2nd Issue, July 2007: Metric Modulation - Turning a 4 over 3 polyrhythm into a beat, then growing 2 more beats out of it!

Welcome to the 2nd July Big Drum, 2007! It's been another busy month, UDS 2007 is well underway and looking and sounding fantastic. So far I've filmed the entire beginners section with new footage on: Technique: basics grips, using specific combinations of fingers, wrists, arms and stick heights to get different speeds and volumes, heel up and heel down foot technique, American, German and French grip, Rebound and Wrist strokes. Rudiments - singles, doubles, parradiddles, flams, buzz rolls.

Setup & Adjustment: how to setup and adjust your kit relative to your body type and height. Getting drum/cymbal angles and heights correct, inherent problems in adjusting toms and more.. Tuning: HEAPS of footage on getting different sounds from toms, snare and bass drum. The tuning technique itself, getting the skin in tune with itself, and in tune with the opposite skin, how a drum and sound reflection works, which combinations of single and double ply skins to use to get different effects, which skin to tune how tight depending on the effect you want etc. Reading and Rhythms: How percussion clef works and how the dots in different spaces or lines represent different drums/cymbals, basic note values - 1/4 notes, 8ths, 16ths, triplets etc, how rests work (notating silence), how to combine different note values and combining note values with rests. Rock Beginner and Rock Intermediate: I've just finished all the filming for these two section, far out there are a lot of beats in here! Now comes the editing! SECTIONS STILL TO COME: Rock Advanced Total Jazz Total Latin Advanced Techniques & Stickings Double Bass Drumming The Live Gig Show! (Live Gig and Home Studio) Fast Track Your Practice! ...and lots of other goodies :) Check out some of the new UDS 2007 drum tuning footage! ON WITH THE SHOW! "STACKING BEATS INSIDE BEATS USING METRIC MODULATIONS!" Today I'm going to give you an insight into how Metric Modulation works within polyrhythmic beats. A polyrhythm is any two rhythms being played simultaneously, and a polyrhythmic beat is when you turn one or both of these rhythms into a recognizable beat. Or two. Today we're using a 4 over 3 polyrhythm as the core unit. Which means 4 even hits spaced out over 3 beats. Which means we're in 3/4 time. Always remember, since you're playing a 4 rhythm and a 3 rhythm (which both sound like pulses on their own, and they are) you can at any stage focus on just one of the beats, and "grow" (i love that as an explanation :) a new beat on just that pulse alone. Check the vid for the scoop.. (this is the new studio sound also!) Part 2 here. See it turned into a funky beat! CLICK FOR THE EZYBEATS!

That's it for this Big Drum, anything you'd like to see reviewed for the next issue - it's your newsletter so write in at bigdrum@icanplaydrums.com!

Happy Drumming!

Jack Bennett
Icanplaydrums.com