One of these days, one of my brother's students asked me about reggae. Now, being the strict teacher, my brother often gets irritated at my fun way of just passing on the little that I know, and even playing, at times.
Right, to get back to where we started....it often struck me that the essence of reggae is a slow, churning groove. When I caught on reggae, I think I was attracted by the drums — for that matter, most KINDS of music I have been attracted to have been because of the drums — which were quite different. Actually, it was the snare tone —a clangy, metallic 'thang' that was VERY different from the Lionel Richie records that Choto Kaka played on the beat-up gramophone. Technically, it was the slippery hi-hat pattern — more slippery for a more accomplished player, so you have Stewart Copeland doing all the things in Tea In The Sahara — and the bass drum on '2' and '4' instead of '1'. This latter thing changed meaning, though, once I realised what the groove was all about, the scooped-out feel of it. Reggae is particularly enjoyable when played with an able percussionist. Oh, the splash accents!
PS: I know Gabloo actually enjoys it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment