Over the last year and a bit he has been coming in whenever his ludicrously busy schedule allows as he loves to play drums and has made huge strides at developing the facility, co-ordination and improvisational skills to do what's required in the jazz rhythm section.
For a while now I have been encouraging him to take a leap into unfamilar territory and find himself a jazz ensemble to play with from time to time. Being a busy pro player life gets in the way of course, but I hope he finds an outlet to take him beyond the backing tracks. Backing tracks are a great learning aid of course and have become ever more popular and sophisticated. The trouble is as a drummer you have no influence on the time and feel of a backing track, and a backing track can't buy you a beer in the pub afterwards. Needs must though, but they're not an end in themselves.
In a forthcoming post I am going to discuss practice in great detail (not for the first time) and the all important aspect of practice which is the maintenance of a well-rounded skill set. As profesional players we need to stay on top of our game insofar as is possible. Keep abreast of what's coming up in your diary, make sure you are prepared, ready to go, and give of your absolute best in every playing situation. In addition it's important to look at areas where perhaps you are inactive, styles and genres that you have not been called upon to play in the longest time. Bear in mind that you might just get that out of the blue phone call to do something left field, unfamilar or forgotten. The better prepared you are the more chance you have of getting the gig time and again.
It was thoughts such as these that prompted me to accept an offer to play a concert of popular orchestral music with the Birmingham based ensemble, The People's Orchestra. Have a look at the great work they are doing at www.thepeoplesorchestra.com
It was my good friend the distinguished film composer John Altman who introduced me to TPO via a jazz concert we did together in Birmingham roughly a year before the time of this writing, and through the modern phenomenon of social media the orchestra's CEO Sarah Marshall (give that woman an OBE this instant) made contact.
I have long been of the opinion that community based music performance at any skill level from absolute beginner to professional makes us a kinder, more inclusive society. When you are sitting next to somebody in a music ensemble the collective creative effort makes differences of religion, ethnicity and voting intention melt into the background.
Also very much in my mind in accepting this invitation was the educator's perspective. A great many of my students play in community big bands. for some of them this is the continuation of a lifetime of activity in this sphere of music. For others however this is uncharted water. With my 40 plus years of practical experience in this style it could be easy to forget exactly how it feels to be in at the deep end and not knowing exactly what the musical circumstances require. Whilst having done orchestral playing of one sort or another over the years (school orchestra-imagine a suicide bomber playing the accordion in a busy abbatoir: youth concert band-excellent and great sight reading grounding: some 'West End' type concert tours etc) the larger part of my performing career has been as a specialist in the big band and jazz worlds.
This was a key motivator in accepting the assignment. To spend a day out of the comfort zone, taking a new challenge (or in this instance a very old challenge which probably hasn't come up in about 20 years if I'm honest) in order that I might be better able to empathise with my students when they find themselves stepping up to the plate to do something unfamiliar.
There are key differences of course, probably the most significant one being how you deal with that piece of paper on the music stand.
The orchestral part is often written for several different instruments. The image above written over three staves is from a lengthy selection from David Arnold's score for 'Independence Day'. You can see this section has a busy snare part running through it which is by no means the most challenging aspect of this kind of a part. Looking at where the page turns come can make all the difference between getting all the way through smoothly and effortlessly or trying to turn the page, keep playing and keep your eye on the conductor at the same time. Suffice to say that by the time the bandcall was done this chart was covered in pencil notes to self along the lines of 'open first 3 pages', 'turn now' and so on.
Also different is the fact that in a 'rhythm section' type of drum chart the drummer is playing for most of the time. This establishes a close relationship between keeping time, reading the page and awareness of form. On a big band chart for example you won't get that many instances where you have lengthy tacets, and if you do they usually adhere to simple structures of 12, 16, 32 bars etc. The orchestral chart differs in that it is entirely possible that you might have to count your way through perhaps 86 bars of tacet before the next entry. Come in a bar early, especially if it's something big and dramatic, and everybody is going to know who blew it.
For me perhaps the biggest difference in the context of reading is the degree of interpretation. On a big band chart the instruction might be 'swing for 32 bars'. This leaves me free to embellish or strip down my time playing, whether it be the ride cymbal, left hand comping, use of the bass drum as a timekeeper or punctuator and so on. Alternatively a chart with a latin feel may have a suggested drum groove (almost always written by a non-drummer, some of them are truly awful!) but it's really up to us to use our ears and experience to come up with something that best enhances the music.
On an orchestral part you play exactly what's written. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't get the comfort of a 32 bar multi-measure where you can just groove, interact with the other musicians and then coolly glance back at the chart to see what the next chorus holds.
The relationship between the player and the written part is entirely different. This for me was probably the biggest cross-genre culture shock. Not having had sight of the music beforehand can be a bit of a disadvantage as well, but more than ever this emphasises the importance of keeping the skill set sharp which is where I started. To that end I shall be limbering up with Anthony Cirone's 'Portraits in Rhythm' on all similar future occasions.
In the rhythm section the drummer is the boss. Even on a slow ballad with brushes it's our job to lay down the laws of time and rhythm. In the orchestra there is a lot more give and take all based upon how you interact with the conductor. I tend to play a fraction behind the conductor's beat as this just seems to give the other instruments time to play. Conductor Dan Watson was a pleasure to work with. His direction is clear, concise and inspiring, without any of the self regarding bombast and histrionics of which many are guilty. Added to which he was beyond tolerant and forgiving of the jazz interloper at the back of the band.
I learned stuff too. 5/2 time has got a hell of a lot of beats and jazz ears won't help you find the downbeat in Wagner.
So a day well spent outside the comfort zone. Try it for yourself. Go and play an unfamiliar style of music in an unfamiliar setting. It will give you enhanced perspective and enable you to experience music from a different standpoint. Incidentally if percussion is your thing and you live anywhere near Birmingham The People's Orchestra would be delighted to hear from you.
PS: if anyone has a play along backing track of the Planet Suite with the percussion muted I'd be happy to hear from you.
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