiming,and

playingarepetitivepatternthatwasnotcutupandlooped,becamethepractice

employedinordertocreateasampledfeelthroughahumanlyprocess.

33“Metronomicity”isatermcreatedbyVijayIyerthroughoutMicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound.Forthepurposeofthisresearch,thetermisusedtodescribethenatureofrhythmandtimewhenametronomeisemployed.34Iyer,Microstructersoffeel,MacrostructuresofSound,76.35Iyer,Microstructersoffeel,MacrostructuresofSound,62.

19

Inrelationtointentionwithinperformance,Erskinetakesintoconsiderationthat

virtuosicqualitiescanbefoundinsimpleandunforcedmusicalideas.Heexplains

thatinsimplermusicalideasfeelandtimbreplaygreaterrolesinperformancethan

thatofentertainmentthroughexpectedvirtuosity.36Hestates:

Whenthemusicisrelativelyuncomplicated,everythingyouplayis

exposed sonically, and so touch and tone become especially

important.The“pay-off”isthatyouareexpressingamusicalidea,

as opposed to entertaining someone’s built up expectations of

virtuosity.Truevirtuosityliesintheabilitytodelivereitherasimple

music idea or some very difficult sophisticated harmonic or

rhythmicmaterialwithaneffortlessflow.37

Thisconsiderationfortouch,toneandaneffortlessflow,resonatesstronglywith

myintentionin“Outrun”,astheeffectofarepeatedphrasegavewayforthesubtler

effectsofthegroovetobeexposed.Forexample,ifIweretoplayanon-repetitive

pattern,asalistenerandperformeraleveloffocuswouldbedirectedtowardsthe

changingrhythmsandorchestrations,obscuringperformanceaspectslikethefeel

of the groove – the push andpull effect.38However, the repetitive nature of the

patternilluminatedthefeelofthegroovebecausetherewasnoneedforahighlevel

of focusonwhat rhythmsandorchestrationswerebeingplayed,which in effect

allowedthelesstangibleaspectsofthegroovetobeheard.

36Heretheterm“feel”isreferringspecificallytotouch.37Erskine,TheDrumPerspective,64.38Roholt,Groove,39.

20

Figure 1.2 shows how the continuity of temporal deviation frommetronomicity

(push and pull) in a non-edited/live crotchet pulse creates a sense of physical

embodiment, or a ‘live’ feel. Once that continuity of temporal deviation is

discontinued, the senseof liveness is effectivelyeliminated,or lessened, and the

digitalinfluencebecomesapparent.

21

Fig1.2TemporalVariationCreatingLiveness

Non-Edited/LiveRepetition

Continualvariationoftemporaldeviationfrommetronomicity.

SonicTraceofphysicalembodiment

Looped/EditedRepetition

44/œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

44/ ‘œ œ œ œ

pull pull push pull push push pull push

Temporalvariationwithinthebar

Sonictraceofphysical

embodiment

Temporalvariationdiscontinued

Sonictraceofdigitalinfluence

Looped

pull pull push pull

22

1.7AVisualBreakdown

Figure1.3 showsboth the stereosoundwaveanddrumkit transcriptionof the

openingfourbars,beginningwithatwo-beatanacrusis(thatisthelasttwobeats

ofthefour-barmotif).Eventhoughthiswasnotrecordedtoaclicktrack,thetempo

sitscloselyenoughwithin101bpmuntilthefirstchorus,whichallowsustoplace

the music on the grid and investigate the performance visually, seeing exactly

where the ‘liveness’ in the formofsubtledynamic inconsistenciesandrhythmic

deviationsfromthemetronomicityofthegridareoccurring.

Beginningwiththeopeningsextupletrhythmbetweengridlines1.3and1.4,here

the very first spike in the soundwave shows a louder stroke on the rack tom

compared to the proceeding five notes. This is perhaps an attempt to state the

beginning of the beat asmuch as possible, aswell as an inability tomatch the

followingfivenotesofthesextupletwithanexactdynamic.Whilethisvariationin

thesoundwave’sspikesthroughoutthesextuplet isvisuallynoticeable, froman

auditorysense,theinconsistencyismuchlessapparent.Yetnomatterhowacute

thelistener’sear,thisdynamicinconsistencypresentsanelementoflivenessinthe

feelofthegroove.Betweengridlines1.3and1.4,asteadyrhythmictransitioncan

beseenbetweenmyselfandthepercussionist,asthespikewherethedrumkit’s

sextuplet ends is then continued by the percussionist directly on gridline 1.4,

helping to create the illusion of one instrumentalist, and perhaps the use of

quantisationoraclick track.This illusion is createdbecause toexecutea fluent

orchestration between toms would arguably be more seamless by one

instrumentalist. Furthermore, this precision of rhythmic placement gives an

impressionofdigitalediting.Bysplittingthephrase,attimesthisproduceda‘cut-

up’ and edited feel, which was another attempt to capture the essence of the

23

sample,yetwitha live feel.Note:Each linebetween thesoundwaveandmusic

notationlinkstheattackofthesoundwavewiththenotationinordertoseeexactly

whatisbeingrepresentedineachpart.

Fig1.3SoundWaveandTranscriptionoftheOpening4Bars

24

Figure1.3alsodemonstratesapusheffectinthesextupletgroupingplayedright

beforegridline5.3and6.Toaccuratelymeasurethispusheffect,Figure1.4shows

acloserimageofthephrasewithatimelinebelowthesoundwave,indicatingthe

spaceof2/100thsofasecondbetweeneachgridline.Theorangeverticallineonthe

grid showswhere thepercussionist takesover thephrase inorder to finish the

motif.Inacompletelymetronomicsensethiswouldideallyshowthepercussionist

beginningongridline1.2,howeverthisearlyphrasingandimprecisioninrelation

tothegrid,demonstratesthelivenessofthegrooveintheformofapusheffect.

Here,theverticalorangelinepositionedoverthesoundwaveshowsthepusheffect

in the form of 50/1000ths of a second in comparison tometronomic placement

outlined by the grid, exemplifying the subtlety of discrepancy in relation to

metronomicplacement.

25

Fig1.4SextupletGroupingBetweenDrumKitandPercussion

1.8“Outrun”Summary

Alreadywithinthefirstfourbarsofthemusic,thegroovehaspresentedvarious

consistencies and inconsistencies that contribute to the overall feel.While the

effects presented such as the second sextuplet grouping being played early (in

relation to the grid), and the dynamic unevenness of each note in the group of

sextupletsbetweentheracktomandthepercussionist’sconcerttommayonlybe

subtle,andperhapsnotevenrecognisabletoanuntrainedear,theycreatedasense

ofhumannessbydeviating fromtherigidityofquantisation.Simultaneously the

repetitivenatureofthemotifcreatedasampledanddigitaleffectthatwasvitalto

the feel, as this repetitious nature of the groove counteracted the inner

inconsistencies. As a performer, reimagining the sampled, looped, and

metronomicityof thedemo through real-timeperformance, led to an avenueof

26

variation and unpredictability as a listener. Having avoided improvisatory

rhythms, dynamics, and orchestrations,my attentionwas then redirected away

fromthenotationalelementsofthemotifandtowardstheinnermovementswithin

themotif – the feel of the groove. As a listener, focusingmy attention on these

groove related discrepancies, that are natural temporal constraints in real-time

acousticdrumming,offeredanewperspectiveonmypart.Thisnewperspective

went beyond the role of timekeeper or ‘sample replacer’, and led to a new

experienceofthelesstangibleelementswithinmyowngroove.

Audio1.3“Outrun”-Live1.9 “Outrun”-Live

“Tangible”-…capableofbeingperceivedespeciallybythesenseoftouch.39

Until now, the performance analysis has been entirely focused on a studio

recording.While therearemanyrelatableelementsbetweenthe liveandstudio

performanceof“Outrun”suchassongform,instrumentation,andinstrumentalist,

there are also a number of contingencies that occur.Within this section of the

chapter I will explore the contingencies that commonly occur in the live

performanceof“Outrun”andtheformofthegroove’stangibilitywithinthissetting.

1.10LivePerformanceContingencies

Live performances of “Outrun” present a number of aural difficulties, one in

particularbeingalackinclarityofsound.Whilethisisduetoseveralfactors,the

39“Tangible,”Merriam-WebsterDictionary,January18,2017,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tangible.

27

most distinguishable one is the positioning of each performerwithin any given

stagesetup.Figure1.5 illustrateshowit ismostcommonforthedrumkit tobe

positionedintheback/centerofthestageandsituatedonaplatformhigherthan

the other instrumentalists. This recurring setup leavesme at varying distances

from themultiple instrumentalists and the sounds theyareproducingon stage,

creatingthelackofsonicclarity.

Tofurtherdescribethispositioningissue,Ihaveprovidedatableinmeasurements

togiveanexampleoftheunevennessIamreferringto.

Fig1.5StageSetupforLivePerformance40

40“StagePlotGeneratorOnline,”Tecrider.com,lastmodifiedApril10,2018,https://tecrider.com/.

28

DistancesTable

Guitaramp–1.5metrestomyright

2ndGuitaramp–2.27metrestomyleft

Bassamp-1.4metrestomyleft

2Horns–1.9metrestomydirectright

Keyboardamp–3.1metrestomydiagonalright

Vocals–3.0metrestomyfront

Percussion–2.8metrestomydiagonalleft

In addition to the unbalanced sound caused by varying distances between

instrumentalists, the experience of sound on stage can be furthermediated by

factorssuchasroomacoustics,positioningofmonitors,volumeofmonitors,and

thetimegiventoachieveadesiredsoundthroughthemonitor.Inmanyinstances,

theresultisaremainingunevenandunclearsound,onlylouder.

Saden explains that mediatisation in corporeal liveness can have considerable

effectsinperformance.41Acommonexampleofmediatisationfordrummersisas

follows–Ifadrummerweretositinaroomandplayanacousticdrumkitwithout

any microphones, there would be no physical mediatisations as nothing is

separatingtheirphysicalcontactwiththeinstrumentandthesoundthatisbeing

produced.However,oncemicrophonesareusedtocapturethesoundofthedrum

kit,thesoundisthenalteredandtheperformancebecomesmediatised,whichcan

be advantageous as well as disadvantageous towards a performer’s intention.

Mediatisationssuchasthetypeofmicrophonebeingused,microphoneplacement,

41Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,38-40.

29

mixing,andwhoiscontrollingthesound,allmediatisetheperformance.Therefore,

theintentionoftheperformanceversuswhatisdelivered,isseparatedbysomany

degrees that it can become unclear whether the performer’s intention is being

supportedornot.

Aftergrapplingwiththisissueforcountlessliveperformances,Ibeganexploring

the process of eliminating the use of a fold back wedge altogether, ultimately

leavingmeinapositionwheremyearsneededtoadjusttowhateversoundwas

beingproducedintheroom.Throughthisprocessoflettinggooftheendeavorto

attainabalanced sound,myauraldependence lessenedandmydependenceon

touchincreased.Inotherwords,myphysicalsenseofthedrumkitbegantoguide

myauralsense.Myearssurrenderedtheirroleofguidingthegrooveandmysense

oftouchonthedrumkitbecamemyreferenceforconsistency.Movementslikethe

speedofmylimbs,thevelocityinwhichmystickshitthedrumsorcymbals,and

theposition Ihit eachdrumorcymbal, allowedme tomonitor thesound Iwas

producing.Sadenalludes toarelevantpracticewhentalkingaboutembodiment

guidingsonicawareness.Hestates:

music perception… relies on a listener’s embodied understanding of

soundproductionitself.Inotherwords,therecognitionthatsomeone

hasstruckadrumtoproduceaparticularsoundmayengagealistener’s

ownunderstandingofhowitfeelstomakethatphysicalgesture.42

WhileSadenisreferringtothelistener’sperceptionhere,intheinstanceof“Outrun”

42Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,53.

30

Iamsimultaneouslythelistenerandperformer.Asmyphysiologicalexperienceof

the instrument guidesmy performance, the tangibility of the feel of the groove

beginstomanifest.Therefore,theeffectsdiscussedinthestudiosettingsectionof

thischaptersuchastempovariations,dynamicvariations,andtimekeeping,begin

tobeexperiencedthroughtouch.Apprehendingthesoundinthiswayallowsmeto

sensearhythmicanddynamicbalanceonthedrumkit,enablingmetocounteract

thereductioninauralqualityexperiencedbythenumerousamplifiedsounds.The

importanceofbeingabletocontrolthisbalanceandmakerhythmicanddynamic

adjustments at various times, is that it allowsmeminimisemediatisationwhen

engagingwith the feel of the groove - as there is nothing physically separating

myselffromthedrumkit.

Understandingthedesiretoengagewiththefeelofthegrooveinthisway,maybe

bestunderstoodfromadevelopmentalperspective.Asanacousticdrumkitplayer,

itiscommontonaturallydevelopanauraldependencetoguidethesenseofgroove.

Thisissimplybecauseformanydrummerswhotakeonlearningtheinstrument,

noamplificationisrequired.Inanacousticenvironment,ifthebassdrumsounds

tooloudIadjustmyfoottechniquetoplayitsofter,orifmyright-handsoundstoo

‘busy’ I can reduce the density of notes it plays. Furthermore, as the drum kit

commonlyinvolves1,2,3or4voicesplayingatanygiventime,makingadjustments

toeachvoicebasedonanauralperspectiveallowsmetoblendthesevoicesbetter

in order to create a homogenous sound. In any case, these are all adjustments

guidedbyanauralsenseasalistener.

Itisusuallynotuntilweplaywithotherinstrumentalists,orbeginperformingto

largeraudiences,thatweexperiencetheeffectsofmediatisationfromsourcessuch

31

asamplification,inwhichcaseauraldependencymaybecomecompromised,and

dependenceontouchmayallowgreaterengagementwiththefeelofthegroove.

Therefore,experiencingthefeelofthegroovefromaphysicalperspectiveenables

anunmediatisedapprehensionofthegroove.

32

CHAPTERTWO

“Riders”

Audio2.1“Riders”2.1FreedomfromMetre

In2013duringarehearsaloneday,Ipresentedanoriginalcompositionofmineto

anensemblethatconsistedofakeyboardplayer,abassplayer,andmyselfplaying

drumkit.ThemetricformofthecompositionconsistedofanAandA’sectionin5/4,

aBsection in4/4(that featuredametricmodulation),beforereturningtotheA

sectionin5/4.Myinitialintentionforthearrangementwastoplaytheheadofthe

tune,followedbyakeyboardsoloovertheformthatfollowedthemetricchanges.

Bysteeringawayfromthecommontimesignatureof4/4,Ihopedtocreateagroove

thatdidnotfeeltoocommon.AlthoughtheBsectionwasin4/4,myobjectivewas

tocreateasenseofmetricdifferencewithintheentirehead,whichwassupported

bythemetricmodulation.

WhileIhadachievedthissenseofanon-4/4groovewithinthecomposition,every

timeweenteredthesolosectionwewouldcontinuallyfalloutofthemetre.Weall

hadastrongdesireto improviseandopenupourplaying inthissection,yetthe

metricconfinementsofthecompositionweredominatingourattention.Inaddition

tothis,theotherensemblemembershadnotseenthechartpriortotherehearsal,

sotherewasagreatdealofattentiononcountingandverylittlefocusonlistening

andexpression.Atthispoint,theissueoffallinginandoutofthemetreduringthe

solosectioncouldhaveeasilybeenresolvedbychangingthetimesignatureto4/4,

howeverthatwouldnothavecreatedthedesiredgrooveIwastryingtoachieve.

33

2.2TopicsofThisChapter

This chapter will discuss metre, ametricity, implicit and explicit pulse, pushing

grooves,and‘felt’cadences.43Theanalysiswillbesupportedbysoundwaves,music

transcriptionsandadescriptionofmyexperiencethroughouttherecordingprocess.

Asthecomposerof“Riders”, thischapterdiffers fromtheothers,as Iamwriting

fromthesongwriter’sperspective,aswellasthedrummer’sperspective.Therefore,

the intentionof thischapter is tobetterunderstandhowthe topicsanalysedcan

provideanoutletfor‘feel’tobepracticedinperformance,bothasacomposerand

performer.

43Forthepurposeofthischapter,theterm“ametricity”willbeusedtodescribetheabsenceofmetre.

34

Fig2.1“Riders”Chart

{

{

{

{

{

™™

™™

E‹7 E‹7 D‹7A‹7

5

™™

™™

E‹7 E‹7 D‹7A‹7

9

E‹7E‹7

D‹713

™™

™™

A‹7 A‹7

1. 2.

16

54

54

44

44

&

Intro

∑ ∑ ∑ ∑

Riders

Composed by

Sam Raines

?

&

?

&

A

?

&

?

&

?

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œb œ œ

∑ Œ ∑ Œ ∑ Œ ∑ Œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œb œ œ

‰ œ

j

œ œ œ œ œ œ w Œ ‰ œ

j

œœ œ œ œ œ w

Œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ

œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œb œ œ

œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ™ œ œ œœ ™ ˙ ™ œ

j

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œ

w Œ Ó™œ œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™

œb œ œ

œ ™œ ™

œb œ œ

35

{

{

{

{

{

™™

™™

F(#11)DŒ„Š1318

™™

™™

DŒ„Š13

22

E‹7 E‹7 D‹7A‹7

24

E‹7E‹7

D‹7

A‹7

28

™™

™™

™™

™™

E7

32

44

44

54

54

54

54

&

B

?

&

3

?3

3

3 33 3 3 3

&

A

?

&

?

&

C Keys Solo - (Ametric) Repeat Till Cue

After Solo D.S. al Coda

?

wwww

wwww

wwww#

wwww

œ ™ œ

j˙

Œ œ œœ œ ™ œ

j˙

Œ œ œœ

‰œœœœ

n ˙˙̇˙

™™™™

wwww

‰œ œ œ

j‰ œ œ

œ

j ‰œ

Œœ

j ‰œ

œ œ

j

‰ œ

j

œ œ œ œ œ œ w Œ ‰ œ

j

œœ œ œ œ œ w

Œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œb œ œ

œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ ™ œ œ œœ ™ ˙ ™ œ

jÓ™

œ œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œ œ œ

œ ™œ ™ œ

œœ ™

œ ™œb œ œ

2

36

2.3AbandoningtheMetre

Beforeweputthetunetorest,asonelastattempttocreatethedesiredgroovein

thesolosection,wetriedabandoningthemetrealtogether,inordertoseeifthat

wouldresultinafreedomtoopenupourplayinginanimprovisationalsense,while

simultaneouslycreatingapulsewith the feelofanon-4/4groove.Byessentially

abandoningthedownbeat,wewereleftwithanexplicitquarternotehi-hatpulseto

guideourrhythmicphrasing,andnometricrulesthatdeemedourphrasing‘correct’

or‘incorrect’.ThisalmostinstantlycreatedthegrooveIwastryingtoachieve,which

was tohaveasenseofmetre,withoutanoverstateddownbeat ineachensemble

member’sphrasing.Additionally,thisallowedtheensembletoputamuchgreater

focusonlisteningandexpression,asanyfocusoncountingwasnolongereffective.

Onewayinwhichthisheightenedlisteningandexpressioncanbeheardisinthe

space of phrase lengths. It became apparent that by omitting the bar lines and

sectionswithinthesolo,afreedomofspacewascreatedforideastobeexecutedat

non-specific times and over non-specific lengths. Eliminating the parameters of

both form and metre also meant that the ensemble’s rhythmic phrasing

continuously shaped the solo section in real-time. Eventually, as a result of this

refocusamongtheensemble,wewereabletoeliminatetheexplicitquarternotehi-

hat pulse and play off our own implicit pulse. Therefore, abandoning themetre

resulted in a closer balance between listener and performer, resolving any

problematicaspectsofthegroovethatwewereexperiencingintheinitialstagesof

workshoppingthesolosection.

2.4DrumKitandBassGuitarMotifs

Inordertoexaminetheeffectsofmovingfromametricgroovetoanametricgroove,

37

itwillbeusefultounderstandthemotifthatisplayedbythebassguitarandride

cymbal throughout the head, as these two voices play consistent phrases with

rhythmicsimilarities,andworktogethertocreatea‘metricalcycle’.InHearingin

time,JustinLondondefinesametricalcycleas,“thecoordinatedsetofperiodicities

(aswellastheirgraphicrepresentation)thatmakeupaparticularattentionalstate,

typicallyinvolvingbeats,beatsubdivisions,andmeasures.”44Thephrasingofthese

beatsandbeatsubdivisions, thatalignat times, iswhatproducestheensemble’s

groove,whichiscreatedandstrengthenedbythetogethernessofeachmember’s

phrasing.Thisnotionofametricalcycleofmotificmaterialcreatinggroovewillbe

discussedfurtherinthechapter.

Figure2.2showsthefour-barostinatoplayedbythebassguitarthroughouttheA

andA’sectionofthehead,aswellasthemotifplayedbytheridecymbalthroughout

these sections. Here, we can see the areas in the pattern where the rhythmic

phrasingoftheridecymbalmatchesthebassguitar’sphrasing,showinghowthe

twovoicesworktogethertostatethemetreandcreatetheoverallgroove.Oneof

thedefining elementsof this groove is its repetitivenature,which canbeheard

melodically in the bass guitar’s ascending perfect 5th between D and A at the

beginningofallfourbars,aswellasthedescendingminor3rdplayedbetweenCand

A in bars one and three. This repetitiveness in the groove is further stated

rhythmicallyinthebassguitar’sdottedcrotchetsatthebeginningofallfourbars,

aswell as the crotchet rhythmacrossbeats four and five inbarsoneand three,

whichisrhythmicallymatchedbytheridecymbal.

44 Justin London, Hearing In Time: Psychological Aspects of Musical Meter. (New York: OxfordUniversityPress,2012),96.

38

Fig2.2RideCymbalandBassGuitarMotifsinAandA’Section

AlthoughinFigure2.2weareabletogainanunderstandingofhowthemotifofthe

bassandridecymbalinteractrhythmicallyinanotationalsense,weareunableto

analyse the nuances of each member’s rhythmic phrasing, which is effectively

creatingthefeelofthegroove.Thesenuancescanberevealedthroughexpressive

microtimingvariations thatresult in the feelof thegroovehavingapushorpull

effect,whereanygivenmomentplayedfasterthanthemomentthatprecededitis

pushing, and any moment played slower than the moment that preceded it is

pulling.45Inadditiontorhythmicandtemporalnuances,anelementofthegroove

weareunabletodetectinthemusicnotationistheexpressivevariationsthattake

place throughout the performance. Although these variations, such as a stick

strikingadrumslightlyoffcentreorabassguitarstringbeingplayedslightlylouder

or softer thanperhaps intended,arenotnecessarily intentional, theyarecritical

elementswithin theperformance that create a senseof liveness throughgroove

relateddiscrepancies.Throughclose inspection, itbecomesapparent thatwithin

therepetitivenatureofthegroove,thereliesanimmenseamountofvariationinthe

formofsubtlenuances.

2.5APushingEffectintheGroove

Thefollowingexampleswillshowexactlywhereapushingeffectisoccurringinthe

45Roholt,Groove,24.

39

groove.Withtheseexamples,Ialsodiscusssomeofthesignpoststhatsuggestwhy

thesepushingeffectsaretakingplace.Figure2.3showsthe first fourbarsof the

introduction in the form of a soundwave andmusic notation, while Figure 2.4

shows the second four bars where the bass guitar is accompanied by the ride

cymbal.Thetimelineatthebottomofthesoundwaveshowspreciselywherethe

pushing effect in the groove is occurring.When comparing the soundwaves in

Figure2.3andFigure2.4onalargerscale,thefirstunaccompaniedfour-barphrase

playedbythebassguitartakesjustover10seconds,whereasoncetheridecymbal

enters inFigure2.4, the four-barphrasetakes justover9.5seconds,showingan

overallpushingeffectof0.5secondsinthefeelofthegroove.Ifwereducethescale

inwhichwelookatthepushingeffect,wecanseeinFigure2.3thatthedownbeat

ofthethirdbarstartsjustafterthe5.8secondmark,whereasisinFigure2.4,this

samebeatisplayedjustbeforethe5secondmark,demonstratingapushingeffect

ofapproximately0.8seconds.Ifwereducethescalefurtheragain,beatfourinthe

first bar of Figure 2.3 and Figure 2.4 shows this first significant rhythmic

discrepancyinnoteplacement,whichisthemomentthefeelofthegroovebegins

topush.InFigure2.3,beatfourofthefirstbarfallsnoticeablyafterthe1.5second

mark,whereasisFigure2.4thisbeatisfallsbeforethe1.5secondmark.

Through this visual inspection, the bass guitar and drums demonstrate a subtle

deviationfrommetronomicity.Asthetwovoicesnegotiatethepulseinreal-time,

thenuancedtemporalvariationspresentanelementoflivenessinthegroove,by

providingvariationwithin thenotatedpattern.Thismeans thateven though the

groovehasitsmetric,melodicandrhythmicconfinements,continualvariationand

unpredictabilitycanbeexperiencedwithinthegroove.

40

Fig2.3BassGuitarSoundWaveandMusicNotationofIntro

Fig2.4SecondFourBarsofIntrowithRideCymbal

Astheintensityofthepushingeffectvariesthroughouttheperformance,byplacing

threedifferentpartsofthesongnexttoeachother,wecanbegintodeterminesome

of thevariablescausing theeffect.Figure2.5showsthreedifferentsoundwaves

fromwithintherecording,allofwhichare20crotchetsinlength.Thetopsound

waveshowsthefirstfourbarsoftheintroductionplayedonlybythebassguitar,

whilethemiddlesoundwaveshowsthesecondfourbarsoftheintroductionwhere

thebassguitar isaccompaniedby theridecymbal,and finally thebottomsound

41

waveshowsallthreeensemblemembersplayingduringtheametricsolosection.

Althougheachsoundwaveisanequal20crotchetsinlength,wecanseethatthe

timing differs depending on howmanymembers are playing at one given time,

especially within the solo section when the entire ensemble is playing and the

pushingeffectonthefeelofthegrooveisconsiderablygreater.Here,thereappears

tobeacorrelationbetweentheamountofsoundtheensembleisproducingandthe

tempoatwhichofthecrotchetpulseisfelt.Thissuggeststhattheincreaseddensity

inthesoundwaveandaccelerativemotionofthepulseinthesolosectionmaybe

causedbytheametricity.Havingnoprearrangedformormotifstoreferencehas

resultedinareductionofisochronousrhythmsamongtheensembleincomparison

tothehead,resultinginadensersoundandacceleratedmotion.Therefore,Figure

2.5revealsthatasthedensityofthesoundincreasesduringtheametricsolo,the

pushingeffectonthefeelofthegrooveintensifies.Atthispoint, itwouldalsobe

worth considering the issue the ensemble had at the beginning stages of

workshoppingthetune.Constantlyfallingoutofthemeterandfeelingconfinedby

themetricforminthesolosectionledtoaprojectionof‘excitement’inthefeelof

thegrooveoncethemetrewasabandoned.Thisexcitementpresentedbyincreased

densityandforwardmotionsuggeststhatwehavebeen‘letouttoplay’fromthe

confinementsofthemetricform.

42

Fig2.5APushingEffectBetweenSectionsoftheHeadandSolo

2.6Ametricity

Here,wewilllookattheeffectsthattheametricityofthesolosectionhadonthefeel

ofthegroove,aswellasanycontingenciesintheensemble’sphrasingthroughout

thissection.Whilethesolosectioncanbeheardandanalysedasametric,thereare

several musical expressions in each member’s playing that create a sense of a

downbeat, and therefore a metre. This sense of the downbeat is created

predominantlybyaccentuatedbeatsplayedtogetherbytwoormoremembersof

theensemble.Forexample,adrum fill that isexecutedand then finishedwitha

strong accentuated beat, accompanied by one or both of the other ensemble

members,createstheillusionthatweareplayinginametre,wherethedrumfillhas

outlinedtheendofabarandfinishesonthedownbeatofthenextbar.Thisphrasing

waspartlyachievablebecausetherecordingtookplace inthesameroom,which

meant we could visually syncronise our playing. However, a collective

understandingofthedrumfillanticipatingthebandlandingonthesamebeat(at

43

theendofadrumfill)helpedusachievethisphrasingwithoutanydefinitivebar

lengthsoraneedtooverthinktheprocess.Furtherintotheanalysis,Figures2.8,

2.9and2.10willshowwhereitbecameevidentthatthisphrasingwasanemerging

patternthroughoutthesolosectionandhighlyusefulfortheensembletocreatea

senseofmetre,inwhatwasessentiallyanametricgroove.

2.7SoloAnalysis

Figure2.6showstheverybeginningofthesolosectionrightafterthe1:40minute

mark.Here,anaccentuatedsnaredrumandcrashcymbalcreatethespikeinthe

soundwave,asignofthe‘beginningoftheend’inregardtometre.Interestingly,at

the startof the solo,where theorangemarker isplacedon the soundwave, the

density of the soundwave instantly lessens in relation to the preceding sound,

whichisperhapsthebandtakingametricbreathfromtheparametersofthehead

andrelaxinganyconstraintsfeltbythemetre.

Fig2.6TheSoloSection

Figure2.7showsarhythmictranscriptionoftheridecymbalandbassguitarforthe

firsteightbarsofthesolosection,andalthoughthereistechnicallynometreatthis

point,thereisanimpliedmetrebytheridecymbalthatallowsustoexaminethe

firsteightbarsina5/4metre.ThefifthbarofFigure2.7showsacriticalmomentin

44

thefeelofthemetre,wheretheensembleshiftsfromametricpulsetoanametric

pulse. Here, instead of the ride cymbal repeating themotif, a constant 8th note

rhythmbegins todominate therhythmicsubdivision,andanysenseof themotif

playedintheheadisdiscontinued.Whatisleftisan8thnotepatternthatnolonger

suggestsametre,butanexplicitpulse.

45

Fig2.7ShiftingfromMetrictoAmetricTime

For the purpose of this chapter a pulse can be understood as a consistent

articulationinthemusic,andattimescanbefeltbothexplicitlyandimplicitly.46An

explicit pulse for example, canbeheardwhen there is a voice in themusic that

physically plays a consistent articulated rhythm, such as a bass drum playing a

consistent crotchet rhythm within a bar or a walking bass line that outlines a

46Rolhot,Groove,86.

°

¢

°

¢

°

¢

°

¢

Ride

Cymbal

3

5

7

54

54

/

Implied 5/4 Metre Implied 5/4 Metre

/ ∑

/ ‘

Implied 5/4 Metre

‘

Implied 5/4 Metre

Bass

/

/

End of Implied 5/4 Metre

/

/

Feeling of Beat One

>

/

Same pitch and rhythm

as the first two notes of

the A section ostinato

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

Ó™V V V V

V V V

ŒÓ

Œ ™

V

j

V V V‰

V

j

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

V V V

ŒÓ Ó

V V V V

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

Ó™Œ ‰

V

j‰

V

j

V‰

V

jŒ ‰

V

j

46

continuouscrotchetrhythm.Animplicitpulseoccurswheneachmusicianisfeeling

thesameconsistentrhythm(saybytappingtheirfeet),yetthisconsistentrhythm

isnotperformedinthemusic.47InthecaseofFigure2.7,wecanseeanexplicitpulse

beingcreatedbyaclearandconsistentrhythmoftheridecymbal,whichprovides

areferencefortheensembletobaseitsphrasingrhythmically,withoutanymetric

reference.

InFigure2.7,thesecondbeatofbareightalsoshowsacriticalmomentintheshift

frommetrictoametrictime.Here,anaccentuatedbeatisplayedontheridecymbal,

andisaccompaniedbythebassguitarplayingthesameascendingperfect5thitplays

intheostinatothroughouttheAandA’sectionofthehead.Inadditiontothis,the

bassguitarisalsoplayingthesenoteswiththesamerhythmicintervalofadotted

crotchetthatstartsonthedownbeatthroughoutthehead,onlynowthephrasingis

startingonbeattwoinrelationtotheimplied5/4metre.Eventhoughinthiscase

this accentuated beat is happening on beat two, the ensemble feels this as the

downbeat, and at this moment the band’s feeling of the downbeat becomes the

downbeat.Thisdemonstratesthatthesenseofmetreisnotrelatedtoanumber,but

themusicalexpressionoftheaccentuatedbeat.

2.8FillsGesturingaDownbeat

Througharetrospectiveanalysis,itbecameapparentthatthemusicalexpressionof

the ensemble collectively accentuating a note after a drum fill had the effect of

creatingasenseofadownbeatbycreatingadominantbeatwithinthepulse.While

the downbeat, in an ametric sense, is non-existent after the very first beat, the

47Rolhot,Groove,86

47

gestureofadrumfillallowedustosyncroniseourphrasingandcreateasenseofa

downbeatinreal-time.Here,thegestureofthedrumfillcreatesacollectivelyfelt

rhythmicdestination(adownbeat),whichpresentsanelementofstartandfinish,

orpointAandpointB.Therefore,astheensemblereactstopointBofthedrumfill

with themusical expression of an accentuated beat, the gesture of the drum fill

impliesametre.TakingintoconsiderationMason’sexplanationof‘groove’,“drums

or any other instrument can groove without rhythmic repetition but rhythmic

consistencyisamust”,thisgestureallowedtheensembletopresentanelementof

rhythmic consistencyby recurrently synchronisingaccentuatednoteswithin the

ametricgroove,whilesimultaneouslypresentingthefreedomofnometre.48

ThehighlightedsectionofthesoundwaveinFigure2.8showsatwo-beatdrumfill

being executed just after the 3:02 minute mark, while the notation shows the

rhythmictranscriptionoftheensembleoverthesetwobeats.Inthesoundwavea

spikecanbeseenstraightafterthedrumfill,whichiscreatedbyanaccentuated

beat played by the bass guitar and drums, and although the keyboard does not

accentuatethesamebeat,itdoesprovideapointofdifferencebybreakingthe16th

noterhythmandplayingastaccato8thnotealongsidetheaccentuatednotesfrom

the bass guitar and drums. The importance of this phrasing is that it creates a

stronger element of togetherness in the groove,whilemuch of the surrounding

phrasingisnotasharmonious.Thisaccentuatedbeatexplicitlystatesthepulseand

eachmember’s awareness ofwhere it is, as opposed to themajority of the solo

section, where the pulse is more implicit, and at times potentially being felt

differentlybyeachmember.

48HarveyMason,emailcorrespondence,June22,2013.

48

Fig2.8DrumFillCreatingaSenseofDownbeat

Figures2.9and2.10showstwomoreexampleswhereaccentuatedbeatsoccurafter

adrumfill,creatingadominantbeatwithintheametricgroove.Theaccentuated

beatshowninthenotationcanbespottedastheveryfirstspikeinthesoundwaves

afterthedrumfill,showingwheretheensembleisfeelingthedownbeatofanew

bar.Atthispointwithinthesolo,thedrumfillprovestogivetheensembletheability

tospontaneouslycreateadownbeatandpresentanelementofrhythmiccohesion.

Whiletheensemblecreatesasenseofmetrebyreactingtothegestureofthedrum

fill with an accentuated beat, it also plays a significant role by reassuring the

ensemble thatwewereable to realignourselves in thegrooveafter stretchesof

highlyopenandimprovisedplaying.Itallowedustofeelourowndownbeats,while

continuallyrevisitingandcreatingaunifieddownbeat,beforeabandoningthesense

ofmetreagain.

°

¢

Drum Set

Bass

Keys

/

> >

/

>

/

.

œ

¿

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ

œœ œ œ œ œ

œ

¿

œ¿ ¿

V V V+

V V V V V V V V V V V V V V

49

Fig2.9DrumFillCreatingaSenseofDownbeat

Fig2.10DrumFillCreatingaSenseofDownbeat

Figure2.11shows twooccurrenceswithin thesolosectionwhere the senseofa

°

¢

Drum Set

Bass

Keys

/

> >

/

>

/

>

œ

¿

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ

œ œ œ œ œ œœ

¿

V V V V V

V V V V V V

50

downbeatiscreated,followedbyastretchofametrictime,beforeasenseofmetre

isrestatedattheendofanotherdrumfill.Thealignmentoftheensemble’srhythmic

phrasingbeginswithastrongaccentuatedbeatafter thedrumfill, followedbya

stretch of ametric time (with no sense of a downbeat), before reasserting the

togetherness of the ensemble’s groove by creating a sense of a downbeat after

anotherdrumfill,shownjustafterthe4:05minutemark.

Fig2.11Downbeat–Ametricity–Downbeat(Soundwave)

2.9ShiftingthePulse

Figure2.12showsthekeyboardinteractingwiththecrotchetpulseintwovaried

rhythmicphrasings,resultingintwodifferenteffectsonthegroove.Theseeffects

take place throughout the solo, and although at times have varying degrees of

impactonthegroove,theyareallcreatedbyarelationshipbetweenthepulseand

therhythmicmovementwithinit.Figure2.12showswherethekeyboardbeginsa

three-notephrase, spanningexactly twentycrotchetbeats.Here, a consistent8th

notepatternplayedon theridecymbal, andmostlyplayedby thebassguitar, is

allowingthekeyboard’srhythmtoenterthegrooveinaparallelmotion,creatinga

stabilisedeffectonthegroovebyproducinganexplicitcrotchetpulsewithinthe

entireensemble.Thisparallelrhythmwithinthegrooveallowstheensembletofeel

51

thepulseonthesameaxis,andwiththisgreatersolidity,thekeyboardexecutesa

substantially longer rhythmic phrase than that of other phrases throughout the

solo.49Furthermore,thisstabilisedeffectonthegrooveisevidentbytheduration

of the phrase lasting twenty crotchet beats, as it can be measured, and felt, as

startingon thedownbeat and finishingon thedownbeatover fivebars in a4/4

metre.

Thekeyboard’ssecondrhythmicphraseinFigure2.12(startingattheendofbar6)

demonstrates a different effect on the groove to that of the first. The two-note

dottedcrotchedrhythm,beginsonthe“+”ofbeatfourandisshapedovernineand

halfbeatsintotal.Here,boththedottedcrotchetrhythmandlengthofbeatsitis

shapedover,isnotdivisiblebyfour,creatingamoreunstableeffectonthegroove

thanthatof thepreviousphrase.This isbecausethekeyboardexits thecrotchet

pulseplayedbythebassguitarandridecymbal,andmovesontoanindependent

axis point of a dotted crotchet pulse, effectively creating a cross rhythm.At this

moment,thesenseofthepulselessens,howevernotinadetrimentalsensetothe

groove,butinalessexplicitsense,asthereislessrhythmicalignmentwithinthe

ensemble.Theeffectoftensionandreleaseinthegroovetakingplaceoverthese

two phrases seemed significantly more natural and achievable in the ametric

groove, as all focus was aimed towards rhythm and not metre. Because of this

freedomofmovement,therewasnoconcernforstartingorendingaphraseonthe

downbeat,orevenfeelingthedownbeat(asexemplifiedinthissecondphrase,asit

bothstartsandfinishesoffthecrotchetpulse),andthegroovecouldbeestablished

andshapedinreal-time.This2-notephraseisanexampleofwhatIyerreferstoas

49AndrewGander,“FreedominTime:ElvinJones’1960’sRhythmSectionGestalt”(MMus.,UniversityofMelbourne,2005),52.

52

“shortrangemusicalingredients–thatis,fromthein-timemanipulationofsimple

componentsinamodularconceptualorganization.”50Iyerfurtherstates,“aspects

of musical form can stem from the sense of shared, lived time, and the way

variationsarecarriedoutwhileembeddedintime.”51Iyer’sconsiderationtowards

musicalformisdisplayedinFigure2.12,wherethekeyboard’s‘shortrangemusical

ingredients’makesupthe larger-scaletemporal formofthesolo.Thisrevealsan

elementofforminwhatisessentiallyanametric,improvised,andnon-prearranged

musicalperformance.As the cognitiveprocessofphrasingwithinaprearranged

formcouldbe restedduring the solo section, in a sense anything felt ‘right’ and

therefore was right, as long as there was a pulse to carry the groove. This

demonstratedthatwhentheensemblewaspositedwithinconsequentialphrasing

inrelationtosections,chordchanges,andmetre,aformcouldstillbeestablished,

onlyinreal-time.

50Iyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,”38.51Iyer,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,”39.

53

Fig2.123-notePhraseand2-notePhrasewithDisplacedAxis

54

2.10ReenteringtheMetricGroove

Movingfromtheametricgrooveduringthesolo,backintothehead,provedtobe

an effective step in shaping the overall performance, as it provided a definitive

cadentialpointafterwhathadbeenalongstretchof‘felt’cadences.Furthermore,

reenteringthemetreprovidedafinalstabalisingeffectonthegroove,byproviding

aconsistentstrongdownbeatthatwasbothplayedandfeltbytheensemble.

2.11“Riders”Summary

Whatwasdiscoveredthroughtheprocessofabandoningthemetre,wasthatthe

ensemble’sfocuswasdrawnawayfromcountinginametricsenseandrefocused

towardsthepulse,asitprovidedthereferencepointforeachmember’srhythmic

phrasing.Thisrefocusheightenedtheactivityoflisteningbyallowingtheensemble

memberstoresttheireyesfromthechartandputanyfocusthatwaspreviouslyput

towards sight, towards listening. Iyer mentions, “groove-based music is

characterized in part by focused attentiveness,” and in the case of “Riders”, the

dependencyongrooveinthesolosectionledtoamorefocusedattentivenessamong

theensemble.52Iyer furthermentions that, “the tactusand the tatumprovideat

52Iyer,MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,70.

°

¢

9

/

2 note phrase in a dotted crotchet pulse ends

/

/

Make a note of the continual use of the single stroke sticking

Talk about the drum kit techniques that are appearing throughout

Accented e's and a's on snare to destabalise the back beat feel

Phrase no.1 is 5 bars long (Odd lengths)Phrase no.2 is 2 1/2 bars long

> > >

V V V‰

V

j

¿œ œ œ

¿œ

¿œ œ

¿

œ

¿

2

55

leasttwodistinctclocksforrhythmicsynchronizationandcommunicationamong

musicians.”53Here,theterm“tatum”referstothesmallestcognitivelymeaningful

subdivision of the main beat, and in “Riders” the tatum would correspond

predominantlywiththe16thnotesubdivision(showninFigure2.13below).54

Fig2.13TactusandTatumof“Riders”

Throughthetactus,eachensemblemembercouldcommunicatethroughawider

positioning of cadences, for example by the recurring drum fills creating a

destination point for rhythmic synchronisation. Through a sense of the pulse’s

underlying subdivisions (the tatum), each ensemble member could base their

phrasingbothonandofftheaxisofthepulse,asshownbythekeyboard’sphrasing

inFigure2.12.Asaresult,thisengagementwiththecollectivelyfeltpulseandits

subdivisions made it achievable for the ensemble to engage in ‘musical

conversation’,notjustthroughanephemeralpassingofonebeattoanother,but

throughagrooveembeddedintheflowoftheform.Therefore,theprecursortoa

good groove was not created by a metric togetherness, but a strong rhythmic

interactionwithinacollectivelyfeltpulseanditssubdivisions.

53Iyer,MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,70.54Iyer,MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,70.

56

CHAPTERTHREE

“SkippingStone”

Theseahasoftenstirredtheimaginationofcreativemindsinvolvedinall

spheresofart.55

HerbieHancock

3.1PortrayinganImageThroughTime

Therehavebeenmanyinstancesovertheyearswheresongwritershaveaskedme

tocreateadrumpart,orplayinaparticularway,thatportraysanimagetheyhad

inmindwhentheywrote themusic. In these instances, I findmyselfneeding to

approachthemusicdifferently,whichisdirectedawayfromplayingaconventional

motif, and more towards creating the songwriter’s spatial representation (the

story/image) through certain temporal structures and movements within my

performance.Inadditiontothetemporalstructuresandmovements,afocusisalso

puttowardstheroleoftimbralqualitiesthatareathandwhenperformingonan

acousticdrumkit. In thecaseof “SkippingStone” thespatial representation the

songwriterdirectedmetodepictwasawaveintheocean,slowlybuilding,before

inevitablycrashingdownuponitself,anditwasthisimagethatledmetoplaythe

partsIdidthroughouteachsection.

3.2TopicsofthisChapter

Thischapterwilldiscusstherolethedrumkitplayswhensupportinganimageor

55HerbieHancock,linernotestoMaidenVoyage,HerbieHancock,FreddieHubbard,GeorgeColeman,RonCarter,AnthonyWilliams(077774633925,1986).

57

story of a song. Through topics such as temporalmovement, bodilymovement,

timbre,pulse,dynamics,andrhythm,Iwillexplorehowthephysicalsenseofthese

performance elements affects the perceptual sense of the music. To setup the

contextualisationofthesetopics,IwillbeginbydrawingondrummerRonWilson’s

motifinTheSurfaris’1963hit“WipeOut”.Followingthis,Iwillanalysemyown

performancein“SkippingStone”withtheintentiontopresentanotheravenuein

which‘feel’canbedescribedinacousticdrumkitperformance.

3.3Feel,StoryandRecording:HalBlaine56

Inan interviewconductedbyDanShinder,drummerof theWreckingCrew,Hal

Blaine,talksabouttheimportanceoffeelinarecordingsituationbystating:

Ineverstartedasessionwithoutlisteningtothesong.Whatisa

song?Asongisastory.Ifyoucan’thearthestory,youdon’tknow

the song. We soon learned that the feel was one of the most

importantpartsofmakingso-called“rockn’roll”records.Ifitfelt

good,youhadagoodtake.57

Blaine’sefforttowardsunderstandingthestoryofanygivensonginordertomake

themusic‘feelgood’andachievea‘goodtake’,alludestoanempatheticqualitythat

relatestothischapter.Therelevancehereisthatthesupportiveroleneededbythe

drumkitin“SkippingStone”hadtocomefromanunderstandingofthesong,with

astrongfocusonplayingapart thatwouldenhancethestory.Feldextendsthis

56HalBlainehasplayedon40numberonehitsinglesand150toptenhitsandrecordedover4000songs.57HalBlaineonDrumTalkTV!Part1of3,YouTubevideo,30:37,postedby“DrumTalkTVChannel,”September30,2013,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTk792B5Lho

58

notionbystating:

onecannotengageasoundobjectoreventwithoutrecognitionofa

simultaneous musical and extramusical reality. The experience is

mentalandmaterial,codeandmessage,individualandsocial,formal

andexpressive.Inshort,anymusicalobjectembodiesandprovokes

interpretivetensions.58

Theconceptofmusicalandextramusical realities,aswellasenhancingasong’s

story through qualities inherent in acoustic drum kit performance, will be

presentedinthefollowingstudybyRonWilson’sperformancein“WipeOut”.

Audio3.1“WipeOut”

3.4“WipeOut”-SpaceImpliedbyTime

WithinthemoretangibleelementsofWilson’smotif,liestheessentialelementof

expressivenuances,wheresubtlestretchesandcompressedrhythmicspaces,as

wellassubtledynamicvariations,playavitalroleintheoverallfeelofthegroove.59

Wilson’s16thnoterollingfloortommotifdemonstrateshowcertainperformance

elementslikerhythmicplacementinrelationtothemetronomicityofagrid,pulse,

timbre, and dynamics, can affect the listener’s perception of themusic. London

states,“itisclearthattheordinarylanguageuseofthetermgroovedescribesnot

justa tempo-metrical typebutalsoanexpressive timingcomponent,asgrooves

have a particular gestural and kinetic quality.” 60 Wison’s temporal expressive

58StevenFeld,“Communication,Music,andSpeechinMusic,”7.59London,HearingInTime,35.60London,HearinginTime,187.

59

nuancesintheformofconsistentdeviationfromthemetronomicgridarenottobe

mistakenashavingadetrimentaleffectonthesong’sgroove,butinfactstrengthens

the spatial representation through temporal qualities, as it helps depict the

unsettledwatersandunsettledpositionofasurferthat thepictureof themusic

portrays. By producing the temporal quality of forward motion in the groove,

supportedbythetimbralqualitiesofthedrumkit,Wilsonputsthelistenerinthe

sonicatmosphereofasurferbyportrayingthe imagesof theocean,surfingand

perhapsmostnotably,being‘wipedout’.AsthemotionofWilson’smotifdepicts

themovingwatersasoneissurroundedbycrashingwaves,aperceptualeffecton

the listener is created through metric entrainment. London explains metric

entrainmentasawayfor“listenerstosynchronizetheirperceptionandcognition

withmusicalrhythms…Whenweareentrainedourattentionliterally“moveswith

themusic” and this engenders and encourages our bodilymovements.”61Saden

pointsoutthat“Phenomenologistshavelongarguedthateverythingweperceiveis

rootedinasenseofembodiment,becauseevenourmindsarephysicallysituated

in theworld.”62Roholt also takes a similarposition toLondonandSadenwhen

talking about groove and the physical senses experienced, by stating, “common

intuition about groove is that to understand it, is not to apprehend it

intellectually….rather,tounderstandagrooveistofeelit.”63

Figure 3.1 shows an example ofwhereWilson’smotif is rhythmically deviating

from the metronomic background of the grid (and to precisely what degree),

61JustinLondon,HearingInTime:PsychologicalAspectsofMusicalMeter(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2012),562Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,52.63Roholt,TigerC.Groove:APhenomenologyofRhythmicNuance.(NewYork:BloomsburyPublishing,2014),136.

60

resulting in a pushing effect in the feel of the groove. Gridlines

1,1.2,1.3,1.4,2,2.2,2.3,2.4and3showthecrotchetspacingacrossthesoundwave,

andbetweenthesewecanseethe32ndnotegridlinesbetweeneachcrotchet.Each

spikeinthesoundwaveshowsWilson’saccentplacementfromthemotif,andin

mostcases theaccent is fallingbetweenthecrotchetgridlineand thepreceding

32ndnotegridline,visuallydemonstratingthepushingeffect.Thisrevealsavisual

representationofWilson’sforwardmotionbyeachaccentinthemotifconsistently

landingbeforethepulseofthegrid,whichisakeycomponentenablingWilsonto

createtheillusionofmotioninspacethroughmotionintime.Here,theconsistent

anticipativedeviationofWilson’saccentsinrelationtothemetronomicityofthe

gridportraysthespatialdimensionsofthewaveasitmoveswithaforwardmotion

intheocean.Inotherwords,thetemporalmotionsofthegroovecreatethespatial

representationofthewave’smovement.

61

Fig3.1AVisualExampleofthePushingEffect

WhileeachspikeinthesoundwaveshowsWilson’saccentslandingwithina32nd

note of the metronomic background, interestingly right before gridline 3 (the

downbeatofthethirdbar)thespikeisoccurringbeforethelast32ndnoteleading

intothedownbeat.Inthisinstance,rhythmicallyWilson’saccentisfallingcloserto

thepreceding16thnoteofthemotif(the“a”)thantotheintendeddownbeat.Yet,

thisisnotheardasthelast16thnotebeforethedownbeat,butisinsteadfeltasa

pushingeffectinthegroove.Atthispointitisevidentthatthepushingeffectcaused

byWilson’santicipativedeviationfromthegridmaybesupportedbyafixedtempo,

whichhasbeenmeasuredat160bpm.64ThisenablesWilsontoconstantlypushthe

groovewithoutsimplyspeedingup,anditisthisfastandforwardmovementofthe

musicthatdirectsthelistener’sperceptiontothephysicalsensationofthespeed

64Inordertomeasurethis,IimportedtheaudiointoaDAWsetat160bpm.Fromtheverybeginninguntil theendof therecording,eachmeasure linedupwiththegrid.Thisnotonlyconfirmedthetempobutalsosuggestedaclicktrackwasusedfortherecording.

62

andintensitythatwouldbeexperiencedwhenridingawaveandeventuallygetting

‘wipedout’.Inthissense,theclicktrackplayedanimportantroleinachievingthe

forwardmotioninthegroove,byallowingWilson’sfeeltohaveaconsiderablepush

effectwithoutexceedingthefixedtempo.

3.5NuancedDynamicVariation

Inadditiontotheserhythmicnuancesaffectingtothegroove,someconsideration

shouldalsobedirectedtothenuanceddynamicvariations.Figure3.2showsthe

accents of Wilson’s motif played over two bars and the varying decibel

measurementsthatoccur,demonstratingthevaryingnuanceddynamicvaluesin

thegroove.Whilethesedynamicvariationsmaybeaurallysubtletothelistener,

theyarenonethelessacontributingfactorintheoverallgroovethathelppaintthe

pictureoftheunevenwaters.

63

Fig3.2DynamicNuancesMeasuredinDecibels

1staccent=4.5db

2ndaccent=5.0db

3rdaccent=3.0db

4thaccent=4.8db

5thaccent=5.3db

6thaccent=2.7db

7thaccent=2.6db

64

3.5.1TimbreandBodilyMovement

In addition to the temporal qualities and nuanced dynamic variations, some

considerationshouldbedirectedtowardsthetimbralqualitiesastheaxisthrough

whichWilsonexpressestimeasspace.Attheverybeginningofthesong,Wilson

createsapicturesqueeffectbycloselyimitatingthetimbreofacrashingwaveby

forcefullystrikingthecrashcymbalwithadownwardmotionofthearmthatis

similartoawaveasitcrashesontotheocean’ssurface.Thispersuasivelystruck

cymbalandbodilymovementportraystheveryimageofitsname-acrash.Atthis

pointthetimbralqualitiesdirectthelistener’sperceptiontowardstheturbulent

watersofasurfer’senvironmentandbringintoexistenceabodilysenseofbeing

among a brokenwave. Following this,Wilson begins themotif of the song’s A

section.Here,aresemblancebetweenthesoundsofthedrumkitandthesounds

associatedwiththestoryismadethroughtheuseoftimbralqualities,asWilson

portrays thevastdeepwatersof theoceanwith the largestand lowestpitched

voicesofthedrumkit-thebassdrumandfloortom.Theheavilyaccentedstrokes

on the floor tom, and overall fortissimo dynamic of the motif, contribute to

portraying the ocean’s power and strength. The effect of Wilson’s physical

movement,bystrikingthefloortomwithconsiderableforceandvelocity,becomes

implicitlysymbolicof theforceandvelocityof thewave’smovement,evokinga

bodilysensationasifbeingwashedaboutinthewave’saftermath.

Fig3.3“WipeOut”OpeningDrumPart

65

Fig3.4Sarips,Untitled,2016.

3.5.2Syncopation

Byanalysingthemotiffromanotationalperspective,Figure3.5displaysasense

of unevenness created through contrasting accents in the two halves of the

pattern.Here,thesyncopationoccurringinmeasure2ismorethananextended

length of unaccented rhythm, it is a sound with satisfied and disrupted

expectation, respectively. Pond explains the effect of syncopation by stating,

“Momentarily disorientating, it forces the listener to work harder to keep the

pulse in facticity, energising the music.” 65 In addition to the measure of

syncopationplayinganunsettlingrole,italsobrieflysuggestsanewpulseinthe

groove-adottedcrotchetpulseinrelationtothecrotchetpulseoftheprevious

bar.Whilethesyncopatedbarhasanunsettlingeffectonthegroove,itsslower

pulsealsohelpspropelthegrooveforwardeverytimethepatternisrepeatedand

thecrotchetaccentisrestated.Thispropellingmotionisyetanotherconnection

65StevenPond,HeadHunters:TheMakingofJazz’sFirstPlatinumAlbum(UnitedStatesofAmerica:TheUniversityofMichiganPress,2005),67.

66

betweenthetemporalqualitiesofthemotifandthespatialelementsofthesurfer’s

environment.Furthermore,thecrotchetaccentplayedagainstthedottedcrotchet

accentcreatesashortspanoftensionandreleaseinthegroove,whichatthefast

tempoofthesongcreatesacontinualsenseofinstability.Thissenseofinstability

in the groove is linked to that of a surfer as they become unbalanced and

eventually‘wipedout’inthewashywatersofabrokenwave.

Fig3.5SyncopationCreatingTension

Release Tension

3.6“WipeOut”Summary

HavingspecifiedtherhythmicanddynamiccharacteristicsoccurringinWilson’s

groove,itisworthytoobservethataspectsofthesespecificnuancesarenatural

temporaloccurrencesassociatedwithacousticdrumkitperformance,andhappen

tobe complimentary towhat is apictureof anatural environment itselfbeing

portrayedinthemusic.

When discussing micro-rhythmic behaviour and rhythmic structure, Iyer

mentions:

the tatum-relative temporal deviations capture many of the expressive

microtiming variations… Deviations quantify the microscopic delays or

67

anticipationsofnote-eventstothetheoreticaltatumonsets.Inotherwords,

theyrepresentthemicroscopicvaluesbywhichnoteonsetsdifferfromrigid

quantization,overametronomicbackground.66

Iyer’s consideration for microscopic delays and anticipations have been

represented in this analysis. Figure 3.1 presented an example of Wilson’s

expressive microtiming variations within the two-bar motif by showing the

accentsofWilson’smotifbeingconsistentlyanticipated,andtowhatextentthe

anticipation occurs in relation to the grid. Figure 3.1 also demonstrated how

Wilson’sexpressivemicrotimingvariationscouldexceedthatofa16thnote,yet

onlybeperceivedasapushingeffectinthegroove.

In summary, it is the collective qualities of forward motion expressed in

anticipative rhythmic deviations in relation to the metronomic background,

nuanceddynamicvariations,timbre,andbodilymovement,thatcontributetothe

kinaesthetic effect of putting the listener in the environment that inspires its

soundandcreatestheillusionofbeinginasurfer’spositionwhenridingawave

andbeing‘wipedout’.

Audio3.2“SkippingStone”3.7“SkippingStone”

Whenthesongwriterfirstintroducedmeto“SkippingStone”,Iwasnotdirected

with any rhythmic or orchestration guidelines, but with an image of a wave

buildingintheocean,graduallygettingbigger,andeventuallycrashingontoitself.

66Iyer,MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,70.

68

Afterreceivingtheseguidelines,itbecameapparentthatthecommonfeaturesof

amotifthatIwasusedtoperforming,suchasabackbeatonthesnaredrum,a

consistent 8th or 16th note cymbal pattern, and a bass drumon the downbeat,

wouldnotaccuratelyportraytheimagethatwasintendedforthesong.Inorder

tocreatetheillusionofawave’smotionthroughmyperformanceonthedrumkit,

my part had to have more consideration towards temporal structures and

movement,bodilymotion,pulse,andtimbre-IhadtoperformwhatIheard,saw

andfeltwhenIputmyselfinthepictureofthesong.

As the song has a near symmetrical form consisting of an

Introduction/Verse/Chorus-Introduction/Verse/Chorus,Iwillbasemyanalysis

onthefirstthreesections,whichsharethesameperformanceintentionsasthe

followingsections.

3.7.1Introduction/Verse1

Withintheintroductionandfirstverse,inordertoportraythesongwriter’simage,

Ifocusedmypartstowardsdynamics,pulse,timbreandbodilymovement.Saden

states, “A regular rhythmic pulsewithin a given piece ofmusicmay engage a

listener’sexperienceofregularrhythmswithinhisorherownbody,suchasthe

listener’sheartbeatingorexperienceofwalkingorrunning.”67While thepulse

withintheintroductionandversedidnotrelatetowalkingorrunning,itdidrelate

to a sense of forward motion. This motion was supported by a crescendo in

dynamics, the lowpitch and timbre of the toms andbass drum, and gradually

building bodily movements, which became the collective characteristics for

67Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,53.

69

creatingtheillusionoftherisingwave.

3.7.2PortrayinganImage

WhenIpicturedtheformationofawave,itseemedequallyimportanttoconsider

theocean’sflatsurfaceinwhichitisgeneratedfrom,thenasthetoweringwallof

wateriteventuatesinto.Thecalmnessandsubtlemovementofthewaterbefore

itbeginsitsgradualbuildisanessentialstageinthedynamiclifespanofawave,

andbecauseofthis, itprovedeffectivetoplaynothingfortheintroductionand

first half of the verse - to be this calm stillness. Frommy entry point halfway

throughtheverse,asubtlequaverrhythmbeginsontheracktomandfloortom,

whichhasanunderlyingcrotchetpulsedrivenbyaslightaccentedarticulation.

Thecrotchetpulseisthenintensifiedwhenthebassdrumentersfortheremaining

partofthecrescendo.Atthispointmyintentionwastocreateadevelopingsound

thatreplicatedthewaveinitsdevelopmentalstage,fromasmallrisetoagrowing

verticalwallofwater.

Fig3.6Sarips,Untitled,2016.

Inordertoachievethisillusion,Imatchedthevisualsenseoftherisingwavewith

70

an aural sense by using a crescendo from pianissimo to fortissimo over the

durationof10bars.Throughthisgradualdynamicshift,byslowlybuildingthe

heightofmyarmsandsticks,Iwasphysicallyimitatingthegrowthofthewave,

whichsupportedtheillusionofthestorybycreatinga‘rising’soundinvolume.To

furtherenhancethisillusion,Ibasedmypartonthedeepestpitchedvoicesofthe

drumkitinordertocreateabodilysensationofdepth,asifIwaspositionedinthe

oceanamongsuchrisingwallsofwater.Here,thecombinedeffectsofdynamics,

pulse,bodilymovementand timbre, supported thespatial senseof themusic’s

story/image,andprovidedanavenueforvisualinterpretation.Feldexpressesa

similarnotionofinterpretationbystating,“Interpretationofasoundobject/event

(that is, of a construction), is the process of intuiting a relationship between

structures, settings, and kinds of potentially relevant or interpretable

messages.”68

Fig3.7Sarips,Untitled,2016.

68StevenFeld,“Communication,Music,andSpeechinMusic,”7.

71

3.7.3Pulse

While performance elements like rhythm, dynamic and timbre are identifiable

audiblyandthroughmusictranscript,‘pulse’canbealesstransparentcomponent

inanygivenpieceofmusic.Iyerstates,“thediscernmentofentitiessuchaspulse...

arenotperceptualinevitabilitiesforanyhumanbeing,butarestronglydependent

on the person’s culturally contingent listening strategies.” 69 In Drumset

Technique/HistoryoftheU.SBeat,SteveSmithreflectsonpulsewithamoredirect

relationshiptodrumkitperformancebystating:

Thereissomethingdeeperthankeepingtime,andthat’sgenerating

apulse.Pulseiswhatwebaseourfeelon–timeiskeepingthatpulse

steady.Buttimeisnotpulse.Withoutanorientationtopulsewe’re

justlearningpatternsandtryingtoplaythemintime.70

ThepulsethatmyfeelwasbasedoniswhatIrefertoasan‘oceanicpulse’,which

meantorientatingmypatterntowardstheessentialfeaturesofawave’smotions,

suchasitsfrequencyandamplitude.Creatingthis‘oceanicpulse’meantstarting

subtlety,asmoreofanimplicitpulseinthebackgroundofthemusic.Asthewave

movedforwardandcontinuouslyrose,sotoodidthearticulationofthecrotchet

withinmy pattern. This was achieved through both volume and layering. The

layeringwasachievedbythebassdrumenteringlaterintheversetostrengthen

thepulse,makingitmoreexplicitastheverseprogressed.Thisdynamicshiftand

layeringofthetomsandbassdrumenabledmetodifferentiatetimeandpulse,

69Iyer,Microstructersoffeel,MacrostructuresofSound,9.70SteveSmith:DrumsetTechnique/HistoryoftheU.SBeat,directedbyPaulSiegelandRobWallis(U.S.A.:HudsonMusic,2002),DVD.

72

whichmeantonceIwascomfortablewiththetempoIcoulddirectmyattention

towardsasolidifiedpulse.

Figure 3.8 shows how the illusion of the wave’s spatial movement is created

through the drumkit’s temporalmovement.Here, the illusion is supported by

threekeyfactors;thevolumerising,theregularrhythmicpulsecreatingasense

offorwardmotion,andthetimbralqualitiesofthecrashcymbal.

73

Fig3.8SpatialMovementInformingTemporalMovementSpatialMovement(WaveRising/Crashing)

TemporalMovement(VolumeRising)

Regularrhythmiccrotchetpulsecreatingtheillusionofforwardmotion71

71Saden,LivenessinModernMusic,53.

Illusionsupportedbytimbralqualities

74

3.7.4TransitioningfromVersetoChorus

AsIemployedanincreasingdynamicandforwardmotionthroughouttheverse,a

naturalsenseofabreakingpoint,similartoabreakingwave,occurredwithinmy

part.Therefore,finishingthelongcrescendowithaloudcrashofcymbalsseemed

tobeanaccuratewayofsymbolisingthebrokenwave.Here,thewashofcymbals

notonlysupports thepicturetimbrallybydeliveringa ‘crashing’ tone,butalso

physically,bythewavymotionthecymbalsmakeafterbeingstruck.Atthispoint

myphysicalimitationofthewave,supportedbytimbralqualities,ledtoastronger

illusionbetweenmyperformanceonthedrumkitandthestory’sdescriptionthat

Iwasgivenbythesongwriter.Justasthecrashingofawavesignifiestheendofits

riseintheocean,thecrashingofcymbalsinmypatternsignifiedtheendofthe

verse.

Withinthetransitionfromversetochorusitbecameapparentthatreplicatingthe

waveprovidedthesongwithanaturalform.Here,theformoftheintroduction

andversewasnotledbyapreexistingideaofsectionlengthsuchas4,8,12or16

bars,butratherbythetemporalstructureofthestory.Thepeakofthecrescendo

occurringafter23barsdemonstrateshowthesong’sstoryinformedthemusic,

andwasnotledbyamoreconventionalsectionlength.

75

Figure3.9Introand1stVerseDrumKitTranscription

3.7.5Chorus

AsIpicturedthewavereleasingitsenergyinaforcefulcrashandtakingonanew

brokenformation,Itootriedtoresemblethischangeinmyperformance.Atthis

point,inordertodepictthechange,IdiscontinuedthepartIhadperformedinthe

verse and produced a denser sound to depict the image of white water that

76

surrounds a broken wave. This new formation of my pattern employed the

commonfeaturesofamotifthatIwasusedtoperforming,suchasasnaredrum

backbeatonbeats2and4,aconsistent8thnotecymbalpatternandastrongly

articulatedbassdrumonthedownbeat.Here, Iwasable toprojecta ‘washing’

soundthatIlikenedtoabrokenwavebyforcefullyplayingan8thnoterhythmon

thecrashcymbal.

And,justasawavediesdowntoasoftforceandeventuallyintotheflatsurfaceof

theocean’sbed,sotoodoesthedecayofthecymbalsandmypresenceinthemusic,

asthelastnotesgraduallyreducetosilence.However,asthechorusfinishesand

thepictureofthewavedisappears,theintroductionofthesongrestarts.Asthe

song’sformbeginstorepeat,theillusionoftheocean’swavecyclebeginsagain,

andbecauseofthisitseemedfittingformetorepeatthemotionsfromthefirst

introduction,verseandchorus.Throughthisrepetitionoftheform,themusicnot

onlydepictedthemotionsofawaveagain,buttheendlesscyclicrhythmofthe

ocean.

Fig3.10Sarips,Untitled,2016.

77

Fig3.11“SkippingStone”ChorusDrumKitTranscription

78

CHAPTERFOUR

“EC”Audio4.1“EC”Audio4.2“EC”IsolatedDrumKitandPercussionTracks4.1RhythmandTempoSettheMood

“EC”beganasashortmusicalideaconsistingofonlyafour-barloop.Inrelationto

form, arrangement and instrumentation, from the very beginning stages of

workshopping the song, to the final stagesof the recording, therewasnever a

senseofcertaintyamongthesongwriterortheperformers.Havingnolyricsor

storytoguidetheperformancemeanttherewasnoclearwayofdecipheringthe

moodof thesong.Yet, thisuncertaintyand lackof formallowedforadifferent

mindsetwithin the recording process - one thatwas focused towards rhythm.

Martinstates,“Rhythmandtemposetthemoodofthemusicmoretellinglythan

anythingelse,andifyougetitwrongalltheotherrightswon’tmakeupforit.”72

Martin’sconsiderationforrhythmandmoodrangparticularlytruein“EC”,from

itsbeginningstagesrightthroughtherecordingandpostproductionstages.

4.2TopicsofThisChapter

Topics discussed in this chapter include groove, improvisation, and playing

alongsideapercussionist.Thesetopicswillbeexploredthroughmusicnotation,

soundwaves,andapersonaldescriptionofmyexperiencewithintherecording

process.Throughout “EC” thedrumkitwas recordedalongsideapercussionist

72GeorgeMartin,MakingMusic,79.

79

usingacowbellandconcerttoms,andthereforetheinterplayoftheseinstruments

andinstrumentalistswillbeexplored.Withinthischapterthetopicsofgrooveand

improvisationarecloselylinkedandattimesareobservedsimultaneously.The

relationshipbetweentheseperformanceelementsisoneofthekeyareasexplored

inthefollowingstudy,andtheinvestigationwilllookatwhateffectbothgroove

andimprovisationhadontherecording.

4.3Improvisation

TheOxfordDictionaryofMusicdefinesimprovisationas“accordingtoinventive

whim of the moment, i.e. without a written or printed score and not from

memory.”73Throughoutthischaptertheterm“improvisation”willrelatetothis

definitionandbeusedasadescriptivetermthatcoincideswithplayingasetmotif.

Improvisationcanbefurtherdefinedforthischapterasanembellishmentonaset

patternwithoutanypredeterminedrhythmicphrasing.

4.4Groove

One of the first things that became apparent from working with such an

undevelopedmusicalidea,wasthattherewasagreaterfocusongroove-simply

becausetherewasnothingelsetofocuson.Duetoalackofmelodicandharmonic

direction, meant a higher degree of attention was on the collective group of

rhythmscreatingonehomogenousrhythmthatfeltgood.Notonlydidthisoffera

relieffromtheemphasisonmelodicandharmonicexpectation,butitalsoputthe

spotlightoneachinstrument’srhythmiccontributionandthewayitaffectedthe

73M.Kennedy,ed.,TheOxfordDictionaryofMusicSecondEditionRevised(UnitedStates:OxfordUniversityPress,2006),428.

80

groove.Thisledmetowonderifthefunctionofrhythmandgroovewastoooften

overlooked and left in the shadows of its music companions - melody and

harmony.

Figure4.1showsthenotationofthedrumkit’smotiffeaturedinthedemo,and

thatIwastobasemymotifon.

Fig4.1“EC”Motif

WhenIinitiallyheardthispart,myfirstconsiderationwasthatthethreevoicesof

thedrumkitthatwerefeatured(thehi-hats,snaredrumandbassdrum),andtheir

rhythms, needed to be adhered to in order to create the songwriter’s desired

groove.Inadditiontothis,havingnoneoftheusualmelodic,harmonicorlyrical

guideposts to lead the performance meant that a large portion of my

concentrationwenttowardsplayingthepatternasconsistentlyasIcould.Yet,I

wouldconstantlyremindmyselfIhadacreativerighttoexercise,hadIfeltthe

needtodoso.

Afterworkshoppingtheone-barpatternIeventuallybegantoexploresomeforms

ofrhythmicvariationthroughtheuseofimprovisation.Indoingso,myexperience

ofplayingaverysubtlevariationafterastretchof repetition,hadamore than

subtleeffectonthegroove.Becausemyfocushadbeenaimedtowardsplayingso

consistently,bothwithwhatnotesIplayedandtheirexecution,Idiscoveredthat

81

thesmallestvariationonthatpatternwasquitenoticeable–aneffect thatwas

morethanIanticipated.Thefirstimprovisatorymomentwithinmyperformance

isshowninFigure4.2,wherethebassdrumvariesitsmotifforthefirsttimeat

thehalfwaypointofbeat3(the“+”).Followingthis,onthesecond16thnoteofbeat

4(the“e”)anadditionalbassdrumnoteisplayed.Thefinalimprovisatorynotein

Figure4.2isshownwherethesnaredrumplaysa32ndghostnotefallingatthe

veryendof the fourthbeat.While thesearerestrained formsof improvisation,

they are nonetheless played as an ‘inventive whim’ and reveal the form of

improvisationthatwasutilisedwithintheperformance.

Fig4.2VariationonMotif(Bar5)

The intention of this subtle form of improvisation in such a settled groove

requiredabalancingactsoasnottodisruptthesenseofconsistency,yetstillgive

thegrooveapresenceofrhythmicfreedom.Therepetitivenatureofthemotifdid

notrequireahighleveloffocustostayintactwiththegroove’spulse.Therefore,

itwasasifthisslightdisruptioninrepetitionwasmoreattentiongrabbingthanif

the drum pattern was constantly changing, in which case rhythmic variation

would hold less significance. I likened this effect to the drumpattern in “Vein

Melter” playedbyHarveyMason on theHerbieHancock album,HeadHunters.

WhenIaskedMasonaboutthispatternheexplainedthat,“theonlyrestrictions

wereself-imposed...soIchosetoplaythatsinglepatternasconsistentlyasIcould

fortheentiresong.Thattookaspecialdisciplineandthebandmemberswerevery

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

/

> > > >

Bar 5

/

> > > o

/

> > > >

Bar 9

Bar 13

/

> > > >

Bar 17

/

> > > > o

Bar 21

/

> > > >

Bar 31

/

> > > > o

Bar 35

/

> > > >

Bar 43

/

> > > >

Bar 47

/

> > o +

Bar 51

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™

J

œ œ ‰™

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ

R‰

œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œJ

≈

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™

J

œ œ ‰™

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ

R‰™

œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ

R≈

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™

J

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™

J

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

œ œ

œ ≈

¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

œ ™

J

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

Œœ ™

J

82

happywithmydecision.”74

4.5ImprovisationWithinGroove

Bymaintainingthe16thnotehi-hatrhythmandaligningtherhythmicvariationof

the bass drum to the hi-hat’s unvaried rhythm, I was able to simultaneously

execute a non-varied and varied rhythm. Here, the hi-hats lack of rhythmic

variationshowshow there isnevera completeabandonmentof themotif, and

furthermorehowaneffortismadetohonourthemotif.Bythehi-hatmaintaining

its16thnoterhythm,itoffersasenseofstabilityandcontinuitytothegroovethat

feels essential to themusic’s calling. From a notational perspective, Figure 4.3

shows this simultaneity of groove and improvisation. While there are several

rhythmic variations occurring within the motif, there are also several non-

variationsoccurring.Forinstance,thefirstandfourthnotesonthesnaredrum

(thebackbeat)arenon-variedtothemotif,whilethesnaredrumnotesplayedon

the“+”ofbeat2andthe“e”ofbeat3areaformofvariation.However,theyare

happening within the backbeat, demonstrating the simultaneity of groove and

improvisationwithintheoverallmeasure.

Fig4.3VariationonMotif(Bar9)

74Mason,email.

83

Figure 4.4 shows the bass drum improvising on the motif by abandoning the

fourth16thnoteofthefirstbeat(the“a”)andaddinganoteonthesecond16thnote

ofbeat2(the“e”).Thissubtlevariationisthenresolvedatbeat3wherethebass

drum returns to themotif. Figure 4.4 also shows the snare drum improvising

before, in between, and after the backbeat, which is another display of

improvisational phrasing occurring within the groove. The importance of this

rhythm is that it simultaneously incorporatesgrooveand improvisation,which

allowedmyperformancetorepresentthesongwriter’sdesiredgroove,yetwith

an openness to creative playing. Furthermore, it opened a door for

improvisational phrasing inwhatwas a relatively non-improvisational setting.

Becausenomelodicorlyricalcontenthadbeenwrittenyet,itwasimportantfor

metoforeseethatthiswouldeventuallybeaddedtothemusicandlikelytobeat

theforegroundofthemix.Therefore,bymaintaininganelementofconsistency

withinmyperformance,Iwasabletofindabalancethatwouldnotdisruptany

additionalinstrumentationlaterintherecordingprocess.

Fig4.4VariationonMotif(Bar43)

4.6PlayingAlongsideaPercussionist

Playingalongsideapercussionistunsurprisinglycreatedaneffectwithinmyown

grooveandimprovisationasadrumkitplayer.WhereIwouldnormallybethe

only percussion instrument, I was now connected to equally prominent

percussivevoices-thecowbellandconcerttoms.Thisconnectionmeantthateven

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

/

> > > >

Bar 5

/

> > > o

/

> > > >

Bar 9

Bar 13

/

> > > >

Bar 17

/

> > > > o

Bar 21

/

> > > >

Bar 31

/

> > > > o

Bar 35

/

> > > >

Bar 43

/

> > > >

Bar 47

/

> > o +

Bar 51

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™

J

œ œ ‰™

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ

R‰

œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œJ

≈

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™

J

œ œ ‰™

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ

R‰™

œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ

R≈

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™

J

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ Œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œ ™

J

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

œ œ

œ ≈

¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿

œ ™

J

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

œ ™ œ

¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿

œœ ™ œ

œ œ ≈

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿œ¿ ¿ ¿

œ¿ ¿

Œœ ™

J

84

when the notational design of my motif was unvaried, indirect variation was

constantlyoccurringduetothevariedrhythmsplayedbythepercussionist.The

percussionist’srhythmcreatedaconstantcounterrhythmtomyrhythm,which

affectedmypartbycreatingstrongerandweakernotesinthebar.Forexample,

whenthepercussionistplayedthecowbell’smotiftherewouldbeastrongersense

oftogethernessinthepartsofthebarwhereourrhythmswouldalign.Incontrast

tothis,wheneverthepercussionistwouldimproviseandtheserhythmswouldno

longeralign,thetogethernesswouldlessenandeachvoicewouldstandoutmore.

Figure4.5showsanexampleofalignmentwherethecowbell’srhythmsupports

thebassdrumandsnaredrum,creatingastrongerrhythmictogetherness.

Fig4.5CowbellandDrumKitMotifs

Figure4.6showsthecowbellimprovisingonitsmotifandherethevariationand

unalignednotescreateaneffectofvariationonthedrumkit’smotif,eventhough

thedrumkit’snotationaldesignisunchanged.Thesenseoftogetherness(shown

inFigure4.5)isalteredeventhoughthedrumkithasnotplayedanimprovisatory

part. Therefore, the effect of rhythmic variation through improvisation is

occurringwithinthecombinationofthedrumkitandpercussion.Throughthis

perceptionofvariationonmyunvariedpart,themotivationforcontaining,and

85

even disguising, my improvisation begun to reveal itself. By perceiving our

counterrhythmasonecollectivevoice,eachtimethepercussionistdeviatedfrom

thecowbell’smotif,Ibegantoperceivethisasimprovisationalphrasingwithinmy

ownpart,essentiallyhavingthesameeffectasifIwereplayinganimprovisatory

phrase.

Fig4.6IndirectRhythmicVariation(Bar18)

Inadditiontothisindirecteffectofrhythmicvariation,themoreIengagedwith

the recording from a listening perspective, the less I searched for rhythmic

movement in a notational sense, and the more my focus was drawn to the

movementwithin thenotational rhythms.Hearing thegroove related rhythmic

discrepancies,orexpressivetiming,begantopresentananalogouseffecttothat

ofnotationalrhythmicvariationandimprovisation.Iyerstates,“Expressivetiming

has come to mean the ways in which performers deviate from strict

metronomicity,”75andinthecaseof“EC”thesedeviationsarealwayspresentto

some degree, creating a continual presence of liveness. Not only is expressive

timing occurring in my own playing, but continual rhythmic deviations from

75Iyer,MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound,15.

86

metronomicity beyond the limits ofmusic notation is occurringwithin all the

instrumentalists’parts,aswellasthecollectivepartsplayedbytheentireband.

Byconsideringexpressivetimingoccurrencesasaformofrhythmicvariation,an

entirely new listening experience opens up, one that goes well beyond the

arrangement of notational rhythms. 76 This less tangible, but nonetheless

apparent,formofvariationiscontinuallyeffectingthefeelofthegroove.

4.7VariationintheFeeloftheGrooveBetweenDrumKitand

Percussion

Unlike the perfectly spaced notated rhythmic transcription in Figure 4.7, the

sound wave allows us to view the rhythmic discrepancies that are occurring

within the recording. Figure 4.7 shows a significant groove related rhythmic

discrepancy between the drumkit and percussionist occurring at bar 12. This

momentrevealswherethefeelofthegroovebetweenthebassdrumandcowbell

is performedwith two different ‘feels’ - where the bass drum pushes and the

cowbell pulls. Even through aural analysis there is a noticeable rhythmic

discrepancy between the two voices, which suggests a temporal quality

somewherebetweenanexpressivetimingandnotationalsubdivision(a16thnote

inthiscase).Despitethediscrepancyofapproximately175th’sofasecond,bothof

these notes were intending to fall on the fourth semiquaver following the

downbeat(the“a”).Whilethisdifferenceinphrasingcouldbeviewedasmessy

andundesirable,theopposing‘feels’verifythelivenessinthegroove.Eachvoice

presentsaformoffluidity,evenwhenplayingtoaclicktrackandwithoutvarying

76Whilethisessayisnotfocusedtowardspitchrelateddiscrepancies,Iimagineasimilarconclusioncouldbedrawninrelationtotheirexistencewithinliveperformance.

87

the notational design. This fluidity occurs at varying degreeswithin the entire

recordingandpresentsacontinualelementofliveness.Here,itisthesetemporal

qualitiesoftherhythmthatallownotationalrepetitiveandunvariedrhythmsto

infactcontainaformofvariation.

Fig4.7Opposing‘Feels’intheGroove(Bar12)

4.8“EC”Summary

Unlinktheotherchaptersinthisresearch,wherethefeelofthegrooveisanalysed

with pitched instruments or solely against the grid of a DAW, here a new

perspective is employed by looking at the performance of two non-

pitched/percussive instruments. This demonstrates a feel in the groove that is

88

created by two instrumentalists, who by the nature of their percussive

instruments,shareastrongrelationshipwithrhythmandtime.Althoughthereare

several instances of individual pushing and pulling between the drum kit and

percussion,whatFigure4.7suggestsisthatthepushandpulleffectoneachother

wasneveroverlystrong,atleastincomparisontootherperformanceswithinthis

research.Thiscouldbepartiallycausedbytheuseofaclicktrack,whichmadeit

impossibleforthegroovetopushandpullbeyondthesettempo.However,itis

arguablethatthisoccurredbecausebothplayersheldarhythmiccertaintywithin

theirowngroove,makingthecollectivegroovelessmalleable.

Inconsiderationofhowthepercussionaffectedthedrumkit’sgroove(andvisa-

versa), this effect is present within all the instruments and their rhythmic

relationshiptoeachother.Thisisessentiallywhatcreatestheensemble’sgroove.

Inanysection,measure,orevenabeat(asseeninFigure4.5,4.6,and4.7),aform

of groove and improvisation is presenteddependingonwhich elementsof the

motifare focusedon.Thismulti-focused listening leads toanentirelynewand

expanded listening method, well beyond the limits of conventional western

notation.Dependingonthetemporalacuityofthelistener,itisarguablethatby

keepinganotationaldesignlessdense,experiencingthefeelofthegroovemay

becomemorecomprehensible.

89

ConclusionSignificanceofMyFindings

ThroughoutthisessayfeelandtimerevealedthemselvesinvariousformsandI

amlefttoconcludethattheirapplicationsinacousticdrumkitperformanceare

dependenton,butnotdefinedby,thecontextinwhichtheyarebeinginvestigated.

As each chapter was based on a different ensemble and method towards

performance,thisprovedtocreateacontingencywithinthepraxisoftheseterms.

Onekeyexampleofthisisintheinstructionsthateachsongwriterpresentedat

thebeginningofeachperformance.Beinggiveninstructionssuchas,createa‘live’

feel,replicateawave,ormyowninstructionsofcreatingagroovewithasenseof

no downbeat, was an effective starting point for discussing these topics and

presenting how they can manifested in performance. Furthermore, this

exemplifiedthedifficultyindefininganddiscussingtheseequivocalsubjectsina

generalsense.

KeyPointsMadeinReachingMyPosition

Chapterone,entitled“Outrun”,gavenewlighttomyperceptionofvariationby

revealing a continual push and pull movement that was occurring in a

‘theoretically’ repeated pattern. The subtle movements in the groove became

evidentwhenanalysing the soundwave against the gridof aDAW - a formof

analysisthatprovedtobehighlyusefulforexaminingmyperformancebeyondthe

limitsofmusicnotation.Thismethodcanbelinkedbacktothesub-cyclesofSmith

and Dean’s ‘iterative cyclic web’, where theorising ideas and developing

techniquesasmethodleadstonewperformanceandlisteningperspectives.This

90

chapteralsoproved thatnothavingmetronomic timingwith theuseof a click

track,buthavingnearmetronomictiming,allowedforaneffectoflivelinessinthe

groove.

The“Live”sectionofchapteronepresentedanargumentfortheimportanceofthe

feelof ‘touch’inanamplifiedperformancesettings,andthisdemonstratedhow

touchandsightsensescanguidetheauralsense.Arecurringthemethroughout

thischapter(andsectionsofchapterthreeandchapterfour)wasthatIrarelyvary

mynotationaldesign.ThevariationthatIdirectedmyattentiontowardsdidnot

comefromrhythmsororchestrations,butfromthemovementswithintheseset

rhythmsandorchestrations.

Inchaptertwo,entitled“Riders”,feelingthepulseinanametricsolosectionwas

the central theme. As there was no downbeat for the ensemble to base their

phrasingoff,creatingasenseofadownbeatinreal-timewasakeyfactorinorder

to create a cohesive groove. This sense of a downbeat related back the

etymologicalmeaning of ‘feel’ discussed in the introduction and demonstrated

howthepulseinbothitsimplicitandexplicitform,wasessentialforshapingeach

member’srhythmicphrasing.

Chapter three, entitled “Skipping Stone”, demonstrated a sonic resemblance

between the image thesongwriterwasportrayingandmyperformanceon the

drumkit.Thiswasachievablethroughtechniquessuchaspulse,timbreandbodily

movement,whichcreatedalinkbetweenthephysiologicalandperceptualsenses

intheperformance.Thisapproachresultedinalessconventionaldrumpattern

91

andoverallform,asthemusicwasdirectedmorebythepictureofthesongthan

byanypre-existingideaofsongstructure.Here,thefeelwasbasedonpulse,and

timewaskeepingthatpulsesteady.77ThischapteralsopresentedWadsworth’s

‘ParticipatoryActionResearch’frameworkbyexploringtherealitiesinherentin

acousticdrumkitperformancethrough‘tellingastory’.

Chapter four, entitled “EC”, showed that beginning with a very undeveloped

melodic,harmonic,andlyricalmusicalideaallowedforgreaterfocustobeonthe

collective rhythms among the ensemble. With minimal notated material

preconceivedinthefirstinstance,the‘groove’becamecriticalasacohesivefactor.

Theelementsofthegroovethereforereceivedmoreconsiderationintheinitial

stagesoftherecording.Thischapteralsoconcludedthatthegroovebetweenthe

drumkitandpercussionwaslessmalleableincomparisontootherperformances

in thisessay,andsuggested thiswasaresultof twostronglyrhythmicminded

performershavingastrongsenseoftheirowngroove.

RelevantFactorsOutsidetheScopeofThisResearch

Aseachchapterproducedadifferentsetofoutcomes,itcanbeconfidentlystated

thatthistopichastoaccommodateavastarrayofcontingenciesformakingmusic.

Atthisstage,thechallengeofformingframeworksforresearchingthenatureof

‘feel’ and ‘groove’ has priority over trying to establish general theories or

principles. Ever changing factors such as instrumentalists, performance

environment,andintention,allhaveaneffectonthefinaloutcomeofanygiven

77SteveSmith:DrumsetTechnique/HistoryoftheU.SBeat,directedbyPaulSiegelandRobWallis(U.S.A.:HudsonMusic,2002),DVD.

92

performance. Therefore, a range of other factors could be looked at thatwere

outsidethescopeofthisessay.Oneperformancesettinginparticularthatwasnot

lookedatwasasolodrumkitperformance.Asthedrumkitiscollectivelymade

up of individual voices, topics thatwere discussed in this essay such as pulse,

timbre,motion,andtherelationshipbetweenphysiologicalandperceptualsenses,

couldbeexaminedsolelyinrelationtotheinstrument/performer.

Anotherfactorthatwasoutsidethescopeofthisessaywasthegroovebetween

thedrumkitandeachindividualensemblemember.Althoughthiswaspresented

in chapter fourwith the drum kit and percussion, the relationshipwith every

ensemblemembercouldbeexploredinafurtherstudy.Furthermore,thegroove

between each ensemble member, irrespective of the drummer, could also be

lookedat.Isuspectthatastudywithmoreharmonicandmelodicfocuswouldalso

extendthesetopicsfarbeyondthisessay.

TopicsLinkedtotheWiderContextinMyDiscipline

Writing from an autoethnographic account meant each chapter was largely

focusedonmyselfasadrumkitperformer.Yet,thetopicsdiscussed,andanyof

thediscretemethodsused fordiscussing them,suchasanalysingsoundwaves

against the grid of a DAW, could be engaged by any performer or anyone

interested in these topics. This methodology could also be used in an

ethnographical context, providing the researcher had the appropriate sound

waves and music transcriptions to accompany the study. Topics discussed

throughoutthisessaysuchasfeel,time,groove,improvisation,timbreandpulse,

are all contingent on the performer and context in which they are being

93

performed,andthereforetheywouldnodoubtleadtoadiversesetofoutcomes

inthewidercontextofmusicperformance.

Even though an effort was made to analyse a diverse list of performances

throughouteachchapter,thereisstillalotofuntouchedterritoryinthewayof

performance settings. For example, this essay was mainly focused on studio

recordings, however I suspect the effects in live performance would expose

significantlydifferent results (asdemonstrated in the “Live” sectionof chapter

two). Each chapter also presented an intention of ‘liveness’ within each

performance,howeverthetopicsdiscussedcouldbelinkedtoprogrammedand

electronicdrumkitperformance,oranyprogrammedandelectronicinstrumental

performanceforthatmatter.

94

Bibliography

Balliett,Whitney.EcstasyattheOnion.Indianapolis:Bobbs-Merrill,1971

Bartleet,Brydie-LeighandEllis,Carolyn.,ed.MusicAutoethnographies:Making

AutoethnographySing/MakingMusicPersonal.Queensland:Australian

AcademicPress,2009.

Clifton,Thomas.MusicAsHeard:AStudyinAppliedPhenomenology.NewHaven

andLondon:YaleUniversityPress,1983.

“DanielLevitin:WhyMusicMovesUs,”YouTubevideo,16:27,postedby“The

AgendawithStevePaikin,“November23,2011,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Pn9KRVCi4.

Elsdon,Paul.“ListeningintheGaze:TheBodyinKeithJarrett’sSoloPiano

Improvisations.”inMusicandGesture,editedbyElaineKingandAnthony

Gritten,192-205.Ashgate,2006.

“ExploringTheDistanceBetween0and1JojoMayer.”YouTubevideo,20:15.

Postedby“TEDxTalks,”November6,2011.https://www.Youtube.com/wat

ch?v=KExLCJAuTXA

Feld, Steven. “Communication, Music, and Speech in Music,” Yearbook for

TraditionalMusic,Vol16,1984:1-18.

95

Gadd,Steve."SteveGaddtheLifeandLegend."ByRayDeegan,no.50(2007):26.

Gander,Andrew,“FreedominTime:ElvinJones’1960’sRhythmSectionGestalt”

MMus.,UniversityofMelbourne,2005.

Garibaldi,David."FutureSounds."Chap.1InFutureSounds,editedbySandy

FeldsteinandDaveBlack.USA:AlfredPublishingCo,1992.

Gilbert,Mark.LinernotestoHerbieHancock,HeadHunters.HerbieHancock,

HarveyMason,PaulJackson,BillSummers,BennieMaupin.01-471239-10,

1992.

Hancock,Herbie.LinernotestoMaidenVoyage,HerbieHancock,Freddie

Hubbard, George Coleman, Ron Carter, Anthony Williams. 0777 7

4633925,1986.

Huxley,Aldous.Musicatnightandotheressays,includingvulgarityinliterature.

London:Chatto&Windus,1949.“InSearchofWabiSabiwithMarcelTheroux.”YouTubevideo,1:29:23.Postedby

“90sUKDocumentaries,”October26,2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QCpXvzIFAw.

Iyer,Vijay,“MicrostructuresofFeel,MacrostructuresofSound:Embodied

CognitioninWestAfricanandAfrican-AmericanMusics”Ph.D.,Universityof

California,Berkeley,1998.

96

Keil,Charles.ParticipatoryDiscrepaniesandthePowerofMusic,NewYork:

StateUniversityofNewYork,1987.

Levitin,Daniel.J.TheWorldinSixSongs.NewYork:PenguinGroup(U.S.A),2008.

London,Justin.HearingInTime:PsychologicalAspectsofMusicalMeter.NewYork:

OxfordUniversityPress,2012.

Martin,George.,ed.MakingMusic:TheGuidetoWriting,Performingand

Recording.London:PanBooks,1983.

Moustakas, Clarke E. Phenomenological Research Methods, California: Sage

Publications,1994.

Pond,StevenF.HeadHunters:TheMakingofJazz'sFirstPlatinumAlbum.United

StatesofAmerica:TheUniversityofMichiganPress,2005.

Roholt, Tiger. C. Groove: a phenomenology of rhythmic nuance. New York:

Bloomsbury,2014.

Saden,Paul.LivenessinModernMusic:Musicians,Technology,andthePerception

ofPerformance.NewYork:Routledge,2013.

Smith,HazelandDean,Roger.Practice-ledResearch,Research-ledPracticeinthe

CreativeArts.UnitedKingdom:EdinburghUniversityPress,2009.

97

Steve Smith: Drumset Technique/History of theU.S Beat. DVD.Directed by Paul

SiegelandRobWallis.U.S.A.:HudsonMusic,2002.

Strasser,Stephan.PhenomenologyofFeeling:AnEssayonthePhenomenologyofthe

Heart.Pittsburgh:DuquesneUniversityPress,1977.

Tanizaki,Jun'ichiro.InPraiseofShadows.TranslatedbyThomasJ.Harperand

EdwardG.Seidensticker.Connecticut:Leete'sIslandBooks,1977.

Thompson,WilliamFord.Music,Thought,andFeeling.NewYork:Oxford

UniversityPress,2009.

TheOxfordDictionaryofMusic.Seconded.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,

2006.

Wadsworth,Yoland.“ActionResearchInternational.”WhatisParticipatoryAction

Research?,2,1998:1-17.

98

Discography

Thefollowingdiscographyliststherecordingsthateachchapterofthisessayisbasedon.

ChapterOne

DorsalFins.Outrun.DotDashRecordings/RemoteControlRecords,2017.CompactDisc.

ChapterTwo

SamRaines.Riders.Unreleased,2015.Mp3.

ChapterThree

TheSufaris.WipeOut.DotRecords,DLP25535,1963.Vinyl.

NewGods.SkippingStone.LiberationMusic,2012.CompactDisc.

ChapterFour

DorsalFins.EC.DotDashRecordings/RemoteControlRecords,2017.CompactDisc.

Minerva Access is the Institutional Repository of The University of Melbourne

Author/s:Raines, Sam

Title:The essence of performance on the acoustic drum kit: a study of feel

Date:2018

Persistent Link:http://hdl.handle.net/11343/219347

Terms and Conditions:Terms and Conditions: Copyright in works deposited in Minerva Access is retained by thecopyright owner. The work may not be altered without permission from the copyright owner.Readers may only download, print and save electronic copies of whole works for their ownpersonal non-commercial use. Any use that exceeds these limits requires permission fromthe copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from these works.