Building Your Band

A better conversation about music, with David Loftis and Peter Bulanow

Dan Cuomo | Something’s Wrong With That Click Track

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Dan Cuomo joins the show to share his thoughts, wisdom and experience playing rock drums, getting signed to a major label (40 Records) and touring Europe, and then deciding what’s next. Today you will find Dan playing modern worship drums in churches all over the DC/MD/VA area.

I hold Dan up as an example of exactly the kind of drummer you should see in your local church. By Dan’s own admission, he isn’t a technical drummer – which is precisely the point: you don’t need a technically trained jazz fusion drummer with intricate grooves and insane chops to sound great. Rarely do I see a situation where I think a musician needs more skills / more chops for the band or song to sound better. Rather, I often think a musician needs to better understand the essentials of what needs to be played, and needs to understand their role with respect to keeping time and creating space. Dan is your encouragement that you don’t need better players, you just need to find folks willing to play less and listen more in order to serve the song.

He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:30

For more of Dan Cuomo, find him on Facebook & Twitter, and pick up Steph Cuomo’s latest project on iTunes.

Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and support the show by rating us five stars and leaving a comment. Please leave your questions and comments below!

Toto Masterclass

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When we hold a workshop, we start out by talking about the roles for each instrument. Knowing the role of each instrument goes far to inform what everyone should play.

But even without that understanding, we have clear examples of the kinds of things we should play all around us: original studio tracks. If your playing doesn’t line up with basically the kinds of things you hear on records, you may be overplaying.

Session players are the ones that get the call to play in the studio while the tape is rolling and there are a bunch of people sitting around charging by the minute for their time – when you need to get it right the first time. Toto is a band that formed out of session players – so in many ways, they are a textbook.

This is a breakdown of a famous song of Toto’s from the 80’s called “Rosanna” which you can read all about at the wikipedia page. Other than the fact the announcers talk too much over the tracks, this really does go far to break down just how little is needed, yet how significant each contribution is. If your playing is significantly different than what is on here, it’s time to rethink some things.

A couple things jump out at me listening to this:

Jeff Porcaro on Drums – he is famous for just playing the groove and not playing a lot of fills. My kind of drummer, and exactly what you need most Sunday mornings.

Steve Porcaro on Keys – This really is textbook keyboard playing. Something as simple as a roll down at the right time can shift the whole song.

Steve Lukather on Guitar – Note just how tasteful his playing is when called to play rhythm. Don’t be afraid to step out a little when asked to solo.

Vocal Harmonies – Everything should start out with melody. You build harmonies slowly. Blend is everything. You can actually get away with a lot of harmonies if you’re tasteful and intentional.

Finally, everybody uses contrasts to make certain things speak, and other things lay back.

What jumps out at you?

William Brew IV | The Way It Is

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William Brew IVWilliam Brew joins us for an enlightening episode of drumming and discovery. Along the way we discuss his love of the CCM genre, what he really thinks of when he thinks of “space”, and how you get there overnight.

If you aren’t allowed to have a drum kit in the house, Brew recommends Vater Double Sided Practice Pads. #noexcuses

Reach out to Brew on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

If you’re interested in how Building Your Band can support a workshop in your area possibly including Brew, please contact us.

This episode is sponsored by Johnny Flash Productions, a creative agency based in the Washington D.C. area that was founded 16 years ago by John Falke. I took a photoshop class from John a few years back and can’t speak highly enough about the quality of his service. If you have the need, I think you’d really enjoy working with him and be really pleased with the results.

Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher and support the show by rating us and leaving a comment. Thanks!

The Five Stages of Musical Proficiency

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BYBStagesXSomething that I think would have been helpful to me in my musical journey, was some sort of validation of where I’ve been, where I am, and a hint of what is ahead of me.

This handy chart that I created is one way to break things out, and it’s the way I hear many folks describe their musical journey.

The First Stage is really the beginner stage- when you first pick up your instrument and don’t know a thing about a scale or a chord or a time signature. It’s about acquiring those basics.

The Second Stage is the “doing your homework” phase of musical progression, where you put in your time – maybe even most of your 10,000 hours – to gain proficiency on your instrument. If you don’t love your instrument by this point you get out.

The Third Stage represents a paradigm shift. It’s the first time you start focussing not on what you’re playing, but on what you’re not playing. It’s about creating space for others and responding to what is going on. If you’re copying the record at this point, that’s where your eyes get opened up to what session players are actually doing. They’re not the busy little doodlers we are when we play by ourselves. There is an economy to what they play. This is when we get knocked back by the significance of The Edge when he says:

Notes actually do mean something. They have power. I think of notes as being expensive. You don’t just throw them around. I find the ones that do the best job and that’s what I use. I suppose I’m a minimalist instinctively. I don’t like to be inefficient if I can get away with it. Like on the end of “With or Without You”. My instinct was to go with something very simple. Everyone else said, “Nah, you can’t do that.” I won the argument and I still think it’s sort of brave, because the end of “With or Without You” could have been so much bigger, so much more of a climax, but there’s this power to it which I think is even more potent because it’s held back… ultimately I’m interested in music. I’m a musician. I’m not a gunslinger. That’s the difference between what I do and what a lot of guitar heroes do. —The Edge (1991)

The Fourth Stage is when you’ve moved past trying to copy your influences and you prefer your own voice. This is when you can apply your sound to original material without second guessing yourself. This is also when you might listen to the record, but you don’t need to, because you understand how to serve the song. This level represents the true expert, the specialist in music.

The Fifth Stage is reserved for the very few who are willing to be extremely brave and vulnerable and who continue to distill their voice and find something so new as to be thought of as original. Very often this occurs across genres or it is art that transcends genres.  This stage of musicianship is reserved for those who change the way we hear music, and we’re never the same after that.

Once we move forward, we still may step backwards at times so that we can again move forward with a different vocabulary or improved skill set. I think of Rush’s Drummer Neil Peart, already a world class drummer with 14 Albums under his belt, using a traditional rock style of hitting the snare (clearly at the Fifth Stage), who decided in 1994 to back up (to the Second Stage) and learn the looser jazz style traditional grip of playing to find some fresh inspiration, the result of which can first be heard on Test For Echo.

What do you think? Do these stages help you think about where you are in your own musical journey? Are they helpful as you think about the musicians you play with, produce, or direct?

Gavin Morris | Never Really Said Anything

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Gavin MorrisAs the frontman and lead songwriter of Break The Fall, Gavin walks us through the process of creating their latest EP “The Wanderers“. From the preproduction writing, to choosing a producer, to packing up a van and driving eight hours to Nashville to record, it’s fantastic to hear the intentionality behind their creation.

Break The Fall: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Reverb Nation | Youtube | iTunes | Amazon

Produced by Lester Estelle II Website | Facebook | Twitter | Wikipedia

Mixed and Mastered by Robert Venable: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Wikipedia

Brandon‘s Cassette Preview/Teaser:

Song writers, musicians, band leaders, worship team members etc. . . Look at what instruments you have to work with on your team. Your guitar player doesn’t always have to play all the time, every song, start to finish. There doesn’t always have to be a lead guitar player noodling lead lines and melody riffs. Learn to tell them to lay out a section (Guitarists-learn to be ok with not playing and being told to lay out from time to time, it will make what you DO play sound more important.) Use every instrument on stage to build some diversity in your songs. And start finding new instruments to use to freshen things up. You have options; start experimenting on how to utilize your team members and not just one instrument. Also, dynamics still matter. Learn how soft and full you can really play and actually utilize it when the show/service/performance starts. Retention matters.
Posted by Gavin Morris

Kings Kaleidoscope (iTunes | Amazon) has Trombone in it!

For King and Country (iTunes | Amazon) ha Horn Players!

Who else should we know about who uses non-traditional instruments? Please post in the comments!

Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher

John B Stanley | The Language of Heaven

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John B Stanley

John B Stanley (Twitter, Reverb Nation, iTunes) challenges us to do better music in our services and gives us the behind-the-scenes story of his “Drum Spectacular”.

Also check out his post on this in Modern Drummer.

Along the way we discuss his influences, most especially Lee Ritenour (Wiki, iTunes, Amazon) with Omar Hakim (Wiki, iTunes), and Hans Zimmer (Wiki, iTunes, Amazon).

Without further ado – scored and produced by John B Stanley:

Find this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

edit: “O Holy Night” has been released on iTunes!

Season 1 Remix | Kaleidoscope Edition

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While recording and editing the first 18 episodes of the podcast, I began to notice some of the content commented on some of the other content. I began to think how awesome it might be to hear these ideas back-to-back, remixed into a super-episode, which would demonstrate both the importance of the ideas, as well as some of the different ways they’re approached. When my amazing wife suggested I do a “kaleidoscope” edition, I poured through all 18 episodes, finding clips to put together, resulting in this fascinating overview of Season 1.  Special thanks to all my guests who shared their quality content.

If you missed Season 1 of the Building Your Band podcast, this is a great way to catch up! It is also an invitation to go back and revisit specific episodes.

I would love to hear your comments right in the Soundcloud stream or below in the comments section. For all the episodes past and future, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher!

Season 2 will be coming soon! Please contact me if you would like to be featured!

“Almighty“- Produced, Mixed & Mastered by Peter Bulanow | http://meltingearth.com

Featuring: Taylor Carson | http://taylorcarson.com
Additional Vocals:  Eileen Graham | http://eileengrahammusic.com
Cello: Michael Thomas | facebook.com/CelloMT
Bass: Aron “Teo” Lee | facebook.com/teo.lee

Special thanks to all the musicians for their collaboration, and to Dan Rebeiz (http://danieljackproductions.com) for his advice and mentorship.

Justin Pinkney, ‘Translating CCM’

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Justin talks to us about growing up in Gospel Drumming, needing a “third eye” to keep tabs on what’s going on, the importance of transitions, the differences playing CCM, and ultimately how these genres influence one another.

Justin on Twitter, Reverb Nation, Facebook, Website, with Chris Collat.

Subscribe to iTunes

Subscribe on iTunes

Links:

Hawkins Family, Love Alive Series (Amazon)

Hezekiah Walker (Amazon)

Chick Corea (Amazon)

A few production notes on “Love Ran Red”.

A critique of gospel music translated to rock:

 

Love Ran Red, a few production notes

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Here are my production notes for translating Chris Tomlin’s (Amazon | iTunes) Love Ran Red to a live Band.

  • This is a piano record. I would personally enjoy playing songs from this album, partially because it uses so much piano (and that’s my first love), and partially because it comes across as a movie score (which is how I like to think about music).
  • There is room for your classical-pianist and your keyboardist-pianist, as well as your synth/programming guy on different songs, so be intentional about booking the right person for the right song (or call me up). There are lots of different piano sounds on this record that you’ll want to be aware of. There’s a standard Steinway or Yamaha grand, a more muted grand with the highs rolled off at the board, a compressed acoustic piano (Michael English’s Finally Free being a particularly egregious example of a compressed piano), and a plain-Jane keyboard-piano.
  • There are also plucked sounds on this record that could be covered by acoustic guitar, but I’m not sure they were originally acoustic guitar on the record (if so they’ve been highly produced), so they could also be covered by a keyboard or programmed.
  • The electric guitars are actually pretty understated on this record – standard U2/Edge delayed guitar – but one could elect to mix the guitars up to create gutsier renditions.
  • Lots of cinematic toms are present, which I personally love, but they require some special preparation from your sound engineer to get them sounding big and awesome.
  • There are some EDM influences, like four-on-the-floor kick, synth appreciators, and filter sweeps not usually found coming out of Nashville (maybe some Crowder influence?)

Greater

  • These opening lines are right out of a Hans Zimmer score, so you’ll need your gorgeous string pads handy to not waste this moment. Maybe you’d want to consider doubling the intro. You’ll want your synth guru booked for this day.
  • Programmed synth bass would be cool, but a decent live player can do this.
  • This song has some of those plucked sounds on the first verse that could be covered by acoustic guitar or a 2nd keyboard guy.
  • A modern piano/keyboard sound with some delay on it plays the thematic element on verse 2, or this could be covered quite nicely by some delayed guitar and simply layered with some acoustic piano (the latter being my preference).
  • Make sure you have your guy who loves playing toms booked for this day.
  • Starting at the 2nd chorus, you’ll want a few additional harmony vocals to join.
  • If you have an old school choir at your disposal, have them waiting in the wings and enter Fortissimo at the bridge, and then again echoing the bridge part over the final chorus. This is what the kids call “epic”.

How to get this right: let it be relaxed, sweeping, even cinematic.
How to get this wrong: overplay it.

Waterfall

  • Opens with electric piano and quickly gets into EDM synth dance sounds, so you’ll need to be playing to a click track to keep the arpeggiators in sync. Season with filter sweeps.
  • Acoustic piano on chorus is compressed (ask your sound tech do to this) and should be played live by someone with strong (classically trained?) hands. I can see a case for two keyboardists this day, one on the grand, another doing the synth work. Pads on verse 2 can be string pads or synthier square waves.
  • On that note, think about having another vocalist that sounds like you to do sound of the random overdubs. There’s room for a little extra vocal goodness if they want to run with it a little.
  • Make sure you have your guy who loves playing toms booked this day.

How to get this right: preproduction, keep it tight.
How to get this wrong: fail to give it enough rehearsal time and it’ll fall apart.

At the Cross (Love Ran Red)

  • Use compressed piano with some delay on it.
  • Plucked sounds could be covered by acoustic guitar or a 2nd keyboard guy.
  • Bring all your vocalists online for the bridge.
  • It’s OK to build to a wall of sound on this one 😉

How to get this right: keep it relaxed, create some space.
How to get this wrong: rush the kick.

Jesus Loves me

  • I would probably play this ballad on the house grand, even though it sounds more like a sample on this recording.
  • Electric guitar can cover the quiet tremolo pads, and all other tasteful / big / ambient parts.
  • Piano and Drums propel this one.

How to get this right: be passionate.
How to get this wrong: let it drag.

Boundary Lines

  • Your sound tech is definitely going to need to listen to this recording. You’ll need a second vocal mic for the intro vocal that has the highs and lows rolled off to sound lofi, run through a tap delay, and then your sound guy will play the low-pass filter live and open that up.
  • Book your synth/keyboard person who knows what filter sweeps are. They’ll also have access to vintage Rhodes sounds and compressed pianos, besides all the warm pads and undulating sounds.
  • Everything should happen to a click track so the band stays tight and in sync. You’ll probably want all those 16th note delayed claps to be programmed ahead of time and a nice click going to the drummer.
  • Ask the drummer if they want to play the tambourine or have that programmed.
  • Program the hand clap on 2 & 4 and four on the floor kick.
  • Play the toms, snares, fills, live and wail on that hi-hat like any good EDM song does.
  • More of that plucked stuff that could be played by a 2nd keyboardist or acoustic guitarist.

How to get this right: preproduction!
How to get this wrong: expect a live version to come together quickly.

Almighty

  • This song is one of those sit-on-a-stool-with-a-spotlight solo tunes, at least to start. Not too much rocket science here, even though it feels a little complicated. Eventually it builds with lots of vocals on the chorus.
  • A nice classic Yamaha or Steinway grand anchors this song. I love the bridge that drops back to solo piano. Whomever you give this solo to will thank you.
  • For the signature figure that seems to go through a 5/4 measure followed by a 3/4 measure, don’t count it that way – just play straight through with a 4/4 count.
  • More of those wonderful U2 guitars on the chorus.
  • There might be room for a second keyboardist to do some pads on this, just don’t overdo it.

How to get this right: tight transitions.
How to get this wrong: telegraph your transitions (with fills) or not choking your cymbals.

The Roar

  • There are nice pads and compressed piano on this one.
  • Four on the floor kick, but play it live.
  • Crazy backing vocal on the chorus! Never fear, the electric guitar can cover this.
  • Nice half-time feel on the bridge. You booked your choir for this right??

How to get this right: 16th note hi-hats keeps the momentum.
How to get this wrong: That’d be pretty hard.

Fear Not

  • The intro is a lo fi variant of the chorus. I don’t think it’s critical to try to sound like the record. Maybe have a 2nd mic tuned up to sound like a megaphone…or use a megaphone!
  • Mechanically, this song is straightforward. One guitar playing the arpeggios, and another something – could be guitar could be keyboard – holding down the chord. Add that and solid drums.

How to get this right: Bring in your youth and kids choir to yell out the bridge!
How to get this wrong: Fail to drive the song with all those 16th note hi-hats, or hold back even a little.

The Table

  • Grand piano, electric guitar doodling, nice drum groove. This song just comes together.
  • You may or may not want to go up a step after the bridge, especially if you’re shaky and may not nail it a capella. Either way this is another one where you want your choir coming in at the bridge.

How to get this right: Get everyone snapping on two and four before you start the song.
How to get this wrong: If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. It’s a celebration. It’s about community. It’s about relationships: vertical and horizontal.

Psalm 100

  • It’s cool to see some of that EDM influence. You’ll be playing to a click, but a tight live drummer should be able to cover all the drums parts. Live bass is the way to go. Straightforward Edge electric guitars.
  • In fact, you may be able to play this entire tune live with your synth guy running arpeggiators, as long as you’re playing to a click. If they want to program it, that’s cool too.
  • The piano arpeggiation on the bridge would sound pretty awesome if it can be played tight on a grand. Better be practicing your Hanon for the finger strength.
  • P.S. Those are some great mellotron strings at the end!

How to get this right: Preproduction!
How to get this wrong: not play to a click track.

I Will Boast

  • This is a beautiful rubato grand piano song.
  • If you have some live strings, violas, cellos, this is the time to let them sing out. Some of this could be augmented by keyboard pads, or covered by mellotron-type samples.
  • There are some tasteful guitars, but I’m not sure you even need ’em – give your strings a chance to shine!
  • There are some really nice harmony vocals in a few spots. The whole tune might be really nicely reconfigured as a male-female duet.
  • Ends with Rhodes electric piano, which I don’t get the point of, other than to facilitate a transition to a coda of “At the Cross”.  I would label this an album artifact and ignore it live by sticking to just the piano and ending the song, particularly unless you actually did “At the Cross” earlier in your service.

How to get this right: Have a gorgeous well-mic’d, well-tuned, grand piano.
How to get this wrong: Rush it.

Jesus, This is You

  • This is the guitar song on the record. It sounds like it’s from a recent U2 album.
  • Keyboards – use atmospherics – maybe some keyboard / piano / melodic-chime sounds, but don’t get in the way of what your particular guitarist is doing. This is a guitar song – listen!
  • There is room for lots of vocals on this. The choir can possibly come out for this. Let it build to a wall of sound. Maybe add an extra chorus.

How to get this right: Book The Edge (U2) to play guitars and sing that thematic part for you.
How to get this wrong: Let it get too big / full / muddy / wall of sound (looking your way, keys).

In the End

  • A neat little rhythmic device opens this tune on the riff. That could come from a keyboard guy (arpeggiator?) or a guitar guy (acoustic guitar with delay?). Since there is already a piano part, I would look to your electric guitarist to pick up an acoustic and run it through a delay.
  • The piano part would probably be a modern piano keyboard sound, not necessarily a grand. Be ready to layer a nice big atmospheric pad like Absynth.
  • Also that’s a pretty cool compressed drum loop on the second chorus, so you’re playing tight to a click, right?
  • Kick and a couple toms build at the Bridge. The drum kit is finally in after the bridge. It’s called building tension!

How to get this right: Rehearse.
How to get this wrong: Think this song will magically come together.

REMIXes

I really love that they are offering these. It shows the songwriting can stand up to reinterpretation.

Waterfall Tritonal Remix

  • I don’t know that I’d attempt this version live, but if you can it’s got lots of nice production. Vocoder on the harmonies anyone?
  • The programmed synth and snare stuff are epic. You can probably do a hybrid with the regular version and whatever synthy stuff you can come up with.

How to get this right: preproduction.
How to get this wrong: fail to integrate live sounds well with the programmed sounds.

At the Cross (Love Ran Red) [Acoustic]

  • This song utilizes picked acoustic guitar, and very minimal warm pad on the first verse.
  • If you have a second acoustic guitar that can pick, there is room for some tasteful layered harmonies starting at the chorus.
  • Use kick and shaker on the second verse. I would probably replace with a mic’d Djembe and shaker (and tambourine) instead, as I think a drum kit is too big for this.
  • Some gentle well-mic’d grand piano comes in at the second chorus.

How to get this right: show restraint, be tasteful.
How to get this wrong: overplay.

Let It Be Jesus [Acoustic]

  • This is an acoustic piano ballad.
  • There is a little extra acoustic guitar in the recording that I don’t know I would want in right away. Maybe hold off until the chorus when the tempo gets established. That way the instrumentation stays tight.
  • I get the piano dropping out on the second verse and switching to acoustic guitar before bringing the piano back in. We need that sonic break.
  • Personally I think this would sound so much more epic with some solo string lines. Somebody score something for this!

How to get this right: restraint.
How to get this wrong: let it get too big.

Do you hear things differently? Anything I missed? Leave a comment below!

Chris Green, ‘What They Enjoy To Do’

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Chris Green

Chris Green

Drummer and Audio Installation Engineer Chris Green talks to us about production from a plethora of perspectives.

Connect with Chris at 703 300 0300 or avchrisg at yahoo

If you liked this episode, also check out Bassist Aron “Teo” Lee’s episode “All In”.

Subscribe to iTunes

Subscribe on iTunes

Chris uses: K Custom Zildjian Cymbals | Hot Rods | Nylon Brushes

Edit: if you liked this episode, you may also like All About Worship’s Episode #159 on Drums with Mike Murray.