Drum transcription of Mr. Bill’s heavy shuffle – “URL”.
I recently played a few shows as Mr. Bill’s drummer on his Australian “Corrective Scene Surgery” tour, complete with giant inflatabill and visual show. I transcribed all the fundamental grooves for each track to make up a simplified chart to cover his 1.5 hour DJ set and assist in committing some often complex parts to memory. Here’s one of those tracks from the set, “URL”, which I have transcribed here in more detail.
When faced with a mass of material to learn, taking the time to write out the main sections of the songs is invaluable. I use three parts to memorise these things – aural, visual and muscle memories – hear it, see it and feel it. Go to the sign for the main 4 bar groove. It’s basically a Purdie style shuffle, but there are two programmed bass drums which gives it a slightly different nuance and challenge. I also initially notated the synth hits to commit that pattern to memory and play off of it as I liked on the night.
If you’re going to tackle more complex pieces or someone’s solo, it’s extremely useful to reach for the pen and paper. Even if you never play a chart gig, dissecting and analysing music in this way will only build your own drumming vocabulary.
Check out Mr. Bill’s Tunes, for “Hardcore Abletoneers”.
Downloadable PDF ;
Transcriptions for Educational Purposes
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Andrew Hutchings 
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