Drum playalong tracks
Darren Ashford. Wicked.
All of these original tracks feature the awesome drumming of Darren Ashford. If you aren’t familiar with Darren’s work, you can check him out at:
I’ve made a set of downloadable playalongs mixed specifically with drummers in mind. You can listen to the full tracks for free on this page and if you’d like to get the backings, simply select your song, choose the file type you’d like and click the’Buy now’ button. This will take you to payloadz.com where you can purchase each download for the extremely reasonable price of just £1!
Each download contains 2 tracks:
1. One has the full track with the original mix (minus drums) and a click going right in the centre. This is ideal for jamming along to on an electronic kit or even with an acoustic kit if you’re playing along on headphones or through a PA.
2. One has the entire track mixed in the right speaker and a click in the left. This is ideal if you’d like to perform along to the track in front of people (e.g. for an audition). Simply send the left output into your headphone amp and the right output to your PA, mixing desk or home recording setup.
A quick note about file formats…
.Wavs: These are full quality, uncompressed files. Sonically, these are as good as it gets, but bear in mind the files can range from 40 – 70mb each! If you have a slow connection, you’ll be waiting a long time!
.mp3s: These are compressed so that they are a much smaller file size. They are still high quality mp3s and are the best option if you’re going to listen to music on an iPod / iPhone. This is also recommended if you have a slower internet connection
.
01. Skattershot (Ska)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Skattershot has quite a challenging drum part to play. A lot of drummers I know struggle to lay down a solid, driving ska groove. Not only does this track have quite a lot of solid 2&4 type playing in it, the middle section goes into some serious Stewart Copland 4-on-the-floor territory and the outro even has a drum feature for you to bust your chops on!
P.s. – check out the fill at 0:40 – wicked!!
If you’d like to download the files as .WAVs..
If you’d like to download the files as .mp3s.
.
02. The Ealing Feeling (Brit Funk)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
The Ealing Feeling is a wicked slice of early 90’s Brit funk, inspired by the likes of Jamiroquai, Incognito and the James Taylor Quartet. There’s a nice drum part here for you to work on shifting kick drum patterns while you play two-handed 16ths on the hats and keep that backbeat nice and steady. There are a couple of nice percussion parts on this track for you to lock in with too, so it’s quite a groove workout. Feel free to go for it in the very last section – Darren kept the part nice and groovy, but really, you could be filling and catching accents all through the last Hammond solo!
If you’d like to download the files as .WAVs.
.
If you’d like to download the files as .mp3s.
.
03. Ghetto Upgrade (Hip Hop)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Ghetto Upgrade draws on hip hop / contemporary R&B and Jazz stylings to create a phat, sticky R&B groove that’s very tricky to reproduce. The key to this one is being confident and authoritative with your time. The click shows where the time is, but the bass is very laid back and the keys are playing a bouncy hip hop feel, so it’s very difficult to get your part sitting just right. If you’re in any doubt, go dig out some D’Angelo albums – in fact anythinng featuring ?uestlove will get you into the right mindset. Also, it’s a good chance for you to get used to playing a flammed cross stick part with offbeat accents on the hats – an essential groove for any drummer that wants to play some hip hop.
P.s. – Watch out as well for those cheeky little muted rolls that Darren includes on the snare during some of the cross stick sections. They’re subtle, but very tasty.
If you’d like to download the files as WAVs.
If you’d like to download the files as .mp3s.
.