FREE (Alright Now) drumming question

SexyGreyFox · 27 Jun 2007 at 18:20

We've all been in the pub or at work and this classic comes on and some of us start playing the air guitar during the solo.
However, at the end of the solo is a drum intro to start the chorus again which goes - de....de de....de de de....de

Without listening to the record how do you think Simon Kirke plays this?
1 drum, 2 drums, 3 drums, roll round the kit etc?

Going out for a meal now so will report my findings later.

skinnyl · 27 Jun 2007 at 20:21

2 on the snare, 2 on a tom, 2 on another tom, kick, snare and in.

...scuttles off to find the CD...

SexyGreyFox · 27 Jun 2007 at 20:47

Since you're the only one who's replied I'll tell you my weird findings -
Yes you're right listening to the record but I have just bought a Free DVD called FREE FOREVER and on the DVD are 4 concerts.
On every one Simon Kirke gets to that part and plays it all on the snare :confused:

I'd love to ask him "Why did you play it different live?"

Its also confirmed how Kossof played Alright Now because I've seen over a 1000 guitarists play that riff and I've never heard anybody play it the same as him.
Most guitarists tend to put more in where there isn't anything.

skinnyl · 27 Jun 2007 at 23:17

yeah there's totally something about it thats hard to perfect. I suppose it just show how much of the guitar is in the fingers.

I only recently discovered the supposedly correct why of playing it, which is different to how i play it, but it still sounds considerably different, meh, carbon copy covers are boring anyway!

When i was looking for the song a while ago, i found it on the 'Absolute Rock Classics' album and i remembered that they had remixed the drums

to some awful 80's esk vibe. Sounds carp.

edit:

you can see my basic grasp of it on me website below 'Second London Gig' in the media section

SexyGreyFox · 28 Jun 2007 at 11:26

skinnyl said:
you can see my basic grasp of it on me website below 'Second London Gig' in the media section

The first bar you just let the 'inverted D' ring but on the 2nd bar you play it right.

So it goes - A ...D.D....A..........DDD.DDD...A (obviously they are chord inversions).

Most guitarists slip extra notes on the second D section for some reason and I must admit its as though you can hear a little rundown.

When I joined the band I'm with now I chucked out Mississippi Queen and Never In My Life because I said people wouldn't know what they were

The weekend just gone we chucked in Led Zeppelins Communication Breakdown and Judas Priests Living After Midnight and they went down crap

You just can't win.

Neoni · 28 Jun 2007 at 17:24

i play a lot of stuff on recordings different to live, becuase us drummers get bored of certain fills, unless there exciting.

SexyGreyFox · 28 Jun 2007 at 17:40

Neoni said:
i play a lot of stuff on recordings different to live, becuase us drummers get bored of certain fills, unless there exciting.

Its just very weird that one of the most famous drum rolls in history was actually played totally different live.
It wouldn't be so bad if he'd decided to play it the opposite way around or decided on a completely different fill because he hated the studio version he did.
I'd love to ask him why.

Jimbo · 5 Jul 2007 at 15:40

Ask him then... http://www.myspace.com/simonkirke

http://www.freewebs.com/simonkirke/

I have started to learn how to play the track Mr Big, on my bass. Has to be the greatest bass riff ever. Andy Fraser is a massive influence to me.

I love the drums of Simon Kirke at the start of this track too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLo5K4PUxKI

What a band.

Jimbo · 5 Jul 2007 at 15:50

If your into Free check this one out too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3HZJ9eRmrI&mode=related&search=

Neoni · 5 Jul 2007 at 15:58

Listened to it over and over again.

Snare, Snare, Tom, Tom, Tom2, Tom2, Kickdrum, Snare! -In!

Skinny was right, its either a kickdrum as the 2nd to last note, or a floor tom

SexyGreyFox · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:16

Neoni said:
Listened to it over and over again.

Snare, Snare, Tom, Tom, Tom2, Tom2, Kickdrum, Snare! -In!

Skinny was right, its either a kickdrum as the 2nd to last note, or a floor tom

Yeah but I have 4 live concerts where he plays snare snare snare snare snare snare snare etc :confused:

Jimbo said:
Ask him then... http://www.myspace.com/simonkirke

How do I do it? - I'm serious, I've never used MySpace.

elevenseventysix · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:19

It's absolutely 100% played around the kit on the studio recording and definitely isn't snare snare etc.

As for the live version, I have no idea - but it's very very likely he changed it live for a bit of variation... drummers hate doing the exact same fill twice!

Jimbo · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:30

dmpoole said:
How do I do it? - I'm serious, I've never used MySpace.

Just setup your own basic myspace and ask to be added on simons site, then ask him about his drumming.

SexyGreyFox · 5 Jul 2007 at 16:45

I've just sampled 4 versions of Alright Now - Alright Now (4 versions) (0.5 m)

The first is the single version where you can hear him go round the Snare & Toms.
The other 3 are live versions where he doesn't touch the Toms at all except you hear a bass drum on two of them and on the last he just goes mad on the snare.
Its as though he didn't like the recorded version and he was made by the producer to go round the toms.

Neoni · 5 Jul 2007 at 17:38

jackgnic said:
It's absolutely 100% played around the kit on the studio recording and definitely isn't snare snare etc.

As for the live version, I have no idea - but it's very very likely he changed it live for a bit of variation... drummers hate doing the exact same fill twice!

it has two snare hits at the start of the fill, ill argue it all you want. open your ears!

SexyGreyFox · 5 Jul 2007 at 17:48

Neoni said:
it has two snare hits at the start of the fill, ill argue it all you want. open your ears!

You're not following the thread.
jackgnic is responding to me saying the live versions are all snare.
I'm sure he knows the original studio recording starts with 2 snares.

banja · 5 Jul 2007 at 18:05

Certainly does sound like snare snare / tom1 tom1 / tom2 tom2 / kick / snare (flam)

2nd last hit sounds like a kick drum to me. The final snare is a flam.

Musicians often change the way they play things, for live versions, and just over time. Perhaps he always preferred it just on the snare, but was maybe convinced otherwise by the producer etc during recording.

elevenseventysix · 5 Jul 2007 at 20:39

dmpoole said:
You're not following the thread.
jackgnic is responding to me saying the live versions are all snare.
I'm sure he knows the original studio recording starts with 2 snares.

Thanks matey... that's exactly the point I was trying to get accross - I should have made it clearer. Just to clarify, I definitely agree it starts with snare snare in the studio!

And after hearing those MP3's I definitely agree the live versions are all on snare, bar a couple of BD's in there for good measure.

So, the fill was definitely changed between live and studio.