Garwood Whaley's Fundamental Studies for Snare Drum

If you own this book or pick-up a copy from Steve Weiss Music (an independent music store) you will find these mp3′s fun and useful. Each mp3, marked with a number and tempo, is meant to be looped on your mp3 player or in itunes. Each piece has several tempos. Pitches were randomly generated within set ranges to produce tracks with no tonal center per my taste. Be sure you have your player set up to have no gap between tracks. Drummers are sure to enjoy this but I think any instrumentalist using their creativity can get down. Lot’s of odd meter… <oOo>

what co-op is…

This unique interdisciplinary experience informs students in music, digital audio technologies and production, digital distribution of music, web design, marketing, and blogging. Students rehearse, sculpt, and prepare a musical piece or collection of pieces for recording. They prepare for and then execute the technical aspects of the recording including participation in mixing the recording. Students design and coordinate album artwork, website, facebook, twitter, and/or google plus, as well as secure digital distribution for the recording (including itunes if desired), promote their finished product, and share the entire experience through blogging and video.

Continue reading…

I won’t post the pdf for awhile so this can also be a challenge for some to figure out what’s going on rhythmically.

giant steps twist

||: 5/8, 5/8 | 5/8, 5/8 | 4/4          | 3/8, 3/8 |

–| 5/8, 5/8 | 5/8, 5/8 | 4/4          | 3/8, 3/8 |

–| 4/4          | 5/8, 5/8 | 4/4          | 3/8, 3/8 |

–| 4/4          | 5/8, 5/8 | 4/4          | 3/8, 3/8 :||

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When approaching the subject of rhythm I am going to use two building blocks – a short sound and a long sound. Each sound is made of small beats called subdivisions which are of equal size. The short sound contains two subdivisions and the long sound contains three subdivisions. From here forward I’ll refer to these two sound groups as 2′s and 3′s.

Before you continue practice combining groups of 2′s and 3′s by speaking the subdivisions and clapping the first of each grouping. Example: 2+2+3 – say “1,2-1,2-1,2,3″ as you clap each number “1.”

Next make up your own combinations…

And now clap some examples without speaking the internal subdivisions but internalizing them instead.

 Rhythmic Ratios/Polyrhythms

Any rhythmic ratio (polyrhythm) can be constructed using the basic building blocks of 2′s and 3′s. But first let’s start with the most common and simple of them all, 2:3.

2:3 or 2 Against 3

STEP 1: Tap 2′s. Tap just the first subdivision of each group of 2 while speaking all subdivisions. Then, switch from speaking 2′s to speaking 3′s while continuing to tap the same pattern of 2′s.

STEP 2: Continue tapping 2′s and counting 3′s. With your voice stress or accent the first subdivision of every group of 3.

STEP 3: Using your other hand begin tapping the accented 1 of every group of 3.

STEP 4: Stop counting out loud. Absorb the feeling and melody of the two groups sounding and moving together.

*You have now successfully tapped 2 against 3*

STEP 5: Tap 2′s first in one hand and then in the same fashion as before add 3′s in the other hand.

stop.

STEP 6: repeat step 5 but begin with 3′s then add 2′s.

stop.

STEP 7: Begin tapping both groupings at the same time.

Practice steps 5-7 often to internalize… 

It should be noted that when most people say 2 against 3 there referring to 2 occurrences of 3′s over 3 occurrences of 2′s.

Western Notation:

TO BE CONTINUED…

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So, I’ve been coming across a lot of great resources lately and at this moment they are way deeper then anything I have to share. I’ll hopefully be posting more etudes and sight-reading in the near future.

Steve Coleman

Last week I came across Steve Coleman’s M-BASE blog. This blog looks to have started in 2007 and hasn’t been too active for awhile. However, there is a wealth of material there to digest. Since seeing the blog last week I’ve been obsessed with lots Mr. Coleman had to say and I’m grateful that the blog is there. Check it out.

Miles Okazaki

Then, just yesterday I got to the website of composer, guitarist, and artist Miles Okazaki. Miles shares a ton of insightful material like transcriptions (w/ recordings), his scores, and other really valuable stuff. I am also grateful that Miles shared this.

Kayagum Sanjo played by Hwang Byong-gi - Korea 1966

First, Robert Garfias’ Wikipedia Biography:

Robert Garfias (born 1932) is a figure in ethnomusicology and musicology. He is a professor of Anthropology^[1] and a member of The Social Dynamics and Complexity Group^[2] at the University of California, Irvine as well as a professor at the Japanese National Museum of Ethnology^[3] in Senri, Osaka. He completed his doctorate at University of California, Los Angeles and taught at the University of Washington where he established the graduate program in ethnomusicology before coming to University of California, Irvine. He has conducted research on the analysis of complex music systems, including the Turkish Ottoman Classical system, Japanese court music and many other musical traditions in which he is fluent as a musical performer, linguist, and archivist. He has also written on The Role of Dreams and Spirit Possession in the Mbira Dza Vadzimu Music of the Shona People of Zimbabwe.^[4] Complexity in the domain of expressive culture, music, and the social organization of complex musical traditions is one of his major specialties.

He has been actively engaged in the area of public policy and the arts as a presidentially appointed member of theNational Council on the Arts and as a member of the Council of the Smithsonian Institution as well as with numerous state and local arts agencies. In these areas his primary concern is with ethnicity and cultural diversity.

In 2005 the Government of Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, which represents the third highest of eight classes associated with this award.^[5] He was cited for his contributions to promoting traditional Japanese culture and cultural exchanges between Japan and the United States.

Sounds, Film, and Documents compiled and presented on the University of California - Irvine website by Robert Garfias. It’s amazing that these resources are available to the public!

This is the first post for the newly added Etudes category. In this category, as in the others, I’ll be sharing bits of my learning process and learning materials for your consumption. I’ll be posting short etudes or excerpts and when possible comments made by musicians in regards and recordings of the presented material.

The tenor trombone will kick things off. As it happens, I’m lucky to know several outstanding trombonists.

This post will feature a very short piece I wrote for trombone about two years ago as well as comments and recorded performance by Ben Gerstein. Ben is not only an incredible improviser and visual artist, but as you will hear, a master of the trombone as well…. and he happens to have quite a sense of humor…

Exercise #1 for Trombone - Doug Hirlinger

Ben Gerstein:

Hirlinger’s “Exercise #1 for Trombone” is a short, angular, lyrical morsel shining its lights through dynamics, shape and articulation. Its brevity is the picture’s frame, a little view into a lonely trombone world on a rainy day of our evolving harmonic needs, and I think it’s important to try and bring out as much as possible the melodic qualities of this slang of intervallic relationships. It is written in quite a comfortable, voice-level range for the instrument, and none of the slide positions are awkward or unconventional, which is surprising considering Doug plays the trombone about as often as a horse wins the Oscar for “Best Supporting Actress”. It should be noted I found it crucial to empty the spit valve thoroughly before playing this.

Recordings of Exercise #1 and orchestration related comments are encouraged.

Check out Ben @ bengerstein.com

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The goal here is to play quarter note triplets…

Triplet Quarter Notes

…over this odd meter ostinado in 7/8 + 4/4 which I originally played on bass drum.

Ositinado

You’ll notice that after the first two measures the relationship between the the two components shifts. Below is a notation of the whole pattern notated precisely (a little too precisely).  I added eighth note noteheads in between quarter note durations, in parentheses, to assist in understanding where the triplet quarters lay after each shift. Initially I played those eighth notes on the hi hat with my left foot and found various ways to place the triplet quarters. Eventually I was able to leave the left foot out. Of course, I used a metronome- playing constant quarters.

I prefer the original notation from by notebook but wasn’t able to reproduce the notation in Finale.

Triplet Quarter Notes Over 7/8 + 4/4 Ositnado

Original Notation From My Notebook

As usual this nugget can be applied to any instrument and used as a launching pad to more ideas.

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