frozen octopus

I finally had a chance to work on the drum micro pattern I mentioned in a previous post. I had a couple new songs to work out that pushed this pattern to the back burner for a couple weeks. The funny thing is the concept I was trying to workout from this pattern works perfectly in one of the new songs.

Pattern

RLRL
K HK

Very cool pattern. A struggle at first for sure. I couldn't do the hi-hat at first. I had to split that out, get used to it, and then I could do it.

Steps

This..

RLRL
K    K

Then this...

RLRL
K H

Then both...

RLRL
K HK

Reasons

The reason for focusing on this little pattern is getting my feet separated from my hands more. If the feet are on auto-pilot then I have a little more brain to pay attention to the hands. I am shooting for "complex simplicity". Meaning I just want to be able to drop a single hi-hat "chick" whereever I want whenever I want.

Another reason is subtle. When I play a beat on floor tom or ride, it sounds good. When I play the same beat but add the hi-hat with the left foot, it elevates. It's hard to describe the dimension that tiny "chick" sound adds. It's like when I hear chefs talk about adding Bay Leaf to their dish.

If it isn't there, the beat still holds up. The song goes on. When you add it, it sounds/feels more complete.

I went to check out my blog posts from the past year. I found myself staring at a page of teasers, thinking, “I wish I could read all these posts quicker instead of clicking into each one.”

I love those little decisions on this blog and how it slowly morphs over time.  So the front page is now full of full posts. ( ^_ - )y

As the year winds down, I am getting to one of the dreaded tasks. There are a few blogs and podcasts that I have subscribed to that I never got to.

Clicking the unsubscribe/unfollow button is a tough click. Giving future me a cleaner list in the future is a big gift, though.

My trick is to not forget the blogs or podcasts. I just need to store them somewhere better. I note the name on my someday/maybe list and then remove it. It's still somewhere. Just a better somewhere than in my face every day, making me feel guilty for not getting to it.

Been noticing lately with my scrap paper memo pad that there is a perfect amount. More like a satisfying amount. Having about 10 sheets is better than having a 5 cm tall stack. Getting through the 10 sheets and filling the clothes pin back up with paper is having a "check me out...I have so many ideas" effect.

Yes...my mind is that easy to game. Go to know both positively and negatively.

The "converting rants/complaints into personal notes instead" thing I've been practicing lately is starting to take hold in my mind.

For example, "That x is totally a y because x did z!!" becomes a note I append to a text file saying "X was a total y. Don't do z.".

Reviewing (and laughing) at all the "deep" thoughts at the end of the week is turning out to be one of the most entertaining times of the week.