The following piece is a companion to the article/transcription about the Travis Barker remix of Crank That, which appears in the June 2008 issue of Modern Drummer (the one with Cindy Blackman on the cover).
DEMONSTRATION
A few months ago, Chris came in for his weekly lesson and could barely contain himself as he blurted out, “Travis has done it again!”
Chris had practiced two hours a day for one entire week to learn Travis Barker’s Remix of Soulja Boy’s Crank That. Now it was time to learn another Travis Barker Remix, one that he had just discovered on YouTube.
Blink 182 to Soulja Boy
Travis Barker began taking drum lessons at the age of four from a jazz drum teacher, who taught him many styles of music. While in high school, Travis played in the jazz and marching band, but stopped before his senior year and began to tour with rock bands, including the Aquabats. Soon after he joined the punk-rock band, Blink 182, they achieved mainstream worldwide success (from 1999 to 2004). Blink announced an “indefinite hiatus” in 2005. Travis has been involved with other projects including +44, Boxcar Racer, and the Transplants.
Travis released his remix of Crank That in September 2007 on YouTube (over fourteen millions viewings so far). Filmed with only a hand-held camera (fitting the YouTube vibe), Travis is shown nailing it in the studio, adding drums to a pre-existing rap song.
The Lowdown
Travis has again created an Internet phenomenon. Since its release in January 2008, “Recording Session Flo Rida Low” has attracted well over four million viewings on YouTube.
The original rap song, Low (feat. T-Pain), comes from Tramar Dillard, known as Flo Rida, a 28-year-old rapper from Florida (hence his stage name). His song has remained at or near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 25 consecutive weeks.
Faheem Najm, known as T-Pain (short for Teddy Pain), is a 22-year-old rapper, who also appears on the song Low.
Style and Analysis
To get an idea of why Travis orchestrated/played what he did, you might want to listen to a recording of the original song. Just as in Crank That by Soulja Boy, Low involves very sparse percussion. The song is layered by synthesizer patterns and simple melodies. Reggae-tinged rap creates much of the rhythmic interest.
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- Slightly Open Hi-Hat: In each chorus and parts of two verses, Travis chooses to play his hi-hat partially open. This not only serves to fill out the sound by creating a spread (overlapping wash of sounds), but it also produces a rockin’, Alex Van Halen vibe.
- Rhythmic Density: Within almost every section of the song, Travis builds intensity and momentum in four or eight-bar phrases by adding successively more bass drum notes. This is apparent in measures 1-8 of the chorus, 17-20 of the verse, 25-32 of the same verse, and 89-96 of the build-up section.
- Orchestrating Through Using the Drumset: Travis’ performance is a study in how to use the drumset to change the mood or function, transforming the musical structure. In the first verse (measures 17- 32), Travis causes a mood shift in eight bar segments. He dramatically changes the groove, from tribal to hard rock.
He alters the function of measures 49-52 from its original intent (the first four bars of the second verse) into a breakdown section.
In the original version, measures 81-96 were the third verse. In Travis’ remix, the first eight bars create the impression of a “bridge”, and the last eight bars become a ‘build-up” into the last chorus.
The last chorus, starting at measure 97, is played in half time, enabling Travis to build the final chorus to a triumphant ending.
- Thematic Fills: In the same way as Soulja Boy “Crank That”, Travis repeats fill ideas throughout the song to give it continuity. This can be observed in the fourth, eighth and 12th bars of the first three choruses.
- Calypso Groove and New Orleans Jazz: In the breakdown section (measures 49-52), Travis offers a calypso groove (playing off the Caribbean flavor of the rapping) and a fill in measure 52 that is more like the New Orleans drumming of Stanton Moore and Johnny Vidacovich than anything from the Blink 182 catalog.
- Power Flam City: If power flams are your thing, you’ll enjoy playing through the bridge section at measure 81. Travis also uses power flams in an eighth-note triplet fill at measure 56.
- Sforzando Crescendo: In the four-bar build-up section starting at measure 81, Travis uses a musical technique used often in classical music. Sudden accents are followed by crescendos.
- Play-Along: It’s a blast to play the transcribed drum part over the original rap hit, Low. That original track is a little shorter, so you will have to stop at measure 105 of the transcription. The Travis Baker Low Remix is now available on iTunes as an audio download, but only if you buy the entire Flo Rida album, Mail on Sunday (Deluxe Version).