The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Are there any open minded guitarists here would consider gigging with a skilled finger drummer like the ones here?

    The finger drumming talent seems to be really upping it's collective game. It looks like a new horizon appearing before our very eyes and I have to say, the sound palette of some of these guys is mouth watering (to me).

    I'm sure there are a lot of traditionalists and old school guys around here. Yay? Nay?






    Interesting. He even gives guitarists a compliment here.


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  3. #2

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    This technology is close to 40 years old, so since it it hasn't become that commonplace for live performing, I assume most everyone prefers to have a real drummer, even on a small kit, rather than some button tapper.

    15 years ago I actually filled in for a couple months at a weekly jam (not jazz) as the drummer, using only an electronic keyboard like this video.


  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    This technology is close to 40 years old, so since it it hasn't become that commonplace for live performing, I assume most everyone prefers to have a real drummer, even on a small kit, rather than some button tapper.

    Re button tappers. Yes, I agree. Funny how change creeps along as fast as molasses, until that one break away moment and then the world rushes to catch up.

  5. #4

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    The duet video with the bassist was great. But i think eventually all these electronic things come across as kind of soulless. Something missing. Maybe after we as humans listen to them for a few centuries the way we have listened to analog sources they will have the same impact..

  6. #5

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    Actually, soul is in the player, not the instrument, and plenty of great players use digital devices and are hardly to be called soulless. And the fact is, at this point in time, far more machine-made music is being sold than analog, so humans are already used to digital sounds, and appear to like them just fine. Roy "Future Man" Wooten of the Bela Fleck group certainly has proven the soulfulness of a master "button-pusher".

  7. #6

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    I can see advantages to it. Volume is controllable, and you can just tell the drummer to turn it down. It's still a live person playing, and the choice of instrument doesn't change that. Once upon a time, electrical guitars were new and frowned upon by "jazz musicians", until one day, everyone wanted an electric guitar so they could learn to play like Charlie Christian. Schlepping a drum set is hard, and having something portable is certainly an asset. Electronic pianos have been accepted for more than half a century, and I see no difference in electronic percussion. Whether the instrument needs electricity or not has no bearing on whether the musician can play, jazz or anything else. Take away electricity and the Goodman Sextet wouldn't have been possible, not Christian or Hampton. These days, horn players often use amplification, not to mention microphones all around the drumset. With this device, all those microphones can go away, and you can still have a real live human providing the percussion. I fail to see any downside.

  8. #7

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    If you didn't know, David "Fingers" Haynes, the guy in the second video of the 1st post, is also an awesome drummer on an acoustic kit. He's played acoustic drums with Chaka Khan, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Becker. He obviously has a lot of soul in his playing regardless of what he's banging on.

  9. #8

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    Trading in the jazz box for a LinnStrument might be prudent and more productive than the work that goes into mastering guitar, plus this puppy can sound like drums, tuba, sax, unicorn farts....whatever stuff your dreams are made of. Tomorrow is NOW, man...



  10. #9

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    Everyone knows Unicorns fart rainbows.

    How so the LinnStrument?

  11. #10

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    Of course the players in the video are amazing musicians. I was mostly referring to seeing people playing live, and it's just my personal opinion. I've played quite a bit with drummers that use a digital kit, triggers, samples and all. Unmatched utility and ease in getting a perfect sound, but still I much prefer the real thing. For me, the analog instruments have a greater appeal. Drums and percussion more than electronic ones, acoustic and classical guitar more than electrics, the piano more than keyboards, real horns more than digital ones etc.. Might be the sound, might just be bias,

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    Trading in the jazz box for a LinnStrument might be prudent and more productive than the work that goes into mastering guitar, plus this puppy can sound like drums, tuba, sax, unicorn farts....whatever stuff your dreams are made of. Tomorrow is NOW, man...



    JESUS "H" CHRIST!!!!! This is SICK!!!!


    I had no idea that the famous Lin drum still lived. This is this descended from that Linn drum is it not?
    Let me calm down. It's too late to turn back....



    @sgosnell

    "Once upon a time, electrical guitars were new and frowned upon by "jazz musicians", until one day, everyone wanted an electric guitar so they could learn to play like Charlie Christian."


    Ah men and AH-MEN! Gersundheit.

  13. #12

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    It's nice to give a sound, and provide a rhythm section role.
    For me myself, drumming has always been something much more than the sound. The drummers I have found inspiring have been musicians who have thought of drumming as a kind of dancing made into music. There is a physicality in good drumming that is born of a whole body experience. That's what I get from a drummer who orchestrates, energizes and really reacts to the gestalt of the musical performance, as opposed to providing a drum track. Drumming is a very dynamic dialogue between a percussion section within itself in concert with an ensemble. That's what I expect.
    Maybe I just didn't hear the kind of insightful creativity in these clips, but when I play with a drummer, I feel the movement, the physical commitment to sound through movement. ' don't really get that here.

    But I'm open to the possibilities. Just don't hear it here.
    David

  14. #13

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    I agree with the comments above and can't add much. I think digital drums are great. I think it could be a significant part of the future and I suppose it already is. Better for some kinds of music than others maybe. And piano and especially organ players are basically pushing buttons. Even programmed drum tracks for funky stuff. I went to what I guess could be called a package show of Caribbean Soca music. It was a first class show with big names like the Mighty Sparrow etc. There was at least one keyboard, guitar, bass, a conga player, a couple of horns but no traps drummer. I didn't even notice it until the middle of the 2nd or 3rd song. For funkier music I would prefer programmed drums to a mediocre live drummer.

  15. #14

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  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alter
    Of course the players in the video are amazing musicians. I was mostly referring to seeing people playing live, and it's just my personal opinion. I've played quite a bit with drummers that use a digital kit, triggers, samples and all. Unmatched utility and ease in getting a perfect sound, but still I much prefer the real thing. For me, the analog instruments have a greater appeal. Drums and percussion more than electronic ones, acoustic and classical guitar more than electrics, the piano more than keyboards, real horns more than digital ones etc.. Might be the sound, might just be bias,
    I played in a jazz trio with a couple of guys who had been playing together off and on since music school (decades earlier). The drummer had both digital and physical kits. For the typically cramped performance areas we played, the digital kit really helped with breathing room, as the leader liked to supplement his excellent guitar skills with keyboard wizardy. The digital stuff sounded great, and did the job. It really helped that the drummer was/is exceptionally good.

    But on those occasions when there was stage space, the physical kit was just a treat - you can do a lot electronically, but 3-d sound is really where it's at, for me.

    That being said, when I was free-lancing, filling in for whatever reason, there was many a night when I wished mightily there was a volume knob I could gently turn in the "less is more" direction, if you know what I mean.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by dot75
    Fun video! Of course, Vinnie C could play a cardboard box and sound better than all other drummers!



    Paul Wertico (Pat Metheny Group) lives in Chicago and plays with the incredible John Moulder; Paul literally plays anything at this gig!


  18. #17

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    I'm not against technology, but still prefer almost any real acoustic percussion alternative. In the end, put anything in the hands of good musicians and they can exploit it musically, even electronics.






  19. #18

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    Bela Fleck had the amazing finger drummer, Roy "Future Man" Wooten as his drummer for years.



  20. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by fep
    If you didn't know, David "Fingers" Haynes, the guy in the second video of the 1st post, is also an awesome drummer on an acoustic kit. He's played acoustic drums with Chaka Khan, Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Randy Becker. He obviously has a lot of soul in his playing regardless of what he's banging on.
    Very true:

    David is currently the drummer for Till Bronner (Jazz Trumpeter)

    Till Bronner - Wikipedia

    DHaynesakafingerrs
    - YouTube

  21. #20

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    Roy Wooten is also an excellent set drummer.

  22. #21

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    Sure, why not? Opens up a lot of potential for all kinds of sounds as well.

  23. #22

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    It would better if they did it on Keytar, tho.

  24. #23

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    Here's what honky tonk groups did back when drums weren't allowed in the Opry.


  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    It would better if they did it on Keytar, tho.
    Keytar?
    I thought people stopped using those in the 80's. You need really big 80's hair to keytar. Dave Stewart could hide a VCR in his doo back then.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stevebol
    Keytar?
    I thought people stopped using those in the 80's. You need really big 80's hair to keytar. Dave Stewart could hide a VCR in his doo back then.
    Yes. I want them on Keytar. We can video the band on an old JVC camcorder and issue it on VHS. The album goes out on cassette only.

    #fuckinhipsters