Clyde Stubblefield RIP

I originally started this thread because I noticed that 3 days after his death, NO ONE had recognized it.

I do appreciate all of the meaningful posts but to start grappling over his drumming style on this thread, seems to diminish the thought behind the post.

Maybe another post to describe his influence on music?....

"The influence Clyde Stubblefield had on music and the art of drumming"

Just my opinion.

Happy listening.

I think you are exactly right, Slaw; something that came to mind and grappled with before responding to shadorne and I should have gone with my gut feeling.  Certainly no disrespect intended towards the thought behind your post and I hope that what I wrote is a reflection, at least in part, of the respect that I have for him as a musician. 

frogman,

I realized this and had trouble writing my last post for this very reason.

Now that all is good.. hopefully all of his great work will be immortalized in a thread that will exemplify the artist that he was!

Thank you for your post!

@frogman   

machine drummers do not sound as good as a great drummer because they are precise and have no feel or groove. 

Moving the beats around and away from the precise metronomic time is what gives the rhythm a unique pocket feel. Of course a groove once laid down must be repeated or looped so the imperfections in time from a metronome must be consistent from bar to bar (without consistency it just sounds sloppy)

I can provide more examples but regrettably I don't think a non-musician has much chance of grasping it. I encounter it all the time when playing a cover and trying to mimic a particular groove created by a drummer. The subtle adjustments in time that give a groove a particular pocket feel are one of the hardest aspects of drumming. Some tracks are done to a metronome (a lot of music theses days) and producing a machine metronomic sound can be a challenge too but it never sounds "in the pocket" as there is no feeling. Suprisingly, dynamics also play a role in pocket feel as the dynamics of each beat in a bar and where emphasis is placed will also define the feel of the groove. In the pocket drumming requires a consistent repeated dynamic variation through the bar as well. Just a simple change such as dropping the 1 or emphasizing the 3 over 2 and 4 creates a half time or reggae feel.

Would be glad to discuss this further through some other means, but I think Slaw’s wishes should be rightfully respected. I believe you have it wrong.