Actually, Chuck, the very best advice I ever got about drum parts came from YOU at the Orford summer jazz camp when I was just starting to write. I asked you how to write drum parts and you said, "You have to write enough information so that he plays what you want, without writing so much that he can't read it, or ends up ignoring it." When I pressed you for more detail, you demurred, saying, "The drummer is sure to be a better drummer than you or me, so let him do what he does best." I never forgot it, and it was an open-ended enough answer so that I never figured that "I know this now" and kept on paying attention, even today.
I think I owe you a beer for that one, at least. Christopher On Sun Jan 25, at SundayJan 25 2:24 PM, Chuck Israels wrote: > Exactly! And if there are figures after the 4th measure, a (4) placed over > the 4th measure helps clarify things. I vacillate between overwriting for > drummers and not putting in things they need to remind them of what to play. > I never seem to get it just right. And there are some for whom nothing is > needed after the first couple of run throughs. > > Rhythm section parts in jazz arrangements are often best interpreted loosely, > but if that loose interpretation results in things the arranger/composer > doesn’t want, then more specific notation is required. Ellington wrote as > little as possible in his bass parts (probably for the drums too). > > I end up copying specific rhythm section harmonies, with the included > ancillary passing changes, in parts for soloists - partly out of having > gotten into the habit of reading Bill Evans’ chord charts when I was playing > with him. Now, years after all those performances with Bill, I realize that > many of those details were important in the head and in giving direction to > the bass part, but Bill often ignored them in his own improvisations - hewing > only to the general harmonic outlines and leaving the passing chord details > to the accompaniment. I expect my soloists to do the same - so they have to > “edit out” extraneous information as they read changes. But I like to let > them know what’s there, in case they want to incorporate the information. > It’s a balancing act - often successful when the soloist allows the passing > harmonies to clash momentarily and then resolve. > > Written music is an impoverished version of what we hear in good > performances. It’s a wonder we even come close. > > Drum parts remain somewhat mysterious and are best tailored to the drummer of > the moment. That said, I agree that MM rests are rarely a good solution. > > Chuck > > >> On Jan 25, 2015, at 11:03 AM, Darcy James Argue <djar...@icloud.com> wrote: >> >> What Jef said x1000. >> >> Multimeasure rests (instead of actual measures) in the drum part are the >> worst. >> >> Just use slash marks, with a little (8) above the final measure of an >> eight-measure system, etc. >> >> Cheers, >> >> - DJA >> ----- >> WEB: http://www.secretsocietymusic.org >> >> On Jan 23, 2015, at 4:14 PM, SN jef chippewa <shirl...@newmusicnotation.com> >> wrote: >> >>> >>> simplest solution: since it isn't a rest, don't use MM rests :-) -- >>> that would effectively distinguish it from a MM rest. >>> >>> 8 measures per system (for ex.) with no text indications or whatever >>> doesn't clutter the part. and if the band needs to start from a >>> particular measure in such a passage, everyone who needs to play has >>> it as a real measure. >>> >>> just sayin'. >>> >>> -- >>> >>> NEW!!! neueweise -- fonts for new music and traditional notation >>> >>> shirling & neueweise | http://newmusicnotation.com >>> new music notation + translation + arts management >>> [FB] http://facebook.com/neueweise | [TW] http://twitter.com/neueweise >>> _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu https://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale To unsubscribe from finale send a message to: finale-unsubscr...@shsu.edu
