VINNIE - The thread about Colaiuta

[Rodge]

Jeff was seat kind of low too, Manu Katché too, but Paco Sery, he's small guy, very very low too.
But Vinnie has a good size, not a giant, but not small, being seaten that low, his back would bring an action against Vinnie he stayed that low !!!

[Juan Expósito]

Maybe that sitting position is more a pose, some punk attitude...

[Rodge]

He was indeed a real punk back then.

[Josiah]

That picture is hilarious. Who's knows they were all pretty hopped up on a wide variety of drugs back then, an element that I personally think helped push both the music and the technique behind it (for all the musicians involved).

[Flamaque]

I had a conversation with Vinnie years ago about sitting low. He said that it was the cool thing back then, but it caused a lot of back pain. So he raised his seating position considerably higher.

[Julián Fernández]

Thanks matt! Killer show!

[thewikiman]

Do you remember that 'Ten Summoners Tales in the Studio' vid from ages ago? Someone has put most or all of it on a playlist on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMKxq91f ... MKxq91fA6E (nice 'born to be spoilt' T-shirt Vinnie is sporting there.


The vid really annoys me in the way - the artifice of it. They're either a: pretending they're videoing a take, and playing along to the actual recording, or b: actually videoing a take but then just piping the actual album version over the top of it. Either way it's a huge wasted opportunity to actually video, with the proper audio, four musicians at the top of their game recording an album. Instead we get the album versions we've already heard, with Sting pretending he's singing three-party harmony over the top of himself in real time.



Anyhow, here's the Seven Days one - I'm sure it's been posted on here before but I wanted to repost it because elements of it fascinate me despite myself...



Things I like about it:

- No real effort to pretend they aren't Gretsch drums! The badge is clearly available right from the start. An entire feature film about recording an album, during a Yamaha endorsement contract. Ace.
- Vinnie has had to move his china to the right to allow access for the camera! This is a man who hates all that razzle-dazzle, hates anything but the music. I once read a Sting interview around the Mercury Falling era where he was about to go on TV and 'Sting's drummer stalks past, muttering angrily about being asked by the make-up lady to shave again for TV'... And here he is changing his whole set up for the camera.
- Four splashes! Including one in the left-of-the-hats, Chad Smith BloodSugar era positon.
- Whether they're miming along, or there's some actual real-time footage mixed in with it or whatever, Vinnie absolutely NAILS the ride patterns and polyrhythms of the outro, in terms of matching the audio.
- He seems to be really enjoying himself in all the vids, grinning away. I like that era for the grinning.
- It's nearly TWENTY YEARS AGO. Unless you're familiar with the song and what album it's from, there's really very little to date this as being 20 years old. Maybe some things are slowing down. Imagine being in 93 and watching a video of a studio recording from 1973 - it'd be like a whole different world. Long hair, moustaches, shonky hardware, dodgy colour.

I enjoyed it, anyway.

[Rodge]

There is absolutely NO WAY Vinnie put the china on the ride side for the camera !!!
Where did you find this man ?
You've been in studio already ?
You're setting yourself like you want/need, then they put mics and anything needed like they can, it's the musicians first.

But I agree about no seeing what we hear or the opposite, shame.

[thewikiman]

Rodge my point is this isn't a film of the actual recording (for which Vinnie would have the gear set up how he normally has it) - it's the equivalent of a pop video, so as he's not ACTUALLY recording the drums, the china compromise can be made. But it's still out-of-character.

[Rodge]

Yeah I know what you mean about that video, I was disapointed about that when I did buy the VHS tape back then, specialy when the Sting's video you did buy before was "Soul Cages Lives" !!!

I saw Vinnie 3 times with the AWESOME Patitucci Band, and each time Vinnie's china was on his right side, and the spash was on the left side with another one in the middle between the crash and the ride.