Web Version - Drum Workshop

SATNAM RAMGOTRA ||| DW DRUMS
SM A G A Z I N E
SR: Music breaks down language barriers.
That’s something that perhaps may be
taken for granted by the masses. Music
transcends everything, and at the heart
of it is rhythm. I always wanted to play
the drums. My dad was insistent upon
me learning the tabla too. So, when I
started snare drum and drum set back in
5th grade in Canada, he taught me tabla
simultaneously. Now, when I’m asked
this very question, it’s hard to pinpoint.
Western drummers say, “I totally hear your
tabla influence in your drumming!” And
the Indian Tabl-Ji’s (tabla players) all say,
“I can really hear your drumming in your
tabla playing!” For me, they’re one and
the same, but I get how one can hear more
drumming influence in the tabla playing.
I do way more non-Indian gigs as a tabla
player than I do Indian Classical gigs.
Indian music by nature is much looser in
terms of feel and swing. Playing in a band
that doesn’t swing, but wants that ‘Indian’
feel means you’ve got to know how to
turn off that Indian swing and match the
western ‘clave’ if you will. The first time
I understood what Tabl-Ji’s meant by tabla
influence in my drumming was back in
Greece in 1997. I did a clinic at the Poly-
Rhythmos School of Music in Athens. I did
a little solo thing on the kit, what I call,
“Look at me, look at me, look what I can
do!” Then, I did a little solo thing on the
tabla. The whole room, including myself,
said, “Oh, I see!” Then the questions
started to flow.
SD: Would you say you have “chops”?
SR: I went to PIT, and for about eight years
after that, I’d say, “Yes.” By the way, during
those eight years, I was broke, playing
in an awesome power-trio band that
unfortunately couldn’t break loose from
the clubs. Anyway, now I’d say that chops
don’t grab my interest as much as coming
up with a new way to interpret 123-
123-12 accents on 1. Going back to the
previous question, that particular rhythm
is the universal rhythm. It’s present in
every single culture on our mother Earth!
SD: Are you well-versed in many musical
styles? Talk about your educational
background.
SR: “Well-versed” is a really subjective
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EDGE 10 ||| 2012-2013
term. I get to play many different styles
of music on both the drums and tabla.
I’ve spent a year in Greece playing drums
and tabla on traditional and hybrid Greek
music and I also play with an assortment
of Persian artists. I’ve been drumming on
a legit Funk gig for years and I’ve played
on Punk, Pop, Alternative, and Rock
gigs in the past. That doesn’t necessarily
make me well-versed in my book. Music
explorations really started in my home.
My mom sings and plays the harmonium,
and my late father played the tabla; both
were avid music fans. I’m the youngest
of five children and all of us are extremely
passionate about the music we listen to.
Being the youngest, I was turned on to
everything from 60’s and 70’s Rock, Disco,
80’s New Wave, to hair bands, Punk,
Hardcore, and Skate Rock! Combine
that with Indian Classical, Light Classical,
Indian film and Pop songs, Western
Classical, Big Band Jazz, plus what I was
learning in school, and that’s a pretty wide
variety. Big Band is, incidentally, what
really taught me how to play the drums.
My elementary school band teacher
would send me home with Fusion and Jazz
records to check out Billy Cobham, Steve
Gadd, Elvin Jones, etc. I was very lucky to
have a basement in Canada that allowed
me to practice for a gazillion hours a day.
What I’m trying to communicate is that all
of the music around me constantly taught
me how to play. Practicing was just the
vehicle to make it happen. Can you dig it?
SD: How did you make the transition
from session drumming to composing?
SR: I didn’t know that I completely
transitioned out of it. [Laughs]. It was
more of a natural transition than a
conscious transition. To stop playing or
performing, those are thoughts that do not
exist. In fact, I actually play more now.
Since I play on everything I’m writing,
and don’t just program it, I actually play
the instruments analog-style. It gives
me perspective. After years of always
performing as a side man and always
playing someone else’s parts, I’ve started
looking at what gigs I really love doing,
and which ones have become chores. I
know that sounds a bit ungrateful, it’s not.
It’s just the opposite. When you’re on a gig
and you’re not happy, no one is benefiting.
If it was just about a paycheck, we’d take
jobs that don’t require a lot of passion, and
we wouldn’t mind being bossed around. I
discovered the idea of recording on movie
dates as a soloist, but collaborating on
people’s songs and working with producers
is the most gratifying for me. On movie
dates you might get handed a chart, but
it’s a blank palette in terms of the level of
creativity you want to bring to it. Most of
the time, composers and producers send
me their music and a click track and just
say, “Can you make it better?” I realized
that, in a way, this is sort of like composing.
Then, more gigs started coming to me as
a composer, where they would ask, “Can
you just do a drum/percussion bed?” I
quickly found out that’s actually harder
for me. So, the first time I was presented
with this scenario, I played a solo on my
dulcimer, found a pattern I liked, and
wrote a tune from that. It’s important to
note that I don’t play the dulcimer, nor
have I ever been trained on it, but it has a
series of strings that aren’t rocket science
to tune. It’s played with two thin mallets,
otherwise known as hammers, which are
very similar to playing with drumsticks.
Then, I went back and layered in all of the
drums and percussion. When I played it
for them they loved it, and put in the film
as is. Voila, I had my first additional music
credit, although I don’t think I actually got
a credit in the movie. About a month later,
another composer asked me if I’d like to
co-compose on a demo for the theme to
Outsourced. At the time, it was a new
NBC sitcom. Lo and behold, we got it!
But I’m not composing full scores just yet,
I’m mostly composing for music libraries,
and it’s really fun.
SD: What’s it like engineering your own
drumming performances?
SR: [Laughs] Some days it’s great, and some
days it’s not so great. Sometimes you’re so
‘in the pocket’ and other times, you want
to be at the beach. I’m just kidding, a
little. At first it was weird, but it’s been
a great learning experience. I’m sort of
old school, so I always want to attempt to
deliver a solid take from beginning to end.