Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Ardent15
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Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Ardent15 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:52 am

So I occasionally read the Gearslutz board, where a lot of musical recording/engineering pros hang out (including some very famous names in that field...).

I came across this post about Vinnie:

I recorded him last year for the Jeff Lorber album that is nominated for a Grammy this year.

Being a drummer myself, Vinnie is my favorite. Here's a couple things I noticed about him while recording him.

The click is VERY low in his headphone mix. He kept asking me to turn it down, and down and down... so I put headphones on to hear what he was hearing. He had it tucked in the mix so you pretty much couldn't hear it while everyone was playing.

He is literally an atomic clock. I started looking at how close to the "grid" he was in protools. At 96KHz he was roughly at most +/-50 SAMPLES from the grid line, and most of the time he was even closer than 50. That's 50 96-thousandths of a second!

Between takes he would noodle... He was doing advanced drum rudiments, stuff like Pata-fla-flas, Shirley Murphys, Ratamacues, etc WITH HIS FEET (on his double pedal) faster than I can do them with my hands! And this was no big deal for him, he wasn't even straining to do it.

And with all this technique and skill, the thing that impressed me most about him was his musicianship. One of the songs we were recording had a very basic and repetitive drum groove. And man, he laid it down with such focus, every single bar was just as perfect as the last. And he purposefully left out a lot of fills and whatnot to make it feel more "sampled" like a loop. He always plays to the song, and even though he has these incredible chops, he knows when NOT to use them as much as he knows when to use them... which to me is the most important part of any musician.

What makes Vinnie the best in my book is that he, while being phenomenally proficient, he can also be completely transparent. You'd never know it was him on some of the tracks unless you read the credits. For being the best drummer in the world, he is humble and doesn't have any ego and comes in to make the song sound the way the producer wants it to sound and nothing else. He's not trying to put "vinnie-isms" into everything he does.


[b]Seriously, if it were up to me, I would hire him for every session I record.


http://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end/577894-did-you-ever-recorded-vinnie-share-your-history.html

Some other cool stories about Vinnie in the studio in that thread as well. 8-)

EDIT: I think one of HOD's members posted that thread!
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langmick
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby langmick » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:03 am

He always plays to the song, and even though he has these incredible chops, he knows when NOT to use them as much as he knows when to use them... which to me is the most important part of any musician.


Wow, go figure.
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Isaac Lee
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Isaac Lee » Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:15 am

Thanks for posting this.
Phil T.
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Phil T. » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:18 pm

Interesting thread over there. Thanks for sharing.
Josiah
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Josiah » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:28 pm

heard this particular story before, vinnie is a monster. though i don't buy the double kick chops as told.

I've heard quite a few vinnie stories, though most couldn't be told on here.
Ardent15
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Ardent15 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 12:42 pm

Josiah wrote:heard this particular story before, vinnie is a monster. though i don't buy the double kick chops as told.


Oh? Vinnie has incredible feet (in addition to his insane hands, of course...).
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Juan Expósito
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Juan Expósito » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:00 pm

"I asked the bass player if he really did that live with the rhythm section or if that was an overdub... and no, it was live. I asked the bass player how the heck he stayed in time while Vinnie was doing this and he said something to the effect of, "man, when Vinnie starts taking it out you really just need to focus in on the click and COUNT. Cuz Vinnie is going to follow the chart and hit the kicks perfectly no matter how far out he takes it!" I really wish I could have copied that solo to have for later, it was just crazy. It makes me wonder how many other amazing solos vinnie has done that for one reason or another don't make it out to the general public."

Thanks for the gearslutz forum link !!
bigbone
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby bigbone » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:30 pm

Ardent15 wrote:So I occasionally read the Gearslutz board, where a lot of musical recording/engineering pros hang out (including some very famous names in that field...).


EDIT: I think one of HOD's members posted that thread!



Nope Nickname etch-A-Skatch ( Derek J. ) post that on Gearslutz
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Arnaud_Donnez
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Arnaud_Donnez » Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:38 pm

Very instructive story ! Thank you for posting it.
Julián Fernández
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Re: Real cool Vinnie story from another forum...

Postby Julián Fernández » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:22 pm

Yeah, that was me asking about the man in gearslutz...
I forgot to post it here too... sorry guys! 8-)

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