Deftones-Passenger-Johnkew Drum Cover

Abe Cunningham is one of those drummers that I gain more and more respect for as I learn his songs. He really has a gift for supporting the mood of the song with his dynamic drumming, and for putting a lot of thought into the writing and composition of each song. The hi-hat grooves in the first two verses of this song are brilliant, and really show how Abe is able to think outside of the box with his drumming.

This is an intimidating song to play along with over the original music, because on the surface it seems like Abe is just improvising the whole song. It seems like there are no patterns in terms of grooves or accents. So learning to play it exactly as it is on the album takes a lot of work. And improvising your own parts sounds sloppy over the top of this song because the original drums are so prominent in the mix. Nothing stays constant for long, and there are very few patterns that repeat themselves. But now that I've really dissected the song, I seriously believe that it wasn't improvised - that he wrote the drums this way. There are patterns to the groove, but they are very atypical and it fits the overall feel. Like many songs by the Deftones, there is a feeling of apprehension in Passenger. By not falling into predictable patterns, Abe's drumming adds to the overall suspense and keeps the listener on the edge of their seat.

Anyway, there is nowhere to hide on this song. if you don't play exactly what's on the recording, it sounds real sloppy on top of the recording (e.g., switching the measures in the verse where he doesn't open the hi-hat for those where he does). Unless the song volume is so low that you can barely hear it, you're going to hear any differences between the external drums and Abe's and it will sound clumsy.

So to me what makes this this song compelling isn't necessarily in the complexity or difficulty of the drumming, but the structure, dynamics, and overall feel of it. I decided to learn the odd patterns and keep it true to the original. Just to be clear, I'm not playing it exactly the same - I took some liberties and changed a few things - but I kept it within a tight framework of the original composition. I did add a couple of small things here and there just to accentuate and expand some of the original drum parts that really stood out to me. It took a lot more concentration that I expected to play this song true to the original arrangement. There's no resting in the verses or choruses, falling into a predictable pattern. You are constantly thinking about the odd changes two or three measures away. That's why I have the thousand yard stare in most of the video.

So I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed playing it. I'm very happy with how this mix turned out, so turn it up! Use headphones if you have them-it'll help capture the mood :)

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Recorded on Gretsch Catalina and Renown maple drums, DW Steel Performance Series 14 x 8 Snare, Evans EMAD bass drum head, Evans G2 batter drum heads Evans G1 resonant drum heads, Remo power stroke snare head, Sabian Paragon cymbals (16, 20-inch crashes; 19 China; 22 ride), Sabian AAX stage 18-inch crash, custom stacker with 14 inch Sabian AAX Xplosion crash on bottom and 12 inch Sabian AAX china on top; Hammerax Crash Course stacker; Paiste Novo 20-inch China, Paiste hats, Sabian 10 inch paragon splash, DW 9000 double pedal, DW 3000 hi hat stand, Orange County drum throne, Pro Mark 747 sticks, Apex 435 overhead mics, Audix D-series mics on toms and kick, Audix i5 and Shure SM57 mic on snare, M-Audio Profire 2626 interface, Logic Express 9, Canon T2i, Canon Vixia HF M40, and GoPro HD Hero 2 cameras, Shure SE315-CL in-ear monitors.