Sound The Drums "Don't Underestimate Baghdad" Demo

This song and the accompanying images are in no way a political statement. I happened to find the Baghdad sample and liked it. Yes, the song is violent and this is a violent fucked up world. The photos are from http://www.zoriah.net/ Zoriah is an amazingly brave and talented photojournalist. This song is not finished but I felt like putting it up.

Banned from the Rose Garden!!!

       BANNED FROM THE ROSE GARDEN

                                          Band names excluded out of authors  embarrassment

You will have to forgive me, my memory of this night was very blurred due to the amount of drugs and alcohol consumed. This tale and what we did was told over by innocent onlookers and those who participated or succeeded for years. Also, this was late 90's so no camera/video phones to catch what happened. This may have actually been my first big stadium concert, which was at the Rose Garden in Portland. I was a freshman in High School and went to the #$%@/!@#$%^% tour stop. I was attending with my sister, her boyfriend and a bunch of his and my friends, maybe 10-15 people in all. They were all Seniors,most of them on the football team, ripped as hell but also known to party and fight the hardest. In the parking lot we started with a couple of half gallons of Jack Daniels. We found our seats to be about as far from the stage you could get and $#!%^*&*’s opening set was spent dropping acid, doing crystal meth and drinking more whiskey. I do not remember who's idea it was but we were all upset with the seats and wanted on the floor/pit area. "Lets rush the gates". We spent the time in between sets in the concession area gathering followers (many would not follow ,but we'll get to that). We asked around, trying to find someone who knew the fastest way to the floor. We found our guy who explained we could go from the concession area, down several flights of stairs, through a set of doors and then through a hallway with barricades and security. It was decided that the moment that first song started we would all rush at once (about 20-40 people) and simply force our way into the pit. Now, from what I recall there was a core group (my friends...out of our minds at this time) who were dedicated 100% to this. There was another group who could probably see that we were crazy and wanted to witness what was about to go down. We had (probably one of the girls, who was not rushing) someone to signal us when it was time. We figured the first chord would be the best time to catch security off guard. "GO!!!" Down the stairs, I remember stepping on and over people who turned around after they saw the first security or barricades and tried to go back. Squish...oh, is that your neck? Sorry bitch, if you were not committed you should stay in your fucking seat. I made it down the stairs fairly easy, through the door and into the hallway. I remember running at full sprint down the hallway and watching as either security got out of the way or got cold cocked by the 3 or 4 main Senior football players that were leading the way. It was an insanely surreal and intense few moments. I made it past the last barricade and two security guards with what looked like broken noses. After that I was out onto the floor and was grabbed by a huge security guard (I later found out it was OSU linemen doing security, or some other college team) who was the last thing between me and the pit area. I struggled with him, my shirt was torn off and he eventually carried me under arm into a security/detainment area. I was hand cuffed to a chair and questioned about the incident. My excuse was I had been on the floor and was returning from the bathroom and my wristband ticket were torn off and lost. I was asked how much and which drugs I was on but I had lost count (I am gonna say 4-6 substances, by different accounts). Luckily, because I was a minor, I was photographed and banned from the Rose Garden, instead of facing assault charges etc. I don't remember ever hitting anybody anyway and was only about 130 lbs. I spent the rest of the evening smoking joints and chatting with prostitutes around the area. I later found out that 4-5 of the bigger Seniors had indeed made it and spent the rest of the concert on the floor, surely moshing and beating people senseless. I got shit from these guys for years for not making it, even though I was 100 lbs. smaller, younger and nobody fucking helped me fight that last security fucking linebacker. For the story alone it was better than spending the entire concert in those awful seats. I quickly grew out of and loathed this type of rock music. Looking back it was very stupid, if you want on the floor don't stomp on and punch people, just buy a fucking ticket for the floor. I do wonder if they still have my picture on the security room wall though. Haha. Banned from the Rose Garden!

How I am (currently) approaching Hip Hop production aka HOW I GET DOWN!!!

 This is the first in (hopefully) a series of production based posts. How I get down

      I almost never use looped drum samples anymore. Well, I shouldn't say that because I do use them, I use them as a guide to create a certain human feel or swing. For example, in the Edit window, on track 1 I may have a loop "the amen" or whatever, and on track two, below it I am lining the individual hits (kicks, snares etc.) to the transients of the loop. Stealing the groove, and (I like to think) keeping the drums interesting. Some songs can have 10, 20, 30, 40 individual hits, not randomly placed on a grid, but specifically aligned with a certain groove/break I like. Logic Audio actually has a feature that will align your edit window grid to a specific loops groove (called groove template, I believe). I stopped using Logic after the Apple buy out. I would love to go back if I ever get a Mac. My only issue w/ Logic is not every major studio uses it, where every studio has Pro Tools making it easy to move your work around. Plus, I have gotten used to PT (shortcuts, etc.) that to re-learn Logic would slow a work flow that I am already not happy with the speed of.

     Kicks are usually doubled up, a low frequency (30-100 hz.) kick added to maybe a weaker kick that has a nice crash but not much punch. I love tribal drums and djembes are often dubbed live. The djembe can be a difficult instrument to mic, especially if you have a limited selection. Even with the cheapest of mics though, mic placement (even just an inch) can often mean a world of difference, sound wise.

     I really do love drums. Punchy drums, yes! through the SSL talkback compressor, yes! Pumping ride cymbal Ringo drums, oh hell fuckin yeah. UREI 1176  you say, Neve boards you say, Fairchild 660 or 670... I just came on my keyboard! Finding new breaks (on vinyl) you've never heard, seen on a list or a sample cd is an amazing feeling, for me at least. I have been experimenting with some tracks, using the drum editing techniques described above, where every single kick, snare, hat etc. comes from a different break (hundreds of different hits in one song). This is a long and tedious exercise in getting the right mix and flow. I will post tracks soon.

STD

Sound the Drums - In Studio producing new track.

Sound The Drums "flexibilty"

Chilled out vibe on this one.

Sound The Drums feat. Stoner Steez "Hell In A Handbasket"

Myself w/ Steezy. Hell in a motherfucking handbasket.

Sound The Drums Featuring STONE STEEZY "Flare of Emotion"

Long intro on this one. The sound of all that surrounds you bearing down at once, before your moment of truth/clarity commences. Once again, Aubrey Cruz on vocals and myself on every illicit substance known to man. My favorite song/ collaboration w/ Steezy.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Tweet

This is the video that inspired the video (Cali remix) below. Cheesy literal lyric to picture combo, WMM fx etc. Best fucking song though.

Sound The Drums "California Dreamin" Mix/Remix

This song is payback for Jose fucking with "In My Life". Stay away from the Beatles, especially Lennon.This is a Jose Feliciano version of the famous song. There are two distinct parts. The first is mainly a straight mix, with the drums, synth, shakers, delay, and a bit of extra organ added. The song then kinda disintegrates and is re-born into a Pro Tools chopped up hell. Sorry about the cheesy vid, I am a sucker for the literal picture/lyric combo from watching that Pink Floyd "wish you were here" youtube video.

Sound The Drums "Even The Crowd Performs Tonight"

Sound The Drums "Bells" demo.wmv

Sound The Drums "Bells" demo.wmv

A song with a Spanish Conquistador vibe countered by a video of Tribes that survived. This track originally had The Skull Snaps "Its A Brand New Day" break (chopped of course). The hi-hat remains I believe. This track is over a month old and although I like the drums, I plan on adding more and correcting the bass notes. Just calling it "Bells" for now. That is a hint at where the samples are from. Do you know???

10-10-10

Just got my tickets. I wonder who the guests will be?

SOUND THE DRUMS "Quit Kicking Me" DEMO

"Thank God for the drugs and drums"

Quite possibly my favorite hip hop album of all time. El-P Fantastic Damage. Along with the music, amazing art by Dan Ezra Lang http://delstudios.net/ and the legendary Phase2 .

Original cover painting by Dan Ezra Lang

Phase2, NYC graff legend

SOUND THE DRUMS "To the Ground" DEMO 2010

Sound The Drums - Def Valley- Hip Hop production

Sound The Drums: How to break your neck