THE MAKING OF THE GREGG BISSONETTE „MUSICAL DRUMMING IN DIFFERENT STYLES“-DVD
An inside report by Rob Wallis
Over the years, many people have asked me and my partner, Paul Siegel, to explain how we make our videos and DVDs. As founders of DCI Music Video, we began making videos for drummers in 1982. We've produced hundreds of programs, switching several years ago to the production of DVDs.
The DVD format is the perfect medium for the types of programs we produce – whether its an instructional program like one we did with Thomas Lang („Creative Control“), a documentary like the „Classic Jazz Drummers“ series, a performance like the „Drummers Collective 25th Anniversary Show“ and „Modern Drummer Festival“, or a mix of all of these, as in the Steve Smith DVD „Drumset Techniques – History Of The US Beat“.
The DVD format allows for a lot more
content to be put into a small package. Our programs in the „old days“
typically ran 90 minutes, now we are able to put out a double DVD set with 5
or 6 hours of material. And the DVD format allows for very easy scanning as
well as things like an artist commentary track, 5.1 surround sound mixes,
photo galleries and so much more.
No matter the format, player or content, every program we've produced takes
extensive preparation before we get to the studio. For the new Gregg
Bissonette DVD that we recently shot, we began with an outline of what we
wanted the content to cover. That outline went back and forth between Paul
and me and Gregg. Once we had that more or less in the ballpark, Gregg went
into a rehearsal studio and did a run through of the material in front of
his home video camera (and his cameraman/dad Bud). This allowed Gregg to
look over his presentation to smooth out things he wanted to better explain
and to look at his playing to make sure he was happy with everything he was
doing. He sent us the tape so that we could do the same. The run through
also allowed us to think about organizing the material for the DVD – to
think how the menus and „buttons“ would be arranged and also to time the
sections, so we had an idea of the length of the material.
While this was all taking place, we had to decide what studio we wanted to
use. We had been using a wonderful studio called Beartracks, just outside
NYC. But we felt it was time for a change, as we wanted to have a different
look in the studio. We decided on a beautiful studio in upstate New York,
just outside of Woodstock. The studio was located on the top of a mountain
that took fifteen minutes to drive up to, on a one lane road that sometimes
felt more like a dirt path. The mountain had breathtaking views, and the
studio at the top was pastoral. But inside the small complex of barns and
buildings were a state-of-the-art recording studio, a huge room for Gregg
and his drums and sleeping facilities for us, Gregg, our staff and the
entire crew. One of the logistics we had to deal with was food. Fifteen
minutes down the mountain and then back up again would delay things too
much, so we decided to bring in a cook who would make us three meals a day
and we could all eat together in the dining hall.
Next we booked „our“ crew. Most of the camera, lighting, and audio people
have been working on all of our productions for many years. Once the crew
and studio were booked, we then put together a shooting schedule based on
the demo video Gregg sent us. We also drafted a „call“ log which had the
time each of the various crew members needed to arrive.
Gregg arrived the day before the shoot so he could get used to the time
change (he’d flown in from Los Angeles) and wanted time to work on last
minute changes in his outline and also start to set up the drumset that had
been shipped in by Mapex and listen to the new cymbals Zildjian sent (in
addition to the ones he’d brought). He also managed to get some time in the
incredible pool that was built into the side of the mountain.
The crew call was 6:30 am for day 1. We had split the crew in half,
with some working inside setting up the room-doing lights, setting up and
positioning Gregg’s drums, miking, setting cameras etc.
At the same time we had a crew setting up in our first position outdoors. We
had made a decision that if we were going to be in such a beautiful
location, we should incorporate some of the surroundings into the
production.
I arrived at about 8:30 am, driving up with our partner that is in charge on
Hudson Music Europe, Ron Fry, who had flown in for the filming. The weather
had taken a turn for the worse. What was beautiful the day before had turned
into a light rain, but worse was the fog that got heavier the higher up the
mountain we went.
Gregg started the day reviewing his outline and going over what he was going
to say in the first few outdoor locations. We had decided to shoot a lot of
what didn’t need to be done at a drumset, outside. At 9 am, we began
shooting the intro to the DVD. Gregg was to walk up a stone staircase along
the side of the mountain to the pool area and talk (using a wireless clip-on
mic) as he walked. The rain had stopped just before we started, but the fog
continued to roll in. We wondered how it would look on camera and decided,
given the setting, that people watching would
understand it was „real“ fog.
Gregg was great in his delivery, adding some of his best comedy routines in
between takes. We filmed at several spots around the studio grounds while
the inside crew was hard at work getting ready for its turn. A few pipes had
to be suspended from the 45 foot ceiling and some 30 foot windows needed to
be covered with a plastic film so the natural light would not look
discolored on film. The indoor crew worked roughly from 9 am to 7 pm and the
„outdoor“ crew worked from 7 am to 6 pm. We all met up for lunch about noon.
After lunch the rain picked up again so we were forced to find some
interesting areas to film inside and given the age of some of the complex
buildings – some were almost 80 years old – finding great locations was not
difficult. Late in the afternoon, all the lighting was just about done, all
the drum heads were changed by our drum tech Daniel (from Hudson Music
Brazil), the drums were miked and after dinner Gregg tuned the drums. We
used two Mapex drumsets – one large kit and a small jazz kit. Gregg also
listened to the large assortment of Zildjian cymbals and decided on what he
wanted to use for various song performances and demos.
We all tried to get to bed at a decent hour, as we know we had a long day
ahead ...
Our plan for Day 2 was to „roll tape“ at 9:30 am, with a crew call for 8:30.
At about 9 am, for some unknown reason, we discovered a hum going to the
audio tape that had not been there the afternoon before. So Sean, our audio
engineer, Ralph, our video engineer and Mike, our lighting designer, began
to try to figure out what was causing it. Three hours later the problem was
pinpointed: a certain line of lights with a dimmer was creating it. New
electric lines were run. We ate lunch without a single minute of tape having
been rolled all morning, but everyone was determined to try and catch up.
We did final lighting checks, Gregg warmed up at the drums and then we
recorded one song to test the drum sounds. At 1:00, we finally began rolling
tape.
Gregg covered a lot of ground: from James Brown's drummers to how ghost
notes help create a groove. He also
talked about Morris Day and the Time and drummer Jellybean Johnson and the
song 777-7311 and how the groove inspired him for the song „Marbles“. He
then demonstrated many of the song’s parts. Gregg went on to discuss how
drummers control the tempo, and that drummers have more control over
dynamics than anyone else in the band. He showed some
patterns he played and demoed double paradiddles in groups of six. He
also did a beautiful demonstration about beat displacement.
He had the crew clap „2 & 4“ and see if they could keep
it once he began displacing beats.
Gregg next moved on to discussing playing loud and its effects on your
hearing, singing as a drummer, auditioning and getting gigs, choosing your
equipment, riding on the crash cymbal, playing fills with your bassdrum, and
Tony Williams inspired fills – not thinking but rather creating and the
amazing camaraderie in the drumming community. Again Gregg was flawless as
he demonstrated the parts to „Submarine“.
Next, Gregg talked about Latin music: the 2/3 songo and 2/3 son clave and
the 3/2 songo and 3/2 son clave. He showed cascara patterns and talked about
the importance of listening when playing. He also talked about listening to
music in the style you want to play and in this case talked about listening
to drummers like Horacio „El Negro“ Hernandez, Changuito, Luis Conte and his
teacher, Jimmy Branly. He spoke about the importance of being open-minded to
different styles of music and how many styles relate to one another and that
being a better jazz drummer can help your shuffle playing. He then demoed a
lot of patterns on the song „No Hay Parqueo“.
It was now 5:30 pm and Gregg moved on to odd time signatures. He talked
about the music of Frank Zappa, Yes, Dream Theater and Joe Morello/Dave
Brubeck („Take 5“). He showed various ways of counting in time signatures
like 5/4, 7/4, 9/4 and ways to group in odd time signatures. He showed how
to come up with a groove in 7/8 and then showed the parts of Noah's Ark.
Everything was performed in one take. Thanks to Gregg’s flawless speaking
and performances, we were back on schedule.
After Gregg discussed his equipment, we broke for dinner. Gregg talked with
the crew as we all ate and told stories about his touring days over the past
15 years. Some of the crew got into a doubles ping pong tournament while
some others played billiards. During the break we reviewed the rest of what
we needed to accomplish after dinner and everything that Gregg was going to
discuss, and we listened to some of the takes we recorded.
After a great dinner and nice break, we continued with Gregg discussing his
tom tom tuning and how he tried to have the pitches match the bass part in
the Wayne Shorter song, „Footprints“. And from there he talked about drum
techniques and the parts to the song „Train to Willoughby“. He discussed
some of his favorite bands, like the Foo Fighters, and showed the New
Orleans inspired second line drum break in the song.
Gregg then discussed the blues – Chicago Blues, T Bone Walker and playing
Blues shuffles. He demonstrated various patterns playing „all four on the
floor“, a hi-hat technique he saw Steve Gadd do, and playing ghost notes
before an accent to add to the feel. He talked about playing and soloing in
a blues form and summed everything up by showing the parts to „Cloudy Day“.
It was now 8 pm, and Gregg seemed to be as energetic and fresh as he was at
8 in the morning. He then got into one of his favorite subjects, big band
drumming. He talked about playing figures and setting up the band ahead of a
rhythmic figure. He showed the importance of knowing how the band is
articulating figures (playing a long or a short note) and showed what to do
and what not to do when accenting notes. He also talked about reading a big
band chart and showed many examples.
And then we were on to the last piece of the evening’s work, the closing for
the DVD. He talked about the importance of being musical, making the music
feel good and not concentrating on soloing but playing music. He
demonstrated some of the great trademark drumparts such as John Bonham
(„Rock n’ Roll“), Gene Krupa („Sing, Sing, Sing“), Charlie Watts („Honky
Tonk Woman“), Jeff Porcaro („Rosanna“) and Ringo („Come Together“).
We got through this and called it a day (or a night) at about 10 pm. A very
long, but a very good day. Gregg’s years of doing so many drum clinics
helped him deliver a huge amount of information in a short period of time.
Day 3 started with an 8:30 crew call and a 9 am projected start time. The
main things left to do were for Gregg to perform with tracks for all of the
songs he used to demonstrate the various drumming techniques and styles he
demonstrated on Day 2. No small task to perform 8 songs and a few
miscellaneous tracks, as well as do a free form drum solo.
We started with Gregg replaying the Gene Krupa demo again, as he felt he had
played it a little too fast the previous night. We also did another take of
his closing comments. Because he was fresh, both of these were improvements
over what he had done the night before. He then added a discussion of „the
working drummer and getting gigs“, and also discussed studio drumming and
tips he had for playing sessions.
At about 11:15 we began the song takes with Gregg performing „Marbles“. This
was done in one take. At 11:45 he performed „Submarine“ and someone in the
studio pulled out an electric cord and some mics went out, so we needed to
do a second take. Take 2 was fantastic. At 12:25 he played „Train To
Willoughby“ (again one take). He then played „Noah’s Ark“ and in the middle
went to the wrong section, so a second take was needed. This one was
perfect. At 1:10 Gregg performed „No Hay Parqueo“ – again, in one take!
Gregg then went immediately into playing a drum solo and this was also done
in one take. Incredible!
We filmed him performing „Cloudy Day“ at 1:50 and then broke for lunch.
Gregg had been recording for close to three hours without getting up from
the drumset, and barely missed a note! We all enjoyed another good
meal and spent time planning the rest of the day and going over our check
list to make sure we hadn’t forgotten to film anything.
We also listened back to Gregg’s performances to make sure we were all happy
with them.
At 3:30 Gregg did a take of „Lum Lum“ and decided he could do a
better performance, so he took another pass at the song and he was right. He
had a brilliant performance on take 2. At 4 pm he performed „Tribute To
Tony“, Gregg’s tribute to Tony Williams. Another great
first take, with the signature Tony tom licks and all! Gregg then did
three takes of the fast big band piece and one take on the slow version and
that took us to Gregg’s discussion of „Lum Lum“. He
talked about his focus on the ride cymbal when playing a swing feel. He
discussed song form and sang the parts to the tune and showed a typical AABA
song form. He also talked about the importance of staying
focused during performance.
At 5:30 Gregg discussed the Tony Williams tribute song. He talked about
flying up to San Francisco to study with Tony and demonstrated some of the
things he learned, like Tony’s trademark flam fills on the toms and his fast
ride cymbal patterns. We finished up in the main studio at 6 pm with Gregg’s
discussion of big band drumming.
We filmed Gregg playing some trumpet parts for the big band section (make
sure you check out his trumpet chops on the DVD). We then had a review
meeting to make sure we covered everything we had planned. We went page by
page thru the 20 page outline we had prepared. We also listened back to
several performances to make sure everyone was happy with them.
The crew began to pack up all of the equipment – typically a 3 to 4 hour
job. We also took a lot of photos with Gregg and the crew members and sat
with Gregg to unwind after a whirlwind three days.
On my ride back home that night (I left the studio for the trip down the
mountain in complete blackness), I thought about how comfortable Gregg was,
playing so many different styles of music and how truly musical his playing
was from the first note to the last. I have known Gregg for many,
many years and have seen him play many times, but I had never seen anything
like what he had done over these few days.
Now on to the post production ...
(© by Rob Wallis, Hudson Music,
2005)
Weitere Informationen zu Gregg Bissonette sowie den DVDs von Hudson Music:
und
