A Different Drummer

Dear Readers:

Have you ever heard the saying:

"He marches to the beat of a different drummer"?

Yes-I have........  __
No--I have nott __

Whether you have or haven't, check out the drummer in THIS band:

Click here for the music.

(Note: link opens in a new window)

********************
Editor's Comments:
********************
Finally and at last!! .A drummer that can keep a steady tempo.
.
Now THAT'S different!! (LOL)
 
Anxious to know more about this phenomenon I sent an e-mail query to international officers of the A.F.of M. who quickly replied that the drummer's name is registered with them as Deere.

There was a John somewhere in their response, but it wasn't clear whether it went before or after the Deere part so until that issue is resolved, just plain old Deere will have to do.

I'm sure all of you noticed that at the end of the piece Mr. Deere did not stop playing, but continued on, totally oblivious to all... as if he didn't realize a thing that was going on around him.

From long experience I can assure you, that is indeed the way it was.
.
He didn't realize what was going on around him!

While they're happily banging away, drummers almost never realize what's going on around them... or in front of them... or behind them..

Believe this!

But that's not at all surprising to me, because over the course of 30 years as a professional musician, both as a sitting member of the ensemble and while on the podium as a conductor, I painfully came to realize that once they get started, the vast majority of percussionists live in Never-Never-Land until some-one or some-thing physically jars them back to reality.

Blunt trauma of some sort administered forcibly to the side of the head usually does the trick sooner or later.

After countless attempts to persuade drummers both young and old to consistently watch the conductor and/or listen to everybody else, I admitted defeat at last, acknowledged the fact that drummers are a breed of their own, and reluctantly accepted their inattentions as par for the course... a necessary evil that must be tolerated, like it or not.

So, forearmed with my previous experiences, after the band finished playing .Sweet Georgia Brown in the video clip, I actually expected Mr. Deere to truck on and would have been quite astonished if he had quit at the end along with everybody else.

Be that as it may, the question remains:

What to DO about drummers??!!

Ya' can't live without 'em...

Excuse me... what's that again?
.
Oho!! .You think that you can??

Well then Dear Readers, let me ask you this:

What would Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra* be without the stirring throb of the tympani at the beginning? (* the theme to 2001: A Space Odessey)

Taaaa,taaaa,taaaaaaaa...ta-daaaaaaaa boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom-boom -- boom --- Boom ---- BOOM...

How effective would Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf be with no percussion to noisily announce the thrilling entrance of the hun- ters and portray the gunshots that they fire at the wolf?

No percussion = No hunters!!! .Just think about it, will you...

Without hunters it surely would have meant the end for Little Red Riding Hood- and her dear old Granny to boot!!  EGAD!

What would Connecticut Halftime be without a snare drum?

I'll tell you what it would be. It would be total dead silence since Connecticut Halftime is an a cappella solo for snare.

"But...", you say uncertainly "... silence is golden... isn't it?"

So - you're still not qui-i-i-te convinced.. but I can see some cracks..

OK then... here's some more for you...

When they're not playing, how could a marching band march down the avenue without the steady rhythmic cadence of the drums to keep them all in step?
.
rata tat tat tat
rata tat tat tat
rata tat tat tatatata tat tat tat...

What would The Little Drummer Boy* be without a drum, eh? *(originally Carol of the Drum)

The Plain Old Ordinary Ho-Hum Regular Boring Snot-nosed Tedious Droopy Drawers Dull Little Boy with No Drum at all! - that's what!

Can you imagine Christmas with no "Pa rump-a-pum-pum"?

INDEED!

And try this one on for size...

What if there were no "Drums Along the Mohawk"?

My Word!! .Perish the thought!!

How exciting would reenactments of our own Revolutionary War be without the image of the brave young drummer boy ... steadfastly marching to the fray beside his brethren; one playing the fife and the other holding our proud but tattered battle flag?

What about Gun Fight - the fourth movement to Aaron Copland's Billy the Kid? Without the percussion section there'd be no gun-
... there'd be no fight!!

Bummer!!
--------------------------
Now - close your eyes and imagine the below...

BOOM... boom boom...
Boom... boom boom...
Boom... .boom boom...

.
What's that one??

Aha - very good! .Now you're beginning to get the hang of it!
.
Yes indeed, it's Copeland again - this time, the introduction to his Fanfare for the Common Man.

I ask you... how would Bob Dylan have opened half of his shows without Fanfare for the Common Man?
.
Here's a tough one...
.
BrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrUP!
BrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrUP!
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
DeedleDeeldeDeedleDeeldeDeedleEDeeDee
DEEE
Deet deet dee deee deee dee
DeedleEDeeDee...
.
Give up?
.
OK, I understand... it WAS tough. It's Rossini's La Gaza Ladra!! (The Thieving Magpie)
.
See what I mean? .Ya' can't live without 'em...
.
So, noisy as they always are, irritating as they often can be...
.
Ya' gotta live with 'em!!
.
GOOD HEAVENS!!!
.
The Bottom Line:
.
As a life-long instrumentalist, though it's tough to finally admit, when it comes down to drums and drummers alike, the fact remains:
.
Sometimes maybe silence isn't so golden after all!!
.

*****

Dedicated to my friend Dan Kline who is-you guessed it-a drummer!
P.S.
As Dan has succinctly reminded me, and on more than one occasion:
The rest of the band plays whenever the drummers allow them to!!
.
Dear Readers: ... I rest my case ...
.