RobbieFrance.com is the place where I, Robbie France, can write about the various projects I’m involved in now, and provide little snippets of history from my career.
Posted by admin | Posted in Drum Tutorials | Posted on 15-02-2010
A home video taken during my teaching years in London…
One of my students, Graham Land, (one of Wales’ top players), used to video his lessons every month or so, on his handcam, so he could take it home and practice his lessons at his leisure. Kinda like his homework!
This is a little piece he recorded of me playing around with a straight 4/4 beat box thingy. Very rudimentary, but I thought you might like it.
If you do, drop us a comment, either here or on the YouTube page. We’ll try and post more of these when we have time later on this year.
Just simple rudiments applied to the kit. It ain’t rocket science!
Posted by Robbie | Posted in Music | Posted on 18-11-2008
A treat today. Here’s the full live version of “I Need Your Love” from Diamond Head. Again, this one’s from the Leicester Gig on the 1984 Canterbury Tour.
Mervyn (Goldsworthy) was a fine bass player, but holy shit… David Williamson was a totally different kettle of fish… I’m tellin’ ya!
So nowadays slap bass in rock is ‘de rigeur’? David was the first to incorporate it in Metal. We’d never seen it.
Brian & Sean liked that.
Backing vocals are a little shaky, but it’s worth listening to the solid groove and then the slap stuff David comes up with …and the fans sure as hell liked it!
Incidentally, we came up with an idea for a similar song at a soundcheck in Portugal. I recorded a version in full a while back at Pulpo Negro Studios in Murcia, here in Spain. The song’s an absolute beauty. Fab vocal lines from Sean.
It’s from the 1984 Canterbury Tour I did with Diamond Head. In particular, it’s from the gig we did in Leicester. Here’s a bit of background:
I think Sean & Brian likedthe fact they had good players in the band. They relished the fact that no matter what they threw at us, we came up with the goods. This intro… predominantly 7/4, was something we threwtogether at the rehearsal studio. Once I’d moved to Stourbridge and was determined to make a real go of the situation, Sean & Brian seemed to really trust me with ideas and were less wary in general about experimenting.
So a couple of quick blasts. Then the same with a few long tom rolls. These were the things I loved about Billy Cobham as a kid. Those rolls which just seemed to have no ‘timing’, but a beautiful descending note. (I do the same in the Robbie France Drum Tutorial Video Part 2. At the end of the middle part, to reintroduce the build up melody.)
Then 7/4 melody over 4/4 drums. Back to 7/4 with the band. A couple of fills, a nod of the head to Billy Cobham & Lenny White…And back to a straight 4/4 a ‘Highway Star’ type snare thing, a quick bash and there yas go! Intro. Simple.
Posted by Robbie | Posted in Music | Posted on 14-11-2008
This solo is from the Diamond Head University Tour 1984, recorded at Leicester, taken from ‘Heaven From Hell’.
A bit of background:
Sean & Brian were well aware that I could `play a bit’…it was Sean’s idea to do the drum solo half way through the set. One of our most popular tracks was ‘Heaven From Hell’, that’s where we chose to introduce the fans to my style of playing.
Posted by Robbie | Posted in General | Posted on 13-11-2008
Most of you who are here, I hope, already know me, or know something about me. Perhaps you listen to my Radio Shows, or have attended one of my Drum Clinics around the world, or even been to see me play live in one of the bands I played for way back when.
Posted by Robbie | Posted in Music | Posted on 12-11-2008
Hi,
you may know, you may not, that I have another blog out here on t’internet - Robbie on the Radio.
Anyway, from time to time I post articles on there with opinions about the state of the music industry. Some of these articles are picked up and published elsewhere, like in the local Beachcomber Magazine based here in Spain.
