|
Each month we will be featuring different drummers
and styles of music, letting them speak their mind on all aspects
of drumming, equipment, what they love about the drums, philosophies
and their reflections on music from the drummers unique perspective.
Please contact us
if you would like to share your thoughts at info@MetroMusicMayhem.com.
Oscar Dorta likes drums.
i was at home when I got the call from
out of the blue from a man in a german accent. He asked
me if I played the drums. I thought …this is different.... C.C.C.P.
the german pop synth group was different in that they
had lost the drummer mid tour and i got a call to take
over.They told me they had an edgier sound than their
previous recordings and sent me some songs .I had done
a lot of synth programming before so i saw this as an
opportunity to fill up my sampler with atmospheric soundscapes,
altered machine-gun shots-white noise hits and such .I
listened to the songs on the plane and traveled with
just my sampler and drum pads.
They had drums there
so i just situated the pads around the kit. I was very
careful where to place the sounds as i played drums."
" I could tell right away by the smiles onstage that
they dug it.It was mainly improv but it had a high fun
factor.It sounded like it belonged as I was later told. "Again..each
scenario is different and yet it comes down to listening
and being sensitive to the music. "Whether it's touring
with a german synth pop group, a latin soap star, performing
in a Disney production, an industrial group, a no. 1 hit
sensation, writing music for a modern dance company, or
playing with his own group ,Skintrade, Oscar always maintained
3 points of criteria - ' is it different? is it badass?
Do I get to travel?'
When asked what motivates him to partake in such diverse
musical scenarios, He replies: "Well, each one was
a different learning situation for me.
I was a kid when I toured with the Wild Cherry thing.It
had been a few years since their hit (Play That Funky Music)
was no.1 and they had the classic 'one
hit wonder syndrome' and were trying to figure out the
next step while milking their no.1 status ."
" The Lucia Mendez experience was different in that
being a latin soap star, she traveled with an entourage
of actors and performed skits in the musical show. Lots
of musical cues. The same holds true for Disneys 'High
School Musical" where
you have a lot of visual cues from music directors, actors
etc .A lot of alertness was required as a drummer for that
one and it was loads of fun."
|
|
|
the "Skintrade"
situation
In the Skintrade situation, I also use
samples and loops to enhance the experience .Being that
we are a guitar -
bass and drums vocals group, just hearing guitars all
night, as the only instrument providing color makes Johnny
a dull boy in our genre, unless ,of course, Johnny has a ton of effects pedals
that he knows how to use.
The samples and keyboards i trigger, I
created,so I know exactly how they swell, speed up or slow
down or whatever. The tricky part is, for instance, when
i start a song and here we are playing it….I know
there's a couple of - 8 bar string swells with chord changes
that i trigger in the bridge. If i started that song to
fast or to slow we would all be out of sync with that string
part when i hit it."
"I'll tell you one thing, it really
sobers you up real quick about your tempo. I don't use
a click. I just have listened to these samples over and
over while making them and get my tempo from there.It is
really challenging but Total Fun-o-rama too."
We asked Oscar what is the most important
aspect of playing drums is to him and what are the plans
for the future.Here is what he responded:"Groove.
A rock solid groove,steady tempo and feel is the most important.Yes
fills,phrasing,and dynamics are important too, but groove
and tempo are the foundation. |
the song Groove
I play for the song.Groove
and feel is what get drummers hired..it's a question of musical
maturity and playing the right part for song. I mean, a song
with no groove and just a bunch of fills just sounds like lawn
chairs falling all over the place. My immediate future plans
include writing and working with some incredible musicians
and friends on a new project which I intend to release next
year .I'm also reworking,mixing and releasing some of the Skintrade
songs that weren't released..and am currently in the process
writing new ones.This, teaching drums, and performing keep
me pretty busy lately.
I love what I do. Every day is a new
day. Except on a leap year.
|
