It’s No [Drum] Skin Off Your [Musical] Noises
Recording musical noises is an interesting part of any percussionist’s job. The more creative you can be with musical noises the more valuable you’ll be. In the video(s) below you’ll see an insight into my percussive playing whilst recording on the Mediaeval Baebes album – A Pocketful Of Posies. This style of music predominantly calls for tribal (sounding) drumming, or indeed medieval drumming. That is why I mainly use Tom Toms and Bass Drum to replicate the sound of tribal / early drums. Some of the music also requires an eerie sound quality to them. Subsequently this requires harsher sounds or other musical noises.
Metal Drumming
Back in my youth I listened to a lot to heavy metal music and tried to emulate it as much as possible when learning to play drums. This however, is a different style of Metal drumming that comes in handy for sessions such as this with the Mediaeval Baebes.
Great percussionists / drummers such as Airto Moreira use all kinds of objects to create interesting musical noises. So nothing new with this concept but the challenge is trying to make it musical. Anyone can smack two pieces of metal together, the skill is trying to induce a sound that perhaps to the untrained ear might be just what’s required.
Check out Evelyn Glennie metal drumming here – https://youtu.be/2TulIE34GBs It’s truly fascinating what sounds can be generated from metal.
So should you ever want that eerie sound for your production, try some metal objects. For example, during the Mediaeval Baebes’ session my cymbals were used for that exact desired effect. By using a drumstick much like a stylus on a vinyl record on a spinning cymbal underneath, you can get all kinds of eerie squeaks and shrieks.
Do Experiment
It is said that ‘Necessity is the mother of all invention‘ so do experiment with items that may already be at your session; such as chairs, desks et.al. Experiment with all the types of percussion you have available to you until you get the sound perfect for the job. You’ll want to keep an open mind to hitting anything that will create musical noises for your session. In the video above of my Mediaeval Baebes’ session you’ll see me striking a metal pole against several items –
- a metal speaker handle,
- a music stand (rested against a stand)
- a coat rack pole on top of a keyboard stand
- the base of a chair
You’ll find most things make a noise when you strike them. You never know what will happen when you open up your mind to these kind of possibilities – so DO EXPERIMENT.
Remember why it is you’re at the session – to enhance the music and for your creative input. Be open to creative ideas and recording musical noises.
Have you had to play unusual things to get musical noises? Leave me a comment in the section below.
