Gavin Harrison

Rhythmic Designs: A Study of Practical Creativity

Book and 2-sided DVD

 

 

Over the years Gavin Harrison, the drummer with Porcupine Tree since 2002, has written a series of highly acclaimed books and DVDs that are all concerned with creating illusions whether it's the illusion of creating a new downbeat or a new tempo, etc. Gavin has become widely known for taking metric modulations, polyrhythms, and rhythmically displaced grooves used by some of the world's greatest drummers and breaking them down into a series of easily understandable exercises. In the process, however, he has succeeded in creating concepts much farther advanced than their originators have ever imagined.

Today we're looking at a book by Gavin that features drum transcripts (by Terry Branam) titled Rhythmic Designs: A Study of Practical Creativity. The 204 page book also comes with a 2-sided DVD that contains over two and a half hours of video. Released by the Hudson Limited division of Hudson Music, LLC.

Let's check it out.

Rhythmic Designs

This book features 20 detailed drum transcripts based on what Gavin played on his albums Drop and Circles. Both of these albums feature Gavin Harrison’s collaboration with singer and Extended Range Bass player 05Ric. The songs feature ground-breaking multi-layered guitars, vocal harmonies and, of course, Gavin's rhythmic creations. If you don't already have them, you'll need to get them to make the most of this book. (They can be purchased online at BurningShed.com.)

The included double-sided DVD features demonstrations from the album Drop on one side and the album Circles on the other. Both sides include lots of additional features including discussions and even play-along tracks (in MP3 format) of a sampling of songs from both albums both with and without a click track.

A Study of Practical Creativity

The best way to tackle the 20 drum charts in this collection is to choose a particular song and listen to it on the album first (albums not included, as per explanation above) and follow along with the appropriate drum transcription in the book. Then check out the demonstration on the included DVD and listen to the song again while following along with the transcript.

Play around on the drumset and experiment with some rhythmic patterns and fills of your own. If the song has a play-along track on the included DVD, use it. Record yourself and keep a notebook of any ideas and patterns that you come up with for later development. The whole idea to glean some ideas from Gavin while being creative yourself, not simply to mirror Gavin's drum parts exactly.

Before you know it you may have enough material to come up with a drum book of your own!

Rhythmic Designs: The Bottom Line
If you're a Gavin Harrison fan, this book and DVD combination is a no-brainer. Get it. You've probably already got his two albums, Drop and Circle, so you're all set to make the most of this package. If you're not a fan but are interested in learning to expand your rhythmic ideas and creativity on the drumset, you'll have a lot of fun with this package.

While a good value at its suggested retail price of  $29.95, you will find it at a terrific discount online:

Rhythmic Designs: A Study of Practical Creativity