I had to smile because when I first saw Rush on their Signals tour they opened with The Spirit of Radio". Geddy was wearing an Expo's baseball cap (like our host today ;-), and he threw it into the crowd while singing, "One likes to believe in the spirit of BASEBALL!"
I love that you noticed the acrobatics required to play Red Lenses! I think the ability to hit those cowbells at his 7 o'clock, followed by hitting the concert tom at his 4 o'clock is Olympic level athleticism. And those cowbells are a small target. I don't know how he is physically able to play that section of music so smoothly, rhythmically locked it, and at that tempo. The only video I've found of him playing that is the Japan bootleg video from 11-21-1984. I would love to find more video of him playing this song. He makes it look deceptively easy.
Neil inspired so many of us. Wanting to watch all of this... But pain of his lose is still wrecking me.. I jumped ahead, there is some really good content.. I'll come back and finish it later. .. Thanks to Paul Wells for the amazing breakdown of the classic Rush albums. As a drummer, I really appreciate the his insightful thoughts on Neil and his drumming. Thank you so much. I agree on everything you said that Iv have heard. Neil was a monster. I last saw RUSH in Calgary the last time on R40 on my 50th birthday. I was at the side on the second level where I could see him play every note on both of his kits that he used on that tour. I learned so much watching him. So grateful for all the music and drumming that RUSH gave us. On a personal note. The thing that really struck me was how many of the Rush parts/song, Neil gets really really deep in the pocket in so many song, and uses accents and fills in such a tasteful way.
I am in Neil Peart Geekdom Heaven....growing up in NY my fans of Neil and Rush would aways talk about these things....thr music,the drums....the gear...😊
I remember in our 8th grade school band concert each of us drummers (there was 3 or 4 of us) each brought pieces of our home kits to add to the schools 3 piece kit to try and make it look like the cover of All The Worlds A Stage (which it didn't lol) to impress the other kids & parents.
Thanks Mike and Paul, glad you mentioned the song "The Weapon' just a side note, on the 1984 Grace Under Pressure video from MTV, during the verses, Neil does a "stick flip" with his right hand while his left is playing the hi-hat. A real nice touch that maybe some people might have not seen. Again great stuff. Keep it coming.
RUSH is THE PERFECT EXAMPLE of the fluidity of MASTERING TIME SIGNATURES! I play drums and there are a few things that you need to know about Neil Peart’s ( pronounced PEER-T) character: First he writes the lyrics so he knows in advance what TYPE of song it’s meant to be ie ballad, driver, etc. Second he COMPOSES on the drums… like a carpenter who looks at a set of blueprints before building the object. Neil lays out a SKETCH in his mind of the VOICES of the drumset and builds the song from there. He is also a great LISTENER knowing when NOT to step over Geddy’s singing or Alex’s solos! Finally, he had perfect timing and fluidity of time changes. He said himself that it’s not about COUNTING the time signatures as much as fluid motion to change the tempo without counting: in other words it should FLOW! He hates repeating the same drum patterns in the same song meaning if he plays a fill one way the first time around he will play it differently the second time around. IE. Rolls down the toms the first time around and triplets or quads (all four limbs) the second time around. In short there will NEVER be another like him on planet earth 🌍 🌏 🌎! REST IN PEACE PROFESSOR! With heart felt admiration and sincerity! Gary
Amazing info Mike! Paul is so knowledgeable when it comes to the history of NEP. So glad I stumbled onto this...I just completed a "Note for Note" Tribute to RUSH Drum Cover Project so I can appreciate the detail of this Podcast.
Great episode!!! Love the fact that Paul makes his living playing an teaching jazz, but still loves and knows a ton about Rush….Also love that you picked The Weapon from Signals…that is absolutely my favorite album of theirs - maybe have Paul on for round two and analyze Digital Man - such a great song!!! Thanks for the great podcasts!!
@@paulwells2227 yes, love that song..whole album has hidden Gems outside of Subdivisions - such as Digital Man, Losing It and The Countdown…love your drumming too - just started checking out your recent Ether EP - great stuff!!
@@paulwells2227 Digital Man would have been great!! I think Signals is Neil's best recorded drum sound. Those 4 ply shells have a nice wet tone. I am wondering if you've studied how Terry miked and recorded his drums throughout the albums he produced? There doesn't seem to be much info on that.
Agree about the drum orchestration choices in War Paint - it's incredibly effective! There's one thing about that drum part that I'd also like to point it out. The drum part, along with choices made on the other instruments, ties in VERY directly with the song's lyrics. In the first verse ("Girl before the mirror"), the drums and keys parts use a lot of high pitch sounds to give the music quite a feminine quality. Then in the second verse ("Boy before the mirror"), the keys part is played an octave lower, the drum part is using deeper tom sounds and ride instead of hi-hat, and the guitar chords are utilising string bends to give them more swagger. It all contributes towards a much masculine sounding second verse. This contrast between the two verses manages to represent the lyrics in a very literal way through arrangement choices which I find pretty interesting!
Really great insight into Warpaint! Thanks for that! You’re absolutely right, and Neil always mentioned that being the guy who wrote the lyrics made him particularly sensitive to them.
I know (knew) him. He was part of the restoration of the 1974 chrome Slingerland, affectionately known as "Chromey." He was the genius behind that project. Somewhere, I have a photo of him, Dean (the guy who owned the kit), and myself outside the Rhythm Discovery Center where the drumkit was on display. Great guy. Extremely knowledgeable.
Neil's solo evolved as he grew in his ability to play. If you listen to the solo from the first solo playing to his last full solo. It's a picture of Neil's growth and knowledge of his craft. Remember the Jazz portion of Neil's solo wasn't there in the beginning but was very relevant in the end. The Time Machine kit { my favorite of all his kits } and solo from that tour to me was his best playing. I also think that kit was a Masterpieces in drum building. DW did an amazing job on that kit ! DW Drums are also noted to tone, which Neil applied to his tuning and choice of drums. Neil also learned from Hal Blaine at the time he was just learning to play. Neil spent hours playing along to the radio and Hal Blain being the session player of the day, playing for multiple bands during recording. Neil realized he wasn't playing like Ringo or Dennis Wilson, but like Hal Blaine and all the songs that the Wrecking Crew were playing. May the Professors work carry on !
Not always. I really don't care for the way his drums sound on Snakes and Arrows. Toms are all attack, no real tone. Some of this might be due to tuning, some of it mixing.
Played Red Lenses on PWs tour and there is a bootleg video of it on TH-cam as well. Absolutely amazing - the rendition was epic and even better than the album. I also recall that the song followed his drum solo and led into Tom Sawyer. The filming was lousy (as you can imagine) but wouldn’t be shocked if it was filmed for Geddy himself - to critique his performance or get a feel from the audience perspective. Do yourself a favor and check out the Power Windows tour on TH-cam - they were also at the peak of their adult prime from ‘84-‘86 and it shows.
Nice job! Regarding the sound of the Ludwigs.... For MP and prior, he used mirror glass batter heads and hydraulics on the reso. He changed to double ply Evans for Signals. I think for the Ludwig kits he used clear Ambassadors top and bottom? I think this and the high tuning was why the Ludwig kits sounded so bright. Plus the toms for the Ludwigs were all a size smaller .... I think.
I had to smile because when I first saw Rush on their Signals tour they opened with The Spirit of Radio". Geddy was wearing an Expo's baseball cap (like our host today ;-), and he threw it into the crowd while singing, "One likes to believe in the spirit of BASEBALL!"
I still sing it like that to this day lol
I was born a drummer..
Ringo showed me it was possible.
Neil showed me everything is possible.
R.I.P. Neil
I love that you noticed the acrobatics required to play Red Lenses! I think the ability to hit those cowbells at his 7 o'clock, followed by hitting the concert tom at his 4 o'clock is Olympic level athleticism. And those cowbells are a small target. I don't know how he is physically able to play that section of music so smoothly, rhythmically locked it, and at that tempo. The only video I've found of him playing that is the Japan bootleg video from 11-21-1984. I would love to find more video of him playing this song. He makes it look deceptively easy.
Neil inspired so many of us. Wanting to watch all of this... But pain of his lose is still wrecking me.. I jumped ahead, there is some really good content.. I'll come back and finish it later. .. Thanks to Paul Wells for the amazing breakdown of the classic Rush albums. As a drummer, I really appreciate the his insightful thoughts on Neil and his drumming. Thank you so much. I agree on everything you said that Iv have heard. Neil was a monster. I last saw RUSH in Calgary the last time on R40 on my 50th birthday. I was at the side on the second level where I could see him play every note on both of his kits that he used on that tour. I learned so much watching him. So grateful for all the music and drumming that RUSH gave us. On a personal note. The thing that really struck me was how many of the Rush parts/song, Neil gets really really deep in the pocket in so many song, and uses accents and fills in such a tasteful way.
I am in Neil Peart Geekdom Heaven....growing up in NY my fans of Neil and Rush would aways talk about these things....thr music,the drums....the gear...😊
I remember in our 8th grade school band concert each of us drummers (there was 3 or 4 of us) each brought pieces of our home kits to add to the schools 3 piece kit to try and make it look like the cover of All The Worlds A Stage (which it didn't lol) to impress the other kids & parents.
Thanks Mike and Paul, glad you mentioned the song "The Weapon' just a side note, on the 1984 Grace Under Pressure video from MTV, during the verses, Neil does a "stick flip" with his right hand while his left is playing the hi-hat. A real nice touch that maybe some people might have not seen. Again great stuff. Keep it coming.
Thank you both for this. I was introduced to Rush in mid-80s, thus the synth era has always held a special place. Great pod!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great episode! Glad to have found out I'm not the only guy who loved that era of Rush most!
very informative, thank you to Paul Wells x
Glad you enjoyed it
RUSH is THE PERFECT EXAMPLE of the fluidity of MASTERING TIME SIGNATURES! I play drums and there are a few things that you need to know about Neil Peart’s ( pronounced PEER-T) character: First he writes the lyrics so he knows in advance what TYPE of song it’s meant to be ie ballad, driver, etc. Second he COMPOSES on the drums… like a carpenter who looks at a set of blueprints before building the object. Neil lays out a SKETCH in his mind of the VOICES of the drumset and builds the song from there. He is also a great LISTENER knowing when NOT to step over Geddy’s singing or Alex’s solos! Finally, he had perfect timing and fluidity of time changes. He said himself that it’s not about COUNTING the time signatures as much as fluid motion to change the tempo without counting: in other words it should FLOW! He hates repeating the same drum patterns in the same song meaning if he plays a fill one way the first time around he will play it differently the second time around. IE. Rolls down the toms the first time around and triplets or quads (all four limbs) the second time around. In short there will NEVER be another like him on planet earth 🌍 🌏 🌎! REST IN PEACE PROFESSOR!
With heart felt admiration and sincerity!
Gary
Thank you for all this. Very gorgeous d info.
Amazing info Mike! Paul is so knowledgeable when it comes to the history of NEP. So glad I stumbled onto this...I just completed a "Note for Note" Tribute to RUSH Drum Cover Project so I can appreciate the detail of this Podcast.
Glad it was helpful!
Dude This Was Fantastic! Thank You!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Mike and Paul. I always thought the subtleties in Neil's playing were under-rated.
Under-rated?…..Neil is a genius. If some people don’t recognize this, then that is their problem.
Great episode!!! Love the fact that Paul makes his living playing an teaching jazz, but still loves and knows a ton about Rush….Also love that you picked The Weapon from Signals…that is absolutely my favorite album of theirs - maybe have Paul on for round two and analyze Digital Man - such a great song!!! Thanks for the great podcasts!!
Thanks for listening!
Thank you! I almost picked Digital Man for this discussion - there’s SO much going on in that drum part! Great ideas, energy, and sound.
@@paulwells2227 yes, love that song..whole album has hidden Gems outside of Subdivisions - such as Digital Man, Losing It and The Countdown…love your drumming too - just started checking out your recent Ether EP - great stuff!!
@@paulwells2227 Digital Man would have been great!! I think Signals is Neil's best recorded drum sound. Those 4 ply shells have a nice wet tone. I am wondering if you've studied how Terry miked and recorded his drums throughout the albums he produced? There doesn't seem to be much info on that.
Hey Mike..Great job.Shout out from Washington Pa.Almost a rim shot away.Keep it up Dude.I gotta find you at Drum Factory Direct.
Agree about the drum orchestration choices in War Paint - it's incredibly effective! There's one thing about that drum part that I'd also like to point it out. The drum part, along with choices made on the other instruments, ties in VERY directly with the song's lyrics. In the first verse ("Girl before the mirror"), the drums and keys parts use a lot of high pitch sounds to give the music quite a feminine quality. Then in the second verse ("Boy before the mirror"), the keys part is played an octave lower, the drum part is using deeper tom sounds and ride instead of hi-hat, and the guitar chords are utilising string bends to give them more swagger. It all contributes towards a much masculine sounding second verse. This contrast between the two verses manages to represent the lyrics in a very literal way through arrangement choices which I find pretty interesting!
Really great insight into Warpaint! Thanks for that! You’re absolutely right, and Neil always mentioned that being the guy who wrote the lyrics made him particularly sensitive to them.
I would love to talk with Prof Wells regarding some history of Neil Peart. I was a co-
I know (knew) him. He was part of the restoration of the 1974 chrome Slingerland, affectionately known as "Chromey." He was the genius behind that project. Somewhere, I have a photo of him, Dean (the guy who owned the kit), and myself outside the Rhythm Discovery Center where the drumkit was on display. Great guy. Extremely knowledgeable.
Neil's solo evolved as he grew in his ability to play. If you listen to the solo from the first solo playing to his last full solo. It's a picture of Neil's growth and knowledge of his craft. Remember the Jazz portion of Neil's solo wasn't there in the beginning but was very relevant in the end. The Time Machine kit { my favorite of all his kits } and solo from that tour to me was his best playing. I also think that kit was a Masterpieces in drum building. DW did an amazing job on that kit ! DW Drums are also noted to tone, which Neil applied to his tuning and choice of drums. Neil also learned from Hal Blaine at the time he was just learning to play. Neil spent hours playing along to the radio and Hal Blain being the session player of the day, playing for multiple bands during recording. Neil realized he wasn't playing like Ringo or Dennis Wilson, but like Hal Blaine and all the songs that the Wrecking Crew were playing. May the Professors work carry on !
Neil always had a great drum sound
Couldn't agree more
Not always. Farewell to Kings as an example- toms are nonexistent. It’s like - did somebody forget to plug in the cables on the tom mics?
Not always. I really don't care for the way his drums sound on Snakes and Arrows. Toms are all attack, no real tone. Some of this might be due to tuning, some of it mixing.
Played Red Lenses on PWs tour and there is a bootleg video of it on TH-cam as well.
Absolutely amazing - the rendition was epic and even better than the album.
I also recall that the song followed his drum solo and led into Tom Sawyer.
The filming was lousy (as you can imagine) but wouldn’t be shocked if it was filmed for Geddy himself - to critique his performance or get a feel from the audience perspective.
Do yourself a favor and check out the Power Windows tour on TH-cam - they were also at the peak of their adult prime from ‘84-‘86 and it shows.
Thanks for the tip!
Nice job! Regarding the sound of the Ludwigs.... For MP and prior, he used mirror glass batter heads and hydraulics on the reso. He changed to double ply Evans for Signals. I think for the Ludwig kits he used clear Ambassadors top and bottom? I think this and the high tuning was why the Ludwig kits sounded so bright. Plus the toms for the Ludwigs were all a size smaller .... I think.
Thanks for the info!
the first tom that neil hits at the beginning of lock and key is not 12x8 it was a 10x9
How do you know that He didnt change the set up for the song[s]? That would make more sense IMHO
Because you can see him play it live on videos, you know what I mean?
When Neil retired from drumming in 2015 he got a job as a librarian at a elementary school.
Not many regrets in life. But one huge miss was not seeing Rush. How did that happen? 😢
Do you possibly think the tune of Neil’s drum could have something to do with the fact that they’re DW brand?!?
Animate is not on roll the bones.
I can’t get past A Farewell To Kings.
then youre missing out
@@Augfordpdoggie i know.....