Here's the eighth session vid for Nick J's 'Public Display of Infection' series. From a drumming standpoint, "Black Eye" is one of the more straight-ahead tunes on the album, but it has its challenges here and there. The choruses are hard to time properly without flamming (kicks/snares in unison); this groove is reprised as a variation during the solo section and also for the last chorus, although with light crashing. It was tough to maintain those crash dynamics on the left hand, yet while cracking snare rimshots with the right. I played the bridge on my 18" DRK flat ride -- taking the place of where my china cymbal is more commonly positioned -- to give it a different vibe. The little 'splangalang' at 2:57 was improv'ed, hehe. Finally, the 'big outro' features a tempo change followed by some seemingly sporadic playing. All those notes are actually timed - peep the transcription. If memory serves, I think the hi-hat ruff at the very end complemented something in the demo which is not present in the final version, heh. This was tracked in early June of 2011.
I recorded this shortly after the first Of Legends tour ended and as soon as I finished I hightailed it to Taylor's studio for the second I Am King session. I realize this is slightly extraneous knowledge but it's a look into my occasionally hectic schedule. For exact info pertaining to when I track certain songs, be sure to check out the 'both' page under my media page on my website.
The song was incredibly difficult and not just because of some of the tricky sections, but mainly since I couldn't do a single punch-in throughout the entire piece. This is because when the drums aren't active the cymbals remain ringing. There was ALMOST enough room at the quirky 'cymbal section' starting around 3:35, buuut... nope!
I purchased a cowbell just for the ten seconds of music starting at 2:46, thus my stupidity at the beginning. I heard a cowbell in that part, don't ask why haha. My 13" hats start off the tune closed and remain so until around 3:17 when I clamp 'em down to embellish the funk groove that follows.
Additional notes:
intro - the hi-hat 'chicks' provide some trickery as to where the time is, then it counts it off properly
1:08 - china complements vocals
2:51 - ghost notes complement guitar
3:39 - pitch bend on the rack tom
ending - double bass locks in with the vocal
Full drum set transcription: www.travisorbin.com/
Tempo = 80 BPM (or 160 BPM = eighth notes)
