Pywacket
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Nov 21 2005
Posts: 563
Loc: WALES
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Cody's post on the subject started me thinking. I rarely solo these days but I'd be interested to know how those of you who do regularly take centre stage prepare and execute. Carefully planned and similar each time or off the cuff and different? The reason I ask is plans are underway to change our live show and I would like to open with the one number we play that starts with drums. When incorporated in the set it is a simple pattern of 16's on the left hand floor tom with 1/4 notes on the kick, 2 and 4 on snare. To use it as an opening number I would want to start it with a short solo. Nothing fancy but I'm not sure whether I should wing it every night or "arrange" something and stick to it. Appreciate thoughts/advice.
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...the completion backwards principle
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Tea Bag
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Sep 16 2004
Posts: 1105
Loc: Canada
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I don't solo much but when I do I'm usually prepared with some sort of game plan. A typical one would be start out with quiet snare and kick and show off some rudiments and foot combos while laying down a foundation for a groove. I'd then work in some snare/tom combo grooves and then build with cymbals and accents. if I was feeling brave I'd start into one of those building kick-tom rolls and bring it up with building snare shots and cymbals. At this point I would then spontaneously combust leaving only a smoking smouldering drum throne basking in a single spot light. Although if I'm still in one piece, just when it really gets cooking I'd switch gears and just lay down a really funky beat that uses the whole kit.. which would lead the band back in..
Of course I'd change it or wing it but within a framework. The idea being to have the solo have some place to go and work the dynamics and groove to make it interesting.
Anyway that's the way I approach solos..
Oh yeah, I'm all for effects; whether its lighting, bandmates adding percussion, or keyboard effects etc. and who can resist a drum riser that lifts off the stage a spins you upside down??
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Timsan
Tiger Talk Trainee
Reged: Apr 18 2008
Posts: 23
Loc: QLD, Australia
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I think if you can plan the solo out and rehearse it so that it becomes polished, you'll have more success. Start with a basic theme and gradually embellish it so that it Add some stick tricks/spins/twirls/tosses and some crossover moves in order to add some visual effect to the whole thing.
I think if you do an improvised solo, there's more likelihood that it could flop. Plan ahead and build the excitement. As the solo becomes more polished and you start to know it inside out you can then embellish and add extra licks/bits without detracting from the whole thing.
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Yamaha drums - Meinl cymbals - Pro Mark sticks. http://www.myspace.com/funkengrooven
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awfulldrummer
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Jun 26 2007
Posts: 487
Loc: manchester, nh, usa
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there's a classic concert they play on pbs, stevey ray vaughn. he's doing his thing shredding his guitar up and down an amazing solo i don't think he could have put in another note. he was in his element he did everything swetting all over, nothing could possibly top what he did, he rocked! then BB King comes out hits one note, he holds it, it was perfect! the crowd(and i) forgot that there was anybody else up there with BB!
simplicity my friend!
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Alistair
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: May 17 2006
Posts: 311
Loc: New Zealand
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Base it around a theme - a groove, or something like that.
"Drum Wisdom" by Bob Moses has some ideas along these lines which may help you.
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awfulldrummer
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Jun 26 2007
Posts: 487
Loc: manchester, nh, usa
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Quote:
Base it around a theme - a groove, or something like that.
"Drum Wisdom" by Bob Moses has some ideas along these lines which may help you.
great point Max Roach, i think, did it that way. plus i heard also to keep music in your head! like either a song or have a made up song(of your own) in your head while you solo!
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Mike4
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Dec 03 2002
Posts: 620
Loc: Maryland
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I solo every gig and depending on how big the group and the gig's leader determines how much.
Playing jazz, I never know when I'm going to solo or for how long except that it's usually going to be the last solo in the song before the head. There may be some variation as to the where, but not much. Depending on the song, it could be 4', 8's or a chorus or two. Whatever it is, it's always improvised and based on what's happening beforehand. Rhythymic, rudimental, melodic, whatever. I pick a theme or destination and explore it. I try to remember to incorporate nuance and dymanics as well a bit of showmanship and joy in what I'm doing.
In any other types of music that I've played (pop, rock & r&b, etc), most of the solo sections were rehearsed and stayed the same with a few embelishments other than say a groove section where other percussion players are joining the fray.
How about a default, "plan A" intro that's reheased and known (and played for most shows). But if you feel a creative spark or just want to stretch out on a special night, make your bandmates aware of the potential for the "plan B" intro and go for the improvised or extended solo....Best wishes on a great tour.
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keep_wit_it
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Aug 28 2005
Posts: 1468
Loc: CA
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Hey pye! When's the US tour? 
Another great way to solo and keeps the band involved is to solo over a vamp. Have the band keep the main riff of the song nice and tight(guitars palmmuted) and solo over that. Build it up and think of four bar phrases. Maybe four 4 bar phrases on the snare while accenting colorfully, then maybe another four 4 bar phrases building on dynamics and adding toms and then cymbals and twirls. Finally coming into the groove of the song leading with applauses.  Since the band is playing the Main riff of the song then you have a reference point and keep the solo "in the song".
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dont give up!!
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Tea Bag
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Sep 16 2004
Posts: 1105
Loc: Canada
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I do several short solo intros based on Ronnie Tutts work with the Las Vegas Elvis period (the guys a chops factory!). and often he'd start out pounding the floor tom with regular cymbal crashes and walking the kick and HH. Tom patterns could be like a bo-didley thing (That's Allright Momma)or wipeout type rolls..(CC Rider) but coming out of it with a big snare roll then onto a snare/bell cymbal groove to lead the band in.
It's a simple formula but effective..
.. and yes - I play it the same way every time (give or take an errant note here and there). Otherwise the band might get thrown off and not jump in at the right place.
although from listening to Ronnie Tutts different versions on Youtube, he seemed to play things slightly different on any given night, but still the same framework and general rythmn patterns.
Edited by Tea Bag (Wed May 07 2008 10:35 AM)
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roger strange
Tiger Talk Pro
Reged: Dec 09 2003
Posts: 1076
Loc: Nova Scotia Canada
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Well, I pretty well covered how I treat soloing, when I DO solo, in the first thread. I keep my mind open, am prone at times to shake my head NO to the cats in the band if I don't have anything to add to an already fine tune, and when I do solo I really don't have much prepared unless of course it's a pat show. Pat solos are basically just a drum part with no accompnyment anyway for me. My solos come out of the attitude and style of what ever tune I am working in at the time. I keep my mind blank as far as pre-meditated thought, and I just flow into the slot. My solos always come out of the tune I am playing at the time, they have a form of their own that starts usually with a A section coming directly from the piece we are playing. I'll do a variation on A and then create a B section, reprise with another A section variation and possibly slip to a C section and then probably go out on the original A theme which naturally flows back into the tune. It's not consciously something that I work on it just seems to happen. I never prepare a personal solo at all. If I'm copping a solo in a show then as I said it's just an extended drum part anyway and is memorized. Not what I would express really, but needed at the time to facilitate the tune. I never pre-meditate any technical stuff at all. That is no more than having a command of the vocabulary of the language of the drum anyway. Much like taking the floor in a discussion group and just expanding ideas using your command of the spoken word. I've been known to shake my head many a time in a tune to soloing because I won't solo "just because". My solos are "in the moment" and are never quite the same ever again. That, as I mentioned above, does not include pat solos in a show that have to be copped. Above all, drum solos had better be entertaining to the listener because otherwise they get labelled as "noise" by the listeners. They have to speak, and as I mentioned on the other thread, I watch my audience very carefully while I am soloing and will change up right away to catch their interest.
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