The B12 (XII) Forum, home of the 'Front Porch, y'all' at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

It's fun to spy on influences. I tell people my foundations are Keith Moon and Alex Van Halen. Alex never met a cymbal crash he didn't like. As I've learned, I've felt a lot more Stewart Copeland. Stewart channels his middle-eastern upbringing and plays off the beat with finesse letting the sound vacancies enhance his touches. Not hearing the full bottom end of a passage can really make it powerful - so long as the vocals don't drag the tempo into a ditch.

What really makes me happy is to sit on my cajon (!) and have the djembe in hand. So many of my friends play guitar that I'd rather drag my hand percussion along to fill in. As long as they're prepared for a little Brazil/Peru/Argentina to salt up their Texas, it'll all sound OK.

If you don't have them already, you might really enjoy a couple of albums Stewart Copeland did with a group called Animal Logic back in the 80's.  It was Copeland, bassist Stanley Clarke, and a singer named Deborah (Holland?).  It's all very distinctly Stewart.  There's a song called Spy In The House of Love on one of them, it's a halftime feel, and his backbeat lands hard on the snare on the "and" of 3, instead of on the 3.  Nothing else about the groove gives away that displacement is coming or just happened.  It feels like you're listening to an odd-time song, but it's simple 4/4.  Very disorienting every time the snare lands, it's so solid and certain and doesn't feel like it was displaced, it makes you feel like you counted it wrong.  I love it.  

I like percussion but it hurts my hands.  

This thread got slow, wordy, and boring.  Time to KICK it up:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sj062vXAns

Who?

Well that song was certainly a thread killer.

I like Ray Charles 

my favorite Ray Charles hit


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUjr8EVgBg