Hi,
I'm in the process of preparing to record for an album I've been working on intermittently with my band mate for some time. The background here is, our music is glacially slow and quite sparse (tempo range on the album of 16 beats per minute to 37 beats per minute, imagine Earth meets Morricone on barbiturates).
In terms of my technical level, when 'match fit' I can play some Tool (albeit single kick; Stinkfist, Parabola, Bottom etc.) and Mars Volta stuff (Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus) reasonably well. That's about my limit. But I'm more interested in really nailing the absolute basics at near elite level, which of course is 90% of the job, especially in almost any kind of rock music that isn't prog metal or thrash/grindcore.
Anyway, I'm more or less entirely self-taught but learned very little theory or proper technique. I've barely ever been a regular practicer since my first two years of playing, but I'm now looking to spend around a month or so sharpening up ahead of putting the drums down.
To track well, I of course need to be really tight to the click, if not in terms of 'feel', then at least so my feel isn't really lopey as I try to catch up with it or drop back to meet it. In addition, my general execution in terms of accuracy and dynamics could use improvement.
With all this in mind, I'd love it if any wiser heads could offer some tips for stuff like tightening up the execution of my drags (being erratic with them often causes the start of the next bar to lag or be rushed, to my ear at least), useful exercises and rudiments and general technical tips to improve my fundamentals; both hands, both feet, meter, dynamic control, accuracy etc.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice. And if anyone's curious to hear rough recordings to get a grasp of what it is I'm doing, I can send you links etc.
I'm in the process of preparing to record for an album I've been working on intermittently with my band mate for some time. The background here is, our music is glacially slow and quite sparse (tempo range on the album of 16 beats per minute to 37 beats per minute, imagine Earth meets Morricone on barbiturates).
In terms of my technical level, when 'match fit' I can play some Tool (albeit single kick; Stinkfist, Parabola, Bottom etc.) and Mars Volta stuff (Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus) reasonably well. That's about my limit. But I'm more interested in really nailing the absolute basics at near elite level, which of course is 90% of the job, especially in almost any kind of rock music that isn't prog metal or thrash/grindcore.
Anyway, I'm more or less entirely self-taught but learned very little theory or proper technique. I've barely ever been a regular practicer since my first two years of playing, but I'm now looking to spend around a month or so sharpening up ahead of putting the drums down.
To track well, I of course need to be really tight to the click, if not in terms of 'feel', then at least so my feel isn't really lopey as I try to catch up with it or drop back to meet it. In addition, my general execution in terms of accuracy and dynamics could use improvement.
With all this in mind, I'd love it if any wiser heads could offer some tips for stuff like tightening up the execution of my drags (being erratic with them often causes the start of the next bar to lag or be rushed, to my ear at least), useful exercises and rudiments and general technical tips to improve my fundamentals; both hands, both feet, meter, dynamic control, accuracy etc.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice. And if anyone's curious to hear rough recordings to get a grasp of what it is I'm doing, I can send you links etc.
Guidance on Sharpening Up for Recording Slow, Sparse Music
