All the generous, good humored and deeply informed help I (and so many others on this list) have gotten from you since those days (how long ago!) more than makes up for whatever fortunately intelligent remark I made then.
Trouble is - different drummers respond to notation differently. Some hate to see figures written out (though sometimes I want something specific and need to notate it), most like to see the band rhythms notated above slashes, but I still have to explain that I want the drummer to set up the figures by playing something that makes the arrival of those figures sound inevitable, not just to hit the figures with the band (typical college big band drummer style). I work with a drummer here in Portland - lovely fellow and committed musician, and I have yet to figure out just how to communicate best with him, and I know he is doing his best to understand what I want. It’s a different era, and guys like Art Blakey, Philly Joe, and Bill Goodwin, who grew up understanding that a large part of their job (after getting things to swing) was to delineate the form, are now few and far between. Things that are obvious to me are not so to many drummers, Contrast, drama, conducting the band - all kinds of things that are part of the unwritten code have been “overwritten” by the preponderance of mechanical pop and rock drumming. Drummers who could spend a lifetime concentrating on styles that are meaningful to me now need to play all kinds of things of little lasting interest in order to survive. Writing drum parts is now a harder job than it used to be. Fond regards, Chuck > On Jan 25, 2015, at 12:48 PM, Christopher Smith > <christopher.sm...@videotron.ca> wrote: > > 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 _______________________________________________ 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
