KIT by John Ganser

A drummer makes a drum album.

After over a decade of creating solo ambient synth soundscapes I felt it was time to create a drum focused album. I've been playing the drums for over 40 years and have recorded many albums with a lot of talented bands and musicians. This is my first release with drums as the lead instrument. My objective isn't displaying chops but rather creating rhythmic passages in the moment. I explore time, feel and color. As a drummer my sound is a combination of styles including prog, jazz, funk, soul and jam. I'm intrigued by how, in the past, drum solos and drum breaks were more prominent in popular music during the jazz and big band eras. Jazz drummers made drum dominated music and albums. This is an ode to those past times.

I have hundreds of musical influences but my biggest inspiration for this album is the playing of Elvin Jones, Bill Bruford and John Bonham. All three were known for their sound, solos and originality. They all had a huge impact on my playing from early on.

About the music:

My objective was to capture complete drum performances as they happened. Very little editing occurred. I wasn't too concerned with little inconsistencies. I wanted to keep it real.

Battery 1 thru 5 are select moments from two longer drum solo improvisations.

Trap is jazz swing mode and has the most traditional type of arrangement.

Circles is in odd meters. Each synth track is in a different time signature. Meters covered are 4/4, 5/8, 7/8, 9/8 and free time. The drums improvise over the 5/8 bass line.

Strokes is two separate drum improvisations over a slew of minimalist and subtle synthesizers. The drum take on the slight left plays a cross stick groove. The drums on the slight right play against the left side groove, using mostly toms and two snare drums with snares off until the end section where they go into a driving double snare groove.

Gaps is space groove mode. I played the drums very softly on this song. The music has an ambient feel.

Humm is 4 different ride cymbals being sustained by a mallet. The close miking brings out the low pitched frequencies. The end result is an ambient soundscape created entirely by metal.

John Ganser is a drummer. Some of his past and current bands are The Something Brothers, The Spelunkers, Grain Benders, vonFrickle, Hallucinato, Backyard Tire Fire and Ed Anderson, Inktrail. His drumming style is a blend of many categories of music including progressive rock, fusion, jazz, soul and jam.

John also has a passion for ambient music and has released a number of ambient albums.