Originally Posted by
scambo1
Another critical question, this for the drummers.
Neil Peart said Tom Sawyer was the hardest song for him to play. I've listened to Tom Sawyer a jillion times and I never hear the typical Neil P. jewels that are in most of Rush's music. As a non-drummer, the jewels seem the most complex to me. For example, the Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is said to be extremely difficult to copy correctly because he had the uncanny ability to put just the right amount of "lag" in his drumming. I don't hear lag in Tom Sawyer, but in "Time stands still," "New world man," "Limelight" (packed full of NP jewels) there is perfect lag throughout. So, why would he say Tom Sawyer was so difficult.
And Purple;
which insurance plan are you going with?
Ringo tends to lay slightly behind whereas Peart plays right on top of the beat. Ringo's
feel is whats hard to copy. Peart is a far more technical drummer. For example: Tom Sawyer is mostly 16th notes with some off time beats that are in 7/8 vs the more common 4/4 time. Add in some cymbals crashes in the middle of 32nd note rolls and you've got a song that can be difficult to play. However with Ringo, while anyone can play it correctly it just doesn't feel right unless you can lay behind the beat to get that groove that Ringo had.