rpk@mit-vax.UUCP (Robert Krajewski) (07/15/84)
I think drum machines can sound pretty neat (especially the clean, fast kick sound), but I find the trend of producers (especially from England) using them for just their own sake unnerving. Rich mentioned Martin Rushent with the GoGos. Their drummer is perfectly adequate. Another case is Hugh Jones (Echo and the Bunnymen, Modern English) and Rubber Rodeo, a new band from Providence whose first album on Mercury/PolyGram has just been released. An article about them in Musician magazine revealed that the drummer would only be triggering a Linn through a digital delay and some other nonsense. Sounds gratuitous to me. I saw King Crimson in concert a few nights ago, and thought that Bruford was wonderful, if not always supportive of the rest of the group. He has this pathological urge not to play on the beat. ``But,'' you say ``the new song `Sleepless' has very straightforward drumming.'' But it's not the way Bruford intended it -- his snare hits were re-spliced on tape for a steady beat. There's an article on KC in Musician which pinpoints this tendency as one of the main sore points within King Crimson. Fripp and Levin, in fact, sound like they are threatening to bring in a drum machine to give them a little relief from their time-keeping roles. Speaking of King Crimson drummers, does anybody know what happened to Michael Giles, the first drummer ?-- ``Bob'' (Robert P. Krajewski) ARPA: RpK@MC MIT Local: RpK@OZ UUCP: genradbo!miteddie!rpk or genradbo!miteddie!mitvax!rpk
cmoore@BRL.ARPA (VLD/VMB) (05/16/85)
I recorded a song and played an electronic piano with built-in percussion sounds. Because the song had a definite ending instead of fade-out, I had a tricky time turning the percussion off right when I wanted it off!