Neil Peart was undeniably a revolutionary power in music, a craftsman who remodeled percussion into an artwork type. Recognized for his intricate rhythms, technical precision, and imaginative lyricism, Peart’s contributions to Rush elevated the band to legendary standing. His drumming was rather more than merely offering the band with a rhythm spine; it was additionally about telling tales, pushing boundaries, and galvanizing generations of artists to try for greatness.
On this spirit, veteran session drummer Ken Mary has launched into a mission that pays homage to Peart’s genius whereas demonstrating the profound issue of replicating it. Mary, whose profession consists of enjoying with rock and metallic icons like Alice Cooper, Settle for, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Fifth Angel – amongst many others – lately unveiled The Neil Peart Experiment. The video sequence culminates together with his rendition of Rush’s iconic monitor, “Tom Sawyer,” which we’re premiering right now.
Earlier than skeptics leap to conclusions about this being an try and money in on the late drummer’s legacy, Mary units the report straight: “These are purely educational movies, and they’re NOT monetized on YouTube.” Removed from a business endeavor, the mission is extra of a labor of affection and respect for certainly one of rock’s most revered drummers.
The idea originated throughout the pandemic lockdown when a fellow drummer from Seattle threw down the gauntlet. Given Mary’s intensive session work and his historical past of tackling advanced music, the problem was to take away the drum tracks from Rush songs and recreate them from scratch. The catch? He needed to match the unique performances as carefully as doable – timing, fills, and all – with none enhancing, sampling, or post-production tweaks.
Including to the problem, Rush’s recordings weren’t laid down with a click on monitor, which means their tempos subtly shifted, requiring Mary to regulate in actual time. As he describes it, the problem was akin to “eradicating the muse of the home and changing it.”
Mary defined the complexities of the mission: “I do know to those that haven’t recorded within the studio, this simply seems to be like some man enjoying the tune. Nevertheless, making an attempt to duplicate the monitor as precisely as doable was harder than I imagined. I needed to be taught the fills and grooves as Neil performed them again then, as he did change them barely through the years. Then I needed to know the place the band surged or pulled again, so I might lock to the present guitars and bass seamlessly with no enhancing, and once more in a single steady move.”
For Mary, the mission was greater than a technical train; it was a heartfelt homage to certainly one of his heroes: “Rush didn’t use a click on monitor. If anybody else desires to do that experiment, please do! However bear in mind the principles! I’ve my particular person GoPro video and audio to show this was all recorded in a single move with no enhancing or enhancement. I hope Neil would have been happy with this ‘experiment,’ and the truth that one other artist would make an effort to report these songs, and to get them as shut as doable utilizing the unique strategies he used at the moment,” he provides with humility.
As talked about above, that is the final a part of a three-video sequence. Try the primary two renditions of “YYZ” and “Freewill” under.
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