Charting difficult drum patterns (#41 Dave Matthews Band)
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Ayyooo! So I’m currently charting #41 by the Dave Matthews Band on drums, and there are some weird translations from the studio recording to rock band. If you don’t know, Carter Beauford uses an open-handed left handed technique in his drumming, which is cool, but can cause charting some of his songs to be nightmarish. I had so many questions in so many different parts of the song that I just decide to ask about the entire thing. But I still have specific questions too.
Here’s the chart I have so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUa-ku5CR7g
And here are some of the questions I have:
At 1:17, should I made the bell of the ride cymbal and the normal ride hits the same blue note, or leave it as is in the video?
In general, when Beauford plays both the ride and the crash/splash/china at the same time, should I just chart a green cymbal or both a green and blue cymbal?
In a lot of his fills, he keeps his ride going while filling with one hand. Should I chart that or should I just do the fill? (ex 3:28, 4:12)
Should I even bother with the auxiliary percussion parts in 3:39? Beauford doesn’t play it in the recording/live at all.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. This is my first time charting something I plan on releasing eventually, so I want it to be in the best condition possible.
Your first time charting and you choose a Dave Matthews song? I suppose #41 is one of the easier ones at least.
I would definitely chart both the bell and normal ride hits on blue and chart the fills as he plays them. If he hits ride and a cymbal either chart both blue and green or blue and yellow. Usually background percussion is not charted unless the main kit isn’t doing anything (in this case, it is so I wouldn’t chart the percussion).
1:17 Issue:
Yes, chart them both on blue. You have an option here. You’re allowed to chart this as either all blue, or only* the bell hits. The former is for most patterns when you can hear both the bell and the rim hits, while the latter is usually reserved for when you can really only hear the bell hits and/or the main pattern and cadence is done with the bell. Up to you here; it would play fine using either.
Ride + Crash:
If the ride is audible, then try and chart the blue with the cymbal. This is one of those things that doesn’t translate from a real kit into RB. The ride is on the right, and usually a person has at least one cymbal on his left as well to hit with their left hand. You can accomplish this doing the crash on Yellow and Ride on blue… but if it’s in a section with other yellow notes it looks and plays weird. If the crash really needs to be a green, avoid keeping the blue in if it’s a ride section. Basically, don’t make a player who has been playing a ride beat with their right hand change it to their left hand just to hit a crash with it (ie, B RB B B B BG B B B R:cool:
Fills with Rides:
Again, something that doesn’t translate too well. Similar to the “Don’t Stop Believin” or “…And Justice for All problem” where the hi-hat is actually played with the left hand and the right hand does everything else; just opposite. Here, you have the unusual option to chart the hi-hat or ride on the green, so that you have the other three pads open for the fill. You’re is very* awkward since you need snares, hi-hats, toms, and a crash. That may be your best option here; they you could have snare on R, Y for hi-hat and any double crash hits, and B for the tom and Crash. If you want any for of consistency…. I personally would do the tom B hits including* the ride, and the crash B hits without* the ride. This separates the notes in the players mind since one you hit with your off hand while continuing the ride on G, while the other you hit with you main hand only.
Aux Drums:
This comes down to preference, but it’s one or the other. You should* always be charting what the drummer themselves is playing in most circumstances, but if there is an auxiliary track being superimposed over a second, you have the option to chart that. However, if you do, make sure to only* chart out those parts and nothing with the main kit. Think “Burning Down the House”. There is a main drummer playing the standard beats, and a secondary standing drummer playing a second tom kit / bells / bongos / ect. During the two solo sections of the second drummer HMX charted those parts because they are front enough to be heard and charted, and are more fun to play. Here if you want to chart the woodblocks go for it, but make sure to just chart the woodblocks. I would throw that under a solo section as well if you do that route.
Yeah, I knew going into this that a Dave Matthews song isn’t the best first-timer song to start with, but I really wanted to play this song in Rock Band.
So I changed the ride pattern in 1:17 to all blues, changed some ride/crash hits to just crash when it was awkward to play, removed a few ghost notes to clean up the chart a bit, and slightly touched the fills up. I don’t really like moving the hat to the green just for a fill, it just doesn’t feel right to me. So I removed a few quiet ghost hits instead. The rest I feel is pretty good, so time to work on the other instruments!
Also for the auxiliary part, I might give an instrument or two to the mic. Might be a fun thing for the vocalist to do with all the solos going on.
Also for the auxiliary part, I might give an instrument or two to the mic. Might be a fun thing for the vocalist to do with all the solos going on.
Please, no.
” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif”>So I changed the ride pattern in 1:17 to all blues, changed some ride/crash hits to just crash when it was awkward to play, removed a few ghost notes to clean up the chart a bit, and slightly touched the fills up. I don’t really like moving the hat to the green just for a fill, it just doesn’t feel right to me. So I removed a few quiet ghost hits instead. The rest I feel is pretty good, so time to work on the other instruments!
If you are against the Ride on Green (trust me, I usually am too
” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” /> )… then it’s fine to keep it on the Blue. Keep crash on Green then. Only thing “off” will be that tom placement. Technically it should be yellow, but with the large amount of hi-hat in that section, ew. I’d say make it green (which I believe it is), and also keep the Ride of that adjacent hit unless it’s VERY audible.
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