Are You Talking To Me?

We’ve all at one time or another been advised to "just listen” and we would be told the answer to whatever it is that’s is confusing us. Listen to the Mulligatawny soup you’re making or the plants in your vegetable patch or that batch of wine maturing in the basement and you'll discover what they're trying to tell you. It seems that anything can have this extraordinary communication skill, if only we were more adept as listening.

The problem, though, is that the people who give this advice are usually experts with lots of experience. They’ve learned how to listen and they know what to listen for, often to the point of instinctive behaviour. They’ve also, for the most part, forgotten what it’s like to not know these things. But it's not the art of listening that's driving things, as much as its interpretation. And knowing what to 'listen' for can have a big impact on  how much you can ‘hear’.

For my post on snare drum sounds, I thought back to what the drums 'told' me they could do. And I don't mind saying it took me a long time before I could hear all those sounds, to know what they meant and to figure out how to use them in my playing. What happens if I crank the snares tight or loosen them practically off? How do I get consistent sounds out of a drum? What happens when I tighten the snare head? What about the bottom head on a tom?

Cymbals also have lots to tell us. Where’s the sweet spot on your ride cymbal?  What happens when you hit it near the edge or when you lay your stick across the bow? What about undertones? Is the cymbal fast or slow? All these and more can be revealed by listening to the cymbal. With every stroke, it’s telling you where and how to hit and also where and how not to hit.

There’s only one way to discover all this: Just do it. It’s a simple matter of paying attention to sounds you’re producing plus lots of practice and experimentation. So don't just hit. Hit and listen, and see if the instrument can tell you how to get the best sounds from it.