< PreviousModern Drummer June 2021 8 Carol Oliva Sean J. Kennedy Salutes Ray Deeley I studied drums and percussion with Ray Deeley while I was a high- school student back in the mid 1980s. Ironically, so did my wife, Heather, who went to a different high school about an hour away from where I lived. It wasn’t until we met each other in college that we realized we both had the privilege of studying with Mr. Deeley. Gary Zimmaro was the band director at my high school. He was a woodwind phenom who had worked with Lou Rawls, and he had even jammed with Jaco Pastorious. Mr. Zimmaro made sure to bring in top instrumentalists to the program, and in addition to himself covering all the woodwind lessons, he had jazz trumpeter Ralph ‘Red’ Clemson teaching brass, and Ray handled the percussion classes. Ray was one of the most humble musicians I had ever met. You’d never know the guy toured the world with Frank Sinatra, Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Ann Margaret, Julie Andrews, and other legends. One of my favorite memories about studying with him was the nonchalant way he’d tell me about his exploits. For example, I’d go into my lesson on a Monday afternoon and say, “Hey, Mr. Deeley, how are you?” He’d answer, “Oh, fine. I had some gigs this weekend.” I’d ask, “Who were you playing with?” “Oh, Sinatra,” he’d say, as casually as if he was simply talking about going to the supermarket. What is your earliest memory of music in your life? My father, Harold Deeley, was a professional tap dancer in vaudeville, and he used to fool with sticks using his feet. He gave it up when he got married. Did you start taking formal lessons when you were little? I first studied drums with Henry Robinson, who was at the Curtis Institute of Music at the time. I used to ride my bicycle to his house twice a week. He charged me 50 cents a lesson. Then, I went to Jules E. Mastbaum Area Vocational/ Technical School and played in the All-Catholic Orchestra. I thought I was so good that I stopped practicing. Then, I came in last place one year, and, boy, that woke me up. I started studying like crazy again Did you study non-pitched percussion with Robinson, or both pitched and non- pitched? I just studied drums with him. I didn’t start with mallets until I got into Mastbaum, and I studied with Nicholas D’Amico. He was an amazing player. I used to go watch him play the ice shows. He had perfect pitch on the timpani. It was unbelievable. Where did you go after Mastbaum? I won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Music, and I studied with Fred Hinger. I was only there three years, because I got a chance to play professionally. In those days, my father was making $35 a week, and I could make $125 a week—which was unheard of. I did a lot of traveling with a lot of different groups, such as Vincent Montana Jr., saxophonist George Young, Mike Pettison, and Dave Appell and the Applejacks. When you were in high school, did you have a definite plan to have a career as a musician? No. It was just that was what I always wanted to be. What were some of the high points of your career? Well, I have a list somewhere. I’ve been writing it down. I did The Ed Sullivan Show, and a lot of other big TV programs. I played with Sinatra twice. I did two or three little tours with Liberace. Then, there was Johnny Mathis, Vic Damone, Ann-Margret, Julie Andrews— which was one of the toughest shows I’ve ever played—Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checkers, Johnny Mathis, Dion, the Smothers Brothers, the Mills Brothers, Tom Jones, Don Rickles, Milton Berle, and some Dick Clark tours. I also played percussion at The Latin Casino for many years, so you can imagine how many people I backed up. The percussion thing was a real learning experience. I was afraid of it at first, but I got pretty sharp after a couple years. I traveled all over the world. Yeah, the good old days—when you could make a living out of this business. If there are young people out there with aspirations to get into the music business, what is one of the best pieces of advice you could give them? The main thing is to study with a really good teacher in the beginning. That’s number one. And you have to really want to do it. Many days, I spent five to six hours practicing. It was a tough road when I started, and it’s a very tough road today. Interview excerpted from the podcast Backstage at the Enharmonic, hosted by Sean J. Kennedy. Bobby Rydell on Ray “I love Ray. He was my first drummer, and he traveled with me all over the world. He played the Copa with me in the early ‘60s. He always had great technique and time. I was lucky to have him with me for as long as I did—a great guy and a great player.” Liberty DeVitto on Ray “Ray Deeley was one of the house drummers at Park- way-Cameo Records. Some of my favorite recordings came from there: ‘You Can’t Sit Down’ by the Dovels; ‘South Street,’ ‘The Wah Watusi,’ ‘Don’t Hang Up’ by the Orlons; ‘So Much in Love’ by The Tymes. Ray’s drumming—along with so many others—shaped my playing before I ever touched a drum.” Modern Drummer June 2021 10 Session Thoughts From the MD Archives M odern Drummer has assembled tons of wisdom from incredible players throughout its 45 years, so it’s no surprise we have exhaustive data on how drummers approach their art in the recording studio. Here are ten quick session tips we’ve plucked from our archives that may inspire you, entertain you, and/or solve specific challenges in your own home- or pro-studio work. If you want to revisit, research, or explore our vast collection of material on subjects from technique to performance to tuning, gear, and beyond, click to the online magazine archive at moderndrummer.com. ««« Anderson.Paak “Sometimes, we’ll go forever on mixes trying to get the drums right. Songs will come out, and I’ll still be hearing it like, ‘Yeah, I wish we could have gotten the mud out of the kick.’” [August 2019] Daru Jones »»» “A lot of times in the recording studio, I’m listening to the music, and I’ll be fumbling around playing something. Then, the producer will be like, ‘What was that you did? Let’s do that.’ So that would be not a mistake, but an idea that ended up being a part of the track.” [July 2015] ««« Tré Cool “I only need a few takes of each song and we’ve got it. I’m not one to futz around. If it sounds good to me, and it’s human, then that’s what I want. I’m not trying to make it perfect or put it through [Pro Tools] Beat Detective. I put on my headphones, and push and pull the time a little bit, because I want it to sound human.” [November 2017] Dino Danelli »»» “I always treated my drums like an orches- tra. I always wanted to be a lead singer. I just did from the drums. The Rascals’ instrumentation, although not unique, was used very effectively. We didn’t have a bass guitarist—just [Hammond Organ player] Felix Cavaliere’s bass pedals. My right foot was the bass.” [September 2013] ««« Joey Kramer “Feeling good about myself helps me play better. When I go into the studio knowing that I know what I’m doing, and I’m well-schooled on a song, I feel good. And when I feel good, I’m going to play good.” [July 2001]June 2021 Modern Drummer 11 M O D E R N D R U M M E R M A G A Z I N E • • Of Excellence THE WORLD’S #1 DRUMMING RESOURCE ««« Cindy Blackman “When you work for someone—like Lenny Kravitz—you have to play the things that are right for that situation. But you also have to put yourself in there. I don’t want to sound like I’m just playing a part. I want people to think I thought of that part on the spot. I want it to sound spontaneous.” [March 1999] Denise Fraser »»» “I use lyrics sometimes as a road map, because I don’t want to step on the vocals, or because I want to play something that’s very sensitive to bring the band into the next chorus. I tune into lyrics a lot.” [March 1996] ««« Alex Acuña “There is not time or money to waste in the studio. To be a studio musician is to be a pro. They are calling you because you are going to do it. They are not calling you to see if you are going to do it.” [October 1990] Omar Hakim »»» “Sometimes, I record drums while listening to a percussion part I program into a drum machine. That forces me into a tempo parameter that helps keep things moving forward. I find this better than using a regu- lar old boring click track.” [July 1989] ««« J.R. Robinson “Using cymbals instead of drums can create magic. I think of cymbals like a bridge. A lot of times on a ballad where there’s a little interlude between verses, instead of doing something with the hi-hat and a cross stick, I’ll play a soft eighth- or 16-note pattern between the hi-hat, my left crash, and my ride cymbal. That allows it to breathe. When it gets to the chorus and you add a beefy snare, it’s very special. Cymbals set that up.” [June 1987]Modern Drummer June 2021 12 E xperiential healing is a therapeutic technique for consciously participating in our own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual healing processes. It is healing with awareness and purpose to unlock feelings, thoughts, and pain that may be keeping us in patterns of toxic thinking, physical stagnation, or emotional despair. As a musician and vocalist, I know this works in performance and keeping my craft authentic. As a mindfulness teacher and healing practitioner, I have seen people transform their bodies and minds using concepts and practices of experiential healing over and over again. The first door to begin the process lives within the body and is opened with your mind. When we allow thoughts and feelings to resurface in a conscious and safe way, we can begin to release negativity and pain that may have stayed with us for years. Mindful breathing, visualization techniques, meditation, movement, art, multisensory awareness practice, subtle energy, and somatic-awareness techniques—and drumming—can all play a part in experiential healing. Drummers use hands, feet, arms, legs, respiration, and intention to fuel the rhythm as their minds drift within an expansive space that many call “the zone” or “the pocket.” Being locked into a rhythm quiets thought and brings the mind into an observer state—a place of mindfully watching oneself and the energy around you. People study mediation for years to achieve this experience, but drummers do it all the time. However, most of us haven’t yet used these skills to heal ourselves. Mindful drumming allows the thinking mind to rest while bringing our intuition and inner listening to the forefront so our body, our emotions, and our spiritual voice can speak. The experience can reawaken parts of yourself that may have gone dormant, been covered up, or left behind. Mindful drumming can bring power to your life and alter how you think and feel about yourself and others. It can support healthy coping skills to work with negative emotions and help redirect thoughts of self-judgment and disappointment. It can support a healthy body by lowering blood pressure and slowing respiration, decreasing physical pain, and supporting better sleep. All it takes is a desire to grow and transform—along with a commitment to learning and practicing mindfulness, breathing, and visualization. Next Month: Multisensory Perception Lauren Monroe (M.A., LMT) is a healing artist, integrative massage therapist, and energy healer. She is the co-founder of Project Resiliency and the Raven Drum Foundation. She has been a teacher and healing professional for more than 20 years, focusing on trauma recovery, PTSD, crisis care, and suicide prevention. laurenmonroe.com. ~~~~~~~~ Wellness ~~~~~~~~ Experiential Healing and Drumming By Lauren Monroe Carol Olivawww.GibraltarHardware.com Stay cool with Gibraltar’s AIRTECH Thrones. Featuring a durable, breathable dry-mesh design for cool comfort & long-lasting support. Choose from round or deluxe contoured models designed for all players and styles. 9808ARW 9608MW2T 9708AST 9608RW2TModern Drummer June 2021 14 Drum Miking on the Cheap By Michael Molenda M any of us have read about the stellar, well-populated microphone cabinets of famous big studios that were used to record famous big albums. Fabulous luxury- mic manufacturers such as Neumann, Telefunken, Earthworks, and Coles get tossed around in these articles, and, yeah, you probably can’t afford their epic price tags. Down market a bit, there are excellent and mostly affordable pre-selected mic kits for drums. We reviewed the $2,999 Earthworks DK7 in May 2021, and other offerings span from the $999 Audix DP7 to the $799 sE Electronics V Pack Club kit to Shure’s PGADRUMKIT5 for $299, and the almost-impossibly priced new Behringer BC1200 7-piece mic set for $99. But what if you’re a GarageBand (or other free recording software user) who wants to track drums at home without spending two- to six-month’s worth of groceries? (Let’s set the Behringer kit to the side for a moment.) Well, thanks to some very affordable mics and Glyn Johns’ three-mic drum recording method, you can rock your room without shaking too many virtual bills out of your online wallet. Who the Heck is Glyn Johns? Johns is a legendary recording engineer and producer. While I mourn how the word “legend” was been devalued in recent times by giving people the title who are so not legends, John recorded timeless tracks for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Eagles, Humble Pie, and others. We’ll stop there, because legend status earned. For many of these sessions, Johns deployed a three-mic technique—rather than miking every drum and plopping down room mics all over the joint— that captured mammoth sounds. This method is a very good thing for home-recording geeks, because it’s a minimalist concept that reduces setup time and keeps your microphone budget in check. You can futz around and position the three mics wherever you feel they hear the best perspective of your kit and the room—there’s no “wrong way” if the sound is good—but here’s the basic map of Johns’ approach: [1] Position one mic approximately four or five feet over the kit and pointing down at the snare drum. [2] Position the second mic adjacent to the floor room and approximately six inches above its top rim. Point it towards the hi-hat. [3] The third mic is used to record the kick drum. Prep the Room There’s one important caveat to the three- mic method: It works best if your recording space doesn’t sound like a plate of stewed awful. If the room is very live and you hear far too much ambience invading your drum mics, lay down carpets on those hardwood floors, close the drapes of nearby windows, and use pillows and blankets to tamp down any annoying “liveness” created by other hard surfaces (desks, tables, file cabinets, toolboxes, etc.). I’m guessing your home studio doesn’t have a fabulous recording area designed with frequency-tuned materials and bass traps, so going for a clean, dry-ish sound with impact is likely the killer app here. There’s no award for attempting to document a mammoth John- Bonham-at-Headley-Grange live sound if your room delivers a dizzying potpourri of stutter echoes, weird buzzes, and runaway reverb tails. When it comes to the recording arts, I hardly ever say “play it safe,” but in this case, playing it safe could deliver a very good drum sound. Oh Yeah—The Mics Forgive me. I was having so much fun talking about Glyn Johns and mic techniques and room sounds that I forgot about the affordable- microphone focus of this piece. For best results when you use the three-mic method, choose a matched set of large- diaphragm condenser mics for the overhead and tom mics. I’ve had great luck with Audio- Technica’s AT2020 ($99), and I did a session with a sE Electronics X1 A ($99) The Legend — Glyn Johns The three-mic method, as demoed by Ryan Earnhardt of the Creative Sound Lab YouTube channel.that turned out great, as well. So that’s approximately $200 (not including tax) for mics one and two. Not a bad start. For the kick-drum mic—or microphone number three—go for a Shure PGA52 ($114) or a super- inexpensive Nady DM-90 ($49). You could also use any old Shure SM57 (“appropriate it” from your band’s live rig). Years ago, when I interviewed producer/engineer Brendan O’Brien about recording the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik, he said he was in a phase where he sometimes used whatever mic his hand touched when he reached into a studio’s mic cabinet. Therefore, the kick drum mic for that classic RHCP album was a SM57. Oh, that O’Brien move reminds me of a not-so-subtle lesson about mic placement: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Use SM57s for all three mics. Mix and match brands, models, and types (condenser, dynamic, ribbon, PZM). Play with different polar patterns (cardioid, omni-directional, figure-8, and so on). The only goal is to capture a drum sound that makes you smile, and, hopefully, wows your friends and other musicians. How you get there can be your secret. Summing Up My three mic recommendations would cost you around $314 (or $249 if you opt for the Nady)—certainly an affordable outlay for some fab mics that you can also use for recording just about anything else. You could get five mics for $299 if you picked up the Shure PGADRUMKIT5, but that package only includes dynamic microphones. We’ll try to review the new Behringer BC1200, because $99 is a truly whack price for five dynamic mics and two small-diaphragm condensers. In any case, there’s no need to get all teary eyed and frustrated if you can’t manage a home-studio mic collection filled with Neumanns. Be confident in your ability to craft decent sounds with what you have. Use your ears and your guts, and you’ll be fine. Remember, limitations can sometimes lead to moments of creative genius. Those Beatles blokes certainly didn’t do too bad with a 4-track recorder. Low-Cost Crew Here are some of the affordable mics mentioned in the article. Shure PGA52 kick-drum mic. Ultra-bargain kick mic—the Nady DM-90. One Shure SM57 can cover a lot of ground in a home studio. The Behringer BC1200 kit offers seven mics for $99. sE Electronics X1 A.Audio-Technica AT2020.Modern Drummer June 2021 16 courtesy Marco MinnemannJune 2021 Modern Drummer 17 Composition Takes Center Stage By Mike Haid G ermany’s Marco Minnemann exploded onto the drumming scene in the late 1990s with his extreme interdependence innovations and advanced technique that quickly earned him international super-drummer status. His fearless, dynamic, and entertaining approach to soloing includes complex four-way interdependence, odd meters, metric modulations, stick tricks, astounding double-bass speeds, deep grooves, and, most importantly, creative and musical themes—all generally improvised. An accomplished and versatile multi-instrumentalist who has performed with the Buddy Rich Big Band, Kreator, Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett, Joe Satriani, and The Aristocrats, Minnemann’s top priority is songwriting, and he uses his innovative drumming skills as purely a means to an end, rather than the foundation of his compositions. During the 2020 COVID quarantine, Minnemann maximized his downtime by developing a working relationship with guitarist/composer/vocalist Randy McStine. Utilizing their home studios, they forged a like- minded approach to songwriting, churning out two albums of music that defy categories and crush musical boundaries. Next >