+ Deep Dive Two: Roy Haynes +

PART ONE:
INSPIRATION

LISTEN TO
ROY HAYNES

Roy. Haynes.
There is no better example of one human being making their own unique sound on the drums than the legendary Roy Haynes. His phrasing, articulation, time-playing, and all-out swagger are recognizeable within a second or two. I assembled this playlist with songs that each have solos or trading to hear what I’m focusing on this month, which is sound quality and creating contrast. His hands make so many different sounds and they’re all beautiful.

↓

2

PART TWO:
IMITATION

Transcription:
“SNAP CRACKLE”

Roy’s solo on “Snap Crackle” is a solo many drummers have learned over the years. It’s from the 1962 album, “Out of the Afternoon.” The drum sound is instantly recognizable, and the solo itself is a study of a master’s phrasing, motivic development, and melodic themes.

The solo itself is inspiring in so many ways. Learning the stickings and phrases are the first part of the project, but the real focus here for me has been the sound quality of what Roy plays. Listen to how he plays super tight, crisp staccato sounds as well as wide, thicker legato sounds. His phrases call and answer each other, and chat back and forth like a casual conversation.

Above all, there is contrast in Roy’s playing. He takes two ideas or sounds or phrases and he plays them off of each other. Legato vs. Staccato. Quiet vs. loud as hell. Dense vs. Sparse.

↓

3

PART THREE:
INNOVATION

Contrast.

That’s what I’m focusing in on this month. Less trying to sound just like Roy Haynes (there can only be one), and more using the idea of contrast and applying it to soloing and phrasing. There isn’t one specific sticking or lick this time around, it’s more of a concept. How can I try to play around with two ideas that contrast eachother?

Legato vs. Staccato. Long vs. Short. Dense vs. Sparse. Drums vs. Cymbals. Ascending vs. Descending. Sticks vs. Brushes. One rhythmic pulse vs. another. There are endless possibilities.

For example, listen to his call and responds phrases at the beginning of the solo. They’re cool on their own, but sometimes he plays each with a different sound quality. Some are played very wide and behind the beat a little. Others are extremely pushing and have a more stacatto, urgent feel:

↓

One:
LEGATO vs. STACCATO

Haynes plays some textbook bursts of snappy phrases, but there are also loose and almost lazy pieces that he uses in contrast. Here, I’m playing with both and trying to mix them around within a 12-bar blues form.

Two:
QUIET vs. LOUD

Another way to create contrast and an element of surprise is with juxtaposing extreme dynamics. All of the examples of contrast here are played over a 12-bar blues form.

Three:
GROOVE vs. GROOVE

I always love when drummers play comping phrases or beats during solos. A way to use contrast here is to pose one groove or feel vs. another. So, here I’m doing a beat I like to play as a simple shuffle alternative vs. a busier eighth-note triplet layered beat. Just mixing those two together back and forth a few times can make a nice variant to standard soloing phrases.

Four:
RHYTHM vs. RHYTHM

Here’s another way to make phrasing that contrasts. I’m thinking of a dotted eighth rhythm (the swiss army triplets phrase, played as 16th notes) vs. a dotted quarter note pulse in the accents of the triplet phrase I then play on the ride cymbal and toms. Both are rhythms that go over the barline, so this is something that could help disguise the form if you extend them both out more.

Five:
DRUMS vs. CYMBALS

Another contrast is drums vs. cymbals. I don’t usually go to cymbal-only phrasing in my trading and solos, so this one took me out of my comfort zone. But they make different color options vs. the drums and make a nice variation.

Six:
SWUNG vs. STRAIGHT

Here, I’m taking really standard swung-eighth phrasing and putting it up against a repetitive straight-eighth phrase. It makes the two sections sound really different next to each other.

Seven:
DENSE vs. SPARSE

Trying to phrase with quarter notes or dotted half notes can be really hard while keeping the time steady. Lots of space. Here, I put those longer, spaced-out phrases against some stuff with way more notes.

Eight:
ASCENDING vs. DESCENDING

First trying phrases that go down the toms melodically, then answer that with the opposite - stuff that goes up the drums to the high tom.

Nine:
ASCENDING vs. DESCENDING COMPING

Here, I’m trying to play time and “comp” with ascending melodies and descending melodies that answer eachother.

Ten:
STICKS vs. BRUSHES

Pretty self-explanatory.