17 nov 2007

I love wire brushes because of the textural dimension and dynamic potential. The take trap drumming a step toward hand drumming, in the variety of available sounds. There's a horizontal movement in place of the mostly vertical, up and down dimension of sticks. There's also a sensuality there. Metal on skin. I had a lesson just on brushes today and I got a lot of good metaphors for poetry out of it. Hopefully I'll be able to play them more convincingly too.

"Conviene percutir"

I've always like that line by Valente. (It behooves {you} to percuss)

Brushes are only part percussive, the other part being frictional. That's where the sensuality comes in.

They work at fast tempos too.

1 comentario:

Jay dijo...

Nice observation about brushes. They add colors and mystery. I'd heard that Billy Higgins, who played with Cedar Walton and Ron Carter, would occasionally accompany them on quieter ballads with just his brushes and a sheet of paper. The brushes on paper -- that really sticks with me.