The Neil Peart Experiment - by Ken Mary

[pdw1]

Bizarrely this actually works. Have a listen

This video chronicles the creation and educational purpose of "The Neil Peart Experiment," performed by session drummer Ken K Mary. (Neil is one of Ken's drumming influences, and Ken is a great fan Neil's composition and performance.) Here is the experiment: could a session drummer replace the existing drum tracks, that were not performed to a click track, and make the replacement parts seamless in tone and performance? Would the new drum tracks be able to lock to the existing musical tracks without any issues? Would the song sound the same? Could this be done all in one pass, like the original recordings? Ken will post full versions of one song per week. Is this a tribute that even the Professor himself would approve of? You be the judge... KEN WILL ADD ONE FULL LENGTH VERSION OF ONE RUSH SONG FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS, SO SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

"One of the most challenging (and best) aspects of being a musician is you never stop learning and it's often the legacy of the masters (such as Neil Peart) where lies the educational lessons necessary to assist in our desire to improve!" - Ken Mary

[Thenop]

A few minor artistic interpretations there, which is understandable. Don't care for the stick flips but it's probably embedded in all he does. And I am curious why he uses a near piccolo snare... Neil being such a powerhouse I'd expected a bulky 8" or perhaps 6'5" deep snare. I see him playing Perl, Neil only diverted from American made once (Tama) only to end up with the monstrous DW kits. Soundwise it's a bit flat to my taste, not very melodic but maybe that'll be better once the full tracks are up.

Let's see what he comes up with!

[pdw1]

Part 1: YYZ

[Slim]

I was reading Martin Popoff's Anthem: Rush in the '70s this morning and he briefly touches on Best I Can:



.. which made me think - perhaps it's true that Neil's drumming doesn't really suit the song, and therefore although the subject of this thread is an interesting project, perhaps a more interesting one would be to remove Neil's drum tracks from some of the old tunes and get a drummer in to play in their own style.

I have huge affection for that song exactly as it is, actually. It was the final encore at my first Rush gig, and I'd never heard it before. But I'd love to hear someone play it in a - possibly - more sympathetic way.

If you look on YouTube for any particularly well-known Rush tune you'll find a cover video, with some unknown drummer doing their best to play it exactly like Neil Peart. To be honest, that's boring to me.

I loved that performance over Limelight by the Mars Volta girl. She'd never heard it before, and she didn't try to play like Neil.

[Thenop]

A few minor artistic interpretations there, which is understandable. Don't care for the stick flips but it's probably embedded in all he does. And I am curious why he uses a near piccolo snare... Neil being such a powerhouse I'd expected a bulky 8" or perhaps 6'5" deep snare. I see him playing Perl, Neil only diverted from American made once (Tama) only to end up with the monstrous DW kits. Soundwise it's a bit flat to my taste, not very melodic but maybe that'll be better once the full tracks are up.

Let's see what he comes up with!

His timing is quite good, I like the complete rendition but my earlier comments stand. I wonder how many takes he needed for it.
There are 1 or 2 breraks I will try and side by side compare. Not because I need to, but because I want to hear what Neil actually did there. And somehow I feel Neil did quarternotes on his hi hat where I see Ken do 8ths. But I am probably wrong. 

[Thenop]

here we go: Freewill
EDIT: Nice touch with the T Shirt there

[Thenop]

OK, so YYZ was good, this is great! Freewill is an extremely difficult drumpart, and he nails it.
If I had one gripe: he should have tuned his smaller toms more open and higher to get that 70s tom sound. but that's it.
And the stickflips, it's probably a habit by now, but still.

he does play more fluent than Neil (not a difficult thing to do) but coming up with those parts, man.

[Slim]

he does play more fluent than Neil (not a difficult thing to do) but coming up with those parts, man.

That's interesting, what do you mean by "fluent"? Also isn't he just playing Neil's parts,ie he didn't come up with them himself?

[Thenop]

he does play more fluent than Neil (not a difficult thing to do) but coming up with those parts, man.

That's interesting, what do you mean by "fluent"? Also isn't he just playing Neil's parts,ie he didn't come up with them himself?

I should have phrased that differently. I meant it as 2 separate things:
a) Neil was not a fluent player, he was a workhorse with not a lot of feel or groove to it
b) He was very good in coming up with parts

[Slim]

I completely get that about Neil, he seems to be very precise and he rattles around his kit very impressively. But I remember watching a video of Terry Bozzio playing with Zappa and thinking - imagine if Rush had had a drummer as good as this. He was just making the whole piece burn with a sort of deep intensity. Like you say, feel and groove.

But maybe that robotic, cold style suits some of the material, in the same way that a drum machine suits Fade to Grey.

[Thenop]

It does, Rush is a machine of some sorts, the only real groove I discovered in Neil's playing is in the latter end of his career, starting at (oddly enough) Counterparts.
it's not everyone's favourite (certainly not mine) but Animate has a groove that's hard to deny, although that is in part due to the organ you hear. It gives it a more lively feel.
The way he is playing on T4E, and the direct influence of lessons with Freddie Gruber, is (to me) very different from what he did before. The intricate parts are there, but it has something extra as well. I have the A Work in Progress DVD set and I find that to be very intriguing. The way musicians go about thinking and playing their parts is wondrous. Some are very intuitive, but Neil seemed to be very methodical about it.

Anyway, digressing a bit here, but the subject of the Rush musicians as indivduals and their development and music characteristics seems interesting enough to talk about.

[Slim]

The way he is playing on T4E, and the direct influence of lessons with Freddie Gruber, is (to me) very different from what he did before. The intricate parts are there, but it has something extra as well.

Yes. Just as a listener I definitely hear a difference. For me the T4E title track is his best ever performance.