From Maynard Ferguson to David Lee Roth to Ringo Starr, if you’ve ever witnessed seasoned session drummer, Gregg Bissonette’s clinics, instructional videos or live performances, you’ll already know that he’s a chameleonic jack-of-all-trades, while also being a master of them.
So, who better to spring Drumeo’s hugely popular, “Hears it for the first time…” challenge on than a drummer who’s equally at home playing jazz as he is metal, often in high-pressure situations?
Bissonette is the latest to pick up the gauntlet which has seen the likes of Dennis Chambers, Mike Portnoy, Chad Smith, Larnell Lewis and many others put through their paces. This time the musical subject is System of a Down and the band’s 2002 single/second album title-track, Toxicity.
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We know the formula by now - and Bissonette gives us a glimpse of how he approaches learning a track from a drum-free playback. First up, he creates a chart, and we watch as he imposes a Tears For Fears-style off-beat pattern over the 12/8 timing.
System of a Down and drummer John Dolmayan are known for frenetic, jolting timing changes, and Toxicity’s original part includes Dolmayan’s alternating double-time 4/4 beat during the intro. Here, Bissonette substitutes it for some tight double-kick 16ths, keeping the backbeat firmly in the ballad zone.
Fast-forward to the second and third take previews and we’re on to the song’s outro, where Bissonette bombards us with some perfect 16th-note triplets between the feet, with some very fitting china accents, before peppering some impressive hertas around the kit. “I hope the drummer’s not upset because when I find out who it is and who the drummer is I’m gonna go ‘Oh! Sorry! Because I should have known it, but what a great song, man’.
Finally, we get to hear Gregg’s full take, giving us an interesting reimagining of a metal classic, giving us a reminder that System of a Down’s erratic, sometimes chaotic approach is a big part of what sets them apart from other metal bands.
“John Dolmayan, that’s a way cooler part than what I did! That’s why you are in System of a Down and I’m not!” he says, before adding “I thought you guys were going to scare the crap out of me and give me some Thomas Haake/Meshuggah…” before perfectly-executing the bass drum hertas from Meshuggah’s ankle-killing Bleed.
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